One thing I do is that I don't fire in close, I usually open up at around 800 yards and keep firing until my pass is over. With the nose mounted guns, it's easy to keep fire on target and it's all concentrated.
ack-ack
BINGO!!
In ww2 P38 could open up from longer away due to the nose mounted concentrated .50cal.
Wing mounted .50 cal were a complete other discipline. The few short moments at, and just inside of effective range, 1200ft. Dictated the gunnery method for the other AAF fighter planes. At which point your 101Mil ring and flying skills were paramount to take advantage of a very tiny window of opportunity. And why the NAVY was forced by the AAF to route all of their Mark 21 production to the ETO. AAF K14 are all data plate stamped US NAVY Mark 21. The K14A was the first true AAF production gyro gunsight.
These conversations keep themselves alive because people don't want to accept the answer is as simple as the following.
With the hit area adhering to the aircraft's silhouette, and Hitech applying the physics faithfully for the .50 cal right out of the manuals. 1200ft(400yd) is your max effective air to air kill range with the AN\M2 in wing mounted configurations. 600 for the P38. Your convergence set just inside of that allows you to hit at 400 while accounting for closure at speed under 400. If your ACM and piloting skills are not honed to that window at, and just inside of 400, go see a trainer. Or start spending time offline against the drones just before you log into the arenas to tune your sight picture and reflexes.
Your internet connection also includes how good or bad your opponents connection is. In effect it averages your wonderful connection down if his is crapola because you two are a single connection of a sort. Or, your 50 cals start looking like Hitech is robbing you. Hitech cannot control this planet's weather. Skuzzy cannot control all the routers on this planet or the physical connections between them. Half the USA has been swamped in a terrible winter storm. Your 50 cals are showcasing how much that storm has affected our communication infrastructure.