RARE M134 Minigun Armament for the Huey Helicopter (Picture Heavy)

[Aaron in Mohnton Pa 138]

 ... Every now and then we get stuff in that has extreme historic significance.... Museum pieces..... This is one of those things and I thought it would be worth sharing with my fellow enthusiasts on here..... We recently obtained a complete system to outfit a Uh-1 huey Helicopter with Miniguns in the doors. ALL of this is Vietnam War Surplus... These systems were issued during the war in extremely small numbers... Primarily used by the Air Force Green Hornets on Hueys and Jolly Green Giant Helicopters... It is nothing short of amazing that this stuff survived Vietnam, survived the scrapper, sat for decades in a storage container out west, and is now here..... Likely sold as scrap at some point way back when.

   These ammo magazines I believe hold 8,000-10,000 Rounds of Ammo. Have not loaded them up yet. Each magazine has a booster motor assembly on it which runs in sync with the guns motor. We tested everything and after a good clean up it all functions properly.

Aaron - Mohnton, Pa

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited 28 Sep 2021 by Aaron in Mohnton Pa

[Ryo 78]

So.. you have 10k of rounds lying around somewhere. Take videos!

Beautiful collection. How in the world you find these things?

[Aaron in Mohnton Pa 138]

@Ryo , my company is at a crossroad where the aviation industry and the gun industry meet. We specifically deal in Huey a helicopter Armament in addition to what we do with machine guns .... we work closely with companies operating entire fleets of Huey Helicopters ... with that being said, sometimes these outfits come up with some really great stuff and have no use for it being they are mostly putting their aircraft to work.... We got a call on this load of stuff and worked out a deal. Crazy how these things happen ..... it’s what makes this fun though... the hunt for this stuff.... 

 

Edited 18 Feb 2021 by Aaron in Mohnton Pa

[Ryo 78]

I can see how that could be fun.. I have a deep affection for Hueys after riding one as a kid so I find your job double interesting.

[BrettBaker 6]

Any sets of PsyOps speakers so a guy can play Wagner properly?;)

[Aaron in Mohnton Pa 138]

35 minutes ago, BrettBaker said:

Any sets of PsyOps speakers so a guy can play Wagner properly?;)

Lol.. Those speakers they had on these birds were absolutely massive.

[johnsonlmg41 55]

Not just for Helo's  Boaters like those setups too!

[Aaron in Mohnton Pa 138]

@johnsonlmg41 , That is an awesome photo!.... That mount (the lower portion of it) was fabricated (in the field I'm sure)... A lot of navy PBR guys I know and Seawolf air crew had to fabricate their mounts. They were able to trade or pilfer ammo magazines and other components etc. Most pictures you see of miniguns in the doors on helicopters in Vietnam are custom made mounts like below. I inquired as to why any of these units would have to fabricate mounts... The Answer: Only the Air Force ordered Helicopters with factory installed miniguns in the doors .. The other branches only had miniguns on their gunships (pylon mounted) ... Who knows why....

PBR with this stuff custom mounted in the gun tub 

 

Edited 19 Feb 2021 by Aaron in Mohnton Pa

[davester 16]

Thanks for sharing.  Great photos.  Were the guns on a Form 4 as transferable?  Be interesting to know their paperwork background.

[Aaron in Mohnton Pa 138]

No. These are both dealer sample guns. 

[oscardeuce 0]

Wishing I hadn’t sold my Hueys a few years ago....

[Ryo 78]

Interesting. I just realized I never thought of all the places they would mount the canisters of ammo in a Huey. Always took for granted that there was a storage place for it.

One day I will fire one of those.. Out of a Huey would be a bonus.

[Got Uzi 41]

If I may be so bold-those setups are just drop dead sexy! 

So how many rounds would be fired from those magazines before the barrels are trash?

[Aaron in Mohnton Pa 138]

@Got Uzi ,  from a friend who worked at Dillon Aero for a very long time - Government life cycle for a 6 barrel group was 200k rounds. However, shooting habits will also extend or decrease the service life. A single 3,000 round burst can destroy a set of barrels. On the other hand they had barrels last up to 400k rounds by not doing massive bursts constantly. 

Edited 30 Mar 2021 by Aaron in Mohnton Pa

[Aaron in Mohnton Pa 138]

On 3/29/2021 at 2:28 PM, oscardeuce said:

Wishing I hadn’t sold my Hueys a few years ago....

Lets see some pictures of those Hueys! H models?

[johnsonlmg41 55]

I was at KCR watching when Degroat ran enough rounds to get a barrel set to glow a dull red.....enough to make me retreat behind the herd.  There is video posted to utube somewhere.  I don't recall how many it was, but it was a LOT.  The good old school H+R barrels are stellite lined and wear superbly.  Newer barrels, possibly less?  I do know those barrels ran all weekend through a pallet of ammo.  Those were exciting times at .17 a round portugese linked.  Those days seem to be over for now?

[Aaron in Mohnton Pa 138]

@johnsonlmg41 , I know which video your referring to.... Autoweapons used to have it on their website. It was a massive massive burst. Bright red barrels. Looks like it is gone now.

[Buddy H 146]

I saved this photo from the internet ..... 2005

[Buddy H 146]

[Aaron in Mohnton Pa 138]

@Buddy H - Yes that is the one I was talking about. Vahan made that gigantic pile of brass and links there. There was a good video of it. 

[Ryo 78]

7 hours ago, Buddy H said:

That's what I call winning. It's one of my deep desires to shoot one of those.

[johnsonlmg41 55]

Rentals are available at many shoots.   I got it mostly out of my system and switched to a 9mm brass hand cranker.  It is definitely unique, but IMO running a M2HB is more exciting to me.   If your desire gets the best of you I still have one complete best of the best M134 setup available.  2 speed GCU, 4K drum with drive cable, portable power pack, etc.  Stuff never available on the commercial market.

[Ryo 78]

4 hours ago, johnsonlmg41 said:

Rentals are available at many shoots.   I got it mostly out of my system and switched to a 9mm brass hand cranker.  It is definitely unique, but IMO running a M2HB is more exciting to me.   If your desire gets the best of you I still have one complete best of the best M134 setup available.  2 speed GCU, 4K drum with drive cable, portable power pack, etc.  Stuff never available on the commercial market.

That sound very cool. Lot more logistics taking that out then your hand cranker or M2HB. Both of those sound fun too.

[Aaron in Mohnton Pa 138]

@johnsonlmg41 , ....FWIW....the motor and GCU you have (at least from the photos I saw) are AC power components. For use on aircraft..... I have not met anyone yet who successfully converted them to DC power ...  I’m sure it can be done though.... some of the same AC components below

 

 

Edited 31 Mar 2021 by Aaron in Mohnton Pa

[Aaron in Mohnton Pa 138]

its alive …. Had to have custom power supply and custom power cables /  gun control unit cables made to match this antiquated technology… But this thing is up and running now.

 

Edited 27 Sep 2021 by Aaron in Mohnton Pa

[SGT Fish 3]

On 3/31/2021 at 8:59 PM, Buddy H said:

I still have one of those Portuguese ammo can sets. I bought it off James or vahan to stand on and see over the crowd. I think I paid 8 bucks for the set and my buddy said I got ripped off, lol. That was my first KCR shoot I think. 

[Aaron in Mohnton Pa 138]

I think those crates are British or South African. I have a few here. I love them... makes carrying ammo around easy. There was a article I read a few years back about how that massive load of South African Ammo (Made in 1980s) was allegedly stolen (or improperly obtained from the South African Government) and imported into the United States in the 1990s... pretty interesting read...

Edited 28 Sep 2021 by Aaron in Mohnton Pa

[mattnh 17]

10 hours ago, Aaron in Mohnton Pa said:

I think those crates are British or South African. I have a few here. I love them... makes carrying ammo around easy. There was a article I read a few years back about how that massive load of South African Ammo (Made in 1980s) was allegedly stolen (or improperly obtained from the South African Government) and imported into the United States in the 1990s... pretty interesting read...

Hi Aaron,

If you ever find/see that link again post it up - def sounds like an interesting read!

[johnsonlmg41 55]

The 4 brown cans on the tray are linked Portugese.  There were many pallets available at the creek one year.   Non-bulk price was around 0.17/rd from what I recall when I bought some.  I'm guessing the pallet price (they ran at least a pallet through that gun over the weekend) may have been slightly less.  I ran about 12 seconds through a friends gun that weekend and scratched an itch.  The ammo deals are long gone, the creek will be gone soon.  Kinda feel bad for the younger guys that will never get the chance.