Nordenfelt Mk III Complete Specs and Full Gun Specifications

The 1-inch Nordenfelt gun was an early rapid-firing light gun intended to defend larger warships against the new small fast-moving torpedo boats in the late 1870s to the early 1880s. The Nordenfelt Mk III gun has 4 barrels in 1 inch caliber. It takes two sailors to operate the gun. One empties the gun by pulling the lever and then reloades and fires by pushing the lever forward. The other sailor, aimes the gun. The Nordenfelt Mk III gun was firing in bursts (barrel 1 to 4), not continiously like a Gatling gun. Even though the rate of fire is 1220 rounds per minute, in reality the crew would fire only 20 rounds per minute. The gun fired a solid steel bullet with a hardened tip and brass jacket. A 1 inch round was powerful enough to penetrate 1" of steel at 200 yards.