Posted: 3/23/2003 4:21:05 PM EDT
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OK.... I have a couple of AR's and AK's, pistols, other rifles and shotguns, etc., but I don''t know what a CHAINGUN is. So what is it? How is it different from a machine gun that shoots from a belt-fed device? Anyway, the forces on their way to Baghdad are equiped with Bushmaster 25mm chainguns. If anybody has a description/picture, I would certainly appreciate it. Thanks a lot. Chuck/ARnSC [email protected] PS: Sorry to be such a dumbass...... ~chuck |
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Chainguns cycle the round by an electric motor, instead of from the returned gas expansion of a fired round. This is good on vehicle mounted weapons and helicopters, where it'd be difficult to manually clear a dud round which would jam the action of a normal gas-cycled machine gun. |
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Thanks guys, for the feedback on the chaingun. One Fox News "embedded" reporter is reporting that the LAV (light armoured vehicle) that he is traveling in is equipt with a "Bushmaster 25mm Chaingun." However, I have called Bushmaster, and the guy explained that the gun isn't made by Bushmaster, but that the military just named the gun "Bushmaster." Also, I have seen GE mini-guns that rotate by electric motor (very impressive!), but I have never seen a single barrel gun (to my knowledge) that worked that way. No matter what, you guys probably know more that I do about it. That ATK site is a good one. I will go back and look through all the links when I come back from the doctor. Thanks again. |
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Quoted: However, I have called Bushmaster, and the guy explained that the gun isn't made by Bushmaster, but that the military just named the gun "Bushmaster." The reporter probably got "Bushmaster" mixed up with "Bushwhacker". I've heard that term thrown around a few times. -UHLEK- |
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[img]http://www.atk.com/productsPrecision/descriptions/products/GunSys/images/25mmBushmaster.jpg[/img] [i]"The 25mm Bushmaster automatic cannon is a battle-proven performer featuring dual feed Chain Gun technology. ATK has delivered more than 10,500 M242s to the U.S. Army and forces around the world. Its design simplicity, external power, round control, ease of maintenance and constant velocity ammunition feed make it the most reliable automatic cannon on the modern battlefield.[/i] Scottman |
| Thanks ScottMan & Hawkeye... great pictures and info! But what does the chain do better than a belt-fed system can do? That certainly looks like the gun that is mounted on the Marines' LAV that the Fox News embedded reporter is travelling in. I guess the "chain" part just fascinates me. |
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Quoted: Thanks ScottMan & Hawkeye... great pictures and info! But what does the chain do better than a belt-fed system can do? Again, if a round misfires, the chain action will cycle that round out and load a fresh one in, unimpeded. If that happened in a belt-fed, you'd have to cycle the round by hand. You can't do that when the gun's mounted under your cockpit, so your gun would be out of action. |
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Quoted: But what does the chain do better than a belt-fed system can do? If I get it right, the chain force feeds the rounds. There is no jamming because the chain mechanically forces the bad round out and the next round into the chamber. I don't completely get it, but that is my simple understanding. fwiw Scott |