Minigun (Fallout 3)

The Rockwell CZ53 Personal Minigun is a multi-barreled gatling gun firing 5mm ammunition over 60,000 RPM. When the Great War struck, it was already an aging design and was slowly being replaced by the more advanced Avenger Miniguns.

It is unclear why 5mm rounds were chosen as ammunition for the Minigun in the Fallout universe, as in reality the typical round for a Minigun is almost exclusively 7.62mm.

The Minigun is a Fallout, Fallout 2, Fallout 3 and Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel weapon.

Fallout 3
The Minigun in Fallout 3 is a potent weapon. Exactly how effective it is, and what is the best situation to use it in, depends on a combination of how high the user's Big Guns Skill is, and how they fight. At lower Skill levels, the Minigun, much like the Flamer, is a powerful weapon at close range, in no small part to the game's optional first-person view. Wielded like this, the Minigun is almost-exclusively close-ranged, and proves useful against mid-level enemies, like Super Mutants, Raiders, and so on, and can be used effectively for dealing with small groups. Those with low Big Guns skill will quickly find the Minigun's power to be short-lived, however, as the Minigun will spray ammo all over the place (generally wasting lots of shots), and generally having inadequate punch against most heavier targets, such as Sentry Bots, and Deathclaws.

As the user's Big Guns climbs, the Minigun becomes a much better weapon, and its power becomes apparent. The spray of the gun becomes much tighter, meaning that you will miss less, and the gun becomes significantly stronger per bullet as well. With maxed skill in Big Guns, a 75% repaired Minigun (a rather easy thing to get, given that Super Mutant Brutes and Super Mutant Masters carry the weapon so often) deals enough damage to fell a Deathclaw in about 4 seconds of sustained fire. Additionally, Miniguns are as effective "free fired" as they are when fired in VATS, which means even low-AGL characters can make good use of it.

However, when firing the Minigun without VATS, a major flaw is the wind-up time between the press of the trigger and when it actually fires. It can take up to three seconds, enough for the enemy to shoot you, run up to you for a melee attack, or move away from your crosshairs if he/she/it has not seen you.

The Minigun is the most commonly-encountered Big Gun as well, which means it's comparatively easy to find, repair, and upgrade, 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 some Raiders and Slavers - because of this, the Minigun and its ammo are rarely in short supply. This is offset somewhat by the Minigun's voracious appetite for ammunition. Though not quite so ammo-hungry as say, the Gatling Laser, the Minigun is designed as a sustained-firing weapon and can burn through its 240-round box magazine in a matter of about 6 seconds, firing over 40 rounds per. Because of this, those intended to make use of it are encouraged to buy additional ammunition, which is generally quite plentiful at shops.

Miniguns boast a high resale value and (unfortunately) a high repair cost. Whilst this can be a harsh setback for those making use of a Minigun, the fact remains that minigun with 75% or higher Condition sells for 999 base Caps, making minigun-collecting an excellent way to earn caps, especially early on before big-ticket money subquests, such as the Arlington Library's Pre-War Book Quest, Lawbringer Finger or Contract Killer Ear cash-ins, or the Citadel Betting Pool.

The Minigun is not as powerful as the Gatling Laser, and does not fire as fast. It does, however, have the advantage of having a much-more-widely available ammo type, and being infinitely easier to keep in top form; the Gatling Laser is rather rare, with the weapon really only found being used by Brotherhood Outcast Patrols and, very rarely, Enclave Soldiers (and even more rarely, in shops).

There is a Unique Minigun called Eugene, which is available via the Reilly's Rangers Quest. Eugene has notably better firepower, turning the already fairly-strong Minigun into an incredibly powerful force when used right. Due to the ability to get Ranger Battle Armor Via the Pickpocket/Swap trick and the sheer mind-blasting difficulty of picking Brick's pocket, Eugene is arguably the better of the two rewards for that quest.

Mini-gun Działko obrotowe