A type of single barreled machine gun that uses an external source of power to cycle the weapon, and does so via a continuous loop of chain very much like that used on a motor or bicycle.
Common misconception furthered by Doom's naming of it's weapons (and I think a couple of other games). The Doom's "chaingun" was a Gatling gun (of unknown model). Technically, the term "minigun" comes from what the M134 was nicknamed. People have just applied it to all Gatling guns for some reason.
Anyway I see more common things with the chaingun and the autocannon than the gatling gun, and I always thought that chaingun standed for a gun who use a belt fed ammunition system.... Because I think everyone knows that machine guns can use belt fed systems as well as magazines and drums, and the fact that the belt was a sort of chain ...
The Machingun just designates the single barrel weapon The Autocannon designates 20 mm caliber machine guns and above The gatling gun is just a multi barrel rotary machinegun The minigun designates the small gatling guns weapons like the M134 and XM 214 And the chaingun designates externally powered single barrel machineguns and autocanons
Anyway our beloved games uses often wrong names in regards to weapons and chaingun is used for almost every kind of machine gun in games
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