Minigun (Fallout 3)

The Rockwell made minigun or CZ53 personal minigun is the most commonly encountered big gun in Fallout 3.

Characteristics
Since it is so common, the minigun is comparatively easy to find and repair, as well as one of the few big guns easy to find ammunition for; nearly every super mutant brute encountered with one has at least 30 5mm rounds for it. It is also carried extensively by Brotherhood of Steel units, Brotherhood Outcast units, Enclave soldiers, as well as occasionally on some raiders and slavers. This is offset somewhat by the minigun's high rate of fire, which quickly uses up ammunition. Although it consumes ammunition as quickly as the Gatling laser, the minigun is designed as a sustained-firing weapon, and its rate of fire of 20 rounds per second means that it can fire up to 240 rounds in only 12 seconds of continuous firing. Because of this, those who intend to make use of it should buy additional ammunition, which is generally quite plentiful and cheap at shops.

When firing the minigun without V.A.T.S., there is a wind-up time between holding the fire button and when it actually fires. It usually takes under a second to begin shooting. This can be negated by tapping the "fire" button repeatedly to keep it spinning while not actually firing.

Durability
The minigun can fire a total of about 3333 rounds, the equivalent of 14 reloads, from full condition before breaking.

Variants

 * Eugene - A unique minigun which is available as a reward for completing Reilly's Rangers quest and has notably better firepower.
 * There is a version from the Anchorage Reclamation Simulation that has extremely high HP but must be pickpocketed from the T-51b soldiers dropped by vertibird as you approach the Pulse Field, once acquired you can draw 5mm rounds from the ammo dispensers.

Locations

 * National Guard depot- One can be found in the armory storage.
 * Wheaton Armory- Behind the very hard locked door.
 * Hubris comics- Wielded by Mad Johnny Wes.
 * The Roach King uses this as his/her primary weapon.
 * A fully repaired minigun can be found in Fort Independence.
 * Can be found on some Brotherhood of Steel members.
 * Several Super Mutant Brutes use the minigun.

Bugs

 * Very rarely the minigun can actually jam while firing. The barrel will quickly move left and right as if the gun is repeatedly warming up but no bullets will fire.
 * If the player begins fires and crouches at the same time the minigun will not fire, but will still consume ammunition.