The new maxim DaBrain posted looks much better than the current one, but I can't really get an idea of its scale from that screenshot. I have a feeling the projectile needs to be somewhat longer to be close enough to the original though.
As people said earlier, time compression helps a lot for getting close up shots of weapons. I would especially like to see how it looks from the cockpit of something like the Serapis, in which you can see the shots really close up when firing it.
I don't think the rings look good either, especially on something moving so fast. The Akheton also has rings already and it would look a little strange for both of them to be using the same effect when the weapons don't have anything in common otherwise.