Talk:M134 Minigun

Latest comment: 4 years ago by Idumea47b in topic Mini in name

Users

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The users section needs to be more like that of Walther P5#Users: stating examples of how citizens of that nation used the gun.

Also have any infantry (boots on the ground) people ever held and used a minigun (while sitting, standing, walking, etc.)? It might be too heavy, but if someone has in a military conflict then that could be something to write in the "Users" section. --User123o987name (talk) 08:19, 16 May 2019 (UTC)Reply

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Mini in name

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"The "Mini" in the name is in comparison to larger-caliber designs that use a rotary barrel design, such as General Electric's earlier 20 mm M61 Vulcan, and "gun" for the use of rifle ammunition as opposed to autocannon shells. " That's a little bit misleading. It was called the "minigun" because it was directly derived from GE's 20mm Vulcan cannon. The Vulcan was the first and only rotary type cannon in service, so the name isn't to differentiate if from "larger caliber designs", but from the Vulcan alone. It is a "Mini" gun because it's a scaled down Vulcan able to be mounted on lighter aircraft, firing rifle caliber ammunition. It's a "gun" because it's a gun. An autocannon is also a gun. They could have easily renamed the Vulcan the "Megagun" to match and no one could have said they were inaccurate to do so. The name "minigun" was not a serious attempt at making up a descriptor for the new class of weapon, it was mere marketing. The name was catchy and caught on, and so people use it generically for any multiple barrel weapon, even heavy autocannons sometimes, but in reality it's only a "Minigun" because the Vulcan. It was developed before there WERE any other designs to diffentiate from.

Idumea47b (talk) 02:29, 12 September 2020 (UTC)Reply