Author Topic: 20mm Vs. 50 cals...a question (Read 357 times)

muckmaw · « **on:** January 22, 2003, 10:57:12 AM »

Spending the bulk of my time in F6Fs, FM2, P51 and other American builds, I am usually sprayin 50 cal fire at my opponents.

Last night, I spent some time revisiting the F4U-C with it's 20mm Cannons.

Obviously, a few bursts from the 20mm was more than enough to blast enemy planes from the sky, whereas the 50 cals would require many more hits to destroy the enemy plane.

The quesiton is, is a 20mm round THAT much bigger than a 50 cal?

Is there a difference in velocity to be considered here?

I do not doubt the ballisitcs model in Aces High, but not being a gun enthusiast, I really don't know much about these projectiles.

If anyone has a picture of a 20mm round vs. a 50 Cal round, I would appreciate it, along with any other insight you can provide.

Thanks in advance.

icemaw · « **Reply #1 on:** January 22, 2003, 11:11:43 AM »

50 cal is about 1/2 inch in dia 20mm is allmost 1 inch in dia with a shell about 4 times as big as a 50cal so ya they are that much bigger and i belive they are exploding shells also.

muckmaw · « **Reply #2 on:** January 22, 2003, 11:24:31 AM »

Whats an exploding shell?

Like a hollow point, or does the projectile actually have an explosive inside it?

fffreeze220 · « **Reply #3 on:** January 22, 2003, 11:44:40 AM »

HE = High explosive means that the shell explodes on impact.

I read somehwere the german 30mm explodes on impact and the 20mm had a kind of a timer and explodes 1 sec (or so) after impact.

Tarmac · « **Reply #4 on:** January 22, 2003, 11:59:00 AM »

Tony Williams' site is a great place for all kinds of weapon info. He did an article or two on WWII aircraft armament.

http://www.quarry.nildram.co.uk/WW2guneffect.htm

Pretty much explains all the pros and cons of our AH weapons.

maxtor · « **Reply #5 on:** January 22, 2003, 01:30:45 PM »

The F4U is firing those huge Hispano 20mm bullets (#8) , which you can see are quite formidable even compared to regular german 20mm (#7) in the picture above. The US 50 cal (#4) is just a baby in comparision to either.