Gatling Gun Operations as Shown in the movie Gunga Din

[davparlr]

I just re-watched the movie Gunga Din, a story based on a poem about the British colonial soldiers fighting against a foe similar to the Thuggees in India in the latter half of the 19th century. I was particularly interested in the use of two Gatling guns against mounted cavalry. The first thing I noticed was their transportation which was the backs of elephants. Four elephants were required, with front two carrying the carriages/ammo? and the last two carrying the guns. Unlimbering the guns was time consuming with the first two elephants kneeling and multiple soldiers removing the carriages and setting them up and the the last two elephants kneeling and multiple soldiers setting up the guns. However, once they were set up they were throwing out a mean rate of fire which decimated the cavalry. They had circular magazines. I understand the 30 cal. Gatling could fire up to 900 rounds per minute and I believe it the way they were firing them.
Famous saying from the poem/movie- "You're a better man than I am, Gunga Din!"

 

[Greg Boeser]

Well, if you like movies about Gatling guns, make sure you catch that classic "The Gatling Gun" (1971) which features a small US Cavalry troop trying to recover and return a stolen Gatling gun to their fort through hostile Indian country. It's got almost every stereotype known to man - gold hungry, back-stabbing traitors, a treacherous parson, a buxom heroine and buxom villainess, hordes of Injuns, and of course our brave heroes with a Gatlin gun spitting out waves of deadly lead.