<P> The first successful machine - gun designs were developed in the mid-19th century . The key characteristic of modern machine guns , their relatively high rate of fire and more importantly mechanical loading , first appeared in the Model 1862 Gatling gun , which was adopted by the United States Navy . These weapons were still powered by hand ; however , this changed with Hiram Maxim 's idea of harnessing recoil energy to power reloading in his Maxim machine gun . Dr. Gatling also experimented with electric - motor - powered models ; this externally powered machine reloading has seen use in modern weapons as well . </P>
<P> The first successful machine - gun designs were developed in the mid-19th century . The key characteristic of modern machine guns , their relatively high rate of fire and more importantly mechanical loading , first appeared in the Model 1862 Gatling gun , which was adopted by the United States Navy . These weapons were still powered by hand ; however , this changed with Hiram Maxim 's idea of harnessing recoil energy to power reloading in his Maxim machine gun . Dr. Gatling also experimented with electric - motor - powered models ; this externally powered machine reloading has seen use in modern weapons as well . </P>
when did the first machine gun come out
when did the first machine gun come out
1862
1862