Benjamin Reynold’s Centrifugal Gun (1830s)

Benjamin Reynolds of Kinderhook, NY invented a Centrifugal gun in the late 1830s. His device was operated by two men – one of each side operating a crank. A hopper dropped shot into a revolving drum which threw them. Reynolds demonstrated his gun at West Point in 1837 where it sent 1,000 2 ounce shot through 3 ¾ inches of solid pine at distance of 110 yards. Reynolds later took it to Washington, where further demonstrations were made before a Congressional committee and military officers. The Washington tests used a target of three 1 inch pieces of pine at 150 yards. The shot from the gun went through the target, and fell into the Potomac River 300-400 yards beyond! The gun fired so quickly that the committee could not determine what fraction of a second was required to fire 60 shot! Source: 5/25/1861 Scientific American