A6m2 guns

[Baine]

Not sure if this has ever been discussed before, it certainly was news to me ...
In the Jan. 2009 issue of Aviation History there's an article about an A6m2 shot down at Pearl Harbor. The article includes a diagram of an A6m2, with some facts about the plane. One facts box says
 "The Type 99 20mm wing cannons, based on patent rights obtained by Japan from Oerlikon in Switzerland, and Type 97 7.7mm fuselage machine guns could not be fired simultaneously. That gave an allied pilot warning that when the 7.7mm rounds began hitting his plane, 20mm cannon shells would follow."

In AH, we can fire both 7.7 and 20mm simultaneously.

I'm not sure if the Aviation History info is accurate, or just a misinterpretation of Japanese practices. I seem to recall reading that zero pilots used the 7.7s to make sure guns were on target before opening up with the 20mm. I'm not sure if the article stated that both could be fired simultaneously, or if that was just my assumption based on flight sims I'd flown, but that was the impression I'd come away with.

[Saxman]

AFAIK, it was a practice used by Japanese pilots to conserve their limited 20mm ammo not a mechanical limitation of the type. If they had separate triggers for the two types that still means they can both be fired together.

[CAP1]

AFAIK, it was a practice used by Japanese pilots to conserve their limited 20mm ammo not a mechanical limitation of the type. If they had separate triggers for the two types that still means they can both be fired together.

i thought i had read, or heard somewhere that the trigger was on the throttle quadrant. it had a slider type switch to switch between the guns and the cannons.

 ingame, i shoot the guns first......if i see hit sprites, i open up with the cannons.

[PFactorDave]

i thought i had read, or heard somewhere that the trigger was on the throttle quadrant. it had a slider type switch to switch between the guns and the cannons.

 ingame, i shoot the guns first......if i see hit sprites, i open up with the cannons.

I'm not certain about the slider selector switch, but the trigger was on the throttle.

EDIT:  Check out this link I found, apparently there is a thumb switch to toggle the guns.
http://military.discovery.com/tv/showdown/cockpit/zero.html

Also interesting that the CO2 injector is discussed.  I recall a recent conversation about the CO2 fire suppression system on zeroes.  Apparently that system was for the engine only.