A Crank Operated Machine Gun

[Pierre Tavlitzki]

War is horror in the opinion of the Confederate doctor Richard Gatling during the American Civil War. Considering that diseases killed more soldiers than what weapons did, he decided to modernize the artillery, and he succeeded. His idea was to reduce the size of armies through the increased efficiency of guns.

In 1861 he invented the machine gun, or more precisely a gravity feed system bringing the cartridges into the machine at a very high rate. On a carriage with two wheels, a floor is supporting a brass tube containing small rotating barrels. It takes four men and a crank to operate this machine gun, because it is not automatic: this development will be invented in 1884 by Maxim.

On August 15 in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, Fontaine's Antique Auction Gallery is selling a model 1883 Gatling gun with ten .45 steel barrels arranged in a circle and encased in a brass jacket of 1.20 m long. It was manufactured by the Colt company, which had purchased the patent in 1870. It has been recently fired in showings. Ammunition boxes, made in wood, have been changed. For this piece of artillery in outstanding condition, expect 175 K$.

[Pierre Tavlitzki]

I had some difficulty finding this result, which explains the delay. The Gatling Gun was sold 172 K $ including charges by Fontaine's.

I found on the web another interesting result: one year ago, in the sale of 6 to 8 September 2008, Rock Island Auction has sold for $ 230K another Gatling Gun manufactured by Colt, model 1874.

[Pierre Tavlitzki]

Auction result shared by News-Antique, with photo.