# now THAT'S what I call a GUN



## captnroger (Apr 5, 2004)

http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/02/02/lab.defense.ap/index.html

wowzers.


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## misfit (Apr 5, 2004)

> "What we want to do is equip our protective force with the capability that will leave no doubt about the outcome,"


 no "doubt" in my mind


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## spinfisher (Sep 23, 2005)

Brings back memories. The gun is an update (looks about identical) to the General Electric M134 that we called the mini-gun. We used it as pictured below. We also had them door-mounted on the Hueys. It also was the gun used on the USAF's famous Spooky AC-47 gunships--three of them sticking out the windows of the venerable converted cargo. These were 7.62 NATO and they fired 2000-4000 rounds per minute with almost never a misfire or a jam.










It's a beauty, but look at it's big brother below. The mini-gun was (is) a scaled-down version of the original M61 Vulcan cannon. The big guy is pictured below in a gun pod that was carried below F4 Phantom fighters. Each Phantom also had one integrally mounted in the nose. The gun pod was used for special gun missions--usually the center pylon carried fuel. BTW, the M61 is 20mm and fires 4000-6000 rounds per minute. Do the math--that's 100 round per second! The gun was also used in Super Spooky, an even more destructive (in some ways) gunship than Spooky. It was a converted C-130 with these cannons sticking out the side and out the rear cargo door.


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## Lewzer (Apr 5, 2004)

I remember seeing the Vulcan in action during training. I won't forget the sound that thing made.


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## katfish (Apr 7, 2004)

I remember C123 and C130 gunships as puff the magic dragon. Used many times to discourage ground fire at remote landing strips. C130 gunships from 7th Aerial Port Squadron SOS group were often welcomed to firefights also.

But if you add infared imaging and laser guided sights you can see it has evolved a little bit.

Gunship video 

They can run but they can't hide.


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## spinfisher (Sep 23, 2005)

Cool video, katfish. Pretty good shootin'! Looks like a highlight reel! Obviously not a mini-gun, though. For those not familiar with these guns, that video is of 20mm high-explosive-incendiary fired from an M61 mounted in a 130. Very effective, particularly on buildings, etc. Phantoms blew away a lot of trucks with that gun, too, not to mention MiGs. Too bad we couldn't hear the gun in the video. 

The smaller calibre (7.62) mini-gun was mounted on Spooky (aka Puff the Magic Dragon, or just Puff) and used primarily against personnel for base perimeter protection, protection of troops engaged in ground firefights and to seek and destroy mortar and rocket installations, as well as to stop ground fire around airstrips, as kf mentioned.

My experience was mostly on Huey gunships with the 20th Helo Squadron--totally different type of mission--but I remember that, in those days, the Spooky or Puff nickname was reserved for the beloved AC-47--never the AC-130 or other gunships.

Actually, I never saw an AC-123 in Vietnam. The C-123 was used extensively for troop movement, especially in short-runway situations (some even had turbo-jets mounted on the wing tips). And there was a version of that aircraft that was used a lot for defoliation. I know there were some 123s that were converted to Spectre gunships--maybe more common later. Could have been in Vietnam too, I guess...I never actually saw an AC-119 Candlestick, either, but I know those were flying the Ho Chi Minh Trail as early as '68. They were using the M61, too, though--not the mini-gun.


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## peple of the perch (Sep 13, 2004)

it would be creepy seeing that thing firieng at u


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## steelmagoo (Apr 13, 2004)

Dillon Aero M134D video set to music. This'll get your heart pounding.
http://ryoni.com/media/gun.wmv


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## getinjiggy (May 24, 2004)

http://www.bmikarts.com/gatlin-guns.shtml We build guns like that. Were getting into bb guns and air soft as well.


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## billybob7059 (Mar 27, 2005)

they need to give those to the troops over in IRAQ, sure would light things up!


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## SwollenGoat (Apr 13, 2005)

My father-in-law was a door gunner/crew chief on a Gunship in Vietnam. Used the door-mounted kind as well as the more standard M-60. Every once in a while, he'll tell me an interesting story about his service over there.

Anyway, the actual BIG DOG of the gattling guns is mounted on the A-10 thunderbolt. (Here's a pic.) http://images.google.com/imgres?img...s?q=a-10+warthog&hl=en&lr=&oi=imagesr&start=2
It's a 7 barrel 30mm canon that is used to destroy tanks.

Here is a link with some cool video...
http://www.a-10.org/a10-files.html


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## spinfisher (Sep 23, 2005)

All door-gunners were in a dangerous business. A door-gunner that had to use an M60 for very long is very lucky to be alive. As Goat says, more Vietnam era Hueys used M60s than mini-guns. I didn't understand that then; still don't. 

That's a nice shot of the GAU-8. Here's one for perspective. That definitely is a gun.


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## ostbucks98 (Apr 14, 2004)

Man that pick scared Me!!!I had to run down to the treestand to make sure mine was still there.Wooo


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