If you want to see 1903 Springfields, Lewis machine guns and BARs used in a realistic fashion, watch THE SAND PEBBLES Starring Steve McQueen and Richard Crenna. Directed by Robert Wise. McQueen was a gun guy and he uses the guns in a realistic fashion.
One was a Marine and the other was in the Army after all...
I believe that is one of the few movies that show a BAR magazine change.
watch clint eastwood crank that gatling gun in the first part of joesy wales, i think they used a 50 round stick magizine and a 100 round drum, but what you see is a stick magizine in it. and he cranks for about a minute, killing a pile of yankee,s and horses along with shredding tents,wagons with out one reload. i loved the movie even with out a reload. eastbank.
There were several types of magazine:
- The simple hopper.
- The single stack 40 round magazine.
- The 'Bruce'-style magazine for the Gatling gun had a two chute system with the chutes side-by-side, each holding about 25 rounds, when one chute was in use and the other could be loaded, thus keeping the gun in action continuously. It could be loaded rather quickly from a standard 20 round cardboard boxes, and by sliding the chute laterally, the assistant gunner/loader could change which chute was feeding the gun and expose a now empty, or partially empty chute for reloading. There was a reserve space that held a few rounds so the gunner never had to stop even when he chutes were being moved.
- The Broadwell drum that held 240 rounds similar to a Lewis magazine, only taller.
- The Accles Drum, which held 104 rounds (this is the one you are thinking about).
He is shown with the 40 single row magazine.
In the scene in question the total length of time he is at the gun shooting is about 35 seconds with at least one distinct pause, maybe two, giving a total firing time of around 20 to 25 seconds, the rate of fire for a .45-70 was about 200-400 rpm, depending on how fast you cranked. He isn't going as fast as possible, and judging from the sound track, probably in the 200 rpm range. So, in 25 seconds he would have shot some where around 80 to 100 rounds. Since there was a pause it could have been a magazine change, maybe.
The major problem is it's a 1871 model .45-70 Gatling gun, not a .56 caliber one it should be give the time frame the movie is set in. The .56 caliber Gatlings only used the hopper feed.