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    Forums    MythBusters    MythBusters Episode Discussion    Viewer Idea Special II - Tree Machine Gun - Discuss It Here!
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Junior Member
Registered: 02-20-08
Posts: 3
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quote:
Originally posted by floydian218:
quote:
Originally posted by darkspartan192:
you guys are forgetting one thing, the price, if they are not able to get the ammo donated to them, then its going to be very costly to get what you guys are talking about, ya i know they have bought tons of expensive stuff already and destroyed it, but they pretty much had no other way, like cars.

but on this myth, they did have other options, some cheaper options, the ammo for the guns they used cost way less then the .50 and the 20mm, either way, the myth was still confirmed with a smaller weapon, a way that they saved alot of money off of, i dont see why you guys are complaining about them not using a more powerful weapon when it was still confirmed, and saved them money.

say you ran the show, say you had to pay for everything, would you pay a few hundred dollars for the something that will get the job done, or will you pay thousands of dollars that will confirm the myth just as easily as the few hundred dollars of stuff did, its just a waste of money


however.....the money they spent on all them gatling gun rounds would cost more then say just a belt of .50 cal ammo that it would take to knock down a tree... my biggest gripe bout it though is they used alot more ammo with the gatling then the other two so it seems the saw and thompson are not able to do it. i personly think they shouldev ended it fast by getting a m242 and use a single 25mm round, itd be over for much less the price and if they can get their hands on a gatling a 242 shouldnt be too hard.


Excellent idea. Too bad mythbusters can't test these. If the M134 7.62x51mm 3000rds/min minigun cut it down in 45 seconds (147 grain or 163 grain AP rounds?) then an M61 20mm 6000rds/min Vulcan cannon with it's 4000 grain round or even better, a GAU-8 30mm 4200rds/min cannon would take just seconds. The M242 25mm gun is only about 200 rds/min and with AP rounds maybe 30 times more massive than the M134 but 15 times slower rate of fire, maybe it will cut it down twice as fast as the M134 minigun from the show. But M242 with an HE round...now energy delivered to the tree isn't volume of bullet energy but now the addition of explosives. Lets not stop there but imagine like some other posters suggested grenade launchers or just use direct fire artillery but this mission creeps the original myth idea beyond machine gun fire.
Junior Member
Registered: 02-21-08
Posts: 2
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i'm ticked off that a M60 wasn't used(Rambo's gun) it fires a 308 round and is a perfered weapon of spec ops teams for heavy fire power. i want to see a tree cut down by a chain machine gun Mad

This message has been edited. Last edited by: kim g,
Member
Registered: 05-29-07
Posts: 37
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The biggest problem with the MythBusters is plainly obvious - NONE of them are weapons experts; and the few experts that they have as guests either let the MythBusters do whatever they want, or else their suggestions/tips/experience is ignored.
I love the show, but everytime they do a weapons myth, I cringe because I know that it is almost certain that they are going to screw things up somewhere along the way.
As far as the 'tree cutting' myth goes, they fired approx 2250 rounds of 7.62x51mm from the M134 (approx 3750 rds at the 2nd tree); either 300 or 600 rounds of 5.56x45mm from the SAW (SAW ammo belts are normally either 100 or 200 rds each - they stated that they fired 3 belts); and only 50 rds of .45 ACP from the Thompson.
Simple facts: The larger and faster the bullet is, the more damage it will do. The type of bullet used will also make a difference (if it expands as it travels through, it will cause more damage). ANY bullet that is able to penetrate the tree at all will do damage, but the deeper the penetration, the more damage is caused.
It was a fun episode - I would have loved to have been the one to fire all of those weapons (actually have fired the SAW before - although I don't particularly like it, it is still fun to fire). It was hilarious to watch Kari firing the M134 - as you could tell the guys were jealous!! LOL
Senior Member
Registered: 08-06-07
Posts: 102
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What about the MG-42? or the Bren LMG? I have seen multiple videos of old WW2 machine guns cutting down trees. So why not use those?
Senior Member
Registered: 02-09-07
Posts: 379
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Would have been much easier with live trees. Dead trees don't splinter like live trees. Needs a re-visit. I think they expected this though. They get two episodes out of it instead of just one. I have shot the tops out of pines before with nothing more than a 12ga. shotgun with a deer slug.
Junior Member
Registered: 04-08-08
Posts: 1
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMO7JbNUS9k

There you go 470 rounds with a 1916 Vickers.

The Mythbusters are not very good shots.
Senior Member
Registered: 09-17-07
Posts: 605
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I just saw this episode and I think it can due with a revist. I think the weapons where some very poor picks. I already knew that an M1A1 Thopson SMG is not going to cut down a tree!! Well it could but it would take an awfully long time. The SAW fires a smaller round then the Thompson so that would take a good amount of time also. As for the minigun no surprizes there. If I had to pick I'd go with the BAR, Bren LMG, MG-42, and the king of machine guns THE MIGHTY 50 CAL!!
Junior Member
Registered: 05-25-08
Posts: 1
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I have to agree with Matt. What's the point in complaining about how the myth was PROVED. They cut down a tree with a machine gun just as the myth says. Who cares what machine gun they did it with. Being in the military with 2 deployments to Iraq, I know that there are more machine guns out there that can cut down a tree then just the mini gun. I know from experience that the M240B, replacement for the M60, and M240C, vehicle mounted, machine guns can do it in less than 800 rounds. Big deal, they proved it, who cares what weapon they chose to do it with. I can also say, from experience, that an M242, also known as a bushmaster, would not have taken down those stumps with a single HE round. The rounds exploding on the outside of the stump would cause some damage but, not enough internal damage with only one hit. Best bet with those would probably be the TP-T rounds. And for the fan of artilery, artillery isn't a machine gun.
Junior Member
Registered: 05-25-08
Posts: 1
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I'd love to see them do it again, this time use the SAME number of rounds in each gun before reaching a conclusion.
Member
Registered: 08-18-08
Posts: 5
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hey ive fired a SAW it has great accurracy and power if u get a better line of sight nice line of fire u could cut it down and hey there is more bullets then just frekincopper covered lead and what about a mounted machine gun like a brownig 50. i mean if u can get a mini gun u could get a 50.
Member
Registered: 08-18-08
Posts: 5
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[QUOTE]Originally posted by newby:
I just saw this episode and I think it can due with a revist. I think the weapons where some very poor picks.
i hear u i mean a frekin m60 would have been better then a thompson i mean a thompson is a submachine gun get a frekin LMG please high rate of fire and any tree in your ways goin down
Member
Registered: 08-18-08
Posts: 5
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[QUOTE]Originally posted by ariley20:
Yes a .50 cal machine gun can cut down trees it just takes some time.
dude your right any gun with enough ammo can take a tree down i mean with a 9mm you could shoot down a tree

This message has been edited. Last edited by: mod_ivy,
Senior Member
Registered: 01-28-08
Posts: 116
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they did it completely right, i have nothing to complane about i was amazed.
Senior Member
Registered: 07-25-08
Posts: 94
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Just as there is a correct method to fell a tree with an axe, the same method would likely be the most efficient way to cut down a tree with a gun.

I would think if you can cut a notch out of one side of the tree, and use the weight of the top of the tree and gravity to bring the tree down, it would go much faster than just spraying into the tree hoping it falls.
Junior Member
Registered: 08-18-08
Posts: 1
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I have known individuals who have cut down a tree with a coax machine gun, as well as the m2. and at greater distances.
Member
Registered: 08-18-08
Posts: 14
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Grant, Tory, and Carey could have easily cut down those trees if they just got closer. The Closer you are to any gun the more powerful the bullet because of the heat that a gun produces. The farther you are the more time the bullet has to cool.
Junior Member
Registered: 08-18-08
Posts: 2
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quote:

Battle Of Spotsylvania, Virginia (American Civil War.) There was a 22 inch Oak Tree on the Confederate Side at 'Bloody Angle'. This was by the Union troops firing muzzle loaded rifles. I am pretty sure, they weren't firing at the tree for the novel effect of felling it. Yes ... I known mythbusters recreates or simulate facts. This was actuality, and is marked with a monument on the battlefield.
I have see the photo of the stump, and it currently resides in the museum of Natural History in DC.

regards to the fans of a great show!!!
Member
Registered: 09-12-08
Posts: 10
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Here is a curiousity.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but don't Tommyguns use lead bullets? So it should be possible to cut the tips of each bullet before loading.

Dangerous? Yes.

For your Tommygun, you did not use "cut bullets".

Cut bullets = use a knife to imprint a cross on the bullet tip.

Cut bullets = crude explosive rounds.

I think cut bullets would explode on impact causing the tree to be cut in half, based on the range Tory and Grant were from the tree.

Thoughts? Post.
Junior Member
Registered: 09-19-08
Posts: 1
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I've got a little twist on the machine gun tree thing. On the old batman movie with the joker, theres a point where two machine guns came out of the batmobile and cut in half a large steel factory type door. If this is boring, forget you guys, but I think seeing all the sparks will be great.
Member
Registered: 09-12-08
Posts: 10
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quote:
Originally posted by Kablooie King:
I've got a little twist on the machine gun tree thing. On the old batman movie with the joker, theres a point where two machine guns came out of the batmobile and cut in half a large steel factory type door. If this is boring, forget you guys, but I think seeing all the sparks will be great.


That was on the Michael Keaton version of Batman (movie).

Yup, that would be quite fantastic to see the MythBusters perform.
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