WW2 era fighters comparison question?

a 50 cal bullet typically weighs 45 grams. a Browning fires at a rate of around 700 a minute for an AN2 aircraft gun

Thats 45 x 700 = 31.5 kilos per minute of lead and badness

times that by 8 and you get 252 kilos per minute.

Basically a P-47 could fire a quarter of ton of ammo at you in a minute. unfortunately they didn`t have that amount of ammo on board.

A ME 109G carried two x 13mm and up to 2 x 20mm cannon.

13mm had a bullet weight of around 38g and a rate of fire of 900 rounds per minute

38 x 900 x 2 = 68.4 kg

MG151 cannon shell weight averaged at 65g rate of fire. 740 rpm

65 x 740 x 2 96.2 kilos

Total weight of ammo in one minute = 164.6 Kg

Despite the added damage factor occasioned by cannon shells the weight is the usual method of determining firepower.

Ray

Well, when you have 6 or 8 .50Cal it really IS more firepower than two machine-guns and a 20mm cannon IF you are on the receiving end. The 20mm would punch bigger holes, than the .50 Cal, but dead is still dead. Realize that the modern M-16 is only .223 Cal!! It kills just as dead as a .50 Cal, or for that matter, a 20mm.

Of course, I am only looking at this from the standpoint of a former possible recipient for such projectiles in Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and Afghanistan (Against the Soviet invasion, not the war on terror)

It should also be added the p-47 was the worlds biggest and heaviest propeller fighter (even to the present). It had top speed of over 400mph if necessary and was referred to as 'the flying tank' or 'railroad buster'. Besides it's guns, it could carry an impressive amount of under wing bombs (as much as some German bombers) or lots of rockets.

It was a 'heavy weight' while the older German ME-109 was a maneuverable 'light weight'.

P-47's were used as much as fighter bombers/ ground attack aircraft, but also as effective fighters. As such they had way more 'fire-power' than the nimble but only for air to air combat ME-109's.

Sinner,

good seeing you again and great question. The question is answered by Speffy above me ~ rapid fire for unspecified targets will always win the day and provide the adrenaline to push on when one is actually in the battle field or in this case dog fight. Me 109s also had problems with the accelerated speed factor of their aircraft which meant that unless they were specifically interdicting bombers they would have a bigger struggle in knocking out pursuit planes.

All the best,

Gerry

Cannons fire slower than the .50 caliber machine guns, and BF109's did carry less ammunition. Given the time period, unless you were attacking bombers (and maybe even still then) .50 caliber machine guns would provide more firepower in numbers than 2 7.92's and a 20mm. Additionally, the P47 was an armored beast, and they had more hardpoints underneath.

I can see your point. It could be a reference to the concentrated firepower of 6 or 8 .50 calibre machine guns hitting the same spot? Or perhaps it was an over-enthusiastic American scriptwriter.