The XM-214 Was called the "Mini" Minigun & Never went much further than a R&D project in 1970. A lot of hype & rumor has been floating around for a while like "It was the gun they used in the ---- movie" & the guns can be held & fired like in the movies.. There is even a T-shirt or 2 with the Xm214 "6 Pac" pictured. There is more fiction than fact out there about this gun.
The gun was built & even tested by the Army as a portable squad weapon but it proved just to cumbersome & heavy to use. Not to mention the ROF had to be slowed way down to be able to hold onto & fire. Plus in the 1970's the technology in batteries was so far behind that the battery pack outweighed the gun by almost 20 pounds. As for parts interchangibility with the M-134 there were very few. These were 2 different machines that did the same thing and looked similar but thats about it. The gun was never put into combat use or even into general distribution but a few made it into civilian hands before the FOPA ban in May 1986.
The XM-214 is a "mini" mini gun..
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