Jump to content

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


Aaron in Mohnton Pa

Recommended Posts

 ... 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

 

Za5hJh5.jpg
q6PwHPA.jpg

Jb72z0e.jpg
WlVVU7f.jpg

PcI0D8V.jpg

HIuCrc7.jpg

4hRWPwn.jpg

H39GF4N.jpg

KMIUeUC.jpg
VwsDSEH.jpg

4ZMAFCq.jpg


qKSlnCy.jpg

 

 

Ucod2Xf.jpg

tbb3aF1.jpg

isQLljN.jpg
 

YHbhxiu.jpg


LCFMGa3.jpg


vcSwgCA.jpg


3flshJR.jpg


eLADmUp.jpg


xdvsHMC.jpg


vKN0ZEp.jpg
 

IMZ4LCP.jpg
 

 

 

Edited by Aaron in Mohnton Pa
  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

@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 by Aaron in Mohnton Pa
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

@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....

ATayzrV.jpg

KXnGPvw.jpg

1WbSTfZ.jpg

dFLJaWH.jpg

PBR with this stuff custom mounted in the gun tub 

mMjCelH.jpg

58Hb5xi.jpg

 

Edited by Aaron in Mohnton Pa
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

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.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

@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 by Aaron in Mohnton Pa
Link to comment
Share on other sites

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?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

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.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

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.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

@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

 

NrLhlfm.jpg

 

Edited by Aaron in Mohnton Pa
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 5 months later...

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 by Aaron in Mohnton Pa
Link to comment
Share on other sites

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!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

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.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...