Original Item. Only One Available. This is a stupendous but small piece of history that comes off of one of the most iconic firearms of all time, the Colt Gatling Gun. This plate would have come off of a Colt Model 1874 Gatling Gun. It measures roughly 3½“ in diameter, and we have shown a reference photo of one installed on a gun (not included).

The plate is in great worn shape and reads:

GATLING’S BATTERY GUN
PAT. NOV 4. 1862
MAY 9 1865
FEB 28. 1871
APR 9. 1872
MADE BY COLT’S
PT. FIRE ARMS
MFG CO
HARTFORD, CONN.
U.S.A.

This is a fantastic piece of Colt history that will fit very nicely into any Civil War, 19th Century Firearm, or U.S. History collection! Here’s your chance to own a real piece of a Colt Gatling Gun!

The Gatling gun is a rapid-firing multiple-barrel firearm invented in 1861 by Richard Jordan Gatling. It is an early machine gun and a forerunner of the modern electric motor-driven rotary cannon.

The Gatling gun's operation centered on a cyclic multi-barrel design which facilitated cooling and synchronized the firing-reloading sequence. As the handwheel is cranked, the barrels rotate, and each barrel sequentially loads a single cartridge from a top-mounted magazine, fires off the shot when it reaches a set position (usually at 4 o'clock), then ejects the spent casing out of the left side at the bottom, after which the barrel is empty and allowed to cool until rotated back to the top position and gravity-fed another new round. This configuration eliminated the need for a single reciprocating bolt design and allowed higher rates of fire to be achieved without the barrels overheating quickly.

One of the best-known early rapid-fire firearms, the Gatling gun saw occasional use by the U.S. forces during the American Civil War, which was the first time it was employed in combat. It was later used in numerous military conflicts, including the Boshin War, the Anglo-Zulu War, and the assault on San Juan Hill during the Spanish–American War. It was also used by the Pennsylvania militia in episodes of the Great Railroad Strike of 1877, specifically in Pittsburgh. Gatling guns were also mounted aboard ships.