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{{Short description|Machine gun}}
[[File:Gardner gun 1888.jpg|thumb|right|200px|[[Lithograph]] of Gardner Gun]]

The '''Gardner gun''' was an early type of mechanical [[machine gun]]. It had one, two or five [[gun barrel|barrel]]s, was fed from a vertical magazine or hopper and was operated by a crank. When the crank was turned, a feed arm positioned a [[cartridge (firearms)|cartridge]] in the breech, the bolt closed and the weapon fired. Turning the crank further opened the breechblock and extracted the spent case.

==Development==
The Gardner machine gun was invented in 1874 by William Gardner of [[Toledo, Ohio]], formerly a [[Captain (United States)|captain]] in the [[Union Army]] during the [[American Civil War]]. After producing a prototype he went to the [[Pratt & Whitney Measurement Systems|Pratt and Whitney]] company, who after a year of development produced a military version of the weapon.

[[File:Gardner gun 1887.JPG|thumb|right|150px|An 1887 Gardner machine gun]]

A demonstration to officers at the United States Navy yard in 1875 was successful, however they recommended that Pratt and Whitney continue with development of the system, incorporating improvements to the feed system, which were designed by E. G. Parkhurst, an engineer at Pratt and Whitney. The army attended the tests, but showed no interest in the weapon.

Parkhurst added many improvements to the gun's firing mechanism which made it more reliable. During 1877 additional tests took place with a .45 [[caliber|calibre]] (11.4&nbsp;mm) version of the weapon, which determined its muzzle velocity to be 1,280 feet per second (390&nbsp;m/s).

On 17 June 1879 a further demonstration was carried out at the Navy Yard, during which the weapon was presented by [[Francis A. Pratt]] and [[Amos Whitney]]. The weapon fired a total of 10,000 rounds during the test, taking a total elapsed time of 27 minutes 36 seconds, with breaks between firing to resolve an issue with one of the extractors. While the test was not without issues the weapon managed to fire 4,722 rounds before the first stoppage,<ref name="1879firingtest">An initial warm-up burst of 200, followed by 1,000 rounds, followed by 431 rounds, followed by 3,071 rounds.</ref> and after the stoppage was resolved it fired approximately 5,000 rounds without incident.

On 15 January and 17 March 1880 duplicate tests were conducted at [[Sandy Hook, New Jersey|Sandy Hook]] proving ground in front of an Army review board. The weapon performed well, and they recommended that the Army buy a limited number for field evaluation, noting the low cost of the weapon. However the Army declined to purchase.

At this point, the British [[Royal Navy]], which had successfully deployed the [[Gatling gun]], became interested in the weapon, and Gardner was invited to England to exhibit his invention. The Admiralty were so impressed by the demonstrations that they adopted the weapon and purchased the rights to produce it in England. Gardner remained in England to supervise the construction of the weapons.

[[File:45 Gardner Gatling uk 1882 MkIII.jpg|thumb|right|150px|.45″ Cartridge Machine Gun Ball Mk III]]

The [[British Army]] then took an interest in machine guns and after a series of trials selected the Gardner gun. During these tests a five-barrelled Gardner gun fired 16,754 rounds before a failure occurred, with only 24 stoppages. When operator-induced errors were taken into account, there were only four malfunctions in 10,000 rounds fired. The Army adopted the weapon, although its introduction was delayed because of opposition from the [[Royal Artillery]]. It saw action in the [[Mahdist War]] (in [[Sudan]]), notably at the [[Battle of Abu Klea]], where its mechanism proved vulnerable to desert sand and dust blowing about.

There was also the [[.577/450 Martini–Henry]] calibre Bira gun,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://buzzfeednepal.blogspot.com/2017/05/rarest-gun-in-history-bira-gun.html |title=Rarest gun in the history; Bira Gun |last1=Shaksham |first1=S |publisher=BuzzFeedNepal |access-date=1 April 2019}}</ref> based upon the Gardner gun but with dual barrels, an overhead drum magazine, and designed in [[Nepal]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://kathmandupost.ekantipur.com/news/2011-08-25/lost-history-gehendra-made-guns-sold-off-to-us-company.html |title=Lost history: Gehendra-made guns sold off to US company |last1=Dahal |first1=Phanindra |date=25 August 2011 |work=The Kathmandu Post |access-date=28 August 2016}}</ref>

It is noted that the Bira was only ever produced in very small numbers. These are extremely rare and a wonderful example of Victorian firepower. An American company, [[International Military Antiques]], found a limited number of these exceptionally scarce weapons in the Old Palace of Lagan Silekhana in Kathmandu, Nepal, which were included with the purchase of over 50,000 antique firearms from the Royal Nepalese Army in 2003. There is controversy, as the arms cache had to tranship through India and questions remain as to the purchase.

== Users ==

* {{flag|Argentina}}<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=Rifle Caliber Artillery: The Gardner Battery Gun |url=https://americansocietyofarmscollectors.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/2004-B89-Rifle-Caliber-Artillery-The-Gardner-Batt.pdf}}</ref>
* {{flag|Austrian Empire|1869}}<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=augfc |title=FIREARMS CURIOSA |url=https://augfc.tumblr.com/post/189940043590/gardner-guns-on-the-italian-front-1915-when-italy |access-date=2022-12-01 |website=Tumblr}}</ref>
* {{flag|Bolivia}}<ref>{{Cite web |title=LA ARTILLERÍA EN LA GUERRA DEL PACÍFICO |url=http://www.academiahistoriamilitar.cl/academia/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Artiller%C3%ADa-en-la-Guerra-del-Pac%C3%ADfico.-Gonz%C3%A1lez-Amaral.pdf}}</ref>
* {{flag|United Kingdom|name=British Empire}}<ref>{{cite book |title=Parliamentary Debates: Official Report ; ... Session of the ... Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland |date=1885 |publisher=Cox & Baylis |pages=1709–1711 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GZdfNXQW_NAC |access-date=27 November 2023 |language=en}}</ref>
* {{flag|Chile}}<ref>{{Cite web |last=Famae |first=Administrador |title=Historia de las Fábricas y Maestranzas del Ejército – FAMAE |url=http://www.famae.cl/historia-de-las-fabricas-y-maestranzas-del-ejercito/ |access-date=2023-01-04}}</ref><ref name=":1" />
* {{flag|Denmark}}<ref name=":1" />
* {{flag|Kingdom of Italy}}<ref>{{cite book |last1=McLachlan |first1=Sean |title=Armies of the Adowa Campaign 1896: The Italian Disaster in Ethiopia |date=20 September 2011 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |isbn=978-1-84908-938-8 |pages=39,43 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hVbDCwAAQBAJ |language=en}}</ref>
* {{flag|Netherlands}}<ref>{{Cite web |date=2009-02-22 |title=Gardner gun in Holland - |url=https://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2009/02/22/gardner-gun-in-holland/ |access-date=2022-11-29 |website=The Firearm Blog |language=en-US}}</ref>
* {{flag|Peru}}<ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last=Esposito |first=Gabriele |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/956263929 |title=Armies of the War of the Pacific 1879-83 : Chile, Peru & Bolivia |date=2016 |others=Giuseppe Rava |isbn=978-1-4728-1406-7 |location=Oxford |oclc=956263929}}</ref>
* {{flag|Qing Empire}}<ref name=":3">{{Cite book |last=Esposito |first=Gabriele |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1350351894 |title=Armies of the first Sino-Japanese War 1894-95 |date=2022 |others=Giuseppe Rava |isbn=978-1-4728-5130-7 |location=Oxford |oclc=1350351894}}</ref>
* {{flag|United States}}<ref>{{Cite web |title=Gardner Home |url=http://www.victorianshipmodels.com/antitorpedoboatguns/Gardner/ |access-date=2022-12-01 |website=www.victorianshipmodels.com}}</ref>

== Conflicts ==
[[File:Bira gun fort nelson.JPG|thumb|right|A Bira gun]]
[[War of the Pacific|War of The Pacific]]<ref name=":2" />
[[Mahdist War]]
[[First Matabele War]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=South African Military History Society - Journal - THE ORDNANCE AND MACHINE GUNS OF THE BSAC Part One: 1889-1891 |url=https://www.samilitaryhistory.org/vol162ic.html |access-date=2022-12-01 |website=www.samilitaryhistory.org}}</ref>
[[First Sino-Japanese War]]<ref name=":3" />
[[World War I]]<ref name=":0" />

==See also==
===Weapons of comparable role, performance and era===
* [[Nordenfelt gun]]: similar hand-cranked machine gun

== References ==
=== Notes ===
<references/>

=== Bibliography ===
* George M. Chinn, ''[http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/ref/MG/index.html The Machine Gun. History, Evolution, and Development of Manual, Automatic, and Airborne Repeating Weapons]'', Volume I.

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
* [http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/99835 Handbook for Gardner and Nordenfelt rifle calibre machine guns. 1889, 1891] at State Library of Victoria
* [http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/303768 Handbook for the 0.45" Gardner gun (5 barrels), 1884] at State Library of Victoria
* [http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/109937 Handbook for the 0.45" Gardner gun (2 barrels) 1886, 1894] at State Library of Victoria
* [http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/114042 Handbook for the 0.303" Nordenfelt 3-barrel, and Gardner 2-barrel, converted from 0.4 and 0.45" M.H. chamber (magazine rifle chamber) : mounted on carriages, field, machine gun, infantry and carriage, parapet, machine gun. London : H.M.S.O. 1900]
* [http://www.victorianforts.co.uk/art/gardnerfield.htm Diagram of 2 Barrel Gardner on Field Carriage (converted Gatling)] from Victorian Forts and Artillery website
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070928194642/http://www.gardnerguns.com/HistoryHTM/History.htm Gardnerguns.com - History]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070928194636/http://www.gardnerguns.com/Patents/USPatents/USPatents.htm Gardnerguns.com - Patents]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070217044509/http://web.ukonline.co.uk/stephen.johnson/arms/ An Illustrated Treatise On Ammunition And Ordnance: British 1880-1960]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110707160023/http://www.archivingindustry.com/Militaryfirearms/biragun.pdf The .450 Bira Gun, a late nepalese copy of the Gardner Gun]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110609221001/http://asoac.org/bulletins/89_alley_gardner.pdf Rifle Caliber Artillery: The Gardner Battery Gun]  (downloadable PDF file) James W. Alley's article on the Gardner Gun for the American Society of Arms Collectors Bulletin No. 89
* [http://www.victorianshipmodels.com/antitorpedoboatguns/Gardner/index.html Gardner Gun Animations]  History, technical description and animations (Requires QuickTime, and not suitable for slow-speed links)

{{Multiple Barrel Firearms}}
{{VictorianEraBritishNavalWeapons}}
{{WWIItalianInfWeapons}}

[[Category:Early machine guns]]
[[Category:Multi-barrel machine guns]]
[[Category:Machine guns of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Machine guns of the United States]]
[[Category:Victorian-era weapons of the United Kingdom]]