M134 Minigun build.

[General Mcgregor]

Hey fellas!
Well it's been nearly 3 years since I bought my M66 ring mount but I still don't have a replica weapon to complete the setup. I have been looking at replicas on epay and other places that do 1:1 builds of famous weapons but holy $$$$!!
I can't justify paying $1500 plus for a .50 cal Ma Deuce replica. And I'm not about to buy one that I can break over my knee either.

So I have been left with no other option, I am going to build myself a replica machine gun from scratch. And I figured I might as well go all out! I am going to build a tribute to Ol' Painless, the M134 Minigun! (more like the GAU 17A door gun).

This replica will be slightly larger than the compact M134 (It will be more like .50 caliber barrels) but much smaller than the Vulcan 20mm.

There are a few requirements that I have for the finished product.

1. Must be as close to the design of the weapon as possible with the resources I have at my disposal.
2. The replica must have a working rotational mechanism with an electric motor that can spin the barrels up to 2500 rpm (or close).
3. The replica must also have a mount that attaches to the M66 ring (or any military tripod).
4. Must be constructed of as many metal parts as possible to maintain realism.
5. Must be finished before spring.

I really hope to finish this build and am looking forward to posting pictures and updates about my progress. I figure it will make a nice project to keep me busy this winter. If anyone has done anything similar or has any input at all about good parts or construction materials to use I would very much encourage you to subscribe to this thread!

Design work starts tonight with some prep work starting hopefully this week.

Here are a couple pics of what I hope to have for a finished product.

 

[Flyingvan911]

Sounds like a cool project.

 

[Vintage iron]

I hear there is a guy in Weare that builds .50 cal replicas. I would work on building a mini gun replica with you .

 

[General Mcgregor]

Thanks Matt! I'm sure I will need your help before I'm done

 

[jvandal]

excellent! I look forward to seeing your progress as I want to do something very similar!

 

[patracy]

Subscribed!

 

[Vintage iron]

I am working on a MK 19 and .50 cal replicas. My buddy is drawing them in CAD

 

[General Mcgregor]

I am working on a MK 19 and .50 cal replicas. My buddy is drawing them in CAD

Nice!! Keep me updated on how that goes, would still love a .50 cal at some point

 

[Al Harvey]

I'm planning on doing a .50 replica but have already looked at some designs for a mini gun as well. Here are some of the dimensions I came up with when I was researching.

 

[General Mcgregor]

That is right around the specs I will be using. 3/4" barrels, 1" plate center holes, 4" plate diameter.

 

[maddawg308]

I had a M134 minigun parts kit several years back, all the parts except the receiver housing. Cost a pretty penny to assemble the package, and sold for same. I wish you well in your dummy gun build, I've seen a few half-assed replicas and they just didn't look right. It's a complex design to replicate without patience and time to get it right.

 

[glassk]

http://www.replicaplans.com/M134-Minigun.html

not an endorsement, just googled it

The replica can be fitted with motors to spin the barrel

 

[Flyingvan911]

I would like to build a replica TOW launcher for my new but still squashed MUTT. I'd make it able to fire model rockets.

 

[vitamink]

Subscribing. I purchased a minigun replica from killbuckets as a base to build upon. It spins with 12v and it's mostly PVC pipe. I need to come up with a way to make that offset side mount and ammo chute.

 

[General Mcgregor]

So I got the first barrel plate built. I am not sure if I am going to use this one on the final assembly or just use it as a marking tool.

This is the first of five such plates that will form the barrel assembly, two more will be identical to this one and the last two will have a smaller inner diameter (3/4") for the drive shaft and have larger barrel holes to accept the larger tube.

The specs on this plate are as follows:
Overall diameter - 4"
Inner Diameter - 1"
Plate thickness - 5/32"
Barrel hole size - 3/4"
Barrel hole angles - 60 degrees

-GM

 

[B3.3T]

IRACinc already does an awesome Mk-19 and M-2HB. A M-134 is tougher than most realize. Good luck with it.

 

[Al Harvey]

Looking good. Can't wait to see the finished results.

 

[minigunner64th]

Subscribed.

 

[F18hornetM]

Awesome project. Will keep eye out for more pics. I built a M2 was pretty easy and posted some pics here.. http://www.steelsoldiers.com/showth...M813-and-M35&p=1205163&highlight=#post1205163.

 

[General Mcgregor]

My first goal is to have the barrel assembly parts cut, precise measuring and repetition is crucial at this point. Any incorrect alignments of the barrel plates or uneven cuts in the tubing will result in an ugly imbalance at 2500 rpm. All things being equal I wouldn't have to worry about balance issues beyond measuring, but chances are the rotational assembly will still require some fine tuning and the addition of some hidden counterweights.

Believe it or not I think this will be the easy part. For the most part I know exactly what materials / parts I am going to use for this step. What I am having a hard time wrapping my brain around is the body of the gun, location/type of motor, and construction of the feeder/delinker assembly.

I may have to use some fat PVC pipe for the body but I am currently searching for an alternative.

The motor will either be 12 or 24 volt (Maybe 120vac if I decide to buy a power inverter, still unlikely) and will probably have a sprocket with a chain drive to the rotational assembly main shaft.

The spade grips and trigger buttons should be pretty straight forward.

Not sure yet what I am going to do for the mount, probably going to look like the one in pic #1 of my first post. The side mount looks pretty complex but I may be willing to give it a shot if I find some suitable parts.

Feeder/Delinker is going to be tough...