Small Scale Military Headquarters

Can anyone point me to some pictures of the ends of Japanese machine guns, specifically the zero's fuselage guns (type 97 guns, according to my books)? I want to drill out the barrels, but don't want to make the holes too large. I've done various searches online but have failed to find anything helpful, so if anyone has pics of the front end of a zero, I'd be most appreciative. Or even the front of the machine gun by itself would be great.

Thanks,

Michael

Hi Nooker,

I dont' have actual pics but I found a large 'exploded' view in the book titled The Great Book of World War II Airplanes published by Bonanza. It shows the business end of the 7.7 mm fuselage guns. The bore diameter is about 1/2 that of the outside barrel diameter.

Rogo

Some detail can be found at http://www.dragonsoffire.com/japanese_n ... eapons.htm and a small photo of each. The 7.7mm is very close in size to the 308 cal. weapons of US design. In other words, the bullet was close to the M1 Garand round and, therefore, unable to heavily damage American aircraft unless very close or a lucky shot. The main damage was done by the 20mm cannons in the wings. One hit was enough. If you plan to drill out the MG barrels, use a small pin-drill and keep the diameter small...you won't be wrong.

I agree - these barrels were unusually "thick walled". Use a small drill, make certain it's straight in all directions , and you'll be fine.

Folkwulfe wrote:The 7.7mm is very close in size to the 308 cal. weapons of US design. In other words, the bullet was close to the M1 Garand round and, therefore, unable to heavily damage American aircraft unless very close or a lucky shot. The main damage was done by the 20mm cannons in the wings. One hit was enough.

And to think, the Japanese had the KI-43 Oscar, of which the early versions were only armed with two 7.7mm guns! I have read that the 7.7mm guns were use to zero in on a target, and once the pilot scored hits with those, opened with the cannon to get as direct of a hit as possible. This was because a Zero only carried about 120 20mm rounds per gun, which wouldn't last too long in a dogfight.