Guns

Guns are your offensive and defensive armament, used for dogfights and/or strafing enemies on the grounds. Most fighters aircraft are armed, and bombers are armed with turreted guns for defense, but some bombers such Mosquito Mk IV have no forward facing guns and must rely on speed for defense.

Machine Guns
Machine Guns having the longest range and hold the most ammo. They are great for dogfights and light ground targets, but not as effective against heavy ground targets such as buildings and fortresses unless there are multiple aboard.

Browning .303
This gun is installed in almost of the the British aircraft, including the Spitfire. It has a very fast rate of fire of 1,200 rpm, with great range at almost 2,000 feet away and high velocity to guarantee a hit. But the bullets are quiet weak nor quiet effective against ground targets and take a while to shoot down armored aircraft such heavy fighters and bombers. If few or none hit your target at all, very likely an armored adversary will slip away.

Used by Spitfire IXc and Mosquito Mk VI & XVIII. In Firepower, used by Avro Lancaster Mk III and Mk I Special.

MG 17
A 7.92mm medium machine gun used by the Luftwaffe. This gun found it's way with the Bf 109 and early fighters, but also served as defensive armament for Luftwaffe bombers. While firing rate and range was acceptable, it lacked the power to puncture through armor and heavy aircraft and would feel more like a tickle. Firing rate of 1,100 a minute.

Used by Fw 190-A5. In Firepower, used by Me 410 A-1.

MG 81
Based on the MG 34 general purpose machine gun, this 7.92mm machine gun is mounted on Luftwaffe bombers. It has an absurd rate of fire, spitting bullets out like air-mount MG 42. But the rounds are still weak and it takes dozens of bursts to bring down a pestering fighter. RoF is 1,500 rpm.

Used by Ju 88 A-4 and Ju 88-C6. In Firepower, used by Do 217 M1.

Browning M2 .50-cal
The Browning .50 cal is installed on all American aircraft and a few heavy English planes. The 12.7x99mm (0.5 or half an inch) rounds are superior to the .303 and have better performance against both fighters and bombers along light armored ground units. The bullets are moderately fast fast and have decent range of about 1,600- 1,800 feet. American tail gunners should have no problem picking off a persistent German Fighter as a couple of bursts should do the trick. They still are inferior to cannons, but beware of fighters carrying multiple .50's such as the P-47 Thunderbolt, because they carry 8 of them! The B-25 strafing bombers carry even more! RoF is 750 rpm.

Used by all American aircraft, Spitefires IXe and all 3 British B-25 Mitchells (C, H, and J). In Firepower, used by P-40 Warhawk, B-17G/F Flying Fortress, and B-29A Super Fortress.

MG 131
A German heavy caliber 13mm machine gun. Installed on many Luftwaffe fighters and mounted as defensive armament for bombers. Similar characteristics as the Browning .50 cal, this gun fires straight and true at a similar range. Having better armor piecing capabilities than smaller calibers, these heavy bullets could make short work of fighters, even allied bombers would not want to get hit by this round. Quite effective towards ground targets too. RoF around 900 rpm.

Used by Me 109G-6/G-10, Fw 190A5/A8, and Ju 88 A-4/C-6. In Firepower, used by all Me 410 variants.

Auto Cannons
Auto cannons are hard hitting for shooting down bombers and tough ground targets, but fire much slower with speed and range because of the weight and explosive filling. Ammo count is also lower than that of machine guns so shoot in bursts. A fighter plane would be ruined and bombers would not last as long either.

MG 151/15
A heavy caliber machine that fired 15mm rounds. It is pretty powerful, but no where compared to the heavier 20mm guns. Fighters had one or two, and some bombers were equipped with them as well. RoF is 700.

Used only by Do 335. In Firepower, used by Me 410 A-1.

Hispano M2 20mm
The Hispano M2 cannon fired big shells, strong and powerful for making a mess out of aircraft, and wide ground targets such as tanks, armored trains, bridges, and ships. British aircraft like the Spitfire and Typhoon IB were armed with his gun, but some American fighters such as the P-38 had one too. Firing rate is mediocre and damage begins to drop off after 1,200 feet or so. RoF is 600 rpm.

Used by P-38 J&L, P-55 Ascender, Spitfire IXc & IXe, Mosquito VI and XVIII Typhoon IB, Tempest V, and Vampire I. In Firepower, used by D.520.

MG 151/20
A boosted up version of the 15mm MG 151/15. The MG 151/20 can spit out heavy rounds towards an unfortunate target, leaving a mess its' wake. Impressive, but slow. RoF is 740 rpm.

Used by Bf 109G-6, Fw 190A5, Fw 190A8, Do 335 A-1 and Do 335 B-2. In Firepower, used by Do 217 N2, He 162, Me 410 B-2/R3, Me 410 B-2/U2/R4, Me 410 B-2/U4, Ta 152 C-1, Ta 152 H-1, Ta 154, Ta 152b.

MG FF
German high power auto cannon equipped by night fighters. It takes around 10-20 hits to down heavy aircraft like the Hispano and MG 151/20. Unfortunately, it is the slowest firing auto cannon in the game (420 rpm) and has poorer velocity than most fixed guns (600 m/s). Don't use it on fast moving targets unless you have to.

Used only by Ju 88C-6

MK 103 and MK 108
A scary 30mm auto cannon used by the Luftwaffe for destroying bombers with overkill. No target is safe from within range: fighters and bombers would be ripped apart, buildings would crumble, tanks and trucks would be culled, and armored ships would be sunk. But the accuracy poor and ammo would be used up quickly. Range is only good for no greater than 600-800 feet. The Me 262 carries these, while some others such as the Do 335 carry a couple. MK 103 is slower with 420 shells a minute but longer range while the lighter MK 108 shoots 650 shells a minute with shorter range and velocity.

Used by both 2 Do 335 variants and the Go 229 for the MK 103, used by Bf 109G-10 Me 262 A-1a, Me 262 A-2a for the MK 108.

In Firepower, MK 103 used by Me 410 B-2/R3, MK 108 used by Ho 229 V5, Ta 152 C-1, Ta 152 H-1, Ta 154, Ta 154b, Me 334, and Ta 183.

Heavy Cannons
These sized up bad boys are for either ground targets or destroying bombers. Due to their massive size and firing rate, they should not be used against nimble fighters.

BK 5
A 7 foot long stick that fired a whopping 50mm shell for sinking ships and sniping allied bombers. Range is great but it only fires at a rate of one shell a second and does not carry many rounds. Muzzle flash is very blinding due to the gun being directly mounted in the nose.

Used by the Me 262 U-4 and Ju 88 P-4. In Firepower, used by Me 410 B-2/U4.

QF 6-Pounder 57mm
This big lad fired huge slugs at range towards tanks, boats, and Luftwaffe bombers, giving the nickname Tsetse for the Mosquito Mk XVIII. Firing rate was slow (55 rpm) along with ammo capacity (21 total) but one precise hit was a guaranteed kill.

Used only by the Mosquito Mk XVIII.

T13E1
Want to go tank hunting and sit back and watch the carnage from your bird's eye view? This cannon fires MASSIVE 75mm shells! And they even explode on impact! The BK 5 has nothing against this! Even better that you 8 foward facing .50 cals to bumper-crop your overall killing strreak. hope you like waiting because this boom stick has a reload time of 8 to 10 seconds. After all, you are a flying howitzer.

Used only by the B-25H Mitchell.

Firepower Specials
These are guns unique from the others, as they are fitted for different roles than others. These are featured only in the Firepower installment.

MAC 1934
The MAC 1934 is a small, light caliber french machine gun that fires 7.5mm rounds, with statistics identical to the .303 Browning. It is found and used only on the D.520 French fighter in the game.

Schräge Musik
As allied bombing continued to wreak havoc among the Germans, the Luftwaffe began new strategies in taking downs the bombers without receiving return fire. The Schräge Musik is a upward-firing auto cannon consisting up two MG 151/20s. This makes it the perfect tool for destroying bombers from out of their gunner's reach safely from below. You need to “steer” the gun into position by changing your yaw. On a downside, this is effective only for air targets; completely useless for ground units.

Used by the Do 217 N2 and Ta 154.

Rearward-firing MG 151/20
Only installed in the back of the Ar 234 jet-bomber, this is a double 20mm rearward firing auto cannon for defense against chasers that comes with a periscope. Tricky to use, your bird's speed is better off saving you than to risk sniping pursuers and ground targets you might of passed right over.

Used only by the Ar 234B-2.

Trivia

 * Bullets fired by defensive gunnery position on bombers from the aircraft itself will clip through without harm if directly aim at the structure, so no worry as self damage is not possible.
 * 20mm and 30mm cannons share the same firing sound effect.
 * The B-25J carries the most number of forward firing machine guns (x12) while the Fw 190 A5 and A8 carries the most on board auto cannons (x6) only to be rivaled by Firepower's Me 410 B-2/R3.