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LOT 3157
Incredibly Rare Prototype Serial Number 1 Single Barrel Gardner Patent Gun with Tripod - Serial no. 1, 45 CF , 30 inch round bbl., bright/blue finish. The Gardner guns were early crank type rapid fire arms which were originally invented in 1874 by William Gardner of Toledo, Ohio, formerly a Civil War Union Army captain. Variants were designed with one, two and five barrels. This incredibly rare serial number 1 example has a single barrel, and follows the design features of U.S. patent number 216,266 originally filed May 24th, 1878 and granted June 10th, 1879. Gardner guns were fed with gravity driven magazines and operated by hand turning a crank which moves the bolt (or bolts on the two-barrel version) back and forth to fire the action as well as extract the spent case. This reciprocating motion system is used in many of today’s machine guns. After producing a handmade prototype, Gardner sold the manufacturing rights to Pratt & Whitney of Hartford, Connecticut, who made improvements to Gardner’s original design. From the mid-1870s to early 1880s Pratt & Whitney manufactured an estimated 21 guns for U.S. War Department trials. Although the U.S. Navy purchased a limited number, the U.S. Army was not interested and never adapted the Gardner gun, preferring the Gatling gun to fulfill current needs.