The Gatling gun was a weapon that used multiple rotating barrels to produce continuous bursts of fire. It was the first highly successful rapid-repeating firearm by combining reliability, high firing rate and ease of loading into a single device.

In 1862 Richard Jordan Gatling, took out a patent for a mechanical gun that he developed. The Gatling Gun consisted of six barrels mounted in a revolving frame. A later version with ten barrels, fired 320 rounds a minute. The United States Army purchased these guns in 1865 and over the next few years most major armies in Europe purchased the gun. In 1870 Gatling opened a new factory in Hartford, Connecticut to produce his gun. He continued to improve the Gatling Gun and by 1882 it could fire up to 1,200 rounds per minute. However, sales of the gun declined after Hiram Maxim began producing his automatic Maxim Machine Gun.

The evolution of the Gatling Gun can be see best here in this pictures! Enjoy !

Gatling Gun(1874)

Gatling Gun(1883)

The success of Gatling’s automatic gun encouraged others to enter the market. In 1879 the Gardner Machine Gun was demonstrated for the first time. A two-barrelled weapon operated by crank which loaded and fired each barrel in turn. The feed system was a grooved strip into which the rims of a box of cartridges could be slid, after which the box was removed. In public trials the gun fired 10,000 rounds in 27 minutes. This impressed military leaders from Britain and the following year the British Army purchased the gun.

Modern Gatling Gun

Although unused for many years, Gatling guns made a return when very-high rate-of-fire weapons were needed in military aircrift and ship-based CIWS with electric motors handling rotation. One of the main reasons for the resurgence is the tolerance for high-volume fire. For example, if 2000 rounds were fired non-stop from a five-barreled Gatling gun, it would mean 400 rounds per barrel, which would be acceptable. The same amount through a machine gun of the same caliber would mean 2000 rounds per (its only) barrel, resulting in overheating and probable damage.

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Old Gatling gun in slow motion
Modern Gatling Gun

Wikipedia
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