Gatling gun
The Gatling gun is the best known as the first modern repeating gun from the Civil War and it was the first true machine gun. It required someone to crank it so it was not completely automatic but as long as it was cranked it could fire continuously. The Maxim gun was the first truly automatic gun. Created in 1861 and patented in november 1862 by Richard J. Gatling, the gatling gun first had 6 barrels and could fire 200 projectiles a minute, each barrel firing and had a range of 1,000 feet. This was huge at the time. However it had many drawbacks like it required large amounts of gunpowder and got jammed easily and frequently. It was the first gun to solve reloading problems. the second design in 1862 had steel barrel bores, reloadable chambers, and percussion caps. this new gun could fire 600 rounds per minute, 100 from each barrel. But this design still had disadvantages such as the bores were tapered and the chambers did not align. Over the next few years many more improvements would be made to the gun.
Richard created the gun in hope that it would revolutionize war and hopefully get rid of it in general. Though this was not the case, the gun did cause a huge evolution in the technology of firearms that leads to today. Some of its offspring include the Phalanx system, which also has 6 barrels but fires about 4,500 rounds per minute (75 rounds per second). Without the creation of the Gatling gun weapon related technology, like the Phalanx, would not have been created.
Richard created the gun in hope that it would revolutionize war and hopefully get rid of it in general. Though this was not the case, the gun did cause a huge evolution in the technology of firearms that leads to today. Some of its offspring include the Phalanx system, which also has 6 barrels but fires about 4,500 rounds per minute (75 rounds per second). Without the creation of the Gatling gun weapon related technology, like the Phalanx, would not have been created.
From left to right: Civil war gatling gun and Phalanx