I mentioned that earlier about John Brownings "Flapper" modification to a Winchester that proceeded his design of the M1895. I'd like to think that it could work on a Henry rifle or a Winchester 1866Something about the action of the 1895 Browning or "Potato Digger" seems quite steampunk. I wonder if this tech could have been feasible maybe 10-20 years earlier and would have been a rival and likely supplant the Gatling gun.
Would seem much easier to outfit trains or wagons with this than it would a Gatling:
I also have been doing more research into airship design and found out about an American named Rufus Porter. He was the founder of Scientific American magazine, though he sold it soon after founding it, and was planning ideas of steerable balloons since the early 1800s. In the 1850s he made several attempts at building airships based on his designs but he was unable to complete them due to being damaged by storms and sabotage. I imagine that if he had been more succesful it would have made a foundation for more advanted airship tech to grow from. He was already ahead of his time with his idea of using an inner frame of spruce rods in the envelope.
I also found a link to an article about the history of airships in the 1800s that talks about Porter and other American inventors Solomon Andres and Frederick Marriot. Both of which also made great attempts at navigable airships. Both had somewhat hybrid-airship designs. Andrews could practically "sail" his airship through the sky, and Marriot powered his with an alcohol fueled engine.
The next most interesting design was developed by a Frenchman during the Franco-Prussian war by the name of Dupuy_de_Lôme. It the feature of interst to me being a propeller powered by a crank turned by several crewmen, much like in the Hunley Submarine. It was first flown in 1872. I like the idea of imagining this form of power becoming popular, with teams of men cranking the propeller to the tune of a drum like in ancient warships with some big sweaty guy yelling "Come on! Put your backs into it!"
I also think these will be appreciated here
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