Cool, but by no means is your original way wrong. We just had different connotations of the same subject. I'm always glad to have new features to play with, though!
EDIT: I guess this brings me back to the topic at hand. For the tank fire sounds, you should pitch shift them slightly from shot to shot to alleviate ear stress and to provide a more natural sound.
EDIT EDIT: Ashley, I thought some more about it. The more elegant solution has another benefit in that if you choose to package your product with reduced-quality sounds, any effects applied to them do not become problematic in the way you foresaw.