From the Vault: The Dual-Barrel Gardner Gun
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- Опубликовано: 9 фев 2025
- Today, we're bringing out the Big Guns in more ways than one! Brownells Gun Techs™ Keith, Steve AND Caleb are at Rock Island Auction Co. to walk us around the Gardner Repeating Gun, chambered in .45-70 Government. Sometimes called a "mechanical machine gun," the Gardner is the closest thing this side of a Gatling gun to a true machine gun. It's really two guns in one, with two separate barrels and actions that simply trade off firing until you stop turning the crank OR run out of ammo in the dual-feed magazine. Actually, that gravity-feed magazine is a giant clip. Largely constructed of brass, except for the firing mechanism and the barrels, the Gardner Gun is a masterpiece of late 19th century engineering and the Old School machinist's art. A smooth-as-glass cam mechanism cycles between firing the two barrels. Ejection is through the bottom, with an automatic ejector punching the spent shell well clear of the gun.
Designed in 1874 by William Gardner, a former captain in the Union Army, and manufactured by Pratt & Whitney, the Gardner Gun finally went into limited U.S. military service in the late 1890s. The Rock Island example is one of only 11 surviving Gardners (out of 21) built for War Department trials. By the time of the Spanish-American War, the Gardner's days were numbered because the Colt-Browning M1895 and Maxim machine guns had already arrived on the scene.
"It takes two men and a boy to close it"... Caleb felt that
😂
I could have replied to that with sooooooo many "Yo Momma" jokes but typically the people who post that cant take a joke in return lol
Confirmed
Lol I was gonna say that too
The check's in the mail !! 👍
Steve needs no gloves. His hands are oil proof
The man sweats cosmoline.
You guys spoil us with WAAAAAY TOO MUCH EYE CANDY. Your knowledge level is impeccable, Thanks again.
I actually had a customer ship a colt bulldog Gatling gun remake to my gun shop once. Didn’t know anything about it until it arrived. Oofah! Had to have the roofing company next door use their forklift to move it around for me. Huge heavy hunk of brass. Customer said he paid around 40k if memory serves. Very cool and beautiful piece of machinery.
Unique piece of history. Thanks
Very cool...never heard of that gun before. Always something new to learn.
When I heard "Gardner gun" I thought this would be great for those pesky gophers or rabbits nibbling ma veggies. Lol 😄
Wasn't this gun in Caddyshack?
By the title I was expecting something of the same. Like a rare or obscure double barrel 410, 22 or something.
By the title I was expecting something of the same. Like a rare or obscure double barrel 410, 22 or something.
It would. You'd also have your cabbages pre-shredded for sauerkraut.😁
When the gardner brings out this gun it's gotten serious!
The ultimate in concealed carry.
I’ve chuckled 😆😆😆
Just when I thought I'd seen it all....
I need one of those for prairie dog huntin' and such. LOL
Cool gun guys. Thanks for sharing it.
JT
Question,when are you going to post a video of shooting it?
Have you booked Ian a flight out from AZ to come see it yet? 😅
Sweet, I want one for my Jeep that I am going to build!
Twice the barrels, twice the fun!
I'd not heard of this gun before. Thanks! 45-70, yeow!
The internals in that gun looked like a crankshaft on a engine.
Fantastic video on an amazing firearm from the past. Thanks
The hole in top just behind and above the muzzle, would that be for water to cool it?
Yeah. If you can catch it in the video, look at the underside of the barrel housing just ahead of the breech and you can see what looks like a brass drain plug.
The best episode of "My two dads"
That alternator works a lot like the feed mechanism on a belt fed gun.
Very cool
Two men and a boy with very nice hair.
Their seems to be a manual water cooling holes would really help the residue from harding in the barrel and the gun is better designed than the gatling gun because of the access to the receiver for oiling or soaping and cleaning the black power tar residue . At 1/4 the weight it would be considered battlefield portable compared to the gat.
Fun fact: This would be a non-NFA item because it only fires 1 round at a time, just like that 9mm cranked Gatling that Tippmann put out a year or so ago
Two questions. 1: is that a water jacket around the barrels for cooling? And 2: is that even legally considered a firearm in the US considering it was manufactured before 1899?
in case you need to take down those pesky elephant troop transports
I had a friend building reproductions about twenty years ago. I don’t think he got enough orders to stay in business. He had a reputation for doing nice work and taking forever to do it.
The Dutch army used these in the defensive fortifications (Stelling) of Amsterdam. They were used in a fixed defensive role.
Due to the fact the Stelling was never assaulted i can't tell you how they performed.
Might still have been in use by the time of WW2. In a rear echelon position. Not sure though.
Light it up!!!
Cool gun, nice seeing you 3 together, the 3 stooges, definitely not, the 3 amigos, maybe? Just kidding, really like watching you guys
THANKS
Don't just show us, shoot the bloody things!!☺
Makes you want to take up gardening lol
Lots of cleaning on the outside, get a Pvt to do it lol I remember the brass days.
This would be a great project, to make a scaled down version.
They make a kit that allows you two turn two Ruger 10/22s into something like this.
Wow! That is an absolutely beautiful work of art. I would love to have seen one of those firing. Carnage is sure to have ensued!
I think I just found my new ccw!
I want that as my EDC.. Do they offer a holster for this? This a clever...
It’s much easier to convert this to use modern feed lip magazines (you’ll need 2 mags because of the feed lips) than a gatling gun because the bolt carriers don’t rotate. A 6 barrel version might be possible but the crank shaft will be much more different and it’ll require 6 magazines.
The British Army apparently tested a five barrel version.
@@zacharyrollick6169 Yeah although they didn’t seem to make the crankshaft to where the rate of fire of all barrels would stack onto each other. It fires more like a volley. Edit: I found out that the locking order could actually be changed so the rate of fire could be stacked.
Whoa, they made it in FDE.
Two men and a boy.......nice.
So no one mentioned this so I'd like to ask is that a water jacket for cooling
I am a retired Veteran, and I always wondered, what type of lube/oil did they use? i mean..is it still the very same stuff we used on our 50 cal or our 240s?
Pure awesomeness
Never seen one with a jacket before.
replace the bullets with seeds and you can use it for gardening
Why can’t you share this gun firing for the world to always be able to see?
How much gardening do I have to do to own one of these?
Ya, this will keep the rabbits out of my garden.
I read that as garden gun. I wouldn't mine one for my garden tho.
How much does it weigh? It's gotta be at least a six-man crew.
Cool, I’ll need to check to see if that is on the California roster of approved “handguns”. 😃
Weird... I had an idea for a dual barrel gun that functioned somewhat similarly to this... though more of a modern machine gun.
My only question is can we see it in action? Or can I shoot it?
How would that go with modern ammo?
Simple, recreate it and use barrels chambered for modern ammo... chamber it in .45LC or 7.62x39mm. Use your imagination. It would be a non-NFA item.
Too smooth maybe. One jammed for the British during a battle for the relief of Gordon against the Mahdi army.
I wonder how accurate it was.
👍
Let’s put one on top of a SmartCar…
I should have been a gardner
Winston Churchill hated this gun as it jammed at some of the worst points in battle and cost the lives of many. No doubt the harsh environment of arid middle East and Abyssinia didn't help much. He was in love with the Maxim though 😂
And the Broomhandle C96 Mauser Pistol he carried at Omdurman and in Boer War.
Magazine or Clip? 🤔
Technically a clip, in order to be considered a magazine it would need a body, spring and follower.
This is definitely a multi-use Gardner's tool. Plow, weed, remove varmints, and explode watermelons.
It takes two and a half men to close it
I guess they like cleaning that gun after letting him touch it with his bare hands
If I was a rich guy I would be buying that thing immediately. And I would actually shoot it. It looks like it's in good enough condition to use.
Church bells are bronze not brass btw
Steve has no need to cover his hands, his hands are gentler than bob Ross voice...
1898 sounds awful late for a 45/70 caliber weapon, like maybe the inventor took just a bit too long to finish the prototype.
I don't think Steve needs gloves because I think he bought the thing so he could fire off enough 45-70 to make a reproduction 🤣🤣😊
Dumb question.... But the ears on the two brownells gunsmith lead me to believe they are related. Are they father and son? If so that makes me love brownells even more.
Shoot it