The Gatling Gun

The Gatling gun

Last Updated on Tuesday, 21 July 2009 11:36 Written by Administrator Thursday, 02 July 2009 03:10

The Gatling gun was invented in 1861 and was one of the most popular and effective rapid-fire weapons of that era. It was capable of continuous fire, but needed manual cranking. In this regard, it was not an automatic weapon in its true sense. However, it was capable of much higher firing rates without getting overheated as there were multiple barrels and each barrel would be used to firing only once in the firing cycle. Later models of the Gatling gun began to use a fraction of the gas to power the crank. More modern versions used an electric motor to supply external power.

The Gatling gun was designed by Dr. Richard Gatling. Dr. Gatling was of the opinion that it would play a pivotal role in reducing causalities in war as it would reduce the size of armies. However, his opinion was realized to be far from true.

The original gun consisted of multiple barrels fixed in a circular fashion and rotated using a crank. The ammunition was fed into the barrels by means of a gravity feed system. The gravity feed system allowed even unskilled soldiers to effectively use the weapon. If used properly, the Gatling gun was capable of firing 200 rounds per minute. This firing rate was phenomenal at that time.

The Gatling gun was first employed into warfare during the American Civil War. Though revolutionary at that time, the gun didn’t find acceptance with the Union Army until 1866. However, after its immense fire power and ease of use were demonstrated during the North-West Rebellion (1885) in Saskatchewan, Canada, the Union Army found it to be an indispensable weapon of choice. It was also used in many other conflicts during the Spanish-American war.

After its success in America, the Gatling gun also found extensive use in various European colonial conflicts. European colonial powers used it on a large scale against non-industrialized countries such as the Zulu, the Matabele, the Bedouins and the Mahdists. The British Navy used Gatling guns during their conquest of Egypt in 1882. In addition, Imperial Russia also used it to suppress Turcoman cavalry and other nomadic tribes of Central Asia.

After the invention of blowback guns, the Gatling gun fell out of popular use. However, modernized versions of the Gatling gun are still used in some military aircraft. These modernized versions are powered by means of an electric motor and are capable of a high rate of fire without overheating or jamming. If a conventional single-barrelled gun were to be used instead, it would easily jam or even get distorted after a short period of time.

To sustain a firing power of 500 rounds per minute, a single-barreled blowback based weapon would have to sustain 500 rounds though the single barrel. On the other hand, if a Gatling variant with 5 barrels is used, each barrel would sustain only 100 rounds per minute and at the same time has 4/5th of cycle-time for cooling. Thus, the Gatling gun proves to be superior that other gun variants.

Modern variants of the Gatling gun include GShG-7.62 machine gun, CIWS, M61 Vulcan and the GAU-8 Avenger. These are employed on a wide range of fighter aircraft. Some of these guns are also used on battle ships to provide protection from incoming enemy aircraft or surface to surface missiles. Superior variants are continuously being developed and the Gatling gun may find use in warfare for many decades to come.

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