Rotary barrel

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In automatic firearm design, a rotary barrel, or gatling barrel, is a multiple-barrel assembly which rotates around an axle to deliver a sustained saturation fire at much greater rates of fire than single-barreled autocannons of the same caliber. The loading, firing and ejection functions are performed simultaneously in different barrels as the whole assembly rotates, and the rotation also permits the barrels some time to cool. Such weapons may be called rotary cannon or rotary machine gun depending on caliber, as well as gatling cannon etc, from the Gatling gun, the first rotary barrel machine gun. Other names includes minigun, from the General Electric rotary machine gun M134 Minigun. External and self-driven rotary cannons are used in aircraft over reciprocating bolt autocannons which are more prone to jamming in high g environments. The rotating barrels on nearly all modern Gatling-type guns are powered by an external force such as an electric motor, although internally powered gas...

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