Khartoum

[browerpatch]

I just watched "Khartoum" with Charlton Heston as Gordon, and, sadly, Laurence Olivier in blackface. Sort of a hit or miss flick, but I'll let that go for now.

At 100.03 in the film, as refugees are descending the Nile on a side-wheeler, they are fired on from the shore. They defend their craft with small arms, a couple of field pieces, and a rather curious weapon I've never seen before. It seems to be a five-barreled battery gun, fed by a hopper, and operated by moving a lever forward and backward to fire and evidently reload from the hopper. The men shown firing it seem to be working the lever rapidly, and as the lever is pushed forward, each barrel fires in succession. What the heck is this?

Thanks,
Frank

[Jon Holford]

That strange multi-barrelled gun sounds like a Nordenfelt, used by the Royal Navy in the 1880s/90s. I have more details, somewhere, but I suspect Couvi will beat me to the draw on this.

Jon H