MITUAILLEUR AND CATLING GUN. 



525 



mounted on a gun-carriage of tho general form 



ir tidd-puns, but of special construction 



in detail. The three pirns at Shoeburynesa 



. ach ten barrels, and are of the respective 



calibres of .75 in., .65 in., and .4'-* in. 



Tho operation of working tho gun is very 

 simple: one man places a feed-cafe filled with 

 cartridges into the hopper, while another turns 

 tin- handle. By moans of tho gearing tho main 

 shaft is revolved, carrying with it the lock- 

 cylinder, locks, carrier, and barrels. As the 

 gun is rotated, the cartridges, one by one, drop 

 into tho grooves of the carrier from tho feed- 



coses, and instantly the lock is moved forward 

 to load the cartridges into tho chamber)* of the 

 b.irn-l.s. By means of the cocking device act- 

 ing on the lock, the cartridge is exploded, and, 

 as soon as the charge is fired, the lock, as the 

 gun is revolved, is drawn back, bringing with 

 it the shell of the cartridge, which is drop p. I 

 on tho ground. It will thus be seen that, 

 when the piece is rotated, the locks in rapid 

 succession move forward to load and fire, and 

 return to extract tho cartridge-shells. In oth- 

 er words, the whole operation of loading, clos- 

 ing tho breech, discharging, and expelling the 



THE GATLISO GUN. 



empty cartridge-cases, is conducted while tho 

 barrels are kept continuously revolving. It is 

 to be observed that, while the locks revolve 

 with the barrels, they have also in their line of 

 travel a spiral reciprocating movement; that 

 is, each lock revolves once, and moves forward 

 and back at each revolution of the piece. The 

 pun can be discharged with great rapidity. 

 The shots are delivered singly, in rapid succes- 

 sion, so that the tendency to recoil is only that 

 produced by one shot, and this tendency is en- 



tirely overcome, and the recoil absorbed, by 

 the weight of the gun and carriage, and by a 

 simple device attached to the trail. 



The method of feeding the Gatlinp gnn from 

 cases of cartridges, requires five men to work 

 the piece. No. 1 man turns the crank ; No. 2 

 inserts the cases into the hopper; No. 8 hands 

 tho cases to No. 2 ; No. 4 holds the case in po- 

 sition in the hopper until the cartridges are fed 

 out ; and No. 5 receives the empty cases. But 

 this method of working is greatly simplified 



