How'd the Minigun get it's name? There's nothing small or "Mini" about it. It uses multiple barrels, requires a huge amount of ammo to operate, is too big and bulky to carry around for deer hunting, and has to be mounted on some kind of turret for effective use. It should've been called the "Electric powered Gatling gun".
Minigun gun question
- Thread starter Capstick1
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LevelHead
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10 seconds of Googling found this:
The "Mini" of the name is in comparison to designs that use a similar firing mechanism but larger shells, such as General Electric's earlier 20-millimeter M61 Vulcan, and "gun" for a caliber size smaller than that of a cannon, typically 20 mm and higher
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minigun
The "Mini" of the name is in comparison to designs that use a similar firing mechanism but larger shells, such as General Electric's earlier 20-millimeter M61 Vulcan, and "gun" for a caliber size smaller than that of a cannon, typically 20 mm and higher
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minigun
backbencher
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It's not too big for deer hunting if it's carried around on a Jeep.
True story - as an Aggie, you talk to old Aggies out of respect, & get some entertaining stories. The true bit is that this was really told to me.
An Aggie tanker has been training tankers in the 2nd WW, never seeing action. He finally gets to go in the 1st M26 unit formed & shipped to Europe, but hardly gets any action @ all. They're occupying Czechoslovakia after the war, & getting tired of C-rats. The armorers rig up a mount for a M-1919 for the passenger, & drive around 'til they see a deer. I asked,"Didn't that tear the meat up?"
"You only shot them 'til they fell down."
Farmers Fight!
backbencher
True story - as an Aggie, you talk to old Aggies out of respect, & get some entertaining stories. The true bit is that this was really told to me.
An Aggie tanker has been training tankers in the 2nd WW, never seeing action. He finally gets to go in the 1st M26 unit formed & shipped to Europe, but hardly gets any action @ all. They're occupying Czechoslovakia after the war, & getting tired of C-rats. The armorers rig up a mount for a M-1919 for the passenger, & drive around 'til they see a deer. I asked,"Didn't that tear the meat up?"
"You only shot them 'til they fell down."
Farmers Fight!
backbencher
MasterSergeantA
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LevelHead pretty much summed it up. The A-10 mounts the GAU-8/A which is a 30mm cannon. (The airplane was actually designed and built around the gun. Sweet!) The 'smaller' 20mm version is the M61 Vulcan (replaced largely by the M197) and is mounted on most other airframes, both fixed wing and rotary. So the 7.61x51 version is, ineed, a "mini-gun" by comparison. They used them on gunships in RVN to some extent, but those were replaced by the M61s in most cases as the 'minis' were a bit unrelaible. My brother was a gunner on the old Puff the Magic Dragon birds (modified C-47) and had a lot of trigger time on the gun. Said the pilots had to continually fight the controls as the bird got noticeably lighter as he fired.
Dillon Precision up north of me builds the M134 current version of the gun. They can even be vehicle mounted.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YAZ2qvhJGgU
Or if you are a real stud...like an Aggie...you can hand carry the beast.
http://www.imfdb.org/index.php/GE_M134_Minigun#Hand_Held_M134_Mingiun
Gig 'em!
Dillon Precision up north of me builds the M134 current version of the gun. They can even be vehicle mounted.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YAZ2qvhJGgU
Or if you are a real stud...like an Aggie...you can hand carry the beast.
http://www.imfdb.org/index.php/GE_M134_Minigun#Hand_Held_M134_Mingiun
Gig 'em!
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