Talk:F4F-4/@comment-112.204.67.215-20161125225948/@comment-108.88.197.98-20161127165017

The US .50 cal Browning actually has superb ballistics (there's a reason its still in use today, and even in sniping roles). It's high velocity compared to a lot of other WW2 aircraft guns, giving pilots less to compensate for with drop and lead when aiming. The standard US setup of 4-6 guns also gave a very high effective rate of fire, another thing to make hitting the target easier.

It's true that the .50 caliber round lacks destructive power compared to a 20mm-30mm cannon shell, but it's important to put that into context. The Axis powers began gravitating toward heavy cannon because their machine guns were not effective at bringing down Allied bombers. The US, in particular of the Allies, never had to face a serious bombing campaign, and the bombers it did fight regularly were the Japanese ones - notoriously flimsy and flammable.

The .50 cal Browning was more than powerful enough to take down single-engine fighters and Japanese bombers, so there was no real need to sacrifice ammunition capacity, rate-of-fire, and accuracy, in favor of a more destructive round. Simply put, the US used the most effective gun setup for the situation it was in, just as other nations shifted their gun setups to fit their own operational needs.

Also, as an aside regarding the A6M comparison, the Zero's 20mm cannon had good punch, but only 60 rounds of ammo each, after which the pilot was left with only a pair of rifle-caliber machine guns that were terribly inneffective against virtually any WW2 aircraft, let alone the well-armored Wildcat and other durable US designs. The small 20mm ammo supply greatly limited the Zero's effective firepower by forcing pilots to be conservative with their use, a problem that became worse as the skill level of Japan's pilots dropped due to attrition. Conversely, even with green pilots, the US aircraft had plentiful ammunition supply, making them more forgiving of inexperienced airmen holding the trigger down too long.