US 20mm Problems and the P-38

[sldered]

I may be crazy but I have been kinda wondering about the effectiveness of the "buzz saw" on the 38 G-L in game.   

[Saxman]

Lessee, 4x US .50cal, which are highly accurate and one of the hardest-hitting machine guns in the game and a 20mm cannon, all packed right in the nose.

What's so suspicious about that?

[vonKrimm]

It was always slated to carry a cannon, but the Oldsmobile M9 37mm was dumped in favor of the 20mm M2 for availiblity, and because the 37mm had problems of its own.

Don't forget the 4x23mm Madsens (better trajectory & higher mv than the Soviet 23mm) & 2/4x .30cal/.50cal proposed version.  Oh well, history must be preserved in AH.

[Tony Williams]

The report on the problems with the US 20mm AN-M2 is on my website, HERE.

I suspect that few problems seem to have reported with the P-38 installation partly because, as has been observed, it had four .50s in the nose as well ,and because it was more rigidly mounted in its own framework, and perhaps partly because it had a mechanical recharger so if the gun failed to fire, the pilot could pull a lever to recock it and try again (I'm not sure whether the Navy installations had rechargers).

The 23mm Madsen had a significantly lower muzzle velocity than the VYa-23, although a slightly higher one than the NS-23. It had a lower rate of fire than either.

Tony Williams: Military gun and ammunition website

[Cthulhu]

The report on the problems with the US 20mm AN-M2 is on my website, HERE.

Tony Williams: Military gun and ammunition website

Great read Tony .

When I first read the part describing the 1/16" difference in chamber length, I kept thinking "this is crazy, what about the headspace?" Do you know if there was any significant history of case ruptures with the US Hispano's? Also, I'm assuming the cases were brass, or was mild steel used? 

[Tony Williams]

The cases were brass, and I've not read of any problems with ruptures. But of course, as they slathered the ammo in grease, extraction wasn't a problem.

[Cthulhu]

The cases were brass, and I've not read of any problems with ruptures. But of course, as they slathered the ammo in grease, extraction wasn't a problem.

If I understood it correctly, the real benefit of the grease was that it prevented binding in the chamber, so that case stretching would be uniform along the length, and not concentrated in one area. I'd really like to see one of these fired cases cut in half to see if that was really true. Then again, maybe after enough cycles, all that grease would accumulate at the shoulder of the chamber and reduce the set-back.   Wonder if the armorers learned over time not to clean the chambers at all?