1862 Gatling Gun Blueprints
Improvements in Battery-Guns.For the second model of his 1862 gun, Richard Gatling had used metallic cartridges in place of the paper cartridges issued as standard to the infantry. However, the cartridges were still loaded into strong steel cartridge chambers which had to be hand loaded before use, and which, when fired, might not be aligned precisely with the barrel causing inaccurate fire. There would also be a significant escape of gas as the cartridge chamber was only pushed up against the rear of the barrel.Gatling realised, in his second gun patent of 1865, that he could adapt his mechanism for continuously loading and firing to exploit the improved metallic cartridges that were beginning to be manufactured at the end of the American Civil war.The major problem with all breech loading firearms is how to seal the breech to stop the explosive gasses leaking backward.
These hot gasses will damage the breech and threaten the firer, not to mention the lessening the pressure behind the bullet so range is decreased. A metallic cartridge is designed so it will expand slightly when fired so the walls of the cartridge fit tight against the inside of the breech chamber, thus stopping the gasses from leaking back (a process known as obturation).
However, the metal must then contract enough to allow the empty cartridge to be pulled out. If the metal is permanently deformed, the cartridge will stick, and there is a risk that the cartridge rim will be pulled off. This is more likely with the built-up cartridges such as the English Boxer.It was found that the copper mined in the Lake Superior region was particularly pure and could be made into brass that had the necessary strength and ductility to be made into effective cartridges. American manufacturing techniques had perfected a process of drawing and regularly annealing the brass blanks to give cartridges of exceptional quality.Given the reliability of the cartridges that were being manufactured, Gatling's 1865 model gun was arranged to load, fire and extract the spent cartridges in a continuous process.The 1865 model fired the then-standard.58 rim-fire metallic cartridge, which was supplied in cases containing about 22 rounds. Government was favourably impressed with this model and ordered over a hundred for the Army and Navy (the Model 1866), to fire either a 1 inch round or the new.5 inch 50-70 cartridge. Unrolled view of all six locksAs in his previous model, Gatling wrapped a number (6 in this case) of complete rifles around a common axis.
1862 Gatling Gun Blueprints Pictures
Each rifle consisted of a barrel, a cartridge cavity and a lock which can be made to oscillate backwards and forwards to load a cartridge, fire it and then retract the spent case.The locks are carried in a lock cylinder which is keyed on the same shaft that carries the barrel assembly and cartridge carrier, so that the locks are always perfectly aligned to their respective barrels. The whole assembly is rotated by handle driving a pinion that engages with a cog wheel on the gun axis.The LocksEach lock consists of a plunger, made up of a butt piece, into which is screwed a solid shaft which is connected to a flange and the breech-pin. The firing hammer is a sleeve with a lug, and is mounted on the shaft where it can be forced forwards by a coil spring. As the plunger moves forward, the breech pin forces the cartridge into the rifle's breech and holds it there when that cartridge is fired by the punch. The punch consists of a collar that can move feebly on the plunger's shaft, and a punch arm that is set into the breech pin. As the cartridge is forced into the rifle's breech, the punch is pushed back leaving a small gap between the collar of the punch and the plunger's flange.
When the hammer is released, it strikes the punch collar, forcing it forward. The impact causes the punch, which had rested on the rim of the cartridge, to compress the rim of the cartridge and explodes the fulminate within the cartridge rim to ignite the bullet's charge.As the whole assembly is rotated by the gearing, one of the hollows in the cartridge carrier passes under a cartridge box and pick up a fresh cartridge. At this point the lock is fully withdrawn in the lock cylinder. The assembly continues to rotate and the butt piece of the plunger starts to ride up on the rear cam inclined plane (shown in green), so forcing the lock forwards, and with it the cartridge. As the plunger moves forwards it carries the sleeve-hammer with it until the lug of the hammer comes into contact with the rear face of the stationary cocking cam (shown in blue). The hammer is now forced back so compressing the spring while at the same time the plunger is forced forwards by the inclined plane cam.Immediately prior to firing the butt piece reaches a flat portion of the cam, and at this point the plunger has pushed the cartridge fully into the chamber of its rifle barrel.
Model 1862 Gatling Gun
The punch, which normally extends a little beyond the end of the plunger has been pushed back a small way, leaving a small space between the collar of the punch and the flange of the plunger.With the barrel at the 6 o'clock position, the cocking cam is abruptly cut away, and this allows the hammer sleeve to be driven forwards by the spring. The hammer hits the punch collar driving it forwards and pinching the rim flange of the cartridge, which is thereby ignited.The flat portion of the rear cam continues a little past the 6 o'clock position to keep the lock in place as a precaution against a hang-fire.