5-Barreled Gardner Gun, The First Sudan War, 1884-1885--RETIRED--LAST ONE!!
$45.00

John Jenkins Designs - RETIRED COLLECTION

Item Number: SRNGUN-02

William Gardner patented his 5-barrel machine gun, in August 1881.  Unfortunately the United States Army was firmly wedded to the Gatling gun at that time, and showed little interest, so Gardner manufactured this gun in the UK, selling mostly to the Royal Navy, who appreciated its lighter weight, compared to the Gatling.  The 5-barrel gun fired a .45 inch bullet at up to 812 rounds per minute, and was sighted out to 2,000 yards.

During  tests by the British army, the five-barreled Gardner gun fired 16,754 rounds before a failure occurred, with only 24 stoppages.  When operator-induced errors were taken into account, there were only 4 malfunctions in 10,000 rounds fired.  The Army adopted the weapon, although its introduction was delayed because of opposition from the Royal Artillery.

It saw action in the Sudan, notably at the Battle of Abu Klea, where unfortunately its mechanism proved vulnerable to the environmental conditions of loose sand and dust.

RETIRED.

LAST ONE!!