What is a Gatling Gun?
The Gatling Gun, developed by Richard Jordan Gatling in 1862, was an early type of machine gun. It integrated multiple barrels which could be rotated, keeping up a continuous stream of fire. With some refinement, the design of the Gatling Gun was capable of shooting 3,000 rounds per minute, an impressive accomplishment. More sophisticated machine guns were developed in the 1880s, and the Gatling Gun was largely replaced on the field by less ungainly models. However, the multiple barrel design is still used on anti-aircraft weapons, and on vehicle mounted artillery. Before the development of self-contained cartridges, the Gatling Gun could not have existed. In the mid-1800s, arms manufacturers started to combine bullets and gunpowder in one neat cartridge, which was much easier and less messy to load. Previously, soldiers had to load gunpowder and then bullets, a painstaking process which took up precious time on the battlefield. Gatling’s invention took advantage of this advancement in
