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The Gatling Gun: 19th Century Machine Gun to 21st Century Vulcan
Here is the first complete 130-year history of what is a truly remarkable and timeless weapon. Author Joseph Berk traces the glorious career of this multibarreled, high-rate-of-fire gun from its inception during the Civil War to its current role as a state-of-the-art modern combat system of the U.S. military.
136 pages, Hardcover
First published November 1, 1991
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March 19, 2026
THE GATLING GUN : 19TH CENTURY MACHINE GUN TO 21ST CENTURY VULCAN was a fascinating read for me, for it is a remarkable weapon.
Before going any further, let me explain the difference between a machine gun and a Gatling gun. Most know what a machine gun is. It has a single barrel and fires real fast as long as you keep your finger on the trigger. It is therefore an automatic weapon. Semi-automatic weapons will only fire single shots as fast as you keep pulling the trigger over and over. News people confuse the two probably intentionally to sensationalize their stories. A Gatling gun has a number of barrels arranged in a circle much like the cylinder on a revolver. It might be three barrels or as many as ten. In its simplest form a person turns a crank by hand and as the barrels rotate to different positions a bullet is loaded into a barrel, fired, and then the empty shell casing is ejected. When the barrel continues to rotate to the correct position another bullet is loaded. A Gatling gun will fire as fast as the individual turns the crank.
It was in late 1861 or early 1862 that Dr. Richard Jordan Gatling invented the first Gatling gun. The Civil War was just starting between the states, and though he was a southerner, he presented his new weapon to the Union Army. However, a certain Col. John W. Ripley, the army's chief of ordnance, strongly resisted new ordinance, much in the same manner US armored crewmen in the Sherman tanks during World War II had to go up against German Panther and Tiger tanks. The movie 'Fury" with Brad Pitt shows how dangerous that was. However, Dr. Gatling demonstrated his invention to General Butler, who was a man of wealth. He was so impressed that he bought twelve of them for $12,000 of his own money. They were used during the siege of Petersburg where Butler may have fired one himself.
Over the following years Dr. Gatling continued to refine his invention and made it in various calibers, that is bullet sizes. Just about every nation bought them, except for France, which stuck with an inferior home made product. Even Russia bought a few, though they later claimed it was a Russian invention.
The US navy bought them as well. Even at that early date, Dr. Gatling made a gun that used an electric motor instead of a hand crank to turn the cylinders. His electric powered gun could fire 3,000 rounds per minute (rpm)! The problem was, only large naval ships could supply the electricity needed to operate the gun. Being as there wasn't much need for such firepower by the navy the idea was shelved.
One problem that plagued the gun was the feed system. Where to put the bullets that went into the gun was frustrating. Different inventors tried to solve the problem with limited success.
Nevertheless, the US army finally bought them and used them with success against the Indians out west and during the Spanish American War. With the coming of the Maxim gun the Gatling guns' days were numbered. The Maxim was a lot lighter and easier to deploy and use. Thus machine guns replaced Gatling guns in the arsenals of the world.
Fast forward to the end of World War II. With the development of jet aircraft something better than the 0.50 machine guns on US aircraft were needed. Someone remembered the Gatling guns and one was found to experiment with. Using an electric motor, much more compact now, 5,000 rpm could be achieved when most machine guns fired around 500 or 1,200 rpm at best.
With modern technology Gatling guns were now feasible on ground, aircraft, and shipboard mounts. These were covered in detail. Before closing I must comment on a couple of these.
With US involvement in the Vietnam War, various air delivered ordnance was needed for support of troops on the ground. Old C-47 cargo planes from WWII were equipped with Gatling guns, now referred to as mini-guns, mounted to shoot out the left side of the aircraft. The pilot would bank the plane and fly in a circle while the mini-guns sprayed bullets all over the target. To the enemy on the ground the tracer rounds looked like a dragon's breath, which gave birth to the name 'Puff, the Magic Dragon.' This aircraft was so effective that the C-130 cargo plane was also made into a gunship. The armament on these planes could carry maybe two mini-guns, two 20mm Gatlings which were referred to as Vulcan guns, and a pair of 40mm automatic cannon! Using low light TV and other modern sensors they may have destroyed up to 5,000 trucks on the Ho Chi Minh trail.
Based on the success of the C-130 gunship the A-10 was the first aircraft designed around the most powerful Gatling gun ever built. It carries a 30mm cannon which dwarfs a Volkswagen Beetle. I once observed A-10s circling a target practicing target runs. It was most impressive, even without firing their guns.
These Vulcan guns, referred to as Phalanx Weapon Systems are now mounted on warships to destroy sea-skimming missiles.
At the time of writing, in 1991, one could buy a 1/2 scale replica of a .22 LR firing Gatling gun for about $14,000 from the Furr Arms factory in Utah. I now know what I want for Christmas.
Before going any further, let me explain the difference between a machine gun and a Gatling gun. Most know what a machine gun is. It has a single barrel and fires real fast as long as you keep your finger on the trigger. It is therefore an automatic weapon. Semi-automatic weapons will only fire single shots as fast as you keep pulling the trigger over and over. News people confuse the two probably intentionally to sensationalize their stories. A Gatling gun has a number of barrels arranged in a circle much like the cylinder on a revolver. It might be three barrels or as many as ten. In its simplest form a person turns a crank by hand and as the barrels rotate to different positions a bullet is loaded into a barrel, fired, and then the empty shell casing is ejected. When the barrel continues to rotate to the correct position another bullet is loaded. A Gatling gun will fire as fast as the individual turns the crank.
It was in late 1861 or early 1862 that Dr. Richard Jordan Gatling invented the first Gatling gun. The Civil War was just starting between the states, and though he was a southerner, he presented his new weapon to the Union Army. However, a certain Col. John W. Ripley, the army's chief of ordnance, strongly resisted new ordinance, much in the same manner US armored crewmen in the Sherman tanks during World War II had to go up against German Panther and Tiger tanks. The movie 'Fury" with Brad Pitt shows how dangerous that was. However, Dr. Gatling demonstrated his invention to General Butler, who was a man of wealth. He was so impressed that he bought twelve of them for $12,000 of his own money. They were used during the siege of Petersburg where Butler may have fired one himself.
Over the following years Dr. Gatling continued to refine his invention and made it in various calibers, that is bullet sizes. Just about every nation bought them, except for France, which stuck with an inferior home made product. Even Russia bought a few, though they later claimed it was a Russian invention.
The US navy bought them as well. Even at that early date, Dr. Gatling made a gun that used an electric motor instead of a hand crank to turn the cylinders. His electric powered gun could fire 3,000 rounds per minute (rpm)! The problem was, only large naval ships could supply the electricity needed to operate the gun. Being as there wasn't much need for such firepower by the navy the idea was shelved.
One problem that plagued the gun was the feed system. Where to put the bullets that went into the gun was frustrating. Different inventors tried to solve the problem with limited success.
Nevertheless, the US army finally bought them and used them with success against the Indians out west and during the Spanish American War. With the coming of the Maxim gun the Gatling guns' days were numbered. The Maxim was a lot lighter and easier to deploy and use. Thus machine guns replaced Gatling guns in the arsenals of the world.
Fast forward to the end of World War II. With the development of jet aircraft something better than the 0.50 machine guns on US aircraft were needed. Someone remembered the Gatling guns and one was found to experiment with. Using an electric motor, much more compact now, 5,000 rpm could be achieved when most machine guns fired around 500 or 1,200 rpm at best.
With modern technology Gatling guns were now feasible on ground, aircraft, and shipboard mounts. These were covered in detail. Before closing I must comment on a couple of these.
With US involvement in the Vietnam War, various air delivered ordnance was needed for support of troops on the ground. Old C-47 cargo planes from WWII were equipped with Gatling guns, now referred to as mini-guns, mounted to shoot out the left side of the aircraft. The pilot would bank the plane and fly in a circle while the mini-guns sprayed bullets all over the target. To the enemy on the ground the tracer rounds looked like a dragon's breath, which gave birth to the name 'Puff, the Magic Dragon.' This aircraft was so effective that the C-130 cargo plane was also made into a gunship. The armament on these planes could carry maybe two mini-guns, two 20mm Gatlings which were referred to as Vulcan guns, and a pair of 40mm automatic cannon! Using low light TV and other modern sensors they may have destroyed up to 5,000 trucks on the Ho Chi Minh trail.
Based on the success of the C-130 gunship the A-10 was the first aircraft designed around the most powerful Gatling gun ever built. It carries a 30mm cannon which dwarfs a Volkswagen Beetle. I once observed A-10s circling a target practicing target runs. It was most impressive, even without firing their guns.
These Vulcan guns, referred to as Phalanx Weapon Systems are now mounted on warships to destroy sea-skimming missiles.
At the time of writing, in 1991, one could buy a 1/2 scale replica of a .22 LR firing Gatling gun for about $14,000 from the Furr Arms factory in Utah. I now know what I want for Christmas.
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