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the pigeons learned to rap out as many as four pecks a second for more than two minutes without a break, and would work feverishly to prevent the target image from moving off dead center.

 

[...] The pigeon had to peck correctly or he got no food at all. According to the report on these experiments: ‘There wasn’t a single washout in the entire class of 64. Every bird earned his wings with an A grade.’

 

[...] Target pistols were fired only a few inches from a bird’s head. The pigeons didn’t miss a peck, didn’t even look up. Other extremely loud noises were introduced. Again, the pigeons stayed at their task. Skinner also put the pigeons in a pressure chamber, setting the altitude at 10,000 feet. They were also whirled around in a centrifuge, put on pure oxygen and exposed to bright flashes, simulating shell bursts. High vibrations were also introduced, and the birds were subjected to massive G forces without harmful effects.

 

[While] pigeons were never used to bomb enemy targets, the test results show that they could have.

the pigeons learned to rap out as many as four pecks a second for more than two minutes without a break, and would work feverishly to prevent the target image from moving off dead center.

[...] The pigeon had to peck correctly or he got no food at all. According to the report on these experiments: ‘There wasn’t a single washout in the entire class of 64. Every bird earned his wings with an A grade.’

[...] Target pistols were fired only a few inches from a bird’s head. The pigeons didn’t miss a peck, didn’t even look up. Other extremely loud noises were introduced. Again, the pigeons stayed at their task. Skinner also put the pigeons in a pressure chamber, setting the altitude at 10,000 feet. They were also whirled around in a centrifuge, put on pure oxygen and exposed to bright flashes, simulating shell bursts. High vibrations were also introduced, and the birds were subjected to massive G forces without harmful effects.

[While] pigeons were never used to bomb enemy targets, the test results show that they could have.

Which you use depends on what you're firing.

In both cases, they give the foe a leg up in locating you and returning fire.

[Edit: it has been pointed out to me that there are tracers which only shine backwards towards the firer... which seems like it would reduce the problem, but not eliminate it unless every round hits, since they'd see the ones that missed and went past. If every round hits, you don't need tracer rounds anyway.]

Cams and gears are pretty freaking incredible. Back in WWII, we couldn't carry computers around in planes. Computers were the size of buildings, and needed a fleet of engineers just to keep them running and to fix all the bugs.

Instead they used mechanical systems. The resource you want to read on this -- and I suspect that, given the work you've put into building your world already, you actually will read this, once you get how important it is to your setting -- is Ordnance Pamphlet 1140: Basic Fire Control Systems, Section 2, which you can find at https://maritime.org/doc/op1140/ Think thought the differential gear in your car was just a thing that let the wheels rotate at different speeds? No, it's a computing system that does addition and subtraction! And similar things let you multiply, divide, differentiate, calculate trig functions, and more!

Which you use depends on what you're firing.

Tracers and rainbow-shells both help your foe locate you and return fire.

[Edit: it has been pointed out to me that there are tracers which only shine backwards towards the firer... which seems like it would reduce the problem, but not eliminate it unless every round hits, since they'd see the ones that missed and went past. If every round hits, you don't need tracer rounds anyway.]

Cams and gears are pretty freaking incredible. 

Back in WWII, we couldn't carry computers around in planes. Computers were the size of buildings, and needed a fleet of engineers just to keep them running and to fix all the bugs.

Instead they used mechanical systems. The resource you want to read on this -- and I suspect that, given the work you've put into building your world already, you actually will read this, once you get how important it is to your setting -- is Ordnance Pamphlet 1140: Basic Fire Control Systems, Section 2, which you can find at: https://maritime.org/doc/op1140/

Think the differential gear in your car was just a thing that let the wheels rotate at different speeds? No, it's a computing system that does addition and subtraction! And similar things let you multiply, divide, differentiate, calculate trig functions, and more!

If you're firing a volley of single-shot things, then having them explode colorfully on fuzes at roughly the right distance gives you some great advantages: stuff that "misses" has a second chance to do damage from shrapnel; and you can see the pattern it paints around the

In both cases, they give the foe a leg up in locating you and returning fire. Say you always fire a rainbow of shells. The foe, on observing a red explosion to their port and an orange explosion closer but still to the port, will know that you are astern of them. Even if you don't fire in color, a foe seeing an explosion to port and then a later one to the starboard will know you are to port.

Cams and gears are pretty freaking incredible. Back in WWII, we couldn't carry computers around in planes. Computers were the size of buildings, and needed a fleet of engineers just to keep them running and to fix all the bugs.

Which is where pigeons come in.

TL;DR: As well as tracers (for guns) and fuzed detonation (for cannon), you may also want to look into cams, gears, and pigeons.

If you're firing a volley of single-shot things, then having them explode colorfully on fuzes at roughly the right distance gives you some great advantages: stuff that "misses" has a second chance to do damage from shrapnel; and you can see the pattern it paints around the target.

In both cases, they give the foe a leg up in locating you and returning fire.

[Edit: it has been pointed out to me that there are tracers which only shine backwards towards the firer... which seems like it would reduce the problem, but not eliminate it unless every round hits, since they'd see the ones that missed and went past. If every round hits, you don't need tracer rounds anyway.]

Say you always fire a rainbow of shells. The foe, on observing a red explosion to their port and an orange explosion closer but still to the port, will know that you are astern of them. Even if you don't fire in color, a foe seeing an explosion to port and then a later one to the starboard will know you are to port.

Cams and gears are pretty freaking incredible. Back in WWII, we couldn't carry computers around in planes. Computers were the size of buildings, and needed a fleet of engineers just to keep them running and to fix all the bugs.

Which is where pigeons come in.

TL;DR: As well as tracers (for guns) and fuzed detonation (for cannon), you may also want to look into cams, gears, and pigeons.