What round does the "MINIGUN" shoot ???

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[ARCHIVED THREAD] - What round does the "MINIGUN" shoot ???

Posted: 6/29/2002 5:22:24 PM EDT

I saw this beauty in operation at Bulletfest3 today and didn't see what it was eating. Also ...what is the rate of fire for this gun??
(P.S. CampyBob sure knows how to throw a party...that had to be the funnest thing I ever did.)

Posted: 6/29/2002 5:25:53 PM EDT

[#1]

DESCRIPTION: 50 caliber, 3 barrel, belt fed, electric drive, fixed mount, repeating gun
DIMENSIONS: Length: 3' 8" Width: 1' 6" Height: 1' 5"
WEIGHT: 40 lbs. Without ammo, without belts, without power supply
VERBOSE: This is a 3 barreled, 50 caliber minigun, firing any type of 50 caliber belted NATO ammunition at the rate of 10 or 20 rounds a second. It has a considerable recoil, generating about 800 lbs. of continuous force. Recommended mounting is vehicle or fixed emplacements. Gun required 12 volt, 10 amp power supply to run the electric motor used for firing and belt feeding. Gun can also fire ammo types LSX and the SLAP round.
WARNING: Agents should not attempt to fire this gun without the gun being secured. Failure to do so will result in serious injury or death.
But of course this is the one from a video game of some sort. Did you mean a real one? [;)]

Posted: 6/29/2002 5:26:00 PM EDT

[#2]

Which one?
[url]http://users.bigpond.net.au/minigun/specs.htm[/url]

Posted: 6/29/2002 5:35:57 PM EDT

[#3]

The one in the picture from bulletfest is a 5 barrel setup.

Posted: 6/29/2002 5:51:46 PM EDT

[#4]

I thought Minigus were 7.62 (.308)!

Posted: 6/29/2002 5:58:49 PM EDT

[#5]

This one was indeed a 7.62mm. I was down to their right about 75 yards shooting a AR-18 on full auto when he let one rip for about 3-4 seconds. Scared the SH!T out of me cause I wasn't expecting the noise and the dust it created covered up most of what I was aiming at.
Defiantely a place to come next year for all of you who missed it.

Posted: 6/29/2002 5:59:42 PM EDT

[#6]

GE Mini-Gun (7.62mm) fires 7.62 NATO on a metallic link (same as M-60 use?), 6 barrels, and fires up to 6000 rounds per minute. The noise is AWSOME!! does not sound like gun fire, but a roar.

Posted: 6/30/2002 8:33:32 PM EDT

[#7]

sounds like clothe ripping.........only a whole lot louder [heavy]

Posted: 6/30/2002 9:42:16 PM EDT

[#8]

I guess they never made a minigun in 5.56 cause it doesn't have enough range, especially from aircraft?

Posted: 6/30/2002 9:45:40 PM EDT

[#9]

Funny, related story--about 25 years ago a buddy and I were in central Wis. hunting ruffed grouse and decided to go driving around looking for a new spot. We followed a dirt road several miles and eventually came to a small block building with a parking area. There was one vehicle parked there. Immediately a tall man came out and approached us wearing a military uniform. It turns out this was a gunnery range for the air force. We noticed a parachute hung up to form a huge bullseye several hundred yards away. He was friendly, though curt and invited us to stay "two minutes and 40 seconds" to see "something that very few civilians have seen." It turned out to be an A-10 (Warthog) made famous in Desert Storm. They are well known now, but it was amazing to see it whiz by, treetop high. When it was nearly overhead he fired a brief burst of 20 mm cannon, which was so loud and so fast (minigun perhaps?) that it was just a loud roar. We instantly hit the deck, much to the amusement of the soldier. He actually smiled slightly. I know this is as close as he comes to cracking up. Does anyone know if Warthogs have mini-guns, or is it some sort of MG that fires 20 mm? He specifically said it was 20 mm. VERY LOUD!!

Posted: 6/30/2002 10:18:45 PM EDT

[#10]

Warthogs come standard with the GAU-8 Avenger cannon in 20 mm. Maxi gun would be a more apt description, as the shells are the size of milk bottles and fire a depleted uranium slug. Used to attack the thin top armor of tanks & generally ruin the day of the crewmen inside.

Posted: 6/30/2002 10:28:28 PM EDT

[#11]

I'm pretty sure the A-10 has a 30mm cannon. Can anyone confirm?

Posted: 6/30/2002 10:34:54 PM EDT

[#12]

Quoted:
I guess they never made a minigun in 5.56 cause it doesn't have enough range, especially from aircraft?

View Quote

No they made a 5.56. the XM214. It could do 10,000 RPM in its top speed mode, which was only done for tests and demonstrations.

And yes they couldn't find a use for it. It was too heavy and bulky for the short range it offered. [url]http://www-acala1.ria.army.mil/lc/cs/csa/aawpns.htm[/url]

Posted: 6/30/2002 10:37:03 PM EDT

[#13]

Quoted:
I'm pretty sure the A-10 has a 30mm cannon. Can anyone confirm?

View Quote

Warthog carries the GAU-8A, 7 barrel gatling in 30x172mm. The shells are quite large.

Posted: 6/30/2002 10:37:42 PM EDT

[#14]

Quoted:

Quoted:
I guess they never made a minigun in 5.56 cause it doesn't have enough range, especially from aircraft?

View Quote

No they made a 5.56. the XM214. It could do 10,000 RPM in its top speed mode, which was only done for tests and demonstrations.

And yes they couldn't find a use for it. It was too heavy and bulky for the short range it offered.

View Quote

Pity. I sure could find a use for it--I could use it to amuse the hell out of me for about thirty seconds a year. That's all I could afford. [:O]

Posted: 6/30/2002 10:46:49 PM EDT

[#15]

Quoted:

Quoted:
I guess they never made a minigun in 5.56 cause it doesn't have enough range, especially from aircraft?

View Quote

No they made a 5.56. the XM214. It could do 10,000 RPM in its top speed mode, which was only done for tests and demonstrations.

And yes they couldn't find a use for it. It was too heavy and bulky for the short range it offered.

View Quote

Pity. I sure could find a use for it--I could use it to amuse the hell out of me for about thirty seconds a year. That's all I could afford. [:O]

View Quote

True they have entertainment value, as in [i]Predator[/i] and [i]Terminator 2[/i]. I have seen some debate on the internet as to whether the guns used in the filming were ACTUAL M214's or shortend M134's

Posted: 6/30/2002 10:53:14 PM EDT

[#16]

"The A-10A's armament is extremely impressive, particularly if you are on the receiving end. The A-10 is essentially designed around its gun, the largest and most powerful cannon carried by any combat aircraft todya, the GE GAU8/A Avenger, which a 30mm Gatling un. Many modern jet fighters and attack plances carry 30mm cannons, none of them approach the GAU-8/A's power. It fires a .78-pound, 30mm armor-piercing projectile at a muzzle velocity of 3,500 feet per second. This is a very heavy projectile for an automatic cannon, and that's a very high velocity. These are not ordinary armor-piercing projectiles. The armor-piercing penetrators are fabricated from depleted uranium, an extremely dense material with outstanding armor-piercing capability. What happens after the armor has been penetrated has to be seen to be believed! Heated by the tremendous energy of the impact, the depleted uranium oxidizes rapidly and violently, spraying the indside of the armored vehicle with flaming metal fragments that ignite fuel and detonate ammunition. The A-10A carries 1,174 rounds of 30mm ammunition, and the pilot can select one of two rate of fire, either 2,100 or 4,200 rounds per minute."

From p13 Target Terrorism by Pat Rogers, pub. Pantheon Intl, Ltd. NY.

Posted: 6/30/2002 11:00:21 PM EDT

[#17]

Quoted:
I'm pretty sure the A-10 has a 30mm cannon. Can anyone confirm?

View Quote

Yes, GAU-8A is a 30mm.. pretty much the size of a classic coke bottle.

Posted: 6/30/2002 11:10:18 PM EDT

[#18]

Mini gun? How about one of these instead?

[url]http://www.wired.com/news/conflict/0,2100,46570,00.html[/url]

Posted: 6/30/2002 11:17:41 PM EDT

[#19]

Boeing used to have a nice section in their website for their 25-50mm machine guns. They sold that division in May to ATK, and ATK hasn't updated the site yet. Here's a press release that mentions some of the toys [url]money.cnn.com/services/tickerheadlines/prn/en-mnf002.P1.05302002163338.24692.htm [/url]

Posted: 7/1/2002 3:39:33 AM EDT

[#20]

Warlord is EXACTLY right about the GAU8/A Avenger. I've seen the aftermath of "gun runs" against various armored vehicles.. and I'm telling ya it's totally unbelieveable.. something I won't forget..

cdp45

Posted: 7/1/2002 3:46:47 AM EDT

[#21]

I actually saw a GE mini-gun for sale - $350,000. The seller was the CEO for Sonic drive-in restaurants.

Posted: 7/1/2002 4:34:08 AM EDT

[#22]

The basic "Min-gun" design is a modification of the old Gatling gun design. GE has produced examples of the Mini-Gun in calibers from 5.56mm to 30mm and anywhere from three to eight barrels. The A-10 does in fact use a 30mm cartridge, not 20mm. The 20mm was used in the Vulcan ground-based air defence system and in the internal gun system of most US fighter aircraft. External Min-gun pods in 7.62 NATO are in service and are occasionally found under the wing stubs of US army aircraft. Examples in 5.56 NATO are much less common. A three-barrel version in .50 Caliber was tested, but recoil was immense, as was the weight of all the ammo needed to feed this thing!

Posted: 7/1/2002 5:17:34 AM EDT

[#23]

M134 7.62mm Machine Gun (1962-1975). The M134 "minigun" (Air Force GAU-2B/A) is a high rate of fire machine gun that uses the Gatling principle. The firing rate is selectable at 2,000 spm or 4,000 spm. The M134 was used on the M21, M27, XM50, XM93, and Emerson MINI-TAT on the UH-1 "Huey", OH-6A Cayuse, and OH-58A Kiowa. It was also used on the M18, M28 series, and XM64 on the AH-1G, MOD AH-1S, and Production AH-1S "Huey" Cobra, and XM53 on the AH-56A Cheyenne. The M134 is also used on a wide variety of special operations aircraft. The M134 was classified Standard A (over 9,500 units were built).

[img]http://www-acala1.ria.army.mil/lc/cs/csa/m134.jpg[/img]

[img]http://www-acala1.ria.army.mil/lc/cs/csa/kpm134.jpg[/img]

[img]http://www-acala1.ria.army.mil/lc/cs/csa/uh1hm134.jpg[/img]

Posted: 7/1/2002 5:47:16 AM EDT

[#24]

The M-134 Minigun fires any 7.62x51 NATO cartidge. It is an air-cooled, electrically driven, multi-barrel gun. It has six barrels and six bolt assemblies, which revolve around the longitudinal axis of the rotor. The minigun is capable of firing at a rate of up to 6000 rpm. It can be operated as low as 750 rpm and any rate in between. It hasn't been produced by GE since 1973 and is now produced by Dillon Aero (www.dillonaero.com). This is the very same Dillon that makes reloading equipment. It is not an automatic weapon, it isn't even semi-automatic. Automatic, by definition, means "self-powered". The Minigun is as automatic as a bolt-action rifle. Because it is not automatic, it also is not a machine gun.

Miniguns are only made in 7.62x51 NATO, anything else isn't a minigun.

As for the three barreled .50 Cal, it applied LESS recoil force to it's mounting than the M-2.

Posted: 7/1/2002 6:36:39 AM EDT

[#25]

Quoted:

Miniguns are only made in 7.62x51 NATO, anything else isn't a minigun.

View Quote

So the 5.56 version is what?? A microgun??

Manufacturer General Electric Name
Model Designation M-134
Number of Barrels 6
Calibre 7.62/5.56 mm
Cyclic Rate 1000-10000 selectable (rounds/min)
Rounds in 1st second ??
Weapon Weight ?? kg

Posted: 7/1/2002 6:49:37 AM EDT

[#26]

You guys are great! The level of knowledge here never ceases to amaze me. I guess I will have to start patronizing Sonic drive-ins more. The owner can't be a bad guy. [:D]

Posted: 7/1/2002 7:07:03 AM EDT

[#27]

I have, or had, about 2 hours of video from camp Atterbury (sp?). A friend of mine flew A-10s for the Indiana National Guard and took us down there for some live fire exercises. We saw A-10s and A-7s firing 20 and 30mm rounds and dropping practice rounds. There is one problem with the tape, its Beta, and I don't know if I still have it.

If I do, I will see if I can find a Beta player and suck the video off to mpeg format.

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - What round does the "MINIGUN" shoot ???

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