Talk:Gatling gun

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The following link doesn't currently work: http://www-acala1.ria.army.mil/lc/cs/csa/aagatlin.htm (moved from article) - snoyes 16:43, 20 Mar 2004 (UTC)

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[edit] comparison to the Puckle gun is incorrect

The line: "The Gatling gun was hand-crank operated with six barrels revolving around a central shaft, similar to the Puckle Gun." is incorrect. The Puckle gun was a single barrel weapon which operated like a modern revolver. The Gatling Gun operates more like multiple repeating rifles which rotate around a central axis.

[edit] Add diagrams

It would be very great to have diagrams and schematics of gatling gun's design and how it worked. I'm referring to the 3rd and 4th paragraphs.

[edit] broken runeberg.org link

This link gives 500 Internal Server Error, it was in the image Gatling.gif caption: http://runeberg.org/nfai/0122.htm --Kenyon 00:50, May 15, 2005 (UTC)


http://stupidbeaver.com/evolution-of-the-gatling-gun/ Good link about Gatling Gun

[edit] Why multiple barrels?

An explanation of the advantages of multiple rotating barrels as opposed to a single barrel would be nice...

They use multiple barrels so they can fire more bullets faster if you didn't the barrel would melt. other ways to solve melting is to have a backup barrel or a water jacket like on the Maxim Machine gun Dudtz 8/25/05 5:54 PM EST

If I recall correctly...high overall RPM, low per-barrel RPM and good overheating tolerance.
High overall RPM: This is rather obvious, rotary guns are usually almost never run at their maximum RPMs, but even at their nominal firing rates they will still outshoot any machine guns. For instance, the M134 (Which can go up to 6000RPM) at a nominal 3000RPM will still greatly outpace the MG-3 GPMG which can only operate at 1200RPM, despite both using the same round (7.62x51 NATO).
Low per-barrel RPM: I will use the prior example. The M134 has 6 barrels, and since its firing at 3000RPM, that means each barrel effectively operates at 500RPM. On a per-barrel basis, this makes an individual M134 barrel handle a lot less rounds than the MG-3's barrel (500 versus 1200). This directly translates into the next advantage.
Good overheating tolerance: Note the low per-barrel RPM as mentioned prior. Now, it is obvious that the faster you run rounds through a barrel, the faster it overheats. A rotary gun will actually take longer to overheat than a traditional MG since its per-barrel RPM is lower. You can actually run a rotary gun for a longer period of time than a MG of the same caliber, even with a vastly-superior overall rate of fire. You might even infer that this also translates into less wear-and-tear on the barrel and subsequently give it a longer lifespan.
Any further queries? CABAL 05:54, 8 February 2006 (UTC)
Also, the airflow over the spinning barrels helps cool them.

[edit] Internal disagreement

When was the Gatling gun patented? 1865, as said in the lead, or 1861, as claimed in the history section? -- Jonel | Speak 03:25, 5 October 2005 (UTC)

The first patent (U.S. 36,836) issued Nov 4 1862, so 1865 is impossible. MJustice 00:47, 29 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Meroka Machine Guns: An Alternative?

Are meroka type machine guns an alternative to a Gatling?, They seem to use a Combined Rate of Fire' and shoot in 'Salvo's.

User:Jetwave Dave

When the Gatling gun was imported into Russia in the 19th century, a Russian claimed credit for it. Should be pretty easy to establish who designed it.

[edit] Gatling Guns are NOT Machine Guns

Just wanted to point this fallacy out.

The Machine gun article considers them manual machine guns. --Gbleem 02:08, 12 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Modern Gatling Guns

Another fallacy to be pointed out is that modern "gatling" guns typified by the Vulcan are not gatling guns at all, the only common feature they share is a number of rotating barrels. The firing mechanism is entirely different, and it is bad form to refer to them in wikipedia as anything else than "gatling type" or "gatling style" weapons. Emoscopes 15:25, 20 November 2005 (UTC)

Modern multi-barrel rotary cannons such as the M61 still employ the Gatling principle of a set of barrels and bolts in a rotating cluster where the bolts are operated by a fixed cam. They most certainly DO use the same firing mechanism.

[edit] Delete

I deleted "If the gun had been used more frequently and earlier in the war, the war may have ended far more rapidly." This is speculation, even if true. --squadfifteen, 23/11/05

[edit] Caliber?

The caliber mentioned needs to be clarified. Was it a .78 Richie using 79 grains of black powder, as implied? --squadfifteen, 23/11/05

[edit] Tactics

It would be of interest to have a mention of the tactical use of Gatling guns. I've read they were employed like artillery pieces (contrary to film & TV depictions of them like the MGs in "Rat Patrol"...) --squadfifteen, 23/11/05

In Operation Just Cause my squad from B btry. 2/62 ADA used our Vulcan to sink a PT boat that was speeding up the Panama Canal. L0b0t 12:25, 4 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Indian Wars

The author has unfortunatly given ZERO attention to the Gatling Gun's first major deployment in combat with its usage against the Dakota Empire, Arapaho Nation, Cheyenne Nation and scores of others during that genocidal period in the USA's history known as the Indian Wars. Anybody want to cover the gun's devastating effect against those countries?

POV neutral?
why do people rant about how something isn't covered, and then not write it themselves? MJustice (talk) 10:05, 29 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Dentist

I dont think this guy was a dentist. It dosent say anything about him being a dentist in his article Richard Jordan Gatling —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 68.41.31.140 (talk • contribs) .

You are quite right. I will remove that. Megapixie 02:12, 23 February 2006 (UTC)
Ah, it would appear that he studied medicine and dentistry, but never actually practiced. Removing the comment is best. Megapixie 02:18, 23 February 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Was Gatling naive?

According to a documentary I just watched ("Weapons of War::Machine Guns" - I *think* it was channel 5 (UK)) Gatling's motivation behind inventing it was to Save Lives by reducing the number of men on the battlefield - and thus reducing the number of injuries. The idea was to allow a single/couple of men to fire the same amount of bullets as a whole company/regiment, thus not *needing* as many men on the battlefield...

Obviously, this was not quite what happened...

Questions:

  • Is it true?
  • If so, is it worth mentioning here? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by KarlJorgensen (talk • contribs) 22:14, 8 January 2007 (UTC).
1. Yes, this is true. See his own page Richard Jordan Gatling for the full quote.
2. I don't see why, since it is more appropriately sited in the article on the inventor himself.
3. I would not call him naive. In context, it made more sense. During the period when Gatling guns had limited availability, the side that had them suffered fewer casualties and needed fewer men. Of course, the same was not true for the other side (but frankly, who cares about such people? They should've brought their own Gatlings to the Gatling gun fight :-). . . .

MJustice (talk) 10:02, 29 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] BOFORS =/= Gatling

As far as I can tell Bofors 40mm guns like those on USAF AC-130s are not multibarrel rotary guns. 75.31.138.94 00:45, 19 January 2007 (UTC)

No, but the 7.62mm, 20mm and 25mm Vulcan cannons that have been used on AC-130s over the years ARE multi-barrel rotary cannons. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 69.92.250.98 (talk) 16:12, 15 March 2007 (UTC).

[edit] Handheld Gatling Guns

I know this seems stupid, but alot of videogames and some tv shows have shown characters holding and firing a gatling gun with just their two arms. I seriously doubt it, but is this possible in real life?

If you were extremely muscular, yes. Wouldn't be practical though. The batteries and ammo would contribute too much weight. CABAL 14:01, 17 May 2007 (UTC)
Are there any known occasions were someone actually attempted to try this in real life? And yes, in those video games such as team fortress 2, the characters do look unnaturaly large Diabl0658 01:43, 18 May 2007 (UTC)
Jesse Ventura held a portable Gatling gun in the movie Predator. However, from what I read he had to fight the thing to keep it under control and needed to be propped up when firing it. And this was just with blanks. CABAL 05:56, 18 May 2007 (UTC)

No way, you could never hold of gatling gun up by yourself. Even if you could, the recoil would be so high, you'd never get any accuracy. Renegade Heretic

[edit] Poor Accuracy Due To Barrel Spinning?

Wouldn't the perpendicular motion of the bullets with respect to the line of fire ruin its accuracy? If a 5cm radius cylinder rotates at 600rpm, the bullets would have a perpendicular velocity of 3.14 m/s which would be very bad for long range targets. Does air friction help compensate for this?

(Please sign your comments with four tildes.) The rate of fire is so high that one actually fires, then aims. You point in the general direction, then use the tracers to walk the fire onto the target. Individual inaccuracy doesn't really matter; when you throw enough stuff something gets hit. --StarChaser Tyger 02:59, 5 September 2007 (UTC)

The above is only true for certain application, you would not do this with a fighter gun for example.

The rifleing of the barrel is used to adjust for the spinning barrels, one effect of this is that the gun is less accurate at slow speeds so as it spins up to its rated speed max accuracy is acheived

--Rbaal 04:23, 5 September 2007 (UTC)

The only fighter that uses a gatling type gun is the Warthog, though, isn't it? And it's a ground attack beastie, which (in the videos I've seen of it in action) fires like I suggest above. Fire, then move to hit the target. --StarChaser Tyger 05:26, 5 September 2007 (UTC)
The M61 Vulcan is used by the F14, F15, F16, F18 F22. The Harrier and F35 use the GAU-12 Equalizer, a derivative of the M61. StarChaser is correct; fire is just walked in using tracers. Parsecboy 09:13, 5 September 2007 (UTC)


Thats just not possible in air-to-air applications. outside of hollywood movies real life engagements for air-to-air take less that 1 second to complete. The latest version pf the M61 has lighter barrels so that they spin up faster .25 of a second rather than .45 of a second. IIRC the F22 only has 1.5 seconds of ammunition at full speed. You are not walking anything onto anything in that application. I however agree with the comment in realtionship to air-to-ground gunship applications.

--Rbaal 22:07, 5 September 2007 (UTC)

In fact, the M61 barrel cluster is set with an amount of shot dispersion to obtain a "shotgun" pattern. The idea is to provide a cone of fire rather than a laser beam of shells. There is a part at the end of the barrel cluster called the muzzle clamp, different sizes of clamp will provide different sized dispersion patterns. 69.92.250.98 20:42, 25 September 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Puff The Magic Dragon

The article states that the minigun was referred to as "Puff The Magic Dragon." Wasn't the term used for the AC-47 gunship rather than the minigun? ("Spectre" referring to the AC-130 gunship.)

-- I believe you are correct. MJustice (talk) 10:03, 29 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Accuracy suffers

I understand that a spinning set of barrels is slightly less accurate than a single stationary barrel. The phrase "though accuracy suffers" should stay in the lead, in my opinion. Support? Binksternet (talk) 20:42, 3 January 2008 (UTC)

That has already been addressed in the #Poor Accuracy Due To Barrel Spinning? section above, and the main point was that the affects are negligible. Feel free to counter those arguments there, and build a consensus to add your phrase, but for now, the consensus is to keep it out. - BillCJ (talk) 20:55, 3 January 2008 (UTC)