Minigun

"Now *this* is a big-ass machine gun!"

- Louis

The M134 Minigun is a mounted weapon in Left 4 Dead. It is designed for defending intense stand-off areas. The miniguns were presumably left behind by the military, but were abandoned when the army left or was killed. It has a small wind-up time, but once it starts firing, it becomes one of the best support weapons in the game. The gun is very powerful but can lose its accuracy at longer ranges. It is bolted to the floor so it cannot be moved, only swiveled in a 170° arc in front of the gun. It has infinite ammo but can overheat; this is shown as the minigun's barrel quickly glows red, as well as the emission of smoke. This smoke also impairs your vision, causing you to have a harder time shooting accurately. However, this is not an imminent signal of the minigun jamming, as it takes 20 seconds of continuous firing before overheating.

In Left 4 Dead 2, the Minigun is replaced by the Heavy Machine Gun, but its sounds are still in the game's files.

Tactics

 * Always have a buddy covering your back, because without being able to rotate the weapon 360°, you are vulnerable from behind while using it.
 * Aim for the masses or the mini-bosses. Don't bother shooting at the one or two Infected stragglers if, for example, there is a Hunter in clear sight. Your gun can take out enemies the fastest in close quarters. Use it to trim their numbers or take out the big guys. Let your non-minigun-wielding friends take down the stragglers.
 * When shooting into masses of Infected, keep an eye on where your fellow Survivors are by looking for their colored outlines. There's nothing worse than getting gunned down by your own ally.
 * When fighting a Tank, aim for the concrete that he throws at either you or the other Survivors, as it can be destroyed before it lands.
 * Even when no Infected are present, you should constantly tap the fire button. This will keep the barrel spinning, and eliminate the long wind-up time when a horde suddenly comes at you.
 * The minigun also acts as bait for Tanks in co-op mode, allowing someone to distract the Tank with the minigun, while his teammates pour lead into the Tank.
 * Try not to overheat the gun. This is especially problematic if there are tons of infected charging and the gun can't fire.
 * The minigun does not have vehicular properties, meaning you still can be dragged by a Smoker or pounced on.
 * While most people avoid using the minigun these days, there's no replacement for it in finales. If a Tank is hittable with it, hop on and open fire, this will most likely take a large portion out of its health if it doesn't kill it outright. Also, note that shooting the Tank continuously with the minigun will reduce its speed.



Glitches

 * Turning your flashlight on or off while you're aiming the minigun will cause the flashlight's activating and deactivating sounds to play repeatedly until you dismount.
 * For unknown reasons, one may be randomly knocked off of the minigun in the middle of fire and have some problems getting back on.
 * If there is an oxygen tank, gas can, or propane tank under where you would be standing on the minigun, you will be above the normal height you would be at, and can aim farther down, but less upward.
 * If holding a pipe bomb, first aid kit, or anything that is not a gun the aiming reticule for the minigun will change (must grab minigun while holding one of supplies)
 * Meleeing the Minigun repetitively and then jumping onto the Minigun somehow slings you forward. If you melee the Minigun long enough, you may be able to skip some Crescendo Event's (such as the Crescendo Event on Death Toll, The Town); but be advised, if you do manage to skip The Town's Crescendo Event you may be greeted by a Tank since Tanks do spawn on the other side of the rubble.