Assuming that the King Tiger got fire control upgrades to make it the equal of the early T-55, the T-55 and King Tiger duke it out (we can try out a variety of conditions), who usually wins?

First shot on target

Didn't we do this already?

Seems like Bojan's data indicated that T-55 is mostly immune to 88L71 from the front, at any range.

Still HERE.

Wow, I had forgotten I had started it......

Fire control *down*grades you mean I suppose? Given that early T-55 sight is basically a development of the Pz-III sight, I doubt there is any edge over the King Tiger in that area...

You should stay of them conre durgs sport, your'e a good kid

/R

I'm not sure but I think that the early T-55s had a single-plane (vertical) stabilizer.

T-54A got vertical only "Gorisont" stabilization.
T-54B and T-55/55A got 2-axis "Tsiklon" stabilization.
Still "FCS" (if you dare call it that way) was same on all T-54s/55/55A.
One advantage to T-54/55 would be "monkey button" that enabled TC to search for targets independently and then with a press of the button to bring a turret on a target (in a bearing only, gunner had to adjust elevation).

Let's disregard a stabilizer or night vision, both of these facilitate the post-war methods of tank fighting so not particularly relevant.

But doesn't a tank with a stabilizer have an edge over a tank that doesn't have one?

Of course, otherwise why would one put this device in a tank? But only in very specific conditions, especially given the limited nature of early stabilizers.

Yes. I guess in defensive operations the stabilizer is less useful than in offensive ones.

What were the early stabilizers capable of anyway?

I have to disagree you a bit about the usefulness of TC's target designators advantage in T-55's. It is not very usable system as it doesn't have the counter reverse system (that for example T-72 and BMP-2 has in TKN-3). According to my own experience keeping the cross hairs of TKN-1 steadily on target while heavy turret is traversed at max speed towards target usually leads turret to traverse "over" and also gunner needs to adjust the height as you said. IMHO it is musch faster to command turet verbally to target than use TKN-1 - TKN-3 is a lot better and much more usable.