Editing Revolver cannon (section)

=== Precursors ===
[[File:Autocannon MLG27.jpg|thumb|MLG 27 remote controlled revolver cannon on board an {{sclass|Elbe|replenishment ship|1}} of the [[German Navy]]]]
An early precursor was the [[Puckle gun]] of 1718, a large [[flintlock]] revolver gun, manually operated. The design idea was impractical, far ahead of what 18th century technology could achieve.

During the 19th century, [[Elisha Collier]] and later [[Samuel Colt]] used the revolver action to revolutionize [[handgun]]s.{{citation needed|date=April 2025}}

William A. Alexander of [[Mobile, Alabama]], invented a Rapid Firing Cannon Gun made from a design by Captain Weingard, both of whom also helped build the submarine {{ship||H.L. Hunley}}. The gun was the prototype for the [[Gatling gun]]. It was made in Mobile and was first used in the defense of the city. When the [[Confederate States of America]] had to evacuate Mobile, the weapon was placed on the ship ''Magnolia'' to be transported for use upriver. [[Union (American Civil War)|Union]] forces were closing in on the ship so to prevent its capture, it was pushed overboard into the river. Union forces discovered the gun underwater and recovered it. In 1864 Alexander was called back to Mobile from [[Charleston, South Carolina]], to build one of his Rapid Firing Guns.{{citation needed|date=April 2025}}

The Confederate States used a single [[Confederate Revolving Cannon|2-inch, 5-shot revolver cannon]] with manually rotated chambers during the [[Siege of Petersburg]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Chinn |first=George M. |title=The Machine Gun, History, Evolution and Development of Manual, Automatic and Airborne Repeating Weapons |date=1 January 1951 |publisher=[[Bureau of Ordnance]], Department of the [[United States Navy]] |isbn=9781258052447 |volume=1 |publication-place=Washington, D.C., US |page=46 |oclc=185376830 |author-link=George M. Chinn |via=[[United States Government Publishing Office|U.S. Government Printing Office]]}}</ref> The gun was captured in [[Danville, Virginia]] by Union forces on April 27, 1865.<ref>{{Cite book |last=McFall |first=F. Lawrence Jr. |title=Danville in the Civil War |publisher=H.E. Howard, Inc. |year=2001 |isbn=978-1561901197 |publication-place=Lynchburg, Virginia, US |page=107 |language=en |oclc=48461554}}</ref>

The [[Hotchkiss revolving cannon]] of the late 19th century was not a revolver cannon in the modern sense but was rather a [[rotary cannon]], with multiple barrels allowing for feeding and extraction operations in parallel in different barrels.

In 1905, C. M. Clarke patented<ref>{{cite patent |country=US |number=794852|status=patent |title=Rapid-fire gun |pubdate=1905-7-18 |gdate=1905-07-18 |fdate=1903-11-28 |pridate=1903-11-28 |invent1=Charles M Clarke |url=http://www.google.com/patents/US794852}}</ref> the first fully automatic, gas-operated rotary chamber gun, but his design was ignored at the time. Clarke's patent came as [[Reciprocating motion|reciprocating]]-action automatic weapons like the [[Maxim gun]] and the [[M1895 Colt–Browning machine gun|Browning gun]] were peaking in popularity.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Chinn |first=George M. |title=The Machine Gun: Design Analysis of Automatic Firing Mechanisms and Related Components |date=1 January 1955 |publisher=[[Bureau of Ordnance]], Department of the [[United States Navy]] |volume=IV |publication-place=Washington, D.C., US |pages=178–209 |chapter=X, XI |asin=B000JX5F5S |via=[[U.S. Government Printing Office]]}}</ref>

In 1932, the Soviet [[ShKAS machine gun]], 7.62&nbsp;mm caliber aircraft ordnance used a twelve-round capacity, revolver-style feed mechanism with a single barrel and single chamber, to achieve firing rates of well over 1,800 rounds per minute, and as high as 3,000 rounds per minute in special test versions in 1939, all operating from internal [[gas-operated reloading]]. Some 150,000 ShKAS weapons were produced for arming Soviet military aircraft through 1945.<ref>{{Cite web |last=McCollum |first=Ian |date=9 January 2013 |title=Russian ShKAS Aerial Gun |url=https://www.forgottenweapons.com/russian-shkas-aerial-gun/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210514235909/https://www.forgottenweapons.com/russian-shkas-aerial-gun/ |archive-date=14 May 2021 |access-date=28 May 2022 |website=[[Forgotten Weapons]] |language=en |publication-place=Tucson, Arizona, US}}</ref>

Around 1935, [[Vyacheslav Ivanovich Silin|Silin]], [[Mikhail Yevgenyevich Berezin|Berezin]] and Morozenko worked on a 6,000 rpm 7.62&nbsp;mm aircraft machine gun using revolver design, called SIBEMAS (СИБЕМАС), but this was abandoned.<ref name="bolotin">{{Cite book |last=Bolotin |first=David N. |title=Istorija sovetskogo strelkovogo oružija i patronov |publisher=Полигон [Polygon] |year=1995 |isbn=5-85503-072-5 |series=Military Historical Library |page=235 |language=ru |script-title=ru:История советского стрелкового оружия и патронов |trans-title=History of Soviet small arms and cartridges}}</ref>