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I was shocked to learn that the British iron sight; a rectangular thing; was scaled to approximate a wingspan at 200m. Of course that was informational only, determined by "theorists" flying a desk and may have been intended as a spot to open fire on a rapidly closing target.
I have heard (on the History Channel so the source is suspect) that the guns of a Sopwith Camel grouped in a thirty foot circle at 100 meters! That might be good enough for making a novice turn or maybe getting a lucky pilot hit during a long stern chase but to bring down a plane with any reasonable hope of success you need concentrated fire and that means in close.
Likewise early war monoplanes like the Morane Bullet and the Fokker Eindekker were not stable gun platforms. I supect this was true to some degree with all rotory engined planes.
MvR, after almost losing a couple of kills due to opponents regaining control or feigning disability, began the practice of firing until the enemy aircraft caught fire or broke apart sometimes firing as many as 400 rounds into planes from close range; 50 feet or less.
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