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Doctor Gatling

Richard Jordan Gatling was born on 1818 and died in 1903 in Hertford, North Carolina. When he was a young boy he helped his father invent machines for sewing and ginning cotton.  Gatling was an inventor and a doctor.  He made medicine to treat himself with smallpox. He mostly invented things for farming. He was the president of the American Association of Inventors. In 1839, Gatling invented a screw propeller for ships, and a hemp breaking device, and a steam plow. His greatest contribution was the Gatling Gun (see below) that was used in the Spanish-American and the American Civil War. 

Technical Specifications Weight: 594 pounds Range: 1000 yards Caliber: .30 caliber Cyclic Rate: 1000-1200 rounds per minute Bullet Weight: 220 grains Muzzle Velocity: 2,000 fps ( fps = feet per second )

This Gatling Gun is a hand cranked weapon, with six (6) to ten (10) revolving barrels that go around a center shaft.  The Gatling Gun fired .58 caliber bullets. Gatling sold 12 guns to Benjamin F. Butler for $1000 a piece. Butler used these guns on the Pittsburgh front in 1864.   The Gatling Gun can fire 1000 rounds per minute. The first version of the Gatling Gun was made in 1861.  It looked like a huge rifle that could be mounted on a tripod or on a cannon. 

But instead of a single barrel it has 6 to 10 barrels that revolve in a circular motion when fired. As the operator turned the crank the barrels revolved past the mechanism and shot 1000 rounds per minute. Gatling guns were made in several different calibers between .45 in (1 cm) and 1 in (2.5 cm). This gun can shoot 16 rounds per minute. A carousel-like magazine holding 240rounds above the turning barrels supplied ammunition and each round dropped into a barrel in turn and empty cartridges automatically ejected.   Gatling improved his gun so it could shot 1200 rounds per minute.  Cartridges were fed by gravity through a hopper mounted cartridge on the top of the gun. 

The Gatling Gun
in the American Civil War


Model 1883 Gatling on U.S. Army pattern metal carriage

"The Gatling gun saw only limited use in the Civil War, but the conflict tested this weapon, perhaps the first successful machine gun used in warfare. Invented by Dr. Richard Jordan Gatling, the Civil War model served as the precursor of more successful models. 

"The Gatling gun was a hand-crank-operated weapon with six barrels revolving around a central shaft. The cartridges were fed to the gun by gravity through a hopper mounted on the top of the gun. Six cam-operated bolts alternately wedged, fired, and dropped the bullets, which were contained in steel chambers. Gatling used the six barrels to partially cool the gun during firing. Since the gun was capable of firing 600 rounds a minute, each barrel fired 100 rounds per minute. 

"The gun had a number of problems, however. The bores were tapered, and often the barrels and chambers did not exactly align, affecting accuracy and velocity. The chamber system itself, in which a paper cartridge was contained inside a capped steel chamber, was both expensive and fragile. While the gun showed much promise and fired the standard .58-caliber ammunition, it had so many drawbacks and was so radical in design and purpose that Gatling was unable to interest the U.S. government. The army purchased none of his guns, but Maj. Gen. Benjamin F. Butler, after a field test, purchased 12 for $1,000 each. They were used on the Petersburg front in 1864 and were apparently considered successful. That, however, was the only service the guns saw. 

"In January, 1865 Gatling's improved model 1865 gun was tested by the Ordnance Department.  Among other things, this weapon used rimfire copper-cased cartridges instead of the steel-chambered paper variety. Though this model did not see service, it was adopted officially in 1866. Having at least received government approval, Gatling began to sell his guns throughout the world; they achieved lasting fame in the post-war years. 

--- taken verbatim from the Historical Times Illustrated Encyclopedia of the Civil War. 
Particia L. Faust (ed). ISBN 0-06-181261-7 

This is a fine example of the An Original Model 1883 Gatling Gun in caliber 45/70 that was manufactured in 1886. The Gatling Gun and the Caisson are simply incredible.  This Gatling Gun was recovered from the Presidio in San Francisco and is for sale at Spotted Dog Firearms at telephone  1-602-538-2769 or contact Steve Hill via e-mail at [email protected].

GENERAL:

The Gatling gun, one of the earliest forms of functional machines guns, was used during the Spanish American War, both on land and at sea. The use of the Gatling gun during the War is most well-known from its use in the assault on San Juan Hill. 

BACKGROUND:

The first Gatling gun was invented and built by R.J. Gatling, a resident of Indianapolis, Indiana, in 1862. The gun was test-fired many times for representatives of the U.S. government and for representatives of foreign governments. On May 9, 1865, the weapon was patented. The gun was subject to a variety of problems, including jamming, and was modified at Cooper's Firearms Manufactory in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and subsequently at Colt's Armory in Hartford, Connecticut. Orders for the gun were placed by the governments of Russia, Hungary, Turkey and others. 

The basic idea of the gun is that there are series of barrels, generally ten, which revolve inside of a supporting frame. As the barrels revolve, a mechanism automatically inserts rounds being fed from a vertical magazine mounted atop the gun. As the barrels continue to revolve, each barrel is cocked, fired and the shell casing removed in one single revolution. The barrels are revolved through the use of a crank mounted on the weapon. 

The Gatling gun went through a series of improvements, with the Model 1895 being the model used by the U.S. Army in the Spanish American War. The Army purchased eighteen of these guns on May 20, 1898.  Thirty-one more were delivered to the Army, just over two weeks after the war ended. 

The Gatling Gun Detachment of General Shafter's 5th Corps in Cuba was commanded by Lt. John Henry Parker. His detachment was an ad hoc group. His men were not adequately armed. No spare parts or tools for repair were provided to them. The men who formed the detachment were not even given adequate training, and received their training while serving on the skirmish line. 

The most famous use of the Gatling gun was at San Juan Hill. Here, as the infantry ascended San Juan Hill, "a peculiar drumming noise was heard." Some thought it was Spanish machine guns. Theodore Roosevelt, on the adjacent Kettle Hill, yelled to his men "Its the Gatlings, men, our Gatlings!". He was right, Parker's Gatling's were in use. Parker himself later recorded the following account of the event: 

"The guns were pushed right up in the hottest place there was in the battle-field...and put into
action at the most critical point of the battle... [the guns] so successfully subdued the Spanish fire that from that time to the capture of the practically impregnable position was only eight-and-one-half minutes. The expenditure of ammunition during this time, in which a continuous fire was kept up from three guns, was 6,000 rounds per gun..."

This action represented the first time that the U.S. Army used close-support machine guns in an attack against an enemy position. The event would have ramifications for years to come. 

ADVANTAGES / DISADVANTAGES:

Gatling guns were still new to the army and adequate training was not done. The gun had improved over the years, but still was prone to jamming. Earlier versions of the gun were place on a fixed carriage but, by the time of the Spanish American War, this was corrected, placing the gun on a swivel mount, so it could rake enemy positions. 

The tremendous fire power of the Gatling gun was undeniable, and did come into play at a very crucial moment during the San Juan Hill assaults.

The Legendary M-1 Garand Rifle
By James L. Thompson
As Published in World War II Magazine, January 1999

No single small arm is more closely identified with the U.S. World War II infantryman than the
rifle sometimes called "the last true butt stroker." The M-1 Garand's sturdy, 10-pound stock-
unlike those of its successors-was heavy enough to deliver a lethal blow to an adversary. At the
finest rifle ranges in the world the M-1 Garand still competes in and regularly wins high-powered, military-format matches at ranges up to 1,000 yards. The only rifle that regularly
outscores John Garand's design is its direct progeny, the M-14. 

The M-1 was not always the splendid rifle that today's competitive shooters covet. Like most
military firearms, it evolved and continuously improved. The idea of equipping all American
infantrymen with arms intended to enhance their mobility, firepower and, thus, their chance of
survival originated before the end of World War I. Indeed, the now rare semiautomatic Pedersen Device for the M1903 Mark I Springfield rifle, also known as the .30-caliber model of 1918, would probably have become standard had World War I lasted another agonizing year. 

During the first year of President Franklin P. Roosevelt's administration, improving military arms became a priority. The principles underpinning the changes were straightforward. In World War I, the European powers had become bogged down in trench warfare, and every major power was determined not to let that happen again. The Germans kept their old rifle as support, merely shortening and streamlining some of its features. The French and the British updated various weapons and in reduced new medium automatics, sometimes incorporating armor In the United States, tighter machine guns and other automatic weapons were developed. The rifle, too, would have to be improved, because machine guns and other modem weapons would still be supporting riflemen. 

Bayonet Drill with M1 Garand Caliber .30 Rifle

By late 1933, the only designs under discussion were more conventional than the
primer-actuated and specialized ammunition models, and by early 1934, the decision had been made to produce a gas-operated Garand rifle. It was determined that the new rifle would be chambered for the standard .30-caliber rifle model of 1906. The military still held vast stocks of the ammunition, and none of the new toads had shown sufficient advantage over the old cartridge to justify retooling for an entirety different case. 

The M-1 Garand entered prototype production in 1936, and until late 1940 the "gas trap"
configuration was the only type produced. Like other appealing gadgets, though, the gas trap
proved an impractical means of operating a firearm. It seemed so easy and simple, yet by the
end of the 1940s, England, Belgium, the Soviet Union, Germany and other nations had tried the system and found it seriously wanting. The far more traditional "gas port" system proved to be mote effective than the gas trap. 

Many other operational problems were discovered in the early M-1 Garand, but solutions were
usually already available. Beginning as early as 1941, the faulty rifles from early production
were rebuilt, improved with welds and cuts in appropriate areas and returned to service. Today, original gas trap M-1s are extremely rare. 

Even with the new operating system in place a year before the Pearl Harbor attack, the rifle
continued to evolve and improve. This process continued until the rifle left military production at
Beretta, Italy, in the 1970s. 

At early competitions, M-1 users experienced erratic operation, mediocre-to-poor accuracy and lousy scores. The word "boondoggle" was applied to the entire program by the press, and in some quarters the new rifle was widely regarded as a flop, especially since its $90-$ 102 price was almost three times that of the barracks darlings of the 1930s, the M-1 1903 and 1903A1 Springfield bolt-action rifles. In 1940, virtually no one not intimately involved with the rifle's development could reasonably believe that a few years later the M-1 Garand would be hailed as the finest infantry weapon ever conceived. But that is indeed what happened, and every GI who carried the rifle should be thankful that designers continued to work on the M-1 Garand instead of abandoning the design. 

About 3.8 million M-1 rifles were produced during World War II, and the rifle was continually
improved throughout Springfield Armory production as the procurement cost decreased. Those produced by Winchester remained primitive, however, since that company did not update its production lines. 

Heavily milled parts were eventually replaced with stamped spring steel components that, while in some cases not as good-looking, were actually far stronger. The receiver grew heftier, and base materials changed to more resilient spring/tool steels. 'While only Winchester and
Springfield actually built complete rifles during the war, practically every arms manufacturer in
the country with the tooling to do so made parts for the M-1 rifle, especially replacement barrels. 

The original "flush nut" rear-sight mechanism, which usually required a small tool to set or
tighten, loosened under sustained fire and was replaced in production by 1942. By the end of
W.W.II, the Garand was a reliable, sturdy rifle. After the war, the wartime rifles, competing
against heavily rebuilt M1903 Springfields, proved to be the most accurate U.S. military rifles in history. 

At the end of W.W.II, the M-1 story was just beginning. Although production had been
interrupted by the end of the war, some problems were addressed almost immediately at
rebuilding centers and in the armory system. Men had been injured and killed by operating-rod
separations of some versions, and new parts and modifications were introduced to remedy the problem. 

Wartime experience had also established that heavy greases, especially those containing lithium and graphite, were the best lubricants for the rifles' systems, and several were adapted for use on the M-1. Eventually, shooters began to realize that such lubricants were superior for all fast-shooting firearms. 

Many modifications-including a new, much 'sturdier rear sight-were made so that the rifles would be true precision firearms. Among other findings, armorers discovered that relieving the wood around the barrel and inside the stock and hand-guards, and then firmly bedding the receiver in fiberglass, epoxy or other liquid ceramic compounds, made the rifle shoot straighter and operate cooler. These developments were more or less perfected in the 1960s, after the rifle was out of U.S. military production. Work still continues today on the weapon in the shops of many of America's finest accuracy-oriented gunsmiths, mainly for civilian shooters. 

Certain eccentricities of the M- l's design had been addressed long before World War II ended.  The Japanese, who had captured both gas trap and gas port rifles by 1942 and who began to build reproductions, saw immediately what American engineers also perceived-that a larger box magazine entering the bottom of the receiver could replace the eight-round, self-ejecting clip. In addition to decreasing the rifle's down time, and therefore increasing true firepower, a box magazine would eliminate the 'twang" generated as the clip was ejected when spent-a noise that could alert an enemy to the shooter's position. It would also eliminate the ugliest symptom for some shooters using the Garand, the renowned "M-1" thumb." This was an affliction resulting from the fully sprung bolt's smashing the thumb under many hundreds of pounds of pressure as the follower was depressed to close the rifle. Unless the shooter's hand was properly positioned, his thumb could end up bruised or even broken. 

Long after the M-1 Garand left U.S. military production in 1956, it was used in Reserve and
National Guard units. Those outfits were using the Garand as late as 1975, since many did not
adopt the M-l4 but went directly to the M-16. 

Gunsmiths sought to make the M-1 smaller and lighter, as well as to introduce a fully automatic
version. Remington actually built many selective-fire prototypes in the late 1940s. The T-26 rifle, sometimes erroneously called "the Tanker" (the "T" stood for "Trial," not Tanker), was a
shortened version designed for airborne forces late in the war, but it was found unsuitable
because of excessive muzzle blast and poor accuracy. The 1,000 trial rifles were reconverted
from their modified form at Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland and returned to service as
standard rifles shortly after the war. Although the T-26 never entered production, the
selective-fire, large-magazine concept led to a shortened, lightened spin-off of the M-1, called
the T-44 during trials, ultimately becoming the M-14. 

The M-1 had more history to write and more wars ahead of it. Beretta began producing M-1
Garands before 1950, having already participated, as had the venerable Belgian EN. firm, in
rebuilding rifles for the United States and European armies. 

The Korean War brought about the reintroduction of the rifle into U.S. production, first at
Springfield Armory, then at Harrington and Richardson, and finally at a former truck and tractor
producer, International Harvester. The postwar M-1 is are the strongest and best of all, but they
are still not without fault. 

International Harvester should never have been involved in the program in the first place, and
the company experienced many difficulties in building the rifle, requiring several bailouts by the
Springfield Armory. But as with the Winchester production during W.W.II, this bizarre
history-amounting to a scandal-created a number of small variants and flukes of interest to
collectors. 

Harrington and Richardson, on the other hand, regularly produced a blueprint-perfect product,
on time and below budget, and was entrusted with much of the research that led to the later
M-14. In fact, Harrington and Richardson was also involved in M 14 production throughout the
life of that rifle, Into the late 1960s, the company built rifles and produced components,
particularly U.S. Navy rebuilds for match shooting and shore parties, models that used the new
7.62 mm cartridge. 

By the end of the gun's military production, at least 6.3 million Garand rifles had been produced.  The M-1 has also been built by the Illinois Springfield Armory and other civilian companies. It has been estimated that perhaps 2 million M-1 rifles now belong to civilian owners, collectors and shooters, who view their Garands with awe, nostalgia and perhaps a certain amount of chauvinism. 

World War Ii vets fondly remember the combined firepower brought to bear via the coupling of
the M-1 and the Browning Automatic Rifle (BAR) in American W.W.II fire teams, where a group of three to six men would carry at least one BAR and the rest M-1s, ensuring that every weapon carried by the team was either selective-fire or semiautomatic. In contrast, an entire Axis platoon might be armed with one or two automatic rifles, a few submachine guns and all the rest bolt-action rifles, with a maximum magazine capacity of five rounds. 

In the final analysis, the advantages of the M-1 have far outweighed any drawbacks. Although
the M_1 greatly increased the expenditure of ammunition among infantry units, this demand was usually met by the United States' well-developed supply system. And, as for the M-1s 11-plus pounds, one of the greatest tributes to the rifle was' that a weight-conscious American airborne general-the late Maj. Gen. James M. Gavin- carried one throughout the war, eschewing the fancier, lighter, more gentlemanly arms to which general officers are privy. 

One criticism was of the rifle ill-deserved: 

While many recruits thought the Garand kicked like a mule, the M-1 in fact generates far less
recoil than any of its contemporaries and, in rhythm, shoots far faster than any other
full-powered military rifle. 

U.S. Third Army commander General George S. Patton praised John Garands M-1 rifle as the
"best battle implement ever devised." The M-1 was designed to train men how to shoot and to
save American lives in desperate fights. Mission accomplished! 

For the M1 Technical Specifications of the M1 - See M1 GARAND in the Gun Glossary - Letter M.

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