Gatling Gun

Definition

The Gatling gun is one of the best-known early rapid-fire weapons and an ancestor of modern machine guns. It was designed in 1861 by Dr. Richard J. Gatling during American Civil War, and later used extensively in various wars.

Related terms

Machine Gun: An automatic gun that fires bullets in rapid succession for as long as the trigger is pressed.

Recoilless Rifle: A type of lightweight artillery system designed for direct fire at high-velocity without significant recoil.

Artillery Piece: Large class military weapons built to fire munitions far beyond range and power capabilities of infantry firearms.