Machine gun Gardner M.90 on a fortress gun carriage

At the end of the XIX century, when the United States adopted Richard Gatling’s “grapeshot”, Europe showed interest in other similar types of automatic weapons, known under the brands “Nordenfeldt” and “Gardner”. These models, as well as Gatling machine guns, had “automatics” powered by the muscular strength of the shooter, were multi-barreled and had a rate of fire of about the same level. It so happened that both models under consideration, together with Gatling “buckshot”, became the first rapid-fire weapon in the British army and navy, before the appearance of the legendary Hiram Maxim machine guns. Designed by William Gardner, the grapeshot was mounted on a light tripod machine and had a low weight, which made it more maneuverable compared to analogues. In 1874, William Gardner designed a machine gun with two barrels placed parallel at a distance of 32 mm, covered with a bronze casing, where water was poured for cooling. The barrels were activated alternately. For the machine gun to work, a team of two people was required, one aimed the weapon at the target and turned the crank, and the second was responsible for powering the machine gun. The shooting was carried out with cartridges .45 caliber, which allowed the use of weapons at distances up to 1800 meters. The design of the machine gun was simple and reliable, as well as elementary in production.