GATLING GUN

hand-driven machine gun, the first to solve the problems of loading, reliability, and the firing of sustained bursts. It was invented by Richard J. Gatling during the American Civil War (about 1862). After early experiments with a single barrel using paper cartridges (which had to have a separate percussion cap), he saw in the newly invented brass cartridge (which had its own percussion cap) an opportunity to fashion a truly rapid-fire weapon. Gatling contrived a cluster of 10 barrels, each of which, when rotated by a crank, was loaded and fired once during a complete rotation. The barrels were loaded by gravity and the camming action of the cartridge container, located directly above the gun. Each barrel was loaded and fired during a half-rotation around the central shaft, and the spent cases were ejected during the second half-rotation. Without equal in the era of hand-operated machine guns, the Gatling gun could fire 3,000 rounds per minute if externally powered. It and all other hand-operated machine guns were made obsolete by the development of recoil- and gas-operated guns that followed the invention of smokeless gunpowder. See also machine gun.