Re: Water Cooled Vickers Guns....

From: "Ryan Gill" <rmgill@mindspring.com>

> With any super high rate of fire concept (multiple barrels) you're 
> going to still have to replace those barrels after sustained fire use 
> (air does not conduct heat nearly as well as water, even if your 
> barrels are spinning around) and you're going to run out of ammo long 
> before. A lower, more sustained rate with better barrel cooling seems 
> the way to go for me. Suppose that doctrine use two different methods 
> at the same time (Horrors! two different ideas in concurrent 
> use...Can you say FW190 and BF109????!!?).

...or you can make the barrels disposable. Change barrel when you change
magazine. Barrles can then be made so light (because they don't have to
last more than a few rounds) that the weight penalty might even be
negative.

See Metal Storm.