Gatling guns
Crank-operated rapid-shooters
Gatling guns are early rapid-fire weapons with multiple rotating barrels, each firing in sequence as the barrels spin.
Operated by a hand crank, they preceded fully automatic machine guns.
The name comes from inventor Richard Gatling.
Modern electric-powered rotary cannons on aircraft and vehicles are still called Gatling guns: The helicopter's Gatling gun tore through the target.
- rapid-fireIn swift succession
- rate of fireShots delivered per timeframe
- minigunMulti-barrel rapid-fire weapon
- firearmProjectile weapon using explosives
- hand crankManual rotation lever
cartridges · shell · repeating · combat · warfare · volley · antique firearms · military · old west · battlefield · rattle · whir · ammunition · clatter · precision engineering · barrel · ballistics · gunpowder
Gatling gunsmuzzleloaders
Guns loaded via barrel
bolt-action rifles · derringers · arquebus · blunderbuss · double-barreled shotguns
Gatling gunsderringers
Concealable small-bore handguns
muzzleloaders · flintlocks · matchlocks · club · spear