Vandenburgh volley gun
The Vandenburgh was a volley gun developed in 1860 by the American General Origen Vandenburgh of the New York State Militia. The weapon is not a machine gun as the loading process is manual and not automatic.
The Vandenburgh had 85 barrels in 0.50 inch (12.7 mm) caliber . The ammunition was loaded manually for each run individually. The shutter was then closed by a crank, each individual fire chamber being hermetically sealed. All barrels were fired simultaneously from a primer that was placed in the center of the breech.
The firepower of 85 rifle barrels fired at the same time was enormous, but manual reloading was very time-consuming and under combat conditions the operating team was at the mercy of enemy fire.
After he was unable to sell the firearm to England, he offered it to the southern states regardless of his position.
See also
literature
- Royal United Service Institution, Journal of the Royal United Service Institution , Volume 6, Issues 21-24, pages 377 ff. Minutes of the meeting of May 9, 1862 ( available online )
Web links
- Description and picture (English)