The U.S. Army had a crude yet effective version in the late 1800's. Anyone know why they would'nt have been effective weapons in WWII? Why no one[Allied or Axis] developed one.
The Gatlings weren't forgotten - apart from an original Gatling being fitted with an electric motor in the late 19th century (and reputedly reaching 3,000 rpm), Siemens of Germany were developing an engine-driven aircraft gun at the end of WW1, and such guns were suggested from time to time. However, the main requirement for such firepower was for arming aircraft, and the Gatling was too bulky to fit in a fighter cowling or a wing. Tony Williams: Military gun and ammunition website and Discussion forum
Tony, what was the Mauser MK213 which the Germans had under development toward the end of WWII ? ( It's mentioned briefly in this book I've got, called 'Flying Guns : World War II' .... )
Ah well, you need to buy 'Flying Guns: the Modern Era' The MG 213C was the first effective revolver cannon, not a rotary like the Gatling. It had several chambers which rotated as the ammo was loaded and ejected in stages, like a rotary, but only one barrel. This made it smaller and lighter, but the need to stop the cylinder rotating for each shot slowed it down. Modern aircraft revolver cannon include the Mauser BK 27, GIAT 30M791, Oerlikon KCA. Older DEFA/GIAT and Aden cannon are also still in service. Tony Williams: Military gun and ammunition website and Discussion forum
Thanks Tony ! ( Still saving up for 'The Modern Era' - that extra mortgage I took on to buy the WWII one is really hurting....Those authors must be millionaires ! )
Another note on the Mauser design is that the single barrel limits rate of fire simply thorough heating restrictions. This was an advantage of the Gatling design having multiple barrels each only firing a fraction of the total rounds fired reduces heat load on the barrels.
I thought the one and only use for the gattling system was (first model) to have a fast fire rate and the rotating barrels the A-10's and such are for barrel cooling. answers on this any one ?
my understanding was that the multiple barrells reduced heat as they fire only a fraction of the bullets as T.A. Gardner states, thereby reducing the heat build up, the spinning action would not in itself cool the weapon.
The original gatling[ late 1800's] was rotated by hand crank.How much "barrel cooling" would that be? Still, seems like an WWII version of the Vietnam era gun ship would have been a nice piece to have in the Pacific theater or maybe Italy.
