Gatling Idea

[Domino]

I was on surfing the net and came across those cheesy gatling gun kits found at THIS site and I got to thinking, why doesn't anyone make a real gatling gun in a real caliber? Afterall, they are not illegal and could be made for probably under $2500 or so. So heres my idea, you make them in 2 calibers .223 and 7.62X39 and accept AR and AK mags. The magazine well would be on the left side to allow the use of drum magazines and the bolt handle and ejection port on the right side. Allow the crank to be used ambidextrously and facilitate a pistol grip at the end of the reciever that would be used to stabilize the weapon and possibly a grip safety. Also it would have 4 revolving barrels that fire once each per crank revolution. You could even have a lever that would manually double the firing rate to 8 rounds per revolution by changing gears. Add a picatinny rail and qulity tripod all for under $2000 and I think you have a winner, what do you think? Would U buy one?


I've added this part if anyone is curious to how it might work so here is the following. Instead of just using a semi-auto with a gat trigger or the mechanical monstosity of the old gatling guns you use something different. I will describe it as a gatling gun that has 4 barrels each with its own gas pistons that line up with the gas piston on the bolt and slide. A round is fired and the gas pistons send the bolt backward ejecting a round Then have a bolt stop similar to a magazine hold open that holds the slide back until the next barrel is rotated and locked into place. Then the slide slams forward and loads the next cartridge is loaded. So what you have is a sort of semi semi-auto type action that allows you to use multiple barrels by incorporating a delay action that is controlled by the crank motion allowing the next barrel to rotate in place before the next cartridge is loaded. Why do this? To lessen the friction on the crank thus facilitating easier spinning motion and higher firing rate. I would like to hear any opinions on this concept and any comments other than I have way to much free time LOL.

 

[Cortland]

I still understand how that would be better than a crank-actuated semi-auto

 

[Badger Arms]

Why not just use the mechanism for the Mini-Gun and make it crank operated instead of electric operated? Sure, it would cost more but it would be legal and probably much more fun.

How about a 3-barreled 50BMG? How about a 10 barrel 22LR caliber? Oooooh, a 3.5" magnum shotgun, nylon belt-fed. Imagine that with 000 Buck at around 400rpm!

The trouble with most of these types of ideas are that very few people would buy and they would likely not make-up the development and tooling costs. As for the cheesy AK-47 crank-gun, watch the following video closely. Notice how uncontrollable it is and also... what happens to the rear sight! Funny, but sad they kept it up on their site.

http://www.gatlingguns.com/videos/1022NEW.rm

 

[mini14jac]

I had a link to an actual .22 caliber Gatling gun kit, but I think the company went under.
It looked really cool, and I bet it would have been a blast to shoot.
Like the kit at the top of the post, it was too expensive in my opinion.
I'm sure the "two 10/22 kit" is quality materials, but I'm thinking they should use more plastic or aluminum, and get the price down to $100-200.
They'd sell a ton at that price.

Myself, I'd love a Gatling gun, but it would have to be .22 or I couldn't afford to shoot it.

 

[Domino]

I still understand how that would be better than a crank-actuated semi-auto

You can't have multiple barrels with a gas piston operated semi-auto action, unless you could explain how.

Myself, I'd love a Gatling gun, but it would have to be .22 or I couldn't afford to shoot it.

$80 or so for a 1000 round case of 7.62X39, that's about 13.3 75 rnd drum mags, not too bad if you ask me.

 

[hksw]

...why doesn't anyone make a real gatling gun in a real caliber? Afterall, they are not illegal and could be made for probably under $2500 or so. So heres my idea, you make them in 2 calibers .223 and 7.62X39 and accept AR and AK mags. The magazine well would be on the left side to allow the use of drum magazines and the bolt handle and ejection port on the right side. Allow the crank to be used ambidextrously and facilitate a pistol grip at the end of the reciever that would be used to stabilize the weapon and possibly a grip safety. Also it would have 4 revolving barrels that fire once each per crank revolution. You could even have a lever that would manually double the firing rate to 8 rounds per revolution by changing gears. Add a picatinny rail and qulity tripod all for under $2000 and I think you have a winner, what do you think? Would U buy one?

You seem to have the characteristics well thought out. Why don't you develop it?

 

[GigaBuist]

I still understand how that would be better than a crank-actuated semi-auto

I presume you meant to say you didn't understand why it would be better to have multiple barrels.

AFAIK, you can get a higher rate of fire without burning through the barrels so quickly. Instead of shoving 4 rounds down one barrel in a second you shoot one round per barrel per second, but 4 rounds total.

It also gives time for the bolt to cycle and return to battery. Higher rate of fire.

 

[Domino]

You seem to have the characteristics well thought out. Why don't you develop it?

I would love to. I actually spent a little time looking at an SKS and it seems that you could build a prototype using the reciever and 4 barrels. Since the gas system is seperated from the bolt and is self reciporicating the hardest part appears to be assembling the crank and barrel mechanism while linking it to move work the trigger and bolt stop. Add a quality chasis and tripod and it could be done. The only thing is that I need a machinist to make the revolving barrel mount and chasis.