![]() |
|
Forum Rules | Firearms Safety | Firearms Photos | Links | Library | Lost Password | Email Changes |
Register | FAQ | Calendar | Search | Today's Posts | Mark Forums Read |
![]() |
|
Thread Tools | Search this Thread |
![]() |
#1 |
Member
Join Date: July 9, 2002
Location: Rhode Island
Posts: 48
|
Some questions about Vietnam era machine guns
I'm looking for the name of a hand held rotary-fire machine gun used in the Vietnam War. I tried a google search but only came up with ones that mount on helicopters. It looks like the one used in Arnold Schwartzenegger's movie "Predator" but I'm not sure if that one is of the correct era.
My second question/request is; can someone please post a link or maybe even pictures of an M60? My Father used this gun a lot in the war, and I would like to get some pictures and info for him. Thanks Angelo |
![]() |
![]() |
#2 |
Senior Member
Join Date: November 3, 2000
Posts: 165
|
Not to say for sure, but I think a hand held minigun is only for the movies. Lugging a thousand or three rounds to feed that beast WOULD require Arnold.
For M60 pics check out autoweapons.com - the automatic weapons link.
__________________
LEGALIZE FREEDOM "Yeah, that's easy for you to say, you're Mr. White, you have a cool sounding name. Alright look, if it's no big deal to be Mr. Pink, you wanna trade?" |
![]() |
![]() |
#3 |
Member
Join Date: July 9, 2002
Location: Rhode Island
Posts: 48
|
Thanks for the link psp! I think you're right about the mini gun. It would be way too heavy carring all that ammo.
|
![]() |
![]() |
#4 |
Member
Join Date: April 20, 2002
Location: NH
Posts: 44
|
The Predator minigun I believe is now privately owned on NFA. There are several other miniguns in the NFA registry that people own, even 20mm Vulcan miniguns. I recently saw one of the 20mm guns selling for $150k. Trouble is with these guns is that they shoot 6,000 rounds per minute. Image how much a day at the range costs.....
|
![]() |
![]() |
#5 |
Senior Member
Join Date: October 18, 2000
Posts: 708
|
Another site for gun pics is Security Arms, www.securityarms.com. There are several pics of the M60 there. Lots of other gun pics too.
__________________
"To disarm the people (is) the best & most effectual way to enslave them." George Mason. |
![]() |
![]() |
#6 | |
Senior Member
Join Date: October 29, 1999
Location: Dewey, AZ
Posts: 12,858
|
Quote:
Machine guns. The staples for us and the French were the M-2 .50cal and the 1919 .30cal. And then in the M60 .762 NATO pretty much replaced the older .30 cal. Sam |
|
![]() |
![]() |
#7 | |
Senior Member
Join Date: October 14, 1999
Location: Gatorville, Florida
Posts: 619
|
Quote:
![]()
__________________
www.afn.org/~guns |
|
![]() |
![]() |
#8 |
Senior Member
Join Date: June 9, 2001
Location: Lafayette, Indiana--American-occupied America
Posts: 5,418
|
Hand-held minigun? Have you tried Hollywierd?
No, wait, just hang out at the gun shoppe. Someone will come in and tell you all about it when he carried one when he was hunting "the Cong" in SEEL Team 37.5. ![]()
__________________
"Arguments of policy must give way to a constitutional command." Payton v. New York, 445 U.S. 573, 602 (1980). |
![]() |
![]() |
#9 | |
Member
Join Date: April 20, 2002
Location: NH
Posts: 44
|
Quote:
|
|
![]() |
![]() |
#10 | |
Senior Member
Join Date: January 8, 2002
Posts: 130
|
Quote:
Chain guns are single barrel, electrically powered guns from XM34 in 7.62mm NATO and up to Bushmaster IV cannon in 40mm, IIRC. Chain guns are also electrically powered BUT have only one barrel (while gatlings usually have 3 to 7 barrels). Neither gun is a man-portable and mostly used on vehicles and aircrafts. as of hand-helg Miniguns, you can't hold a 30+ lbs gun with some 400+ lbs of recoil on full rate of fire. 1000 rds of ammunition will add another 50+ lbs or more. even a 5.56mm/.223 XM234 Micro-gun cannot be referred as a hand-held and actually is used on some light helicopters, due to large ammo consumption and huge recoil and requirements for stable firing platform and external power supply. |
|
![]() |
![]() |
#11 |
Senior Member
Join Date: January 19, 2000
Location: SE Texas
Posts: 1,779
|
I thought I remember reading somewhere that the minigun requires something like 75 lbs of batteries to operate it. Confirmation?
|
![]() |
![]() |
#12 |
Senior Member
Join Date: May 8, 2001
Location: Virginia
Posts: 3,823
|
Can't imagine why you'd want to run it on batteries. Vehicular mounting lets you run off the vehicle's power.
That's one more reason why it's not hand held - ain't no batteries big enough that are man portable. Max, thanks for the solid answer on Gatling guns vs. chain guns. I see that boo-boo from time to time and it bugs me! You laid it out well. I might add that it's basically an electric powered revolver. Any idea where it got the name 'chain gun'?
__________________
. Better to know what you don't know than to think you know what you don't know. |
![]() |
![]() |
#13 |
Senior Member
Join Date: June 9, 2001
Location: Lafayette, Indiana--American-occupied America
Posts: 5,418
|
max, I have seen SEEL Team 37.5 members using hand-held .308 Gatlings when jumping out of black helicopters. I have to stay up late and wear a tinfoil hat so they will not detect me.
![]()
__________________
"Arguments of policy must give way to a constitutional command." Payton v. New York, 445 U.S. 573, 602 (1980). |
![]() |
![]() |
#14 | ||
Senior Member
Join Date: February 1, 2000
Location: near Flagstaff, AZ
Posts: 790
|
Quote:
Quote:
__________________
NRA Endowment Member FCSA Life Member Subs are cool, but belt-feds RULE! ![]() |
||
![]() |
![]() |
#15 |
Staff Alumnus
Join Date: October 12, 1998
Location: Missouri
Posts: 1,992
|
If you've got the Dillon video Machine Gun Magic there's a clip showing teh inner workings of a chain gun, chain and all.
|
![]() |
![]() |
#16 |
Senior Member
Join Date: December 2, 1999
Location: Knoxville, in the Free State of Tennesse
Posts: 4,190
|
The M-134 was widely used in Vietnam as armament for helicopters (door/fixed guns on Hueys and turret guns on Cobras), along with the T-34 Dragonfly and the C-47 gunship conversions (Spooky?). There were no "hand held" versions.
The weapon in Predator was, I believe, the 5.56 mm variant. The nomenclature escapes me for the moment. GE was developing a ground based system called the "Six Pack" that would have made it a crew served weapon using a tripod. Theoretically, one person could lift it and fire it, but the recoil would have put said person on his/her tail. It would not have been individually portable. |
![]() |
![]() |
#17 |
Senior Member
Join Date: November 5, 2000
Location: Wyoming
Posts: 1,761
|
The Army screwed around with the idea of a man-portable 7.62 or 5.56 gatling gun briefly in the 1970's. Don't have the particulars on it, but the idea was abandoned because of everything listed above, weight of the weapon/ammo/controllability. I was a 16R in the 1970's for a while (Vulcan 20mm crewman) and the gun used a drive motor of about 50% of the power used by the air force planes, so we got only 3000 RPM out of it. I cannot imagine what the man-portable would be like.
The S/P version (XM163-on a 113 APC chassis) used 3 ni-cad batteries-2 for the turret/radar and one for the gun drive. The towed model (XM167 behind a Gamma goat) used one ni-cad battery and a 5KW generator. Fun to shoot, whether at aerial or ground targets. The S/P used a 2000 round drum which had to be timed to the declutching feeder and another feeder at the top which was timed to the cannon itself. Had two muzzle clamps on it-one was a conventional and the other was a spreader clamp which bent the barrel line up into an ellipse which was mainly for air defense targets. The radar was pretty much useless as it was range only-better to use Kentucky windage, especially if you were firing high explosive incindiary tracer. |
![]() |
![]() |
#18 |
Member In Memoriam
Join Date: March 17, 1999
Posts: 24,383
|
When the first mini-guns appeared, one was exhibited at an American Ordnance Association (as it was then known) meeting in Washington. I suggested to the General Electric rep that they put a hand crank on it and sell it through the home appliance division. They never did, darn it!
Jim |
![]() |
![]() |
Thread Tools | Search this Thread |
|
|