[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Minigun question (Page 1 of 2)
Posted: 1/6/2008 8:29:38 AM EDT
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I'm sitting here watching Terminator 2, and got to wondering is there really a man portable minigun rig out there or is it Hollyweird magic? I'd figure the gun, the power supply and the ammo would make the thing weigh like a billion pounds and make it pretty much an exclusive vehicle mounted weapon? edit for grammar and such |
I believe that I've read that the Hollwood man held version was only a prop and doesn't exist in the real world. |
Hollywood magic... They run the cable down through the actor's pants leg, and out behind him... Ammo is not an issue, as the actual 'firing' is special effects... In real life, it is an AIRCRAFT mounted weapon, due both to the weight of the ammo & the amount of power required to run it... They are used primarily by special operations aviation & the Air Force.... 'Big' Army helicopters use standard M-240s (the M60 is FINALLY *gone*).... I don't know about the Marines... We don't have miniguns on ground vehicles - it's M240, Mk19 or M-2, on the 'small' side... Big side is 25mm, 105mm, and 120mm The closest thing to a minigun in a ground vehicle is the 25mm in the Bradley - it's an electrically operated chain gun, but it's only got 1 barrel.... |
He's a friggin robot |
Well, Jesse Ventura carried one in Predator too. 
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I believe they used the same blank firing mini-gun for Predator and Terminator 2. It was made just for the movies. It's sitting in some museum now. The actual 7.62 mini-gun puts out somewhere around 180lbs of recoil, combined with the torque, you're not going to hold it. Unless you're Arnold. |
Dewd, you need to getchoo one of these: Official Arfcom Staff Car |
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M163_VADS Even better! I would love to see the effects of this in the ground support role! It would have done a number on enemy light and medium armor too. ETA: Current system in use in Iraq as an anti-rocket system. Looks like it's an adaptation of the Navy CIWS. www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Qf4HwPKnqk This is the M-163 in use by S. Korean troops. Can-O-Whoopass. www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQw_W7kD1U0 -K |
That's not a military vehicle... |
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There is a 5.56mm minigun IRRC. You'll need at least some car batteries and a backback full of ammo, and you'd probably only have 1-2 seconds worth of firing time. MIGHT be possible for a "man portable" system for someone like Arnuld, but even in the movie, they didn't do it like this. |
there are HMMV and technicals that have Miniguns mounted for SF. there is was some awesome video on youtube, of SF taking care of business with them. its been on there. |
While the military may not use ground mounted miniguns they are made. There's a LE department here in California that has several vehicle mounted miniguns in 7.62. I can't confirm it but i thought the military was starting to use the miniguns on ground vehicles. |
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There were two 5.56 miniguns that were prototypes and never got past that stage. It was to see if there could be a man-portable minigun. I would like to see a man-portable micro-mini-gun chambered .17 HMR that could be mounted on your forearm with some type of thumb button for a trigger. Heh imagine one on each forearm  LB |
IIRC the recoil from the 7.62 minigun is > 80KG continuous. You are not going to fire it for long even if you can lift, power and carry the ammo for it. |
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It's total hollywood garbage. In one of the recent Small Arms Reviews they had an article on the Garwood M-134G 7.62x51 minigun. Here's the numbers: It has 6 barrels and 6 bolts, 6 bolt carriers housed in a single "receiver". It is powered by a 28V DC motor. Optimal ROF is 3200 rpm. Weight, empty: 61.5 lbs Barrel life: 100,000 rounds each Weapon life: 1,500,000 rounds Recoil at 4,000 rpm: Peak 375lbs Avg 240lbs Price: $55,000 When firing at full ROF of 4,000rpm that gun generates a peak THRUST of 375lbs from recoil. Unless a sumo wrestler was shooting it, they would be knocked on their arse. Not to mention how bad accuracy would suffer. That'd be like trying to look through a telescope while a sumo wrestler pushes on the other end of it. On vehicle mount = good. On person = hogwash |
Didn't say it was, just that you need to getchoo one. In fact, we all need to get us one. You do agree with that, don't you?  (Think they can rig it up on a Prius? I'm just saying -- to save the planet from global warming and all....)
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I know that Garwood has sold several to security at Los Alamos. Tracy is a super nice guy. He brought one of his guns to the Big Sandy shoot and was letting anyone who wanted to crank off a couple bursts. It's an interesting feeling firing a minigun, that's for damn sure.. 
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General Electric Six-Pack XM214 |
Seen a couple near Balad AB, Iraq. |
I dont know how much it weighed, but the actual one used in the 2 movies was for sale at Knobb Creek back in 2004 or 5. The backpack was an old Lightweight rucksack frame with 2 shelves,had a 24V battery on top and a 1500 round ammo can on the bottom. A loaded 1500 round can of 762 weighs 121lbs. |
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I recall hearding South Africans tried to make one for clearing airfields or some such thing. It never went anywhere. I wonder is one in an exceptionally small caliber such as .22 magnum or even .17 HMR would be effective. Basically the same premise as PDW, putting out a large amount of small, fairly ineffective rounds, relying on many hitting the target to do the damage. |
24V battery is probably at least another 50-60 lbs, and hell, 1500 rounds? That'd be what, like 2 seconds worth of ammo?
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Hollywood magic. I believe the weapon itself is about 100 pounds. Then there's the power supply you'd need to run it.... And a human being could only carry enough ammo for a very very short burst. A man portable weapon that can fling 1,000 rounds per minute of 7.62x51 isn't going to show up anytime soon. |
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It has been noted that with the advancements made in battery technology, a lighter version of the XM214 powered with tv cameraman style "belt pack" batteries would make such a weapon more feasible than it was in the 70s, particularly if the number of barrels were reduced to three or four. Of course the logistics of such a weapon are so far out that it's still far from practical. |
It did exist, they just coulden't get the gun and 1000rds of ammo in a pack under 65lbs. The batterys nowdays would be very small and light, back when they made this thing it had to be powered by a truck battery. Hey, that was the 80's. It is something like 22lbs of continuous recoil per 1000rds a min and fires up to 10,000rds per min thats 166rds per second. With only 1000rds of ammo....... its an overpriced paperweight. XM214 |
| I know in Terminator 2 two they had the gun mounted and just made it look like Arnold was holding it. Also in Prediator the first time they tried to shoot it, even with blanks mind you, it knocked the guy on his ass. But yeah its no good at all for real life, nice idea, but didn't work. |
They've been used a number of times in actual combat situations....usually from aircraft of some sort. They are awesome weapon if you can get one on your side. |
yes, on the ground they are very usefull, but only in a limited role, like a heavy crew served, not everyone needs one, but having a few is great |