Why Did The RAF Use .303 Caliber Machine Guns in WW2? The Surprising Answer

Britain's use of the .303 browning machine gun in its aircraft is a puzzling reality. While most other nations used at least some form of heavier armament, the RAF soldiered on in 1939 and 1940 with its rifle-caliber guns. A lot of people aren't entirely sure, including me, and that's why I decided to find out once and for all why the British didn't equip their aircraft with .50 caliber or 20mm caliber machine guns at the outbreak of WW2. 💗 If you'd like to support my channel please follow this link for more details: https://calibanrising.com/support/ 📰 You can also support me by subscribing to one of these great aviation magazines: https://calibanrising.com/magazines/ 💰 Want to start an online business with YouTube? This YouTube channel is no accident and the success I've had so far was no mere fluke, it's all been planned out and executed in a very meaningful way. However, I can't take credit for knowing how to do all that, I had to learn and I learned from the best! Listen to my advice for building a successful YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/4erKBL9BW6I Follow me on my other channel, https://www.youtube.com/passiveincomephil 3D print your own gaming controls Get an Enders 3 Pro like me: https://amzn.to/3dFXts3 Go over to http://authentikit.org/ 🕹️ My gaming equipment: Joystick: https://amzn.to/2TP6h40 Rudder Pedals: https://amzn.to/38c3YAx Elevator Trim: https://amzn.to/3oQWNn8 Head Tracking: https://amzn.to/34Qpvwd Wishlist: https://amzn.to/385dXHD Welcome to my channel where I share my love of history and aviation. I first fell in love with military aviation when reading Biggles books as a boy, then I studied history at university. I like finding interesting stories and sharing them with others. I also followed this passion into the real world and managed to get a Private Pilot's Licence on 10th May 2014. I'll share my gameplay from the IL2 Sturmovik Great Battles series as well as the Cliffs of Dover series and DCS series too, to give my stories drama. Feel free to subscribe, like and comment! System Specs: Intel(R) Core(TM) i-7 10700K CPU @ 3.80GHz 3.79 GHz Ram: 32.0 GB GPU: Geforce RTX 2070 SUPER VR: Pimax 5k plus Screen resolution (capture): 1920*1080 64-bit OS - Windows 10 ⏱️ Timestamp: 0:00 Why did the RAF use .303 machine guns? 0:37 Why the .303 Browning was chosen by Britain 1:43 Testing new types of Armament 5:43 Comparing the .303 to the .50 cal and 20mm 7:16 Was there really a surplus of .303 rounds? 8:16 Why didn't the RAF use .50 caliber machine guns? 9:32 Why didn't the RAF switch to 20 mm guns? 12:01 Why did Bomber Command still use .303 machine guns? 14:11 Why did Spitfires still have .303 machine guns in 1945? 15:49 Game Theory: The real reason .303 machine guns were kept by the British. Images: other than where stated, images used in the video have been found on https://commons.wikimedia.org/ #aviationhistory #history