Revolver firing in the Civil War

[PJ Hardtack]

Do I hear the strains of "The Bonnie Blue Flag"?

I have the honour to serve on the staff of Colonel Stewart Marshall, Her Majesty's Observer attached to the Confederate Brigade of the Washington State Civil War Association.

On occasion, the Colonel and I show off his 1862 pattern Gatling Gun at events. The Blue Bellies would dearly love to abscond with it, but it is kept well regarded. The gun is patterned after one the Colonel photographed and measured at the Imperial War Museum.

[RattlesnakeJack]

Since P.J. is being modest (or more likely is too technologically challenged to post images) here he is as Sergeant McMurphy, Royal Engineers, with the Colonel and his Gatling, photographed with (I believe) the Commander of the Confederate Brigade of the W.S.C.W.A. -


The Gatling itself -



Colonel Marshall firing his Gatling -

[pony express]

Rattlesnake Jack, you need to invite the Colonel (and his Gatling)to the next Muster!

[RattlesnakeJack]

Stewart's Gatling isn't the easiest of things to transport, and I understand the Colonel has so far limited himself to hauling it to events in the Pacific Northwest .....

However, I've been working on P.J. to join GAF and start coming to Musters ..... and if that works out, perhaps the two of us might prevail upon him ......

Alternatively, maybe a Muster in the Pacific Northwest?

By the way. this Gatling is a true Model 1862 - i.e. the hopper holds "firing chambers", each with a percussion cap on a nipple at the rear, rather than "newfangled" self-contained metallic cartridges -



The Colonel must individually machine each chamber and fit a nipple to it ..... not quite as easy as buying a bunch of .45-70 brass to load!

[Pitspitr]

Alternatively, maybe a Muster in the Pacific Northwest?

I'd be up for that. It would mean we'd have to get a strong enough GAF presence in that area to want to host, but that would be great. Hopefully GAF can grow to the point where all of the different Departments will eventually host the Grand Muster.

[pony express]

By the way. this Gatling is a true Model 1862 - i.e. the hopper holds "firing chambers", each with a percussion cap on a nipple at the rear, rather than "newfangled" self-contained metallic cartridges -



The Colonel must individually machine each chamber and fit a nipple to it ..... not quite as easy as buying a bunch of .45-70 brass to load!

Hmmmm.... The ultimate in C&B revolvers!!

[PJ Hardtack]

Thanks for posting those pics, Grant. You were right, it was beyond my meagre techno skills which are limited to 'on' and 'off'.

While it is true that Colonel Stewart did his own casting (he restores antique marine steam engines for a living) and machining, he farmed out the chamber inserts to a shop that does CNC machining. They cranked out 100 for him in a fraction of the time it would have taken him on his overhead leather belt-driven lathe.
Each could hold an Enfield .577 cartridge, blank or ball round. He didn't rifle the barrels as he saw no need for blank firing. He also purchased the wheels from a wheelwright. He did all the blacksmithing hardware for the carriage and limber.

It is a thing of beauty and roars like a lion! It is classified as a non-machinegun by the BATF due to it's pre-brass cartridge case design. Wal*Mart doesn't sell ammo for it.

He has on hand the castings for a second gun and has refined the innards to eliminate a couple of minor mechanical faults. It would make a splendid acquisition for a re-enactment group, museum or living room conversation piece. All you need are deep pockets and an indulgent spouse .....

[WaddWatsonEllis]

Since P.J. is being modest (or more likely is too technologically challenged to post images) here he is as Sergeant McMurphy, Royal Engineers, with the Colonel and his Gatling, photographed with (I believe) the Commander of the Confederate Brigade of the W.S.C.W.A. -


Colonel Marshall firing his Gatling -

PJ Hartack,

I am just getting my stuff togetheher .... I portray my Maternal great-grandfather, Watt Watson Ellis, who actually served with the 2nd FLa Cav from 1862-65. The Fla Cavalry did have some Maynards issued to them, .35 Calibers not .50 like mine (I had already had mine on order when I found out about the .35Calibers) ...



In fact, the Veteran's day tour marked the first time I ever turned out in my Confederate uniform .... complete wth SWAT intervention ... but that is another story for another day ....*S*

[PJ Hardtack]

"... SWAT intervention ..." you say. Pray, do tell .... We've run away with this thread already.

Sounds like a typical 'man-with-a-gun' over reaction.  It's no longer safe for Canadian kids to play outdoors with cap guns or BB guns.
It can and has resulted in armed takedowns, as witnessed by an incident involving the son of neighbours. He was playing with a 'Star Wars' plastic pistol and was taken down at gun point - AFTER he had left the gun at home and was walking to the corner store.

'The War On Terror' has given Big Brother licence to criminalize lawful gun owners. Osama won.

[WaddWatsonEllis]

PJ Hardtack,

It was almost like that ... I live right across from Marcy General''s backside and 'smoking area'.  Since I no longer own a car, I was catching a ride with another docent to be a Confederate presence in our old cemetery in Sacramento ....

Now I know about the 'two locks' rule for California for transporting weapons ... and it was my fault that I carried my weapons in the car ... we were only traveling about 20 blocks, right?

The nest thing I know is that five or six police cars with all the lights blazing go past us, all going the other way ... then the driver, in her black 1860s mourning outfit says, "I think they want me to pull over' ...

The next thing I know is that we are pulling to the curb, and a loudspeaker behind us blared, 'Put your hands in the air"

I chanced a glance around and saw the pointy end of all these Glocks pointed at my head .. not a good thing ...

The next command I heard through the loudspeaker was "Driver, don't turn around and walk towards my voice!"

It was like a re-run of Cops but I was not behind the camera! A totally new way of looking at it ..

Then I received the command Passenger,'Get out of the car!'

I replied with more bravado than i felt "I can either get out of the car or hold my hands up ... which do you want?"

They let me get out of the car, and once they saw that I had no live ammo, things started decrease in testosterone several levels...

It turns out that when they got the message, I was (supposedly) roaming the parking lot, making aggressive movements ... which was patently untrue ... I think it was like that '60s parlor game where one is given a detailed  statement and is required to write  down what they remembered ...  by the sixth or so writing it is nothing like what was given ....

The funny thing is that I used to work at Mercy General.

It is a funny anecdote now but it could have been much different .... say if I was of a different race and the car was a bondo-ed 65 Chevy and not a newer Mercedes ....

All I could think of at the time was that I didn't want to be any accident!

Moral of this story; Put the weapons in the trunk ,,, even if the trip is a couple of hundred feet !

[PJ Hardtack]

Yeah, and the world is a safer and better place for all this, right? We have the same laws re: transport - trigger lock and a lockable gun case out of sight. But, that only applies if the gun is left unattended. You can hunt with it in the cab beside you.

Americans have used to laugh at us and our long gun registry, but we lobbied and got that rescinded (except for Quebec, and who cares about that?), but the US is becoming more of a police state all the time.

Obama is embracing the UN policy on small arms, so doesn't have to enact any US laws. As a signatory nation, it will be a done deal and the hammer will drop. It will be a real loyalty test for police and the military.

[Steel Horse Bailey]

And this post was SO nice, what with great pictures of an outstanding Gatling gun and uniformed men!  Then, the real world and Liberal politics barged in.

WWE, PJ and all - no matter what country, it's so tiresome knowing that patriotic gents such as yourselves, Rattlesnake Jack and others;  law-abiding citizens ALL and of your  chosen country (ries) get harassed by the police, while so many criminals and illegals (yes, I meant to be repetitiously redundant) skate from "doing real time" for their crimes for stoopid technicalities, and yes - even amnesties!  All for the vote to keep certain people in "power," because THEY know what's best for you and YOUR protection, not you.  It's like legislating morality.  And it seems to be disappearing at a VERY fast rate.  Soon, "they" will decide that the voting is no longer important, since the average person's vote doesn't count for much anyway.   (On the other hand, so many who say "I don't vote because my vote doesn't count" have made that statement absolutely true.  Of course it doesn't count - they were too lazy to get off their dead ass and actually VOTE!)

"...Roaming the parking lot, making aggressive movements," my ass!  Breathing is now an aggressive movement?!!  I'm SURE that folks like you (the REAL Patriots, Constitution & Amendments believers) in the formerly wonderful areas you inhabit, like Kalifornia, Kanada, Australia, Britain - to name a few, ALWAYS dress up as Military men and go running through school areas, hospital parking lots, and other public areas waving various edged and projectile-firing weapons to call attention to yourselves!

Yeah, right!

I'll stop ranting and step down from my soapbox now.

Our freedoms are dying, and it's no longer such a slow death.

Shame ...

[PJ Hardtack]

My pal's Gatling is deemed a 'machinegun' in Canada, despite the fact that it only fires single rounds incrementally. That's the power of the RCMP. Gats were used by General Middleton at Batoche against the Metis and the RCMP has never forgotten it.

They arbitrarily decide what guns we can own based on colour, calibre, mag capacity, stock design, etc. Think I'm kidding? Sign up on the Canadian Firearms Digest like a lot of other Americans. You'll learn what's going on in the US, Canada and the rest of the world re: 'Gun control' measures. If it doesn't alarm you, you've already lost.
Rifles chambered for the .50 BMG can only be fired on 'approved ranges'. Guess how many are so approved. But - you can fire your Barrett .338 Lapua on virtually any range, or in the boonies. Same for FN FAL variants which differ only from my Garand in mag capacity and calibre. Why? Because you don't have to be Carbine Williams to convert it to full auto. Or any other semi-auto for that matter.

Just because we're paranoid doesn't mean that they aren't out to get us .... ;>)  and our guns.

You have classes of firearms ownership as well. How many guys do you know who hold class 3 firearms licences to own 'destructive devices' or full autos? Look at the state of California's gun laws. Remember when they banned guns that held 10 rds or more? That meant Winchester and Marlin lever action guns  as well. SASS went to bat over that.

Your gun laws and ours are based on the 1938 Nazi gun laws. Get a copy of "Gun Control" by Aaron Zelman from the office of the JPFO - Jews For the Preservation of Firearms Ownership. They do more for your 2nd amendment rights than the NRA.