Cite as C.B. 55-258.

Revenue Ruling 55-258 - "Pursuant to consideration and evaluation
of available data respecting Gatling guns, the Internal Revenue
Service has concluded that such guns fall within two
classifications, as follows:
1. Any crank-operated gear-driven Gatling gun (produced under 1862
to 1893 patents) employing a cam action to perform the functions of
repeatedly cocking and firing the weapon, as well as any such gun
actuated by an electric motor in lieu of a hand operated crank
(produced under 1893 and later patents), while being a forerunner
of fully automatic machine guns, is not designed to shoot
automatically or semiautomatically more than one shot with a single
function of the trigger.  Such weapons are held not to be firearms
within the purview of the National Firearms Act (Chapter 53 of the
Internal Revenue Code of 1954).
2. Any Gatling gun designed or redesigned to employ the hand crank
only to sear off the first round of ammunition, thence becoming a
gas-operated fully automatic machine gun (adapter patented in 1895)
is held to be a firearm within the purview of the National Firearms
Act, specifically, section 5848(2) of the Internal Revenue Code of
1954."