Forum:LMGs and the Minigun

This has been bugging me a little bit ever since I heard that there's gonna be LMGs in Fallout: New Vegas. Now I'm not 100% sure what qualifies as a light machine gun, but based on my limited understanding of the term, a minigun would fall into that category. I often see the minigun mentioned separate from LMGs, however, and I was wondering what, if anything, makes a minigun not fit into the light machine gun category. Kris (talk) 00:30, July 29, 2010 (UTC)

An lmg is normally fired from a bipod and has only one barrel, a minigun has several barrels although this and the weight seem to be the only difference, I think miniguns are medium machine gun as it isn't an HMG.
 * Yup. Miniguns have rotating barrels, LMGs have a single normal barrel. Nitty Tok. 20:09, July 29, 2010 (UTC)

LMGs are defined by their role in combat, i.e. they are typically (not always) served by two men and equipped with a bipod for sustained, automatic fire. HMGs typically come on tripods with sophisticated sights and aren't really used much these days. 'Minigun' is simply a nickname for a specific type of multi barreled gattling gun and are vehicular mounted (most often helicopters) and it is really ridiculous to consider using one on foot. 87.115.125.85 20:38, December 3, 2010 (UTC)JR

HMGs/LMGs are weapons that are fully automatic, use rifle cartages, and have a barrel that is designed for easy replacing in the event of overheating. The main difference between a Heavy Machine Gun and a Light Machine Gun is that a Light Machine Gun is more maneuverable, and is designed to be shoulder-fired (shot like a rifle, aiming down sights, you get the gist). A 'mini gun' is a multi-barreled weapon that fires at an extremely high rate. The barrel does not need to be replaced, because it has more than one, meaning that it will only be fired once every 'x' shots (i.e 4-barrel gattling gun would be 1 in 4 shots fired for that barrel). That, and the rate the barrels are spinning (which helps the cooling process) virtually eliminates the need for a replaceable barrel. This removes it from being classified as a machine gun. Side note: 'Minigun' is actually the title of a gattling gun (just preventing confusion here). Although a gattling gun is considered a 'multi-barreled machine gun', it technically is not a machine gun, but rather a Multiple-Barrel Firearm. The ammunition used in a gattling gun varies. In the case of gattling guns using rifle cartridges, it uses anything equal to or above the 5.56 x 45mm NATO (.223). In the case of a gattling gun using a pistol cartridge (which in turn is another reason it can't be considered a machine gun), it uses anything equal to or above 9 x 19mm Parabellum. As for LMGs in New Vegas: There is an LMG, titled 'Light Machine Gun', which resembles an M240. And for that other argument: Weapons such as the M240, M249, RPD, HK MG-4, Browning Automatic Rifle, RPK-74, and the M60(A1 and A2) are all examples of light machine guns. Also, any assault rifle that has been modified with an easily-replaceable barrel and a large ammo quantity can be considered an LMG, in most circumstances. Any Light Machine gun with a caliber above 10mm is considered a heavy machine gun (though, not all heavy machine guns are above 10mm). Heavy machine guns consist of weapons like the Browning M2, Browning M1919, MG42, XM312, MG08. These weapons are generally designed to be mounted on solid surfaces or tripods, or are otherwise above 10mm (if they are lightweight and can be shoulder/hipfired) --Viper720666 02:55, December 10, 2010 (UTC)