GATLING GUN - THREAD INTEREST ITEM

[Gil Boyd]

I have always been fascinated in the Gatling gun and just how advanced it was for its time.
It certainly led to innovations 100 years later like the Chain gun and C130 gunships used quite commonly these days and still no stoppages.
When you look at the fine engineering that went into the Gatling Gun is was so far ahead of its time and a game changer.
Has anybody got one on the site?

Here is an American video on the system which leads quite nicely onto the Minigun at the end:

Information

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[browningautorifle]

I saw a real Gatling in the Henry Ford museum in Michigan when I was just a kid. It was blue and brass and had wood dowels in each barrel so it couldn't fire... I don't remember what was being shown to us(a school trip) but I wasn't interested. Just the Gatling...no, I don't have one. With all the 45/70 I've cast and loaded, you'd think...

[Atticus Thraxx]

I served in an ADA unit in Germany in the mid 80's. Among the systems our battalion fielded was the M163-VADS. 20 mm Vulcan mounted to an M-113 chassis. In the 80's at least it had range-only radar. The German government wouldn't let us live fire them over land so we had to railhead them up to the North Sea coast to shoot over water. Sounds like an incredibly loud wet burp. A piece of that brass gets down the front of your shirt you're gonna know it! Death to helicopters if undetected, useless pretty much against fixed wing. That was the skinny from the gunners anyway.

[RASelkirk]

It's my understanding these can be legally owned, assuming one could afford it. But - could an individual build one from scratch? It would be a fun project to build one in a (much!) cheaper caliber...

Russ

[rcathey]

It's my understanding these can be legally owned, assuming one could afford it. But - could an individual build one from scratch? It would be a fun project to build one in a (much!) cheaper caliber...

Russ

Totally legal. In the States anyway.
I’ve seen plans for a 1/3 (I think) scale one in 22. That would be sweeeeet.

[browningautorifle]

I’ve seen plans for a 1/3 (I think) scale one in 22.

The Gatling Gun 1/3rd Scale models firing .22 | Westley Richards

[Woodsy]

I had an ex-Vietnam 7.62mm mini-gun for a while but foolishly sold it when I was a bit short of cash about 20 years ago. It sat on a large helical drum magazine (2500 rounds?) and was powered by a 28 volt electric motor. It came into NZ as a pod under the wing of small Cessna aeroplane (the other wing had two live missiles) that was privately purchased. The Air Force destroyed the missiles and the Police insisted that the gun went to a licensed collector (one of those 'right place, right time' deals). The owner of the plane was completely unaware that he had purchsed a fully armed aircraft!

[carl303]

In the States its a NFA weapon if its powered if hand cranked is fine . there are a goodly number of gatlinging guns here in TX
Carl

[Gil Boyd]

Carl,
Thats the stupidity of the law. Even one country there are so many changes and laws............surely not what was intended by those that wrote your amendments and the right to bear arms.
The guns are fine, its those that own them!!

[RCS]

Many years ago I had a friend who was an airline pilot, he purchased two Gatling guns from a boys military school in Wisconsin. One Gatling gun was missing all the bolts
and the other only missing one bolt. These Gatling guns were made by Colt and were in 30-40 Krag caliber. I found a old machine shop and the man made a Gatling gun
bolt for my friend, cost $500 back then but worth the price. The Gatling gun will still work if the bolt was missing or damaged. He use to take it to local range and fired
many boxes of Remington and Winchester 30-40 Krag cartridges through it.

Photo shows my cat checking my brass Gatling gun model, which works tooAttachment 108088