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What is the purpose of the minigun?
To develop a more reliable weapon with a higher rate of fire, General Electric designers scaled down the rotary-barrel 20 mm M61 Vulcan cannon for 7.62×51mm NATO ammunition. The resulting weapon, designated M134 and known as the “Minigun”, could fire up to 6,000 rounds per minute without overheating.
Why is a minigun so fast?
Why do minigun barrels spin? – Quora. I have seen machine guns fired to the point that the barrels glow and then sag. This kills the accuracy, and if you continue, possibly the operator. The heat builds up very quickly when subjected to sustained fire, even in a small caliber weapon.
What is the firing rate of a minigun?
Features: Chambered in 7.62x51mm NATO with available magazines in up to 4,000-round capacities. Fixed firing rates of 3,000 rounds per minute (50 rounds per second)
Why do Miniguns have low recoil?
Originally Answered: Why doesn’t an M134-A2 Vulcan Minigun have a recoil even with a high firing rate compared to other machine guns of its caliber? It’s because people watch too many Hollywood films. You can’t compensate for recoil by any electrically mounted rotating gizmo.
Was there a minigun in WW2?
A couple of externally powered Gatling gun designs were patented although never used. During WW2, the blowback-operated Neal submachine gun that used rotating barrels firing . 22LR rounds at a rate of 3000rpm was also developed as a weapon for US forces, but it was felt that existing submachine guns fulfilled its role.
What metal is a minigun made of?
The core of the M134D was a steel housing and steel rotor. To focus on weight reduction, a titanium housing and rotor were introduced, creating the M134D-T. This reduced weight from 62 lb to 41 lb.
What gun shoots the fastest bullet?
Watch the world’s fastest gun effortlessly fire 1 million rounds per minute. The highest rate of fire for a machine gun in service is the M134 Minigun. The weapon was designed in the late 1960s for helicopters and armored vehicles.
What was the fastest gun in ww2?
The ShKAS was the fastest-firing rifle calibre aircraft armament in general service in World War II.
How much recoil does an M134 have?
Prospects of using M134 in ‘Hollywood-style’ are even less realistic, not only because of aforementioned properties (heavy weight and unnecessarily high rate of fire) but also due to the extremely high recoil force – at just 3,000 rounds per minute the Dillon Aero M134D minigun generates average recoil force of 150 lbs …
Why do miniguns have a high firing rate?
Another reason a minigun has a high firing rate is that the barrels are usually at different firing stages. When one barrel ejects a bullet, the second barrel is preparing to discharge, and the process takes place simultaneously. Electric motors power most miniguns, but some variants can be gas-operated, hydraulic, or pneumatic-operated.
What is a minigun and how does it work?
Therefore, the word “Minigun” was coined since this gun is smaller than the vehicle-mounted weapons. One might ask why it’s not referred to as a mini-cannon. It qualifies to be a gun since it uses rifle ammunition and not autocannon shells. What Are The Minigun Specifications? The minigun fires the 7.62*51MM NATO.
How many rounds does a minigun fire per minute?
In order to develop a weapon with a more reliable, higher rate of fire, General Electric designers scaled down the rotating-barrel 20 mm M61 Vulcan cannon for 7.62×51 mm NATO ammunition. The resulting weapon, designated M134 and known popularly as the Minigun, could fire up to 4,000 rounds per minute without overheating.
What is an M134 Minigun?
The M134 Minigun is a 7.62 mm, six-barreled rotary machine gun with a high rate of fire (2,000 to 6,000 rounds per minute ), employing Gatling -style rotating barrels with an external power source.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tI7Q6VADtt4