Multiple-barrel firearm

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Minigun during the Vietnam War
.

A multiple-barrel firearm is any type of firearm with more than one gun barrel, usually to increase the rate of fire or hit probability and to reduce barrel erosion or overheating.[1]

History

Volley gun

The mitrailleuse, a 19th-century volley gun
Main article: Volley gun

Multiple-barrel firearms date back to the 14th century, when the first primitive volley guns were developed.[2] They are made with several single-shot barrels assembled together for firing a large number of shots, either simultaneously or in quick succession. These firearms were limited in firepower by the number of barrels bundled, and needed to be manually prepared, ignited, and reloaded after each firing.

In practice the large volley guns were not particularly more useful than a cannon firing canister shot or grapeshot. Since they were still mounted on a carriage, they could be as hard to aim and move around as a heavy cannon, and the many barrels took as long (if not longer) to reload.[3] They also tended to be relatively expensive since they were structurally more complex than a cannon, due to all the barrels and ignition fuses, and each barrel had to be individually maintained and cleaned.

Pepperbox

Tula Arsenal
.
Main article: Pepper-box

A pepper-box gun or "pepperbox revolver" has three or more barrels revolving around a central axis, and gets the name from its resemblance to the household

centerfire. They were popular firearms in North America from the 1830s until the 1860s, during the American Civil War, but the concept was introduced much earlier. After each shot, the user manually rotates a next barrel into alignment with the hammer
mechanism, and each barrel needs to be reloaded and maintained individually.

In the 15th century, there were design attempts to have several single-shot barrels attached to a stock, being fired individually by means of a match. Around 1790, pepperboxes were built on the basis of flintlock systems, notably by Nock in England and "Segallas" in Belgium. These weapons were built on the success of the earlier two-barrel turnover pistols, which were fitted with three to seven barrels. These early pepperboxes had to be manually rotated by hand.[4]

The invention of the

mass-produced, making them more affordable than the early handmade guns previously only seen in possessions of the rich. Examples of these early weapons are the American three-barrel Manhattan pistol, the English Budding (probably the first English percussion pepperbox) and the Swedish Engholm
. Most percussion pepperboxes have a circular flange around the rear of the cylinder to prevent the capped nipples being accidentally fired if the gun were to be knocked while in a pocket, or dropped and to protect the eyes from cap fragments.

British India,[5] and an eight-barrel pepperbox shotgun
was designed in 1967, but never went into production.

Derringer

Main article: Derringer
Remington Model 95 with pearl grips and barrels open for reloading
COP .357 Magnum derringer

The original

Cowboy Action Shooting
reenactors as well as a concealed-carry weapon.

The Sharps Derringers had four-barrels with a revolving firing pin (often called the "Sharps Pepperbox" despite not having a revolving-barrel design) and they were first patented in 1849,[10] but were not manufactured until 1859, when Christian Sharps patented a more practical design. When loading and unloading, the four barrels slide forward to open the breech. Production of these came to an end with the death of Christian Sharps in 1874.

Modern derringer designs are almost all multi-barrelled, most variants have two-barrels or four-barrels, thus essentially makes them a compact and concealable handheld version of the

.22 Magnum
"Mini COP" was also made by American Derringer.

DoubleTap Defense introduced a double-barreled (over-and-under), double-action hammerless DoubleTap derringer in 2012.[11] The name comes from the double tap shooting technique, in which two consecutive shots are quickly fired at the same target before engaging the next one.[12] These derringers also hold two extra rounds of cartridge in the grip, allegedly drawing inspiration from the FP-45 Liberator pistol.[13]

Double-barrel shotgun

Confederate cavalryman with a side-by-side double-barreled shotgun
Main article:
Double-barrel shotgun

By 1790,

caplock ignition replaced flintlock, and then rather quickly, was replaced by the self-contained shell cartridge.[14]

During the 19th century, shotguns were mainly employed by

American Old West
.

In 1909,

home defense, law enforcement, and military usage, though the over-and-under shotguns still remain popular for waterfowl hunting, upland hunting, and clay pigeon shooting
.

Double rifle

Main article: Double rifle

The development of the double rifle has always followed the development of the double-barrelled shotgun, the two are generally very similar but the stresses of firing a solid projectile are far greater than 

muskets were created in the 1830s when deer stalking became popular in Scotland. Previously single barrelled
 weapons had been used but, recognising the need for a rapid second shot to dispatch a wounded animal, double-barrelled muskets were built along the same format as double-barrelled shotguns already in common use.

These first double-barrelled weapons were 

express rifle by James Purdey "the Younger"
 in 1856 allowed for far greater muzzle velocities to be achieved through a rifled longarm, significantly improving the trajectory and as such greatly improving the range of these rifles. These express rifles had two deep opposing grooves which were wide and deep enough to prevent the lead bullets from stripping the rifling if fired at high velocities, a significant problem previously.

Various experimental 

W.W. Greener
's "Wedge fast" system in 1873, finally the basic break open action known to this day had the strength required to meet the stresses of large-bore projectiles. By 1914; triple, quadruple, and quintuple locking designs could be found in various proprietary actions.

By 1900, the boxlock and sidelock hammerless actions had largely superseded the hammer rifles and, with the addition of ejectors and assisted opening, the basic design of the double rifle has changed little to this day. Incidentally, it was Westley Richards who invented the first reliable safety catch for doubles, ejectors, the single selective trigger and the special extractors that enabled rimless cartridges to be used in double rifles, all features found in modern double rifles.

After the 

Second World War, a combination of increased labour costs and a shrinking British Empire saw an end to the demand for handcrafted sporting rifles and the double rifle was largely supplanted by the bolt action
 rifle. It was not until the 1980s and 1990s, with the emergence of the big game hunting industry in Southern Africa that the production of double rifles resumed at a steady rate, driven largely by demand from American sportsmen.

Rotary gun

1876 Gatling gun
GAU-19 is a unique variety of modern military multiple barrel gun.
Main articles:
CIWS, and M134 Minigun

The Gatling gun is one of the best-known early rapid-fire weapons and a forerunner of the modern

Great Railroad Strike of 1877, specifically in Pittsburgh
.

The Gatling gun's operation centered on a

cartridge case and allowed the empty barrel to cool somewhat before loading a new round and repeating the cycle. This cyclic configuration overlapped the operation of the barrel-action groups, and allowed higher rates of fire
to be achieved without each barrel overheating.

Richard Gatling later replaced the hand-cranked mechanism of a rifle-caliber Gatling gun with an

gas-operated machine guns were invented; Gatling himself went bankrupt for a period.[17]

During

aerial combat.[18] The British also experimented with this type of split-breech during the 1950s, but they were also unsuccessful.[20]

In the 1960s, the

small arms fire and rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) attacks when they slowed to land. Although helicopters had mounted single-barrel machine guns, using them to repel attackers hidden in the dense jungle foliage often led to barrels quickly overheating or the action jamming.[21][22]

In order to develop a weapon with a more reliable, higher rate of fire,

20 mm M61 Vulcan rotary cannon for the 7.62×51mm NATO ammunition. The resulting weapon, the M134 Minigun
, could fire up to 6,000 rounds per minute without overheating. The gun has a selectably variable rate of fire specified to fire at rates of up to 6,000 rpm, with most applications set at rates between 3,000-4,000 rounds per minute.

The Minigun was mounted on

transport helicopters. Several larger aircraft were outfitted with Miniguns specifically for close air support: the Cessna A-37 Dragonfly with an internal gun and with pods on wing hardpoints; and the Douglas A-1 Skyraider, also with pods on wing hardpoints. Other famous gunship aircraft were the Douglas AC-47 Spooky, the Fairchild AC-119 and the Lockheed AC-130.[22]

See also

  • Combination gun – Type of firearm with at least one rifled barrel and one smoothbore barrel
  • Double-barreled rifle
     – Sporting rifle with two parallel barrels – Rifle with two parallel barrels
  • Double-barreled shotgun – Shotgun with two parallel barrels
  • List of multiple-barrel firearms – List of weapons with multiple barrels
  • Multiple rocket launcher – Rocket artillery system capable of launching multiple rockets in quick succession
  • Small Arms
     – Gun for an individual – Portable weapons that can be carried and used by an individual person.

References

  1. ^ Suciu, P. (2020, December 18). The M61 minigun is a gatling gun on steroids. The National Interest. Retrieved October 30, 2021, from https://nationalinterest.org/blog/reboot/m61-minigun-gatling-gun-steroids-174655.
  2. ^ "HyperWar: The Machine Gun (Vol. /Part )". Ibiblio.org. Retrieved May 15, 2015.
  3. ^ Matthew Sharpe "Nock's Volley Gun: A Fearful Discharge" American Rifleman December 2012 pp.50-53
  4. ^ The new weapons of the world encyclopedia: An international encyclopedia from 5000 B.C. to the 21st century by Diagram group, (Macmillan, 2007) p.126
  5. ^ Cooper, C, Samuel Colt: Arms, Art, and Invention (2006) p.26
  6. ISBN 0-8032-8903-0
    .
  7. ^ "Remington .41 Double Derringer". American Rifleman. March 24, 2014. Retrieved 2017-07-22.
  8. ISBN 978-1-59228-690-4
    .
  9. ISBN 978-0-89689-647-5
    .
  10. ISBN 978-0-87349-768-8
    .
  11. ^ S., Jeremy (2013-07-01). "Gun Review: DoubleTap Tactical Pocket Pistol". The Truth About Guns. Retrieved 2016-09-05.
  12. ^ "Frequently Asked Questions". Heizer Defense LLC. Archived from the original on 14 October 2012. Retrieved 22 December 2012.
  13. ^ "Announcement". Heizer Defense LLC. 7 November 2012. Retrieved 22 December 2012.
  14. ^ a b Taylor, John M. (2016-05-23). "Looking Back at Shotgun History". American Rifleman. Retrieved 2020-10-27.
  15. ^ Chambers, John W. (II) (2000). "San Juan Hill, Battle of". The Oxford Companion to American Military History. HighBeam Research Inc. Archived from the original on 2009-11-26. Retrieved 2009-11-24.
  16. ^ "U.S. Patent 502185 Gatling Gun". Retrieved February 4, 2010.
  17. ISBN 978-1-4391-9653-3
    .
  18. ^ a b Weyl, A. R. (8 March 1957). "Motor-guns—a Flashback to 1914-18". Flight. 71 (2511): 313–314. Retrieved 30 September 2015.
  19. ^ Williams, Anthony G. (8 November 2005). "Split Breech Guns: The Nutcracker and the 40mm Mk 18". Archived from the original on 14 June 2007.
  20. ISBN 978-1-86126-655-2
    .
  21. ^ "General Electric M134 Minigun Six-Barrel Gatling Gun".
  22. ^ a b Jarvis, John Paul. "Brought to You By GE: The M134 Minigun". Archived from the original on 2012-02-19. Retrieved 2018-11-21.
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