Gatling gun (First hand driven Machine gun)

Gatling gun, hand-driven machine gun, the first to solve the problems of loading, reliability, and the firing of sustained bursts. It was invented about 1862 by Richard Jordan Gatling during the American Civil War. After early experiments with a single barrel using paper cartridges (which had to have a separate percussion cap), he saw in the newly invented brass cartridge (which had its own percussion cap) an opportunity to fashion a truly rapid-fire weapon. Gatling contrived a cluster of 10 barrels, each of which, when rotated by a crank, was loaded and fired once during a complete rotation. The barrels were loaded by gravity and the camming action of the cartridge container, located directly above the gun. Each barrel was loaded and fired during a half-rotation around the central shaft, and the spent cases were ejected during the second half-rotation.