Drum magazine

[1] In 1853, the first revolving drum magazine was patented by Charles N. Tyler,[2] and the first modern one by William H. Elliot, better known as the inventor of the Remington Double Derringer, in 1871.

[6] Moubray G. Farquhar and Arthur H. Hill applied for a British patent for "A New or Improved Cartridge Magazine for Small Arms and Machine Guns" in 1915 for their Farquhar–Hill rifle, and it was accepted in 1919.

[5] Drum magazines once had a reputation for unreliability issues such as feed jams, but technological improvements resulted in better performance, while also reducing their cost.

[13] Manufacturers include KCI USA and Magpul Industries; the latter produces the same drum magazines for both civilian and military use.

[13] Drum magazines were used in the shooting massacres in Aurora, Colorado, in 2012;[14][15] Las Vegas, Nevada in 2017 (the deadliest mass shooting in the history of the United States by a non-state actor); and Dayton, Ohio, in 2019, allowing gunmen to fire dozens of rounds in very short periods of time, without the need to stop to reload.

[13] However, as of 2023, twelve states (California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington)[13] and the District of Columbia[16][17] set a maximum limit on the capacity of magazines.