Rapid Fire

It is not well known that the first attempt in multi barrel guns started back in the 1300’s. Although attempts were made to produce machine type guns for the Military during the Civil War, the military authorities refused to be interested. A few unique styles, i.e.: Requa, Ager “coffee mill” Gun, & Claxton, were sparingly used by the Union, and the Confederacy also had their own models.

The Gardner Gun was invented in 1874. And although it rated high in the several tests that the military performed, because of the Gatling, the Military felt no desire to adopt this weapon. Following another test in 1879 the Navy adopted the gun and purchased a limited number. In 1880 another test was performed and despite the good performance and the recommendation that the War Department purchase a limited number, nothing was ever done officially. By its inaction, the U.S. lost the benefits of one of the best machine guns of all time. Although Pratt & Whitney produced several hundred of these guns and in 1883 General Grant presented one of these guns, suitably inscribed to the viceroy of China and another to the Mikado of Japan, the British Admiralty, not only adopted the gun but purchased manufacturing rights. Pratt & Whitney continued limited production of the Gardner in the U.S. but with declining sales eventually stopped.

Richard Jordan Gatling, the inventor of the Gatling Gun was born on September 12, 1818. The prototype Gatling Gun was capable of firing at the then unheard-of rate of 200 rounds per minute. During the two years of the Civil War, Gatling was unsuccessful except for a sale of 12 guns to General Benjamin (Beast) Butler, who was so favorably impressed with the Gun that he purchased 12 guns and 12,000 rounds of ammunition for $12,000 – a considerable cost in 1863. The first major government orders, were manufactured by Colt’s Armory, and delivery was made in 1867. Constantly seeking perfection, Gatling made several construction changes in his models over the years. The military regarded the Gatling Gun as artillery, so it was decided to mount these guns on altered cannon carriages. In the Indian Wars, nearly all garrisons in Indian country had Gatlings in their armament, often used in the defenses of forts. Gatling Guns usually accompanied sizable expeditions. But, Custer refused Gatlings due to heavy carriages and condemned cavalry horses.

Although almost ignored by the Civil War and practically untested in battle, the Gatling slowly but surely impressed observers of all nations. When used with suitable ammunition, it was the most reliable firing mechanism yet designed. The endurance of the Gatling Gun was phenomenal when judged by modern standards. In 1895, to keep up with the times, Gatling developed an automatic Gatling, although it was never adopted by the armed forces. The U.S. Army finally declared the hand crank Gatling obsolete in 1911. Gatling lived to see his weapon progress from loose powder and percussion cap to primed metallic ammunition, from black to smokeless powder, and from hand crank to electric drive and thence to full automatic.

In 1871 Benjamin Hotchkiss invented his first machine gun, a revolving cannon type, to such a point of perfection that it was hailed as a novel and successful weapon. It fired a 37mm projectile that was primarily designed for the Army as a flank defense weapon. Although in 1877 Hotchkiss had his chance to prove its usefulness to the Navy. The appearance of the high speed torpedo boat as a new weapon of naval warfare created demand for this type of gun. The revolving cannon was used by practically every navy in the world at one time or another making this one of the most successful selling weapons in history.