Lancaster tail gun ammo ammount seems odd

[Karnak]

The Lancasters equipped with the Frazer-Nash tail turret (four .303s) carried 10,000 rounds of ammo for the tail turret (2,500 per gun).

Why does the twin .50 cal turret in AH only have 670 rounds?  I know the .50 cal rounds are larger, but they're not that much larger.

I'd guess that 4,000 (2,000 per gun)  rounds would be a more likely number than 670 rounds. (335 per gun).  335 per gun seems like a very unlikely small belt for the position that was considered most important in WWII (that's why the tail guns were the first to switch to the .50s).

Does anybody have an explanation for this?

[Kweassa]

I'd also like to know why the 109G-2 still only has 150 rounds.

 If I recall, eiher the Typhoon or the Tempest also has incorrect ammo load..

[Dr Zhivago]

The Rose Brothers company of Gainsborough developed a rear turret that was much roomier than the FN types and came equipped with two 12.7 mm (0.50 in) Browning machine-guns. The new Rose-Rice turret had 335 rounds per gun and used a Barr & Stroud Mk IIIA reflector sight with a traverse of +/- 94 degrees, elevation 49 degrees and a depression of 59 degrees and allowed for a total firing time of 24 seconds (compare that against the 130 seconds firing time for the four-gun turret). The Rose-Rice turret was only used by Nos. 83, 101, 153 and 170 Squadrons of No. 1 Bomber Group from the middle of 1944 onwards. Frazer-Nash later developed the F.N.82 turret which was also fitted with twin 12.7 mm (0.50 in) Browning machine-guns and equipped the Lancaster Mk VII.

[Bodhi]

Originally posted by Karnak
The Lancasters equipped with the Frazer-Nash tail turret (four .303s) carried 10,000 rounds of ammo for the tail turret (2,500 per gun).

Why does the twin .50 cal turret in AH only have 670 rounds?  I know the .50 cal rounds are larger, but they're not that much larger.

I'd guess that 4,000 (2,000 per gun)  rounds would be a more likely number than 670 rounds. (335 per gun).  335 per gun seems like a very unlikely small belt for the position that was considered most important in WWII (that's why the tail guns were the first to switch to the .50s).

Does anybody have an explanation for this?

The .303 round is HALF as tall as the .50 caliber round, and the .50 cal round carries roughly 1100 to 1300 grains of powder where as the .303 carries approxiamately 180 - 240 grains of powder.   That means the powder is apromimately 5 times as much as in a .303 round.  Lastly the actual projectile size is MAJORLY different.  If someone can provide me with web space, I will post pictures of the projectile and the rounds different sizes.  Plus a comparison of the casings and powder amounts.

[Karnak]

Bodhi,

Yes, I know the .50 is bigger, but at 4,000 rounds that's still less than one round of .50 for every two rounds of .303.  670 rounds simply seems ludicrious I doubt the .50 cal round is more than ten times the size of the .303 round.  But Dr Zhivago's info says it is correct.

It just seems very odd to me.

[F4UDOA]

Karnak,

The solution to your problem is probably more obvious that you think.

Unlike AH the gunner would more than likely just "reload" the gun.

Their is nothing to say that they didn't carry an extra box of .50 cal.

How many rounds do the jeep mounted M2 .50cals carry in those ammo boxes? I bet that thing carries at least 100rounds. How many of those could you fit in a Lanc??

[vorticon]

ammo amounts seem a bit weird because if they had there real ammo amounts the planes would be a lot better...though it would be nice in a lanc...and would you really want those "temp dweebs" having even more ammo???

[DarkHawk]

The idea ammo would be for the plane and not by the gun for a bomber since ammo could be passed between gun positions as needed.  so if each gun had 2000 rounds and the buff had 10 guns then total ammo would be 20,000 rounds
JMO

DarkHawk  

[Tony Williams]

The .50 ammo weighed nearly five times as much per round as the .303 - and weight was an issue.

It was discovered that the 10,000 .303 rounds was excessive and never required. Operational Research calculated that 2,000 rounds would suffice for 99% of missions.

Tony Williams: Military gun and ammunition website and Discussion forum

[Bodhi]

Originally posted by Tony Williams
The .50 ammo weighed nearly five times as much per round as the .303 - and weight was an issue.

Ummm, geeee, 1200 grains, vs. 200 grains, so we need repetition???????

(Yes, I know a grain is a weight of powder, I quoted it to begin with!  1100 - 1300 for a .50 cal, 180 - 240 for a .303.  Umm, the projectile is almost 10 to 1 in weight... scary huh!

[Tony Williams]

The .50 cal bullets weighed about four times as much as the .303's (it varied depending on the loading).

Tony Williams: Military gun and ammunition website and discussion
forum

[bigsky]

the .50cal ammo cans hold 50 rounds, or at least the ones it left the factory in linked

[AdmRose]

I thought the .50 cans held 100 rounds?

[BenDover]

Originally posted by Kweassa
I'd also like to know why the 109G-2 still only has 150 rounds.

 If I recall, eiher the Typhoon or the Tempest also has incorrect ammo load..

Tempest

Missing 50 rounds per gun, should be 200 rpg, so we're missing 200 rounds

[Bodhi]

Originally posted by bigsky
the .50cal ammo cans hold 50 rounds, or at least the ones it left the factory in linked

That's simply NOT TRUE... I have over 150 Ammo Cans WW2 ERA filled with 100 Rnds each, LINKED .50 Caliber (the ammunition are dummys for our museum).  Guess the workers were taking the extra 50 rounds home in your factory?!?!