11G ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY. 



the printing-press does to the penj or that the railway carriage 

 and the locomotive do to the stage-coach and the team of horses. 



The main characteristic of the gun consists in its having a se- 

 ries of 6 barrels arranged around a common centre with a carrier 

 and lock-cylinder rigidly secured to the main shaft and rotating 

 simultaneously. The cartridges are fed into the cavities of the 

 carrier from boxes, and are driven thence endwise into the rear 

 ends of the barrels, then exploded and the empty shells with- 

 drawn, all at one continuous operation without cessation. As the 

 gun is made to revolve, all the locks and barrels are operated, 

 loaded, and fired by means of a spiral cam and a cocking ring. 

 The barrels, inner breech, and locks all revolve at the same time, 

 while the gun is being loaded and fired, both operations being 

 carried on simultaneously. Three cartridges at the same instant 

 are being loaded, being at different stages of the process, while 

 the spent cartridge shells are being removed. 



Test trials of the gun were first made, by order of the govern- 

 ment, at the Washington Arsenal; afterward, at the Bridesburg 

 Arsenal near Philadelphia ; then again at Washington, and lastly 

 a series of experiments at Fortress Monroe, at the last place being 

 tested against the 24-pounder flank howitzer. In the first trial, in 

 January, 1866, at the Washington Arsenal, one of the small guns 

 was used, carrying a ball of .58 calibre weighing 577 grains. The 

 gun in this trial was tested for accuracy at a target of 10 feet 

 square, at ranges of 100, 300, and 500 yards, and none of the balls 

 missed the target. At 100 "yards, the average of the balls to the 

 centre was 3. 6 inches; at 300 yards, 11.3, and at 500 3 7 ards, 28.4 

 inches. For rapidity, 20 shots were fired in 8 seconds. The pen- 

 etration was 11 inches. 



Col. D. H. Buell, who conducted the experiments at the Brides- 

 burg Arsenal, reported that "the gun worked smoothly in all its 

 parts, and the cartridges were fed and the empty cases thrown 

 out with ease and certainty. The cartridges worked well, and no 

 more difficulty is to be experienced with them than with any other 

 metallic cartridges of a similar construction, if, indeed, so much. 

 I am of the opinion that about 60 shots can be fired per minute. 

 The gun can undoubtedly be fired faster on occasions, but I think 

 that the above average is a fair one for continuous firing. The 

 most rapid firing I obtained was 11 shots in 7 seconds." 



Subsequent to the foregoing trials, 3 of the larger guns, carry- 

 ing balls o 1-inch calibre and weighing half a pound each, were 

 tested hundreds of times in the presence of Generals Grant, Han- 

 cock, Dyer, Chief of Ordnance, Delafield, Chief of Engineers, 

 Maynadier, Hagner, and Secretary Stanton, and other military and 

 civil officers, all of whom expressed their entire satisfaction with 

 their performances. These trials, with those afterward made at 

 Fortress Monroe, in competition with the 24-pound howitzer, es- 

 tablished the fact that the Gatling gun was able to put 6 missiles 

 in a target where the howitzer could place 1. At the distance 

 of 1,000 yards it could put as many half-pound solid shot in the tar- 

 get as the howitzer could of canister at a distance of only 200 

 .yards. Scientific American. 



