[quote name=\"Steve McKuhen\"]My goal is to construct a D&E gun following the plans and instructions as close a possible. Any changes or modifications I make must be in keeping with the plans of a scale model. I have already discarded several things that might work but deviate too far from the plans.[/quote]
Ok, I see that your main goal is to keep the gun a true scale model. Bear in mind that the D&E plans deviate from the real gattling gun !! This was necessary because of it being rim fire and the original gun centerfire. The real gatling had a conventional extractor finger on the bolt, spring loaded, this can be seen in the patent drawings easily. So, the question is, do you want to stay true to the real gun or the D&E plans? Nobody ever got a D&E gun built exactly like the plans to fire even close to reliably, and it was due to design flaws, not machining skills. Good luck !