gatling guns

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bamaranger

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Was poking around on the net the other night and was surprised to learn that the Gatlings at San Juan and Kettle Hill, Parker's Gatlings, were .30-40 Cal!!!!! I had thought for a long time that they were .45-70.

While I was on the Gatling gun binge, I noted that the heavy "1-inch" Gatlings produced just after the Civil War, had a "buck & ball" ctg, as well as what may have been a true "cannister" cartridge.

Thought all that was pretty neat, and I learned something.
 
Unfortunately I packed away my books that are relevant to the Gatling Gun. Anyway, the .45-70 was predominantly carried by the volunteer units (as opposed to the Regulars) of the U.S. Army. Since the Army converted to .30-40 Krag, it stands to reason that their guns would be up to date.

What a confusing time it was for ammunition and it was almost as bad as the Civil War. Besides the 30-40 Krag, there was also the 6mm Lee that was carried by the Marine Corps and the U.S. Navy.
 
Considering inflation, $36,500 is a lot cheaper than the $17,000 they were asking for over twenty-five years ago. Gold back then was less than $300 an ounce. Now it's over $1,500. Gas was less than $1. Now it's about $4 here. Bread was less than $1 a loaf. Now it's over $5.
 
Years ago when I worked for the state museum system in Pennsylvania we were in Boalsburg doing a museum-wide inventory of the collections.

In moving a bunch of stuff in one of the storage buildings we found a large crate that had no accession markings, no inventory markings, no system markings of any kind on it.

When we opened it we found a Hotchkiss 37mm revolving cannon that apparently had been captured by the 28th Division during World War II and had been donated, along with literally tons of other arms, to the state museum system.

The only difference was that it had never been formally entered into the system. It had been parked in the storage building and forgotten.
 
Just FWIW, there was a rumor years ago that someone digging around in an old depot found four (4!) Gatling guns, brand new. They were in .30-'06 caliber. As I say, it was only a rumor and probably a tall tale to boot, but wouldn't that be a nice find?

Jim
 
Not really a Gatling gun,,,

But somewhat close.

A member of my range bought one of the Gatling Gun kits from Cabela's,,,
The one that turns two Ruger 10/22 rifles into a crank repeater.

I watched him and his son demolish a 20 gallon paint drum with it,,,
Sure didn't take them long to go through a brick of ammo.

Talk about a home defense weapon!

Aarond
 
At one time (maybe 20 years ago--time flies) Clark Brothers had a Gatling gun in their store, if I remember correctly. I do not remember seeing another one anywhere except in the museum at Ft. Riley, Kansas. Anyhow, I seem to remember the one at Clark Brothers was in .38 special. It was full size but it was just a plaything.

Parker is the name everyone remembers from Cuba in 1898 but there were other interesting characters around. There was a small detachment of Colt machine guns that had been purchased by a New York volunteer by the name of Tiffany, of the Tiffany jewelry store family, and brought along with his unit, which was probably the Rough Riders. They happened to be in 7mm Mauser for some reason, which the Spanish were using. Clark Brothers has one of those on display, too.
 
IIRC those were part of a shipment that was supposed to go to Spain from Colt, but upon explosion of the Maine were held.

After war was declared, the guns were sold to American units.
 
The Tiffany Colt's were donated to the Rough Riders by the elder Tiffany, his son having joined up. The son was killed in the campaign. The guns were the Colt M1895 'potato digger', so called because of the downward-reciprocating piston. They were used to good effect by the Rough Riders.
 
While I was on the Gatling gun binge, I noted that the heavy "1-inch" Gatlings produced just after the Civil War, had a "buck & ball" ctg, as well as what may have been a true "cannister" cartridge.
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Wow, can you imagine the effect that would have on the battlefield of the time!!!
Here is an interesting experiment I'd like to see with that load-out. Take a couple hundred barrels filled with water and spread them around a field. Then turn loose a couple of heavy gatlings shooting cannister.

If the American Civil War had happend 10 yers later, there may well have been trenches all along the mason-dixon line.
 
If the American Civil War had happend 10 yers later, there may well have been trenches all along the mason-dixon line.
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The battle of Petersburg saw extensive use of trench warfare (30 miles of trenches). A deadly harbinger of things to come that the Europeans ignored
 
Well, in 1870 the Germans overrun the French in 4 weeks (it took another 6 months to mob up) so mobile warfare was thought to be superior to trenches. No one could image hundreds of miles of trench systems miles deep at that point.
 
Prior to the widespread use of the machine gun and truly effective artillery there simply wasn't much need to go into trenches other than in specific situations.
 
Just FWIW, there was a rumor years ago that someone digging around in an old depot found four (4!) Gatling guns, brand new. They were in .30-'06 caliber. As I say, it was only a rumor and probably a tall tale to boot, but wouldn't that be a nice find?
Click to expand...

No way I would believe that. 30-06 was develeped in 1906 - long after the Gatling gun was long obsolete.
 
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