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Re: About WW2 fighter aircraft firing power
Thanks, Srecko. Usually, but not always, rate of fire is higher in smaller caliber automatic weapons, as a result of less weight of cartridge and breech block metal that needs to be moved. One of the WW2 developments was to increase the rate of fire for aircraft armaments, all calibers, for instance by reducing the weight of the breech block, by increasing the recoil spring force, by different lock mechanisms, and any combination of these. Machine guns for fighter aircraft would evolve in the direction of 1.200 rpm, whilst the army versions of these guns had 800 rpm.
After the war, a .22LR Gatling gun driven by an electric motor was made, that sported a much higher firing power than any of the WW2 aircraft machine guns, as a result of the >20.000 rpm (rounds per minute) firing rate. I believe that this gun was never used operationally, but it serves to demonstrate the technical point.
I agree that mixing calibers was one way to achieve compromises, the way in which the Germans led the field.
Regards,
Rob
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