SpudFiles

What has every airsoft player wanted at one point or another in their arsenal? At $1500 (about) it's understandable why. Ladies and Gentlemen, I proudly present the the General Electric M-61 Vulcan Minigun airsoft replica.

Brief Overview
This is a labor intensive ongoing project hopefully to be completed in a month or two. I got the inspiration from Spuddins' M50 project. It has already cost me $200 and it's not even assembled yet! My goal is to cut the cost about 75% and keep it the same gun we all know and love. It uses PVC, wood, iron and steel in it's design. Enjoy because this gun is a toast to spudfiles and all of its members.

Theory of Operation

It is a modified inline vortex block design. When I saw the concept of a vortex gun I was intrigued enough to put the idea to the test. I added a feature in the rotation of the barrels so that when a barrel isn't lined up with the block it builds pressure. This will lead to a near-zero jam, high energy vortex gun. The chamber itself was designed especially for this concept. It has a half harmonic of somewhere between 100 and 50Hz; exactly what rate the gun will be firing at. This results in a vacuum, after the bb has left the block, in the chamber. It is not shown but there is a snake-like curve in the bb-out section of the block. I'll try to get a diagram for that later. However, it has been proven to work with a small proof-of-concept prototype that was short lived. (the jerry-rigging resulted in it's ultimate demise )

Statistics

General Electric M-134 Vulcan Airsoft Minigun Replica Statistics

Compressor
Company Shinn Fu of America
Tailgate Tools Model# W-172
Max Pressure 250 PSI
Max Flow Rate.7 CFM
Duty Cycle (minutes)15/30(on/off)
Hose Length 18.1''
Cord Length 10ft.
Max Amp Draw 12A @ 12V
http://www.shinnfuamerica.com/((lc35ll5 ... spx?ID=212

Air Hose
Company Northern Industrial Tools
Material Type Urethane
Pressure Rating 300 PSI
Hose Length 35ft
Hose I.D. ¼''
http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/ ... _200267224

Regulator
Company ARO
Port Size: 1/4" NPT female inlet, outlet & (2) 1/8" NPT gauge ports
Pressure Range: 5-125 PSIG

Flow Capacity: 13 SCFM (125 PSIG Supply, 100 PSIG Outlet)

Maximum Supply Pressure: 250 PSIG

Operating Temperature Range: 0 to 150 F

Body/Knob: Glass-reinforced composite/acetal resin

Diaphragm/Seals: Buna-N

Mounting: In-line plumbing, panel mount, wall mount

Weight: 0.25 pounds
http://regulatorstore.com/prodinfo.asp?number=86040

Air Gun
Max Pressure 90 PSI

Air Tank
Material Type PVC
Tank Height 24''
Tank I.D. 4''
Tank O.D. 4.5''
Total Atmospheric Volume 2412.74 CI, 1.39626 CF
Total Pressurized Volume (90psi) 14771.87755 CI, 8.54855 CF
Tank Quantity x2
Tank Charge Time (@.7CFM) 12.21221429 min.
Tank Discharge Time 10-20 sec

Vortex Block
Material Wood
Bore Diameter 2in
Max Flow Intake 80CFM
Cycle Rate 50-100RPS

Edit: (2/24/08)
New pics of progress are up. This is the first step toward the minigun.

Why the secrecy? This is a spudgun forum, not the Cold War.

lol you could say it's a tribute to Spudfiles and the knowledge the site has given me. So It's a surprise.

awwwwww...

Is it radically different from any other BBMG on this forum? And if so, does it increase power/rate of fire/reliability?

the operation of the gun has been taken ot a new level but the concept has been used before. The fire rate I'd have to say is what improves the most. 50 rps, hopefully. The power typically seen by this concept will also increase. Unfortunately, reliability will suffer.

The fire rate I'd have to say is what improves the most. 50 rps, hopefully.

even more BBs to pick up

Besides, 50 rps seems pretty average for a BBMG.

Well not if you count the time trying to fire a clogged BBMG. Mine won't. It'll be near impossible. I also think you overestimate the firing rate. The average would seem to be closer to 30 rps. Mine will shoot an entire one of these every minute the trigger is depressed.

The power typically seen by this concept will also increase. Unfortunately, reliability will suffer.

Well not if you count the time trying to fire a clogged BBMG. Mine won't. It'll be near impossible.

You seem a little confused, perhaps a working prototype would have been a better idea before you posted about it. I try and post all my ideas, ridiculous or not, before i built them, because there will always be something you missed and it's good to have your design reviewed by your peers before going ahead with the build.

For the gun I'm building this is no easy way to make a proof of concept. It is much easier to build the real thing. Besides the gun I'm making is modeled after a real version using real bullets. Switching to airsoft would make the design more practical if anything. Reasearch has definatley been done if that's your primary concern. I probably spent about 20 hours this week alone researching and designing it. There are 15 diagrams, all scaled and measured. This is probably one of the largest efforts I've ever put into anything in my life. Not just to impress you, the members of spudfiles, but it is a personal achievement that will raise the bar to what is possible for me to do. Also, to show my confidence, I've been averaging $40 a day building it for the last week.

This is probably one of the largest efforts I've ever put into anything in my life. Not just to impress you, the members of spudfiles, but it is a personal achievement that will raise the bar to what is possible for me to do.

well with that being said I cannot wait to see the end result, and good luck with the project.

Well don't get to excited. This project is going to take months to finish. I'm a sucker for punishment...

ahhh lol well now i will be punished by having to wait to see this sucker lol... maybe some updates as you go about making it?

I wish I had that bank roll to dump into spudguns.....

Well this is going to use up the last of my "play money". After this you won't being hearing much from me as far as new guns go. So, in a sense this is to cap off my collection with an Uber Krazy Gun as gun number 6. As far as updating I will update the hints to show my progress along with guiding you to guess what the gun will be before I post it.

ok lol that works for me