4MGs Better Than 6?

[humble]

I've been amazed with how hard the SBD hits. I've sawed of many a wing root with roughly 60 x .50 total ammo fired while fooling with it. It has certainly made me reconsidered my perceptions of lethality in the game. The .50 round is much much more lethal then generally perceived. It takes very few rounds (in the same general location) to do a lot of damage most of the time. I've sawed an IL-2 in half in 1 pass with roughly 100 rds on target. If you recognize the fundamentals of gunnery with the MG's then 4 guns is every bit as deadly as 6 in the sense that the 4 x 50 will deliver a critical mass of projectiles and give you more firing time then the 6 x .50 load out.

[Angus]

6 guns deliver 50% more ammo in the same time....
Anyway, for 4 guns, try the P51B   

[Ack-Ack]

The .50 round is much much more lethal then generally perceived. It takes very few rounds (in the same general location) to do a lot of damage most of the time. I've sawed an IL-2 in half in 1 pass with roughly 100 rds on target. If you recognize the fundamentals of gunnery with the MG's then 4 guns is every bit as deadly as 6 in the sense that the 4 x 50 will deliver a critical mass of projectiles and give you more firing time then the 6 x .50 load out.

Yep, last night in the MW scored 10 kills using just the .50s on the P-38J.  Used less than 800 rounds in total and most of the planes only needed a solid burst to the weak points (tail, wing root) for a kill.  But then again, as mentioned before in regards to the P-38, no convergence issues to worry about.  However, wing mounted .50s tend to do less damage than the ones mounted on the P-38 for the sole reason most P-51 drivers don't fire at the convergence point which results in more scattered hits and maybe they might get lucky and score a Golden BB hit.   If the P-51 driver fires at the convergence point, the .50s will be deadly.


ack-ack

[Squire]

In game terms, 6 is better for hunting buffs. 4 is fine of you are just going after fighters.

[Lusche]

In game terms, 6 is better for hunting buffs. 4 is fine of you are just going after fighters.

It's exact the other way around for me. Buffs are a big, steady targets, so 4 MG is more than enough to kill them. So last tour I mostly used the B Pony for buff hunting.  But when engaging fighters, I do appreciate the 50% firepower increase for those brief snapshots on crossing targets.

[Bruv119]

I think in the most part it is psychological,

Whilst I can't argue that 4 is better in terms of raw hitting power I find whenever I fly the B pony knowing that I only have 4 guns means that I make sure I only fire when the shot is most definately on (to not waste ammo).  I do this as a general rule of thumb but I think 4 guns are better overall because whenever you swap back to 6  your aim is refined and having the extra 2 is a luxury.

4 50 cals with a solid converged burst is enough to take down a fighter aircraft.  The B pony will help anyones shot improve 

 

[BaldEagl]

Don't forget the F4F/FM2.

[Squire]

Sure, they might be "good enough" but thats not the same as saying they are "as good or better". No firepower equation is going to show that 4 50s is "better" than 6 (just in terms of damage per second of fire), especially when you are comparing apples to apples (same MG type and caliber, and wing mountings). 

I will give one caveat to the above, in some setups, I prefer the F4F-4 with 4 MGs, but only because of the increased ammo and firing time (usually in SEA setups).

That aside the Pony B is a fine ride, and I prefer it in some ways to the D, like others do, for the same reasons.

[Ack-Ack]

In game terms, 6 is better for hunting buffs. 4 is fine of you are just going after fighters.

Four is just fine for hunting buffs.  You can kill a bomber with 4x .50 cals just as easy as you could with 6x .50 cals.


ack-ack

[Puck]

Convergence is still the key.  This is how NOT to shoot wing mounted guns...

[Jouster]

you know what would be really cool? If we had flying sharks with lasers mounted on their heads.

What am I saying that's impossible! 

[Saxman]

Actually Puck, against Spitfires that IS a good way to shoot wing mounted guns. Can't tell you how many times I've knocked both wings off with one burst like that.



Of course I can't tell you how many times I've gotten ASSISTS for that because someone put a single 20mm somewhere that didn't even scratch his paint. 

[RoGenT]

I've seen guys land lot of kills in those 4 x MG planes. I don't know how they do it other then pratice and good gun converge.

I'm lucky if I can even knock down one plane with one of those things. Course i'm lucky to do that with 6 x MG as well. Being that I am little rusty, my hit precent gonna be very very much worse but all good fun