gatling gun

A type of heavy machine gun with multiple rotating barrels.

The original Gatling gun was invented by Richard Jordan Gatling and first used in the American Civil War and was a direct ancestor of today's machine guns. Though not automatic in operation, it has a handcrank for the user to fire the shots and, rechamber a flesh ammunition from its drum magazine, in the place of the spent cartridge, for each of its six barrels as they rotates. Gatling-style rotating barrels are still used in modern heavy machine guns such as the M61 Vulcan, the GAU-8, and the M134 Minigun, typically to increase the sheer volume of firepower while reducing the wear of each individual barrel for continued usage.

On Danbooru, gatling gun refers to any kind of heavy machine gun with multiple rotating barrels, not just the original Civil War-era Gatling gun. If the said gatling gun were small enough to be carried by a person, then the tag minigun is applicable.

See also

• Minigun
• M134 Minigun
• M61 Vulcan
• GAU-8
• List of weapons

External links

• Wikipedia: Gatling Gun
• Wikipedia: Rotary cannon

The following tags implicate this tag: gau-8, m134_minigun, and minigun (learn more).