2/3 scale, 9mm blank fire Gatling gun

Hi forum!


I’ve been a huge fan of the Gatling gun ever since I saw it for the first time in a movie as a little kid.

A few years ago I searched the net for the possibility to own a Gatling gun and concluded with that the only way was to make one myself. I got the D&E plans but they were way too complicated for me (I’m not a gunsmith, not even a machinist) so I decided to design it myself. The look of the gun is based on the 1876 model, but with the firing mechanism of an 1862 model - because it’s a lot easier to make. The gun will mainly be a model, but the idea is that it will fire 9mm revolver blanks – the barrels are not real, just hollow pipes with drilled bolts for the hexagonal ends. The size is about 2/3 scale I think.

Here are a few pics of the gun assembled in its current state. Haven’t tried firing it, but the firing mechanism seems to work. It’s made with very basic tools as I’m a complete noob; a manual lathe and mill – cheapo Far East stuff.


Nice forum too btw, love seeing all these Gatling projects :smile:

 

[attachment=9160:steampunk_gatling_gun-id=205.jpg]

 

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[cutter]

There\'s a lot of nice looking steampunk art around.
You have a real cool one going.
Looks GREAT
Keep us updated

Thank you very much cutter, I\'m pretty fed up with polishing by now...


Steampunk is awesome, and the Gatling is the ultimate in steampunk art, closely followed by the Nordenfelt and Gardner of course.


Some pics of the internal parts of my gun:

 

[attachment=9164:steampunk_gatling_internals-id=206.jpg]

 

That looks amazing. Have you tried to fire her yet?

Thanks Pmercer!

So far I\'ve only cycled empty chambers thru it and that works quite well, but if I crank too fast the last chamber in the magazine jams, although this hopefully gets fixed by adding a follower/weight in the magazine.

I\'ve taken a way too long brake from this project, basically I\'ve just done more polishing since the last pictures. There\'s still a bit of work to do and I think I need stronger springs for the firing pins.

Hello folks, time for a little update now I suppose, as I\'ve progressed a bit the last few years :-P

The gun itself is for the most part finished, with all the barrels and other steel parts blued (Super Blue), just need to work a little with the aluminum frame on the front to make it look smoother. I really wanted to make the oscillator system on the gun, but as the crank is mounted on the center axis it would not be a viable option. Instead, I plan to make a fine adjustment traverse system that will resemble the oscillator.
[attachment=4]steampunk_gat_2013_1.jpg[/attachment]
[attachment=3]steampunk_gat_2013_2.jpg[/attachment]

Here\'s a few pics to give you an idea on how the \"blank\" barrels are made. The aluminum tube is the actual barrel, the steel tube that covers it is just there for looks.
[attachment=1]steampunk_gat_barrels_1.jpg[/attachment]
[attachment=0]steampunk_gat_barrels_2.jpg[/attachment]

I\'m also well underway with the carriage. The wheels are made of pine - it\'s a lot easier to work with. All the parts were cut out of pine boards and then the shape was sanded with a belt sander. The rest of the carriage is made of maple. I have the steel bands for the wheels bent and cut to length, just need to get some help welding them. I plan to stain the wood dark, reddish brown.
[attachment=2]steampunk_gat_2013_3.jpg[/attachment]

And finally, on New Years Eve I fired the gun! I ran about 120 rounds thru it and it worked quite well. At the fastest I got it firing 12 rounds a second (720 rpm), which is not so bad considering the firing mechanism is based on the model 1862 design.
[attachment=0]steampunk_gat_2013_4.wmv[/attachment]

Congatulations on your gun. It looks and sounds great.
bruski

Steampunk,
Glad to see you back and still working on
your gat, it\'s been awhile.
Very nice work, congratulations.

Thank you very much guys

Nice job. Glad to see that you kept up with it over the years.
Just have to ask - at what position is it firing as it looks upper right and not the bottom like we normally see.

Later 42rocker

Thanks 42rocker, you\'re correct; the gun is firing in the upper right position. The firing mechanism in my gun is based on the 1862 Gatling, similar to the guns made by The Battery Gun Company, but I designed the rest of the gun to look like my favorite model; the 1876 Gatling. As the gun is a blank fire model only, there is no need to have the cartridges pushed into the barrel before firing and deal with making extractors and so. I have to admit though; it does bug me ever so slightly that it doesn\'t fire in the more \"common\" position, but I wanted to keep the firing mechanism simple - and it works great, so I am happy
If I build a Gardner gun, I\'ll probably design it to use the same reload-able brass chambers this Gatling use.

1862\'s do normally fire at about 1-o\'clock (as seen from rear).  With blanks you probably don\'t have to deal with hang-fires and the other sorts of things that might have crossed Gatlings mind about firing the round early and letting it crank around for a bit before dropping it out willy-nilly.

1862\'s do normally fire at about 1-o\'clock (as seen from rear). With blanks you probably don\'t have to deal with hang-fires and the other sorts of things that might have crossed Gatlings mind about firing the round early and letting it crank around for a bit before dropping it out willy-nilly.

You know, that is a really good point I had not thought of.  Capped chambers are essentially a uni-directional grenade.  If one were to not go off and be dropped out the bottom of the gun and land on its primer it could go off.

Perhaps it would be side to have a substantial (bullet-proof) container for the \"empties\" to fall into under the gun.

Steve

Latest update:

The carriage wheels are now done.
[attachment=2]steampunk_wheels_finished.jpg[/attachment]

Before and after staining.
[attachment=1]steampunk_wheels_staining.jpg[/attachment]

The traverse and elevation mechanism.
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