eli5 why didn’t they but .50 caliber instead of the 7.62mm in the coaxial and hull gun in the m4 sherman

Question

eli5 why didn’t they but .50 caliber instead of the 7.62mm in the coaxial and hull gun in the m4 sherman

In: 0

Answer 1

.30 cal is smaller and more nimble, with more compact ammo. The .50 cal would have been harder to fit in the hull mount especially. The larger caliber does give you a bit more punch and range, so it made sense for the top-mounted gun that might see antiaircraft use, but there wasn’t much need for extra anti-infantry power alongside the 75mm gun’s generous high explosive round, which pre- combat studies suggested was more effective than a machine gun against infantry.