Help with Question Please...

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bsl RE:Help with Question Please... 1/29/2003 5:17:50 PM

MGs were traditionally smaller caliber. Back during WW2, they came in rifle caliber (30cal) and 50 caliber. Cannon were heavier, with much slower rates of fire. Several planes from several countries had 20mm cannon. In modern times, when fighters have guns, they're actually forms of the old gatling guns, rather than machine guns. IOW, they operate with multiple barrels which rotate and fire in sequence, rather than through a single barrel. Their rates of fire can be fantastic. 3000 to 5000 rounds per minute. They run from 20 to 30 mm, as I recall, depending on the country.

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Noein RE:Help with Question Please... 1/30/2003 9:12:01 AM

Does all cannon ammo have an exploding tip?

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displacedjim RE:Help with Question Please... 2/1/2003 1:09:33 AM

There is no real difference any longer between maching guns and automatic cannon. About the only distinction is the caliber, with the traditional dividing line drawn at roughly 15mm to 20mm: if it's 15mm or smaller, it's a machine gun; if it's 20mm or larger, it's a cannon. I think it's safe to say most aircraft cannon are either of a revolving barrel type or a revolving cylinder type, but some other designs are used as well. Yes, today essentially all ammunition for air-to-air use have projectiles with a high explosive fill, since (as mentioned in an earlier post) virtually all air-to-air guns today are between 20mm and 30mm, and thus allow for an appreciable explosive capacity. Ammunition intended for use against ground targets use a variety of projectiles. Some are armor piercing using a penetrator core without any explosive fill, while some are high-explosive. The AH-64 Apache uses a 30mm HEDP (high explosive dual purpose) projectile that contains an explosive shaped-charge for both armor piercing and blast effect. Other types exist as well. Jim Habermehl

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Tony Williams RE:Help with Question Please... 2/6/2003 11:03:36 PM

You might find my website of interest, especially the Ammunition Photo Gallery. Tony Williams Military gun and ammunition website: link Discussion forum at: link

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fred79 RE:Help with Question Please... 3/13/2003 9:39:43 PM

I think one of the major differences between cannon and machine guns is the operation of the weapon machineguns usually are self power, using the energy of the round to unload, eject, reload, re spring. A cannon usually is not self power it is power by and electric or pneumatic motor to do all the operatins. the main shift to cannons is two fold, in ww2 they found the 20mm cannin although heavier could take down aircraft much eaier than teh .50 caliber machineguns. the next major reason is that a self power gun can jam for many number of reasons a pilot them would have to attempt to unjam the action. with a cannon if a round fails to fire for any reason it is removed from the action and the next round is inserted, reducing the chance for equiptment failure. most fighter use either a 20 or 25mm cannon and ground attack air craft use the heavier 30-40mm cannon for anti tank weapons. in fact during ww2 teh b-25's i think had a anto submarine version that had a 75mm cannon mounted on the plane to take out ships.

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