Quote:
Originally Posted by IceFire
Interesting. I had always read about how pilots were told to fire in short bursts...
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The big reason was to prevent jams, for the reasons that others have mentioned. The other big issue was conservation of ammunition - since planes never carried enough of it.
My guess is that preserving the life of the gun was less important, since even if you fry an entire machine gun, it's a trivial expense compared to the cost of an airplane.