m240 vs Gatling gun?

Question

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=8806f33e2e

that is a video comparing the two, and i was wondering why the us military does equip their stationary gun positions (humvees, tanks, maybe even check points) with the gatling gun? The only places i know of its use is in aircraft.

Answer 1

The military has learned that for ground forces high rates of cyclic fire is just a waste of ammo in most situations. The only time it's specifically used is in urban or close quarter warfare and in trying to shoot down/at aircraft. An aircraft needs a higher cyclic rate because of the speeds involved. 600-800 rounds per minute is alot when at a walking pace or even shooting at something 30 MPH, but at 300 plus MPH it spreads the rounds out too far.

Answer 2

very interesting piece, but the truth to the matter is ammo is heavy. although the gatling gun had a 9 to 1 hit ratio, it fires at a huch higher rate of fire which means it fires more rounds. i have seen a 240 fired by a soldier and he was able to control it. now as for the gatling gun, unless you are jesse ventura from predator, you cannot take it off the humvee, or tank. also from experience, if you hear any gun firing at you instincts tell you to duck. unlike the target. so the gatling guns does put more rounds on target, but it wastes more doing so. a m-134 fires either 2000 to 4000 rounds per minute, take into account the drum only holds 2000 rounds. now as for the 240 d in the piece, it only fired 130 rounds, and if you are hit by a 7.62 mm round, you probably won't live to tell the story. so the m 134 hit more than 110 times out of about 1000 rounds(it fires 100 rounds per second). the 240 maxes at 750-950 rounds per minutes and made 12 hits. it takes the 240 seven seconds to fire that same 100 rounds. since they both fire the same caliber round. give me the one i can take off and use dismounted. think of taking that thing while on an assault instead of waiting for a combat vehicle to arrive.i would rather have a belt and an assistant with more than lugging around a drum.i'm sure the m 134 would do well in some places.and lastly the 240 is a lot easier to take apart and clean every day like you have to in the dust, the gatling gun would take too much time cleaning.

Answer 3

The M240 MG is an infantry based machine gun, meaning it's light enough and practical enough to be use by a regular soldier.

The modern Gatling gun usually has six or seven barrels that are rotated by batteries or the gas from the expended rounds. These weapons provide the fastest possible rate of fire for the longest duration of time (the barrels rotate so that they don't heat up as quickly, if you fire 2000 rounds through one barrel its going to take the heat from all those rounds but fire that through 5 barrels and each barrel only fires 400 rounds. It also reduces the risk of a jam.)

Let's compare the GAU-8 Gatling Gun to the M240 MG.
***********GAU-8********MG240 MG*********
Rate of fire:*****3900 RPM*******950 RPM
Calibre:**********30mm x 173mm***7.62 × 51mm NATO
Max Range:********>1,250m********3,725 m
Weight:***********281 kg*********12.5 kg
Muzzle velocity:**1067 meters/S**905 m/s
****************************************************

The weight of the M240 MG is 12.5 kg which is equal to about 28Lbs this is heavy, especially if you have to haul it around with you all day. But when we look at the weight of the GAU-8 we can see that it's more than 22 times heavier, impossible to carry by and soldier. The shear amount of bullets that a gatling gun puts out is just a waste of bullets in an urbanized area and would risk severe collateral damage. Finally we must consider the recoil of these guns. The recoil of a M240 is small enough that it can be shoulder fired. The GAU-8 is mounted on the A-10 Thunderbolt II. The Thunderbolt’s two jet engines produce 18,130 pounds of force combined, but when the A-10 fires its guns it actually slows down because of the recoil. If you could shoulder a GAU-8 and you fired it would blow your shoulder off. The recoil is just too much.

Answer 4

The mini-gun (Gatling) has an extremely high rate of fire. I've seen cyclic rates as high as 10,000 rounds per minute. These types of weapons are on platforms that can carry the ammunition requirements and supply the 3.5 horsepower needed to operate the gun. Don't let Arnold Schwarzenegger or Jesse Ventura let you think that this weapon can be used at the squad level. Aside from the power and ammo requirements, if you were to fire one while holding it, the torque of the weapon would spin you like a top. You would probably do more damage to your own troops than the enemy's. You Tube has some good footage of mini-guns being fired. It is an awesome weapon!

Answer 5

Uh actually a machine gun mounted on an aircraft waste more ammo than the ground would. Our FO, who is an e5 from Ranger Bat now in our unit, 5-20 IN 3rd Stryker Combat Team said that the Gatling gun requires at least 2 battery to work, 1 for the main gun and 1 for the ammo feeder. No, the gun in that arnold movie - Predator wasnt real. Ive flown on blackhawks a few times, i know for a fact they use m240 for the blackhawk. I never seen a gatling gun in real life before but im guessing it cost more money (the gun and the ammo) and it requires more work to maintain it and combat personels dont have the time and resource to keep it maintained in the battle field.

Answer 6

Gatling guns go through more ammo that means you have to carry more. One must take ROE into consideration you can't really just go around a city lighting it up. Gun maintenance is a big factor and Gatling are just too big for the mission.

Answer 7

Well honestly a Gatling gun hasn't been used since the Civil War practically, they are called miniguns now days. And we don't use them very often because they are heavy, fire too fast (yes there is such a thing as too many rounds on a target), and are hard to maintain. You have to have batteries for the weapon, and a heavy machine gun with a lower rate of fire is better for ground to ground combat.

Answer 8

Nirvana

Answer 9

gatling guns kick as

Answer 10

because you'd need another truck to carry all of the ammo for it if you put in a Humvee...

however, SF has them...