Cannons vs MG's

[stickpig]

I normally fly cannon planes with convergence at 250.

I have been upping an FM-2 lately and I have noticed that shots that I normally take and hit with cannons, with the Mg's I hardly see hits.

Do I need to change convergence for Mg's, or lead more or less?

My normal shooting range is 300d or less.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance

[ImADot]

My guess is cannon rounds drop more, so perhaps you shouldn't lead the target as much.  I believe .50cal has great ballistics and drops very little (almost laser-like inside 400)?

[hammer]

What plane were you flying before? Each type of 20mm cannon has different ballistics from the other types so how much you need to adjust depends a lot on what type of cannon you were using. The .50 found on the U.S. and British planes has the best ballistics of any of the fighter guns. I believe the early Japanese cannons, or maybe the German MG-FF, have the worst.

Regards,

Hammer

[Saxman]

Hispanos are very close to the US .50cal, so shouldn't require much adjustment.

[Anaxogoras]

The aircraft auto-cannon with the worst ballistics in the game is the Mk 108.

The Russian UBS offered near equivalent performance to the M2 with almost half the weight.

[SlapShot]

Stick ... it's going to take a little getting use to MGs vs Cannons.

When flying most cannon planes (and I know you are most familiar with the Hurri) one has to pay attention to their ammo load ... whereas in the FM2 / F6F / F4U ... you have gobs of ammo (as far as I am concerned) so I am not afraid to hold the trigger down ... you have got to get the lead out there so it can do it's job, whereas that is not so much a consideration with explosive cannon rounds.

I have all my .50 cals set to 450 ... and depending upon the situation, I will start shooting at 800 out to start the pinging process to get them off their game ... at 600 out I will try to lay a good lead rope - at this range, you can do damage (take off an aileron, rudder, elevator).

From 600 on in, I have a solid lead rope reaching out to touch you and god forbid you are at the 450 mark when the rope hits you.

From 450 on in, because I have been flying .50 cal planes for so long, and I am on your 6 ... I will gently rock that plane back and forth (rudder) hitting the plane with the right and left guns alternating.

What the .50 cal has over the cannon is that it can do damage at distances the cannons really can't get to.

Stick with the FM2 and work thru this and you will fall in love with it ... guaranteed.

[Saxman]

I disagree with Slap's second-to-last point. The .50cal can cause some serious damage if you get him with a good burst in convergence, but cannon are going to have a bigger punch at long range. The Brownings are just going to be more accurate and easier to hit with.

You really want to hold your fire until you're close. Anything over 400yds the rounds start losing too much energy and hitting power, especially as you get out to 600-800yds. At 200yds right at convergence you can snapshot the wings off of about anything.

[SlapShot]

I disagree with Slap's second-to-last point. The .50cal can cause some serious damage if you get him with a good burst in convergence, but cannon are going to have a bigger punch at long range. The Brownings are just going to be more accurate and easier to hit with.

You really want to hold your fire until you're close. Anything over 400yds the rounds start losing too much energy and hitting power, especially as you get out to 600-800yds. At 200yds right at convergence you can snapshot the wings off of about anything.

I was just speaking from personal experiences ... but what do I know ?

[trotter]

I agree with Saxman, even thought I don't doubt Slapshot's .50 cal prowess.

I agree with Saxman for a different reason. The fact is, start pinging a bandit at 600 with .50 cals and all you've now got yourself is a freaking out moving target. Far better with a slower adversary to hold your fire until within 400 (preferably within 300), take a good burst, and take things from there. No need to start pinging from long range, and then have your bandit showcase how well he knows how to Split S and ruin your guns solution.

[A8TOOL]

I use this convergence and it seems to work pretty well in both the p51-B and FM2.

I'm not going to show my score but I do very well in this plane. Dead 6 shots seem to be ineffective and I have a hard time hitting hard enough to take them down easily but show me a wing and your dead.

With this convergence I take wing shots out to 600 and often put them dn. My best single clip sortie in this plane was 11 kills 3 assists.

Very tough plane I might add.    Can take a whole lot of damage before downed






EDIT:

Since I'm kinda proud of this particular plane and feel anyone with patience can fly this plane I'll shamelessly post my kills 

FM2    114 Kills and shot dn only 33 times in tour 108

Tour 110  was just 48 kills and spent most of my time in either a spit 8 or F6F

This month I may try giving the 51-B some more attention.

[SlapShot]

Awesome Tools !!!

Tour 93 is when they split the arena and I was putting in some serious time in the game and the MidWar arena (not true anymore) and splitting my time between the FM2 and the F6F.

MidWar Tour 93 - FM2 - Kills in 212 ... Died in 38

MidWar between Tour 93 thru Tour 96

F6F - Kills in 582 ... Died in 135
FM2 - Kills in 538 ... Died in 119

[A8TOOL]

Well that bests me... and quite a few others   WTG Slappy!

[stickpig]

Thanks to all for the input.

I will keep the convergence at 250 for now and see how it works out. Guess it will take some getting used to MG's vs Cannons

Again thanks for the help

 

[StokesAk]

Any nose MGs i put out at 650. Any wing mounted cannons i put at 400. And all my wing MGs are are 400.

[Plazus]

Any nose MGs i put out at 650. Any wing mounted cannons i put at 400. And all my wing MGs are are 400.

Agreed. I put all of my MGs at 400yards. I never crisscross my convergence. In spite of some people's views, I have a logical reason as to why to never crisscross your MGs. The MGs were specifically designed to fire multiple rounds at the same time, and at the same point. Using this initiative, your guns will have twice as much hitting power when you shoot at an enemy at the converged point. If your convergence is spread out, then you lose the effectiveness of your MGs.

Cannons a bit different. Each round is much more heavier and the rounds are also explosive on impact. That being said, you have fewer rounds in your plane. This means you must place your shoots carefully. Cannons are in short reserve for two basic reasons: 1. Cannons are expensive to produce and 2. Cannons are very heavy and can pose adverse effects on your plane's manueverability.

Essentially there is no real way to determine which type of ammunition is the best. It all depends on your ability as a pilot. If you prefer getting close and nasty, use the cannons. If you like to fly fast and shoot your enemies from afar, then the MGs are the ones for you.

Here are my convergence settings on most of my planes:

50cals - 400 yards even (includes P51s, P47s, P38s, and P40s)
30cals - 350 yards even (includes Spitfires, Hurricanes, 110s, and other early war aircraft)
20mm - 275 yards (includes Tempests, Typhs, and N1Ks)
30-37mm - 250 yards (includes 109s, 190s, and P39s)
40mm - 225 yards (includes the Hurricane and IL2)

*Note* For the Me262, I set my convergence to 600 yards. I do this because of a few reasons.
1. You are flying very fast, and you have a shorter amount of time to shoot a plane
2. To give yourself more shooting time, you need to take your shots about 600-800 yards out before breaking off
3. This can help prevent you from colliding into other aircraft when shooting at a closer range