.303's
 

I was going to attempt some humour and title this thread ".303's are porked!" but decided against it.

First off the good news is that I'm getting better accuracy in COD (about 20%) than in IL2 (about 5%) and it looks like my rounds are doing some effect. In the after mission report many of my targets are getting 50%-99% damage. But I don't get to see many of them bite the dust.

Unfortunately the lack of sniper tail gunners have made direct 6 the norm and maybe a bit of deflection shooting may get my rounds on more sensitive parts of the aircraft towards the front of the planes?

All in all, I think the engineers at Supermarine need to put cannons on the spitfire!

Cheers!

Salute

I wouldn't say the .303's are porked, and I am primarily a RAF pilot.

There is a big difference between the Spit and Hurri, the Hurri is far more effective in my experience, more stable and the closely grouped 4 gun batteries hit much harder than the skittish Spit with its dispersed guns.

Also makes a huge difference as to whether you set up your guns right, each gun has to have its convergence set separately, that's 8 guns you need to set, the initial ranges are way too distant for the power of this weapon, you need to get up close and have your convergence set to that distance to do serious damage.

Ammo is also importance, forget the marker and tracers, load up with Armour piercing and De Wilde inciendaries and rock on.

They are more effective than what I am used to in IL2 46. Honestly any way the .303 is modelled someone will complain so I hope Luthier ignores these threads.

It is frustrating shooting 25% until the guns are winchester and still not scoring kills.

I have no idea whether or not that is historically accurate. If it is, it should be left the way it is.

Thanks for the advice, I haven't seriously looked at the different loadouts yet, so in my next session I'll have a go.


Not all thread are directed towards the development team or are asking for changes. This one wasn't, I just wanted to see what was working (or not working) for other pilots in the sim.

In the IL2 I seam to get good results with the early model Hurricanes especially against the light un-armoured Japanese types but I'm definately getting more rounds on target in COD.

It could be that the damage has been done but it's effects are more subtle, maybe I'm finnishing my missions before target plane crashes or is forced down due to the damage sustained.

I expect its as Buzzsaw says, set convergence up close, choose the right ammunition , and only fire when you know your going to do the damage.

Cheers!

Armour piercing and Dewilde are definitely the way to go. I go about 50-50 save for tracers every fourth round on my inboard guns, and residual tracers on the left outboard, so I know when I'm just about out.

On the Spittie I set my outboard guns at 250, the second set moving in at 225 and the remaining four at 200. My squad mate came up with this scheme, and it sounded good so I tried it and so far I like it.

And BTW, I'm quite satisfied with the damage that the 303's do. My aim is a different matter altogether.

There is a reason why they eventually added cannons to the Spitfires and Hurricanes.. There is very little armor in Luftwaffe AC in this period.. crew kills are relatively easy... Set up a single mission with you and an He111 and HO the cockpit area.. it will roll right over and go in.. dead 6 attacks go into the only armor they had (seat backs) so any deflection angle will help

I'm also quite pleased with the 0.303s.

There are a few tricks:

1. Aim for vulnerable components like engine & pilot because you won't chop aircraft up as you might have done in IL2.
2. Be prepared to wait; it often takes a while for system damage to bring down an aeroplane; oil and cooling systems can leak for 5-10 minutes before running dry, and engines can then run on for another 5-10, followed by perhaps another 5-10 minutes of gliding.
3. If you want to score lots of kills, be prepared to cripple a target and move on to the next one whilst you wait for it to die.

Remember that the objective of the exercise is to remove the enemy's ability to fight, not to generate a TV-friendly spectacle.

If you want a real challenge, try scoring kills in the G50...

I'm Loading quad AP with a sprinkling of Dewilde's and red tracer guns on the outer guns and inner guns with non tracer AP/incendiary in the rest.

so my spit Loadout looks a bit like this

gun1, AP AP AP AP, Dewilde Dewilde Red Tracer, incendiary Tracer
gun2 AP AP AP AP, Dewilde Dewilde, Ball Ball
gun3 AP AP AP AP, Dewilde Dewilde, Ball Ball
gun4 AP AP AP AP, Dewilde Red Tracer, incendiary Tracer
gun5, AP AP AP AP, Dewilde Red Tracer, incendiary Tracer
gun6 AP AP AP AP, Dewilde, Dewilde Ball Ball
gun7 AP AP AP AP, Dewilde, Dewilde, Ball Ball
gun8 AP AP AP AP, Dewilde Dewilde Red Tracer, incendiary Tracer

The tracers give a nice cone effect and you can easily see your convergence distance
convergence is the same across all guns set at 250 thinking of bringing it down to about 220 or staggering the convergence like badaim (great idea) though the closer you get the better the results.

And i love the 303's they feel right, you can spray all day and not hit anything vital from the rear but from an angle aiming at some vital component like a fuel tank or engine and you hit that part at convergence even a half second burst can be lethal and leave you with some spectacular moments you won't chop parts off unless you hit a fuel tank but you will leave your opponent crippled, on fire or smoking who's easy to finish or you can leave him to have an interesting flight back to base with the likely result he'll be ditching in the channel at some point.

Anyone else hoping for the 12 gun hurri to make a return :D

I know convergence and loadout is the key, but I can't select it in QMB! :(
The thing is broken, it's so stupid... :(