you've seen it on gunships you've seen it on Humvees you've witnessed its absolute power in movies and video games but how well do you understand this military hardware from a quick look the m134 is easily recognized from its rotating barrels during firing we'll talk about this later in the video now this design is based on the principle of its larger size predecessor the Gatling gun but its operation makes this machine gun even more fascinating before we jump into the inner workings let's mention the basic components the m134 consists of six barrels a barrel clamp assembly a rotor assembly six bolt assemblies six removable bolt tracks a gun housing assembly a savings sector a rear gun support a housing cover and two quick release [Music] pins each Barrel is 22 in Long evenly spaced and mounted around a central axis in a circular pattern a barrel clamp holds these barrels in place as they set in the stationary housing cover while this design primarily prevents the barrels from overheating while firing it also increases the guns firing rate we'll look at these in more detail later in the video ever wonder how the m134 spins while firing it's because of the motors this rotor assembly is usually powered externally by a battery though some designs may be hydraulic or pneumatic the barrels are lined with the bolt assembly which follows the housing cover's main cam path so as the rotor spins the barrels the bolt assemblies move along the accommodating tracks ammunition is usually belt-fed from a linked ammo box into the m134 so its rate of firing is steady and sustained the machine gun uses standard 7.625 by 51 mm Nato rounds the rotating mechanism combined with its six barrel design allows the weapon to maintain sustained reloading as it fires as the barrels rotate a separate motor rotates the belts in an opposite direction steadily feeding the firing chamber with rounds so as one barrel fires two are extracting shells while the remaining three are being loaded but you must have wondered if the rounds are linked how do they enter the barrels unlined well as the rounds are fed into the chamber a delinking device unclasps the link that holds them in place and it dispenses them out along with the spent shells as the machine gun fires kind of like what happened in The Matrix each m134 features a grip with triggers that activate the Barrel's rotation and firing sequence during rotation each Barrel is fed around from the ammo belt and moves to a line with the firing chamber once positioned an electrically driven firing pin is activated which strikes the cartridges primer this ignites the propellant in the cartridge forcing a burst of gas to push the bullet through the barrel as long as the trigger's held the process continues at an impressive high speed releasing a barrage of rounds upon the target but how does the we weon address firing safety well the m134 also features a safety firing solenoid that controls the pin's activation also included our safety interlock so the weapon doesn't fire if it isn't properly assembled its rotary operation in six barrel structure give the m134 an incredible firing rate of 6,000 rounds per [Music] minute to put in context the minigun shoots 100 rounds every second second but its firing rate can also be adjusted to as low as 2,000 rounds per minute to suit various combat purposes how is this done you ask well the motor's speed must be adjusted before firing so an operator can choose between a rapid rate of bullets and a slow burst of rounds firing such a massive rate of bullets can eventually cause any weapon to overheat so how does the m134 solve this problem through cooling fins on its barrels the minigun creates airflow as it spins transferring heat away from its system this is why it can be fired for an extensive period without worrying about overheating so the next time you see an m134 in action you'll know how it works remember to hit the like And subscribe buttons and don't forget to turn on the notification Bell for more of our videos