Page 117 - FAT 105 4.17 MOODLE

The Gatling design has seen constant mili- consider the hand-cranked design an NFA item
tary use around the world since its introduc- because the operator must still manually manip-
tion in the 1960s. Its first use was during the ulate the crank to complete the firing sequence.
American Civil War and in every major war If the operator was to stop moving the crank,
since. The original crank-driven design even the gun would stop immediately.
found much use with the U.S. Military up un-
til the early 20th century. The design fell out of CHAIN OPERATION
favor to gas- and recoil-operated designs with
The chain-type operation is another example of
the U.S. Military but was still used continually
an externally powered gun. The chain operation
other places around the world. The design was
works in a similar manner to other autoloaders
reintroduced to the U.S. Military after WWII
in the respect that the system only uses one bar-
by General Electric with an aircraft-mount-
rel and the bolt assembly moves in line with the
ed weapon called the M61 Vulcan and later a
bore’s axis, but that’s where the similarities end.
scaled-down, more portable version called the
The chain-type action operates more like a bi-
M134. By the mid 80s, the design fell out of fa-
cycle than a traditional firearm.
vor because the availability of spare parts for the
M134 had dwindled and many of the units were In the heart of the chain-type action is the roller
out of service. The design was given life once chain drive. The system utilizes the roller chain,
more in the early 2000s by Dillon Aero, with a sprockets, a shoe, gears, tabs, cams and other ac-
completely new design called the M134D. tuators to complete the cycle of operations. The
four main sprockets are laid out in a rectangular
While external drive (electric motor/pneumatic)
pattern, forcing the chain to complete a rect-
Gatling designs are strictly considered machine
angular loop. One of the sprockets is driven by
guns (Class III) by the ATF, hand crank-driven
an electric motor, which moves the chain and
designs are considered rifles and are not subject
forces the cycle of operations. There is also an-
to the same paperwork and fees. A crank-driven
other specialty sprocket inside the action that
Gatling gun can be transferred to any person
is used to feed and extract rounds called the
the same way a rifle could. The ATF does not

Figure 36: The chain operation cycle of operations.

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