Enjoyable fun, but it raises a lot of questions. First of all, the trees were WAY too big, probably should have been smaller, at least by half.
Secondly, the minigun fires at about 3,000 rounds per minute, so that means it took 2,000 rounds or so to cut down the pine tree in 45 seconds, and over 3,000 for the mesquite tree in over a minute. By comparison, the S.A.W. only fired 3 belts of ammo, and they didn't mention how many rounds per belt (50,100,200?), but it sure wasn't 2 or 3 thousand. And the Thompson only appeared to fire one 50 round drum, of which less than half appeard to hit the tree due to his lousy marksmanship (gotta fire a gun like that in short bursts). So the guns were not just different in caliber, but also in the huge difference in the amount of rounds fired.
Also, it would have been interesting to compare two other machine guns along with the others: a 30 cal Browning from WW2, (which fires a simular bullet to the gatling, but at a much slower rate of fire), and a Browning M2 50 cal, which also fires slow, but has such a huge bullet that each one does a lot of damage.
It would also be interesting to see what a smaller machine gun, like a H&K MP5 in 9mm would do against smaller trees as well.
It was also dissapointing that they werent allowed to "kill a tree" during testing and had to use pre-cut trees, but that didnt affect the results, I just hated the political correctness of it all.
I'm sure they wouldnt mind going back to the shooting range for more testing... thanks.

Yes you can! I seen it done with a WWI British Vickers in 303 with about 400 rounds of ammo on Guns:Machines of War. I bet a Browning .30 cal, M-240, M-60, Mark 48 or any other 7.62 machine gun. IF YOU HIT THE TREE IN A SOLID GROUP!!

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If they would have done a looking around on the net you can find old army film from WW2 of them cutting down a tree with a Browning M1919 .30 cal

You beat me to it. I've seen a number of clips like that. The M1919 uses a .30-06 not the .308 like the minigun. It is a bit more powerful. The machinegunners also fired tight groups rather than spraying all over the tree. Byt slowly walking the walks over a few inches at a time, they cut it down.

Using a .50 would have done the trick. If anyone has an M2 lying around, how about letting them borrow it on some revists?

Heres a myth to answer:

Can you carry the .50 cal while shooting it...

How about knocking down a 3-4" sapling with a shotgun? I was partridge hunting with my Dad. When a pat flies, you spin on the sound and shoot because they are so fast. Dad carried a Browning Sweet 16. He figured that with modern plastic wadding around the shot, he was firing with a full choke (namely the shot stays together for a lot longer than when he was hunting with paper wadding. The dog flushed the bird, Dad turned and fired. A 3-4" sapling was within 2-3 feet from the end of his muzzle. The sapling took the majority of the shot and it fell over. His new nickname was "lumber jack". After that he bought a second Sweet 16 barrel and had an adjustable choke put on to spread out the shot.

50 cal. plain and simple. It is a well known fact that it is more than capable of taking down a large tree with little effort. You cant really carry it around, but if you mount it in a truck or on a tripod it is just fine. Also, if they shot at full trees and not just stumps of log, they would have fell easier since they have more weight and higher center of gravity. Honestly, are these guys capable of testing a myth without messing it up? I watch (and get frustrated by their stupidity) regularly.

seriously what is with only testing three guns, granted that the mini gun is an amazing piece of gun machinery, it is not the only mg that can cut down a tree

Aside from the fact R. Lee did this on Male Call a couple years ago, who pays for the ammo? Last I heard, .30 caliber was about $.95 a round so you're spending about $2200 to cut down a tree. For that kind of money, you can buy a good Husqvarna professional chain saw, cut down all the trees you want, buy a cheap used car, and have a big party. I mean, fun's fun, but the Gatling gun is in the been there, done that category.

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Aside from the fact R. Lee did this on Male Call a couple years ago,

The Mythbuster's narrator, Robert Lee, goes around shooting trees?

I wonder if he narrates himself: "Let's find out if this tree's bark is as bad as it's bite." <powpowpowpow...>

Later!

ps. Just kidding.

what if you used a shoot gun. I saw one get a hunk tore off of it with a buck shot

That was awesome
although
they should try more types of trees
because if they have just some pine and mesquite it doesnt confirm redwood or oak wood.

you should try bigger guns like the M2 .50 cal

The Thompson was worse than worthless, first, as it can barely be expected with a 50 round drum to do anything, secondly, Grant's range from the target was unrealistic. The SAW, I have seen in the jungles of central america can take down smaller and tropical trees, and the minigun was just plain gratuitous. The minigun will saw down anything. From my personal experience, I have sawed down dozens of tree's with the one gun that is guaranteed to do that time and time again, and I was a bit surprised to see it not make an appearance here, the M249's big brother, the M60 machine gun. The M60 will drop a tree, in the hands of a capable gunner, just as fast as the mini. If this is revisited, get an M60 or get the next generration of that gun, the M240 Bravo. Both are 7.62 mm NATO, and the 240 (B) incorporates the same handled barrel as the M249, making the barrel swap a lot safer than the 60's asbestos glove.

The Arizona gun groups have every gun you can imagine. If this is revisited and the 50 cal gets the call up, find the guy out there I see on all the dvd's who owns the Quad 50 AA gun hehe. And ya, for the record, I dropped a couple trees only a little smaller than a fir with less than 200 rounds from an M60. If they want absolutes for the control get the tripod and t&e mechanism for the 60 and do it from 100-200 meters.

yes you can sut a tree down with a weapon I did it with a shotgun shooting slugs and a 50 cal muzzleloader the tree was a 18 inch in diameter oak tree it took me about 8 slugs and about 4 sabots from the muzzleloader to do this

try using weapons that typical non-fellons can buy. I personaly used and AK-47 sporter and took 120 rounds of 7.62x39mm rounds to cut down a full grown oak tree.

Besides mini guns can tear cars to shreds.

P.S. shot guns work too..

I am fairly certain that the SAW could have gotten the tree to fall. I have seen video of a skilled machine gunner taking out an oak tree with about 300 rounds from a WW One era Maxim gun. It was more a matter of the machine gunners skill and technique then the actual accuracy of the weapon. The technique that I saw involved the gunner continually chipping away at one side until he weakened the tree sufficiently to fell it. Granted the maxim gun does fire a slightly larger round.

Several years ago, I was a SAW gunner in the military. I never got the chance to chop down trees, but I did successfully cut down the 2x4 that was holding up an e-type silouette...it took about 400 rounds!

The bottom line is that any weapon can cut down a tree if it can go through it and given enough rounds. That mini gun was awesome! It looked like someone was pouring shells out of a bucket.

There is really no myth about machine guns cutting down trees. There was a book I read once that had a picture taken sometime between 1900-1910 of a Maxim machine gun and the two-foot thick tree that was "shot down" as part of weapons demonstration by Maxim.