Quote:
Originally Posted by David603
The only reason the USAAF and USN stayed with 6 .50cals as the standard armament for fighters during WWII was that the changes introduced to the Hispano to "Americanise" it made it very unreliable and prone to jamming. When the Hispano became sufficiently reliable and available in sufficient quantities (this happened very late in the war) it replaced the .50cals on USN aircraft.
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The US built there own version of it and uncharacteristically it was very poorly manufactured. Even the US made 20mm rounds were poor quality. Possible conspiracy!
There was also logistical concerns, with a new weapon you need differnet training, different handling and packing...sticking with one gun and one type of bullet makes a huge amount of sense.