Gatling gun
Ametralladora Gatling
- Date
- 1861-1862 · confidence high
- Place
- Indianapolis, Indiana, United States
- Credited to
- Richard Jordan Gatling
- People
- 👤 Richard J. Gatling1818–1903
- Field
- Conflict
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What it is
A hand-cranked weapon with multiple rotating barrels, gravity-fed, capable of 200 rounds a minute. The first reliable machine gun, though not yet automatic.
Gatling claimed his weapon would reduce the size of armies and the number of deaths; the Montigny mitrailleuse and the 'Ripley gun' are precedents. It saw little use in the American Civil War; it was officially adopted in 1866.
What it led to
- Asymmetric colonial wars (the Zulus, Sudan) and imperialism
- The automatic Maxim gun (1884) and the slaughter of the First World War
- Firepower doctrine
- Modern rotary machine guns (the Vulcan)
Built on
- Interchangeable parts1785-1801
- Metallic cartridge (rimfire and centrefire)1846-1866
- Belgian mitrailleuse (Montigny, 1851)
Made possible
- Maxim machine gun1884
- Maxim gun
- Electric rotary cannon