M3 .50 on P47N

[Randall172]

I read somewhere that the P47N was the first plane to get the at the time new M3 50s which had twice the rate of fire as the normal M2.

Is that modeled in this game? (Can't check now as I'm on the road)

[Chalenge]

I am fairly certain that the Army/Navy M3 was not used until the Korean war. The P-47 that had them was probably a single use aircraft/experiment.

[Randall172]

"Some sources indicate that the 318th Fighter Group had been equipped with the M3 version of the .50-caliber machine gun, with a higher rate of fire than the standard M2 version, some 1,200 rounds per minute over the M2 lightweight barrel version of the .50 cal with 850 rpm. Eight .50 caliber machine guns firing is a withering 9,600 rounds per minute. A three second burst would spew out 480 bullets."

I'm looking for info on the 318th atm

[Chalenge]

You might check also that when they were so equipped that they were in the theater of war. Some squadrons near the end of the war were cycled home to train and were equipped with aircraft and weapons that never saw use in the war itself.

[Ack-Ack]

Supposedly only a little over 2,000 M3 .50 caliber machine guns were produced by the end of WW2, having completed successful service trials by the beginning of 1945.

[Krusty]

I somewhat doubt they ever saw service in WW2 because the increased rate of fire had the definite drawback of cracking the frame inside the gun (not sure if it was specifically the breech or the bolt, or what) due to increased stresses. The guns only lasted a limited amount of time -- and in a war zone that's not a good thing.

The M2 remained the gun of choice for quite some time, so I would hazard a guess that the M3 flaws were never ironed out.

[Randy1]

What is the fastest 50 cal fire rate today?

[Krusty]

Most various names of the 50cals in use today are modications of the AN/M2, which has a rate of fire at about 800 rpm at full throttle. Many on helicopters limit bursts during peacetime to 50 rounds or 150-round bursts, though in war they could be fired at full speed (in some cases according to wiki they'd have a 10 minute cooldown time after heavy use). They seem to mostly be used for helicopter door gunners.

There are still a number of flexible mounts on ground vehicles using the early standard ranging from the 400-600 rpm speeds. These appear to be mostly vehicle-mounted guns (I'm thinking Humvees, armored vehicles, etc).

There are a small number used on a small sampling of aircraft frames based on the M3, which boasts about a 1100 rpm rate of fire, though the number seems to be small and the types they are used on don't seem to be very wide spread. Super Tucanos and a handful of helicopters.

I think by far the most representative are those based off the M2 right now, just in terms of use and the number of model designations derived from the M2.

[Ack-Ack]

I somewhat doubt they ever saw service in WW2 because the increased rate of fire had the definite drawback of cracking the frame inside the gun (not sure if it was specifically the breech or the bolt, or what) due to increased stresses. The guns only lasted a limited amount of time -- and in a war zone that's not a good thing.

The M2 remained the gun of choice for quite some time, so I would hazard a guess that the M3 flaws were never ironed out.

From what I read, most of the major problems with the M3 were fixed sufficiently enough that it passed the service trials near the end of WW2.  Though, what I read did say that over 2,000 were produced by war's end, it never made any mention of the M3 being used in combat during WW2.  The only combat it mentions the M3 saw action in was Korea, Vietnam, and some versions of the M3 seeing service up to Operation Desert Storm.

[EskimoJoe]

What is the fastest 50 cal fire rate today?

There is an experimental version of a 'gatling' style .50cal that has quite an impressive rate of fire, you can look it up on youtube. The problem with a .50 with such an exceptional rate of fire is finding the space for all the ammunition.

The next I believe is in service on a small scale, as the 'M3M', basically a 'modernized' M2 with a higher rate of fire for aircraft use, if I recall. I've never seen one personally.

The next is the standard M2, which we still use today. The TM references 450-550 rpm, which sounds about right. What we call the 'new' M2s now have a barrel that simply plugs in to the body of the weapon, without the need to check the headspace & timing every time a barrel is inserted. Again, I've never seen one, but a few kids I work with used them. They didn't know how to do a headspace an timing on the 'old' .50,