What is the regulatory status of a Gatling gun?

[bushmaster1313]

Assume it was one of the late 19th century type guns made recently so it is not C&R..

Is it a "Machine Gun"
Is it NFA?

I do not think a Gatling gun fires more than one cartridge with a single pull of the trigger. I am not even sure if Gatling guns had triggers.

 

[Swing]

AFAIK, no, its not NFA. BATFE document here.

That is hand-cranked, 19th century types. The motor driven modern types are very much NFA.

 

[bushmaster1313]

ATF and its predecessor agency, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), have historically held that the original, crank-operated Gatling Gun, and replicas thereof, are not automatic firearms or machineguns as defined. See Rev. Rul. 55-528, 1955-2 C.B. 482. The original Gatling Gun is a rapid-firing, hand-operated weapon. The rate of fire is regulated by the rapidity of the hand cranking movement, manually controlled by the operator. It is not a "machinegun" as that term is defined in 26 U.S.C. 5845(b) because it is not a weapon that fires automatically.

Very interesting

 

[medalguy]

One shot is fired with each actuation of the trigger = not NFA. You turn the crank just a little bit, and then don't turn it any more, you get one shot fired.

M134 Gatling Gun is electrically fired. Depress the trigger one time, get a whole bunch of brass at your feet. Lots of fun however.

 

[zignal_zero]

The way I see the gatlin kits being sold, for 10/22's and AK's, leads me to believe there is nothing separating it from any title I firearm.

That said, what is the difference between a gatlin gun that is fired by an electric motor and a minigun?

 

[Trebor]

That said, what is the difference between a gatlin gun that is fired by an electric motor and a minigun?

Legally? Nothing. They are both machine guns. So, if you have a Gatling, don't hook it up to an electric motor.

In fact, for the original "proof of concept" for the Minigun they dug a vintage Gatling out of a museum and hooked it up to electricity to prove the idea would work.

 

[Kiln]

Good to know, I've been looking for an old crank style gatling gun as a SD weapon. I plan to mount it in the back of a van and kick the doors open ala Hollywood action movie when a SD situation arises, then shower the area with hot lead.

 

[Sam1911]

Just for general knowlege though, while you don't have to pay the tax stamp, a new Gatling gun costs about $49,000.

http://www.coltsmfg.com/Catalog/SpecialEditions/1877BulldogGatlingGun.aspx

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EU9RagyIFIQ

 

[jmorris]

I have the prints for this one.

http://www.gatlingguns.net/

He sells a finished one for $10,900. There is also a fellow on UZItalk that has built two from the ground up one 12ga the other 45lc acp

 

[zignal_zero]

OP- have u seen the kit that uses two Kalashnikovs? Also, I hope you really mean "SD situation" and not "Traffic stop". If it is the latter, and yer in my town, dude, I only issue warnings, cut me some slack here

 

[MasterSergeantA]

The way I see the gatlin kits being sold, for 10/22's and AK's, leads me to believe there is nothing separating it from any title I firearm.

That said, what is the difference between a gatlin gun that is fired by an electric motor and a minigun?

I have had both the 10/22 and M1 carbine 'gatling gun' kits. They are fun, if not very useful. But the "trigger" is actually an action bar that pulls a pair of cams back against the actual triggers on the respective rifles. The cams are offset so that they do not fire simultaneously. As the handle is cranked, each trigger is tripped and resets in turn. Turning the crank handle faster increases the rate of fire, but each trigger is still tripped in turn and the rifles are still semi-automatic.

There was a fellow I met while still back in Maryland who built a similar set-up with two SKS rifles. He had a Rube Goldberg-looking set of sprockets and bike chains, but the concept was the same. The shaft on which the crank was mounted had a half inch or so that stuck out past the crank handle. He said he thought he could tighten the chuck of an electric drill on it and run it using the drill. I allowed as how that might just be a bad idea.

But the rifles still fire one round for every pull of the trigger. I am guessing that the "machinegun" aspect of the electrically-driven apparatus is what makes it murky if not downright illegal.

 

[Sam1911]

I am guessing that the "machinegun" aspect of the electrically-driven apparatus is what makes it murky if not downright illegal.

Yup. In essence, the "trigger" is then the drill's trigger switch, and the complete device will keep firing so long as you hold that trigger down.

In one way of looking at it, that's all an M134 is -- a semi-auto feed and firing system hooked up to an electric motor that makes it go.

 

[MtnCreek]

I’ve seen the gatling concept on an AR. It was a little crank that attached to the trigger guard of the AR and around the trigger. The tip of your trigger finger is placed on the little crank and rotated.

 

[jmorris]

The BATFE has gone a little further than electric drive. The around accelerator and AWSim were bump fire devices that used spring power to rock the action into your trigger while keeping your hands still, and that's a no no. They have even gone as far as saying a shoe lace on the right rifle is a machine gun.

As long as we are talking about cranks I made this one for a 1919.