Talk:381mm/50 Triple Gun Mount/@comment-17105527-20150510164243/@comment-24093250-20150824134528

> Well historically, with quality built rounds, the guns had a very predictable pattern meaning despite large dispersion, corrections could be made very easily. So it isn't as inaccurate as it might appear.

The problem with the guns themselves was the high muzzle velocity, which contributed to part of the dispersion patterns; the rest was because of the uneven quality of the shells (because they had a 1% tolerance when weighed). Conversely, some fire directors tried to prepare in advance salvoes with shells as similar as possible, to reduce said effect. There were instances in which batches of shells were of relatively good quality, and therefore these guns fired more tightly than in other occasions, for example at Gaudo during the battle of Cape Matapan.

> And the Italians could always fired each gun half a second later than the previous to decrease dispersion.

I think you are referring to a problem that, although widespread on many Italian mountings (those of the 203 mm of the heavy cruisers, or the 120 mm of the destroyers, for example), i.e. the gun barrels being mounted so close together (to save weight) that when firing the muzzle blasts would interfere with the shell's trajectory, was not present on the guns of the Littorios. These guns were mounted well apart on individual cradles, so this wasn't an issue.