Ripley Machine Gun

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A patent image of the gun showing the carriage arrangement and operating handle.

The Ripley Machine Gun was an early design of machine gun, invented by Ezra Ripley, and patented in 1861 ^[1]. Although it was never actually produced, it demonstrated a number of basic concepts that were employed in the design of the Gatling Gun that was patented the next year. The design as patented consisted of nine fixed barrels attached to a two wheeled artillery carridge. The weapon was loaded with a cylinder containing nine rounds of ammunition, which was arranged so that the rounds lined up with the barrels of the weapon. A firing handle was then attached, locking the cylinder into place. The weapon was fired by rotating the handle, the barrels firing in sequence. By rotating the handle quickly a high rate of fire could be achieved, or slowly, single shots. Once the nine rounds of ammunition in the chamber were expended, the cylinder could be removed for reloading and a fresh cylinder could be inserted into the breech.

The weapon was most probably never built ^[2], and was passed over in favor of "organ guns" like the Billinghurst Requa Battery.