Gatling, Richard Jordan - Hutchinson encyclopedia article about Gatling, Richard Jordan Printer Friendly
Dictionary, Encyclopedia and Thesaurus - The Free Dictionary
1,507,721,600 visitors served.
forum mailing list For webmasters
?
New: Language forums
Dictionary/
thesaurus
Medical
dictionary
Legal
dictionary
Financial
dictionary
Acronyms
 
Idioms
Encyclopedia
Wikipedia
encyclopedia
?

Gatling, Richard Jordan

   Also found in: Encyclopedia 0.06 sec.

Gatling, Richard Jordan (1818–1903)

US inventor of a rapid-fire gun. Patented in 1862, the Gatling gun had ten barrels arranged as a cylinder rotated by a hand crank. Cartridges from an overhead hopper or drum dropped into the breech mechanism, which loaded, fired, and extracted them at a rate of 320 rounds per minute.

It was used in the US Civil War and in the Indian Wars that followed the settling of the American West. It was the precursor of the machine gun.

Gatling was born in North Carolina; from 1870 his main factory was in Hartford, Connecticut. He manufactured other machines of his invention: for sowing, for breaking hemp, a steam plough, and a marine steam ram.



How to thank TFD for its existence? Tell a friend about us, add a link to this page, add the site to iGoogle, or visit webmaster's page for free fun content.
?Page tools
Printer friendly
Cite / link
Email
Feedback
?Sign in SSL protected
Email:
Password:
Register

? Mentioned in
 
Hutchinson browser? ? Full browser
 
 
Hutchinson Encyclopedia
?

Disclaimer | Privacy policy | Feedback | Copyright © 2009 Farlex, Inc.
All content on this website, including dictionary, thesaurus, literature, geography, and other reference data is for informational purposes only. This information should not be considered complete, up to date, and is not intended to be used in place of a visit, consultation, or advice of a legal, medical, or any other professional. Terms of Use.