Build Your Own Gatling Gun

Build Your Own Gatling Gun AG WORLD 33-6-22 You can pump out up to 600 rounds a minute with an 1800's style Gatling gun from RG-G, Inc. The half-size design uses 50-round clips of .22-caliber ammunition fired by a battery of 10 rotating barrels. "I just like taking mine out and firing it," explains Paul Moore, designer and builder of the gun. "Sometimes people thinking of buying one will stop by, and we'll set it up and fire off a clip or two." Moore, an engineer and machinist by trade, fell in love with Gatling guns while watching cowboy movies as a kid. Years later, he built his first one from scratch, relying on pictures of different models introduced in the late 1800's. "I realized a set of blueprints were needed, so I disassembled the one I had built and drew them up," he recalls. For many years he built and sold fully assembled and partially completed versions of the guns in addition to parts and plans. Today he only sells the parts and plans. "My guns use the original gravity-fed, in-feed design, " says Moore. "The in-feed jams up easily, and then it has to be reset. It's just the way the original design works." Selling the kits and plans ensures that buyers will understand and be able to fix the guns themselves. Kits consist of all hardware needed (screws, nuts, bolts, bushings, gears, springs and bearings) as well as rifled barrel liners and ground firing pins. Brass and steel parts that need to be machined are also included. The only raw materials missing are some parts for the carriage and yoke mount. The smaller caliber dramatically reduces the amount of steel and brass needed. This cuts the full-size gun's 350 lbs. to only 55 lbs. for the half-size version. Finished size is 3 ft. long by 2 ft. tall. These kits aren't for the average person, emphasizes Moore, as they require basic mill and lathe work to complete. "I recommend these guns only be attempted by someone with experience, like a retired machinist," he says. "I can only turn out about three a year. Working steadily on one, it will take about 600 hours to complete. Some customers have also successfully modified our plans to produce full-size versions" Even though the difficulty in completing a gun limits the market, Moore says he has sold more than 500 kits and some 8,000 sets of blue prints over the past 18 years. The kit sells for $719, and the fully finished gun, when formerly. Plans and a CD of 3-D images of each part and assembly are also available. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, RG-G, Inc., P.O. Box 935, Trinidad, Colo. 81082 (ph/fax 719 404-3782; paulmoore@rmi.net; www.gatlingguns.net).

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