Defending
The Browning M 2-.50 Calibre Machine Gun
The Browning M 2 was the standard offensive/defensive weapon used by the US 8th Air Force. It weight 64lbs was 57 inches long, and fired 750 rounds per minute. Its effective range was 3,500 feet. the gun was the same as that fitted to bomber escort gfighters such as the P-51. Bullets were 5.47 inches long, weight 1.71 ounces and were available as tracer (tipped with red paint), incendiary (tipped with blue), armor-piercing incendiary (tipped with silver) and plain armor-piercing (tipped with black paint).
| Weight | 29 Kg |
| Length | 1,45 m |
| Muzzle speed | 930 m/s |
| Rounds per minutes | 750 r/min |
Browning-M-2 .30 Calibre Machine Gun
Fitted in the early B-17 models as the nose armament but not used after the Spring of 1943. The B-17E and B-17F both had four sockets in the plexiglass nose to take 0.30 calibre's and the bombardier was expected to move the gun from one location to another during air combat. In practice this was not done and the 0.30 calibre's were usually left in one position. The 0.30 calibre's could fire 1,200 round per minute but was ineffective due to its lack of range or muzzle velocity.
| Weight | 10 Kg |
| Length | 1,13 m |
| Muzzle speed | 870 m/s |
| Rounds per minutes | 1200 r/min |