.357 Gatling Gun Possible?

Greetings,

I\'m new to the board after having discovered the idea of a Gatling Gun by accident - looking at the Colt gun on their website.  I\'ve spent hours over the last few days reading and drooling and I really like the idea of building one.  

I love the idea of a .22LR version just so I can afford to crank the handle a lot but I\'d really like to build a gun that will shoot my favorite loads of .38/.357.  I understand I\'d have to beef it up.  I found some barrels available chambered and ready that could probably be used with a little customization of the plans.  

The hard part that I\'d like to hear thoughts and ideas on, would be the carrier and bolts.  They\'d have to be strong enough to hold the case firmly in place.  Some sort of solidly locking bolt would have to be designed along with the cam or mechanics for unlocking and extracting at the right point in time.

I searched the forum for .357 and only found 4 posts, nothing too much on it, but I\'m just betting that some of you gun experts and machining experts have thought this through and have ideas.

Welcome to the forum,
 Your timing couldn\'t be much better as there is a handful of builders myself included that have just started to think up a design for the .357. I have been thinking about a locking bolt design for a few days now but need more time to figure it all out.
bruski

Where the cam passes in front of the pin in the bolt in the animations I have seen, then the cam ends so the bolt will sit fully seated, held in place only by the spring for firing, and then it is picked up again by the cam.  What about a block behind the pin during the firing phase?  It would probably require delaying extraction by a few degrees to allow pressure to begin to dissipate and then a steeper extraction/ejection curve to get back to designed timing, but it might work.  Locking by a single pin might not be balanced enough to hold square and tight and could affect accuracy but there might be some reasonable design changes to make that pin stick though both sides of the bolt instead of just out of one side.

Actually guys, if I follow your thinking the follower pin on the bolt should not bear any load during firing. The rear of the bolt plug should seat firmly against the twin raised lugs on the recoil plate. In an idea situation the bolt cap should pick up the lug ramp and the bolt follower pin should float in the cam groove. If the recoil plate is made from a harder material to prevent it from battering there should be sufficent area and strength for the larger cartridge. I made mind from 4340CD material as a one piece assemble intergrated with the rear plater. HArdness is about Rc35.

For a larger calibers the area most likely needing to be beefed up is the rear plate attachment to the cam amd the cam attachment to the casing. These will see the full bolt thrust load and the plate to cam connection places the screws in tension and the cam to casing places the screws in shear.

nitewatchman

nitewatchman is right on the money in his explanation above. The rear bolt cap needs to take all of the recoil and pass it on to the recoil plate then to the main frame.
bruski

Well this is an old thread. The group and I are looking to do the first builds in 22lr. That said the idea of 9mm comes to my mind. Or should one only be thinking about a rimmed cartridge. As far as size goes I also think of the .308 mini gun. And of course 20mm and 30mm gatling guns also.
Like some of the points that have been brought up. Thanks for the info.

Later 42rocker

There are some advantages to using un-rimmed cartridges like the 9mm in a gatling gun. If you are off a little on the bolt length or cam followers, the headspace can be adjusted for each bolt when you use a finishing reamer for the chambers. Stay clear of any high powered cartridges unless you know your metalurgy very well. Stay away from anything larger than about a 45 calibur unless you know the laws about destructive devices. I will post a few pictures of a .357 prototype that I through together to test some different ideas in a simple way in the progress area.
bruski

bruski
I was just at your other thread and Wow Pure \"KISS\" Keep It Simple.
You did a nice job with it.
Link to other thread

viewtopic.php?f=7&t=468

Really I\'ll bet in a while you will clean it up and make it look super sweet. That said you have one firing right now and I\'m just starting to collect materials.

Later 42rocker