Editing Machine gun (section)

== History ==
{{Unfocused|section|reason=it's a meandering list of vaguely described firearms which does little to explain the development of the machine gun|date=September 2021}}
[[File:Muzej Međimurja, Čakovec (Croatia) - mitraljezi.jpg|thumb|Collection of old machine guns in the [[Međimurje County Museum]] ([[Čakovec]], [[Croatia]]). From rear to front: Austro-Hungarian Schwarzlose M7/12, British Lewis, German MG 08.]]
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,<ref name="SAAMI">{{cite web|url=http://www.saami.org/glossary/display.cfm?letter=M|title=SAAMI.org terminology glossary|publisher=Sporting Arms and Ammunition Manufacturers' Institute|access-date=2015-08-23|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030824043643/http://www.saami.org/glossary/display.cfm?letter=M|archive-date=2003-08-24|url-status=dead}}</ref> 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; as discussed above, this externally powered machine reloading has seen use in modern weapons as well.

While technical use of the term "machine gun" has varied, the modern definition used by the Sporting Arms and Ammunition Manufacturers' Institute of America is "a fully automatic firearm that loads, fires and ejects continuously when the trigger is held to the rear until the ammunition is exhausted or pressure on the trigger is released."<ref name="SAAMI" /> This definition excludes most early manually operated repeating arms the Gatling gun and such as volley guns like the [[Nordenfelt gun]].

=== Medieval ===
[[File:Drehling GNM W1984 ca 1580.jpg|thumb|Detail of an 8-chambered [[matchlock]] revolver (Germany c. 1580)]]
The first known ancestors of multi-shot weapons were medieval [[organ gun]]s. An early example of an attempt at the mechanisation of one of these would be an 'engine of war' produced in the mid-1570s in England capable of firing from 160 to 320 shots 4, 8, 12 or 24 bullets at a time at a rate of fire up to roughly 3 times the rate of fire of the typical arquebusier of the day. It was also claimed that the gun could be reloaded 'as often as you like' and fired no matter the weather though the English government never adopted the weapon despite testing being carried out at the [[Tower of London]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C1903100|title=Letters and papers described in the published Calendar of State Papers, Domestic: Edward VI, Mary, and Elizabeth|access-date=2022-11-26|archive-date=2022-11-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221126214533/https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C1903100|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Inventors and Inventions: In Three Parts |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fktDEAAAQBAJ&dq=Engine+Of+War+1575&pg=PA203 |author=Henry Dircks |publisher=BoD – Books on Demand  |year=2021 |page=203 |isbn=9783752531671 |access-date=2022-12-20 |archive-date=2023-09-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230907053628/https://books.google.com/books?id=fktDEAAAQBAJ&dq=Engine+Of+War+1575&pg=PA203 |url-status=live }}</ref> The first firearms to have the ability to fire multiple shots from a single barrel without a full manual reload were revolvers made in Europe in the late 1500s. One is a shoulder-gun-length weapon made in Nuremberg, Germany, circa 1580. Another is a revolving [[arquebus]], produced by Hans Stopler of Nuremberg in 1597.<ref>{{cite book |title=Firearms: The Life Story of a Technology |author=Roger Pauly |year=2004 |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |isbn=978-0-313-32796-4}}</ref>

===17th century===
True repeating long arms were difficult to manufacture prior to the development of the unitary firearm cartridge; nevertheless, lever-action repeating rifles such as the [[Kalthoff repeater]] and [[Cookson repeater]] were made in small quantities in the 17th century.

Perhaps the earliest examples of predecessors to the modern machine gun are to be found in East Asia. According to the Wu-Pei-Chih, a booklet examining Chinese military equipment produced during the first quarter of the 17th century, the Chinese army had in its arsenal the 'Po-Tzu Lien-Chu-P'ao' or 'string-of-100-bullets cannon'. This was a repeating cannon fed by a hopper containing balls which fired its charges sequentially. The way it worked was similar to the Perkins steam gun of 1824 or the Beningfield electrolysis gun of 1845 only slow-burning gunpowder was used as the propelling force in place of steam or the gases produced by electrolysis.<ref>{{Cite book| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fM2Bh6WifHQC&pg=PA271| title=Chinese Technology in the Seventeenth Century| publisher=Courier Corporation| isbn=978-0-486-29593-0| page=271| last1=Song| first1=Yingxing| last2=Sun| first2=E-tu Zen| last3=Sun| first3=Shiou-Chuan| year=1997| access-date=2019-01-10| archive-date=2023-12-16| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231216090853/https://books.google.com/books?id=fM2Bh6WifHQC&pg=PA271#v=onepage&q&f=false| url-status=live}}</ref> Another repeating gun was produced by a Chinese commoner, Dai Zi, in the late 17th century. This weapon was also hopper-fed and never went into mass production.<ref>{{Cite book| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hNcZJ35dIyUC&pg=PA408| title=Science and Civilisation in China: Volume 5, Chemistry and Chemical Technology, Part 7, Military Technology: The Gunpowder Epic| publisher=Cambridge University Press| isbn=978-0-521-30358-3| page=408| last1=Needham| first1=Joseph| date=1987| access-date=2019-01-10| archive-date=2023-12-16| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231216090927/https://books.google.com/books?id=hNcZJ35dIyUC&pg=PA408#v=onepage&q&f=false| url-status=live}}</ref>

In 1655, a way of loading, aiming and shooting up to 6 wall muskets 60 times in a minute for a total rate of fire of 360 shots per minute was mentioned in ''The Century of Inventions'' by [[Edward Somerset, 2nd Marquess of Worcester]], though, like all the inventions mentioned in the book, it is uncertain if it was ever built.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fa5jAAAAcAAJ&q=A+way+for+a+harquebuss&pg=PA30|title=A Century of the Names and Scantlings of Such Inventions, as at Present I Can Call to Mind to Have Tried and Perfected, Etc. With Historical and Explanatory Notes, and a Biographical Memoir by C.F. Partington|first=Edward SOMERSET (2nd Marquis of|last=Worcester.)|date=April 3, 1825|via=Google Books|access-date=June 25, 2021|archive-date=December 16, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231216090901/https://books.google.com/books?id=fa5jAAAAcAAJ&q=A+way+for+a+harquebuss&pg=PA30#v=snippet&q=A%20way%20for%20a%20harquebuss&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref>

It is sometimes claimed (i.e. in [[George M. Chinn|George Morgan Chinn's]] ''the Machine Gun'') that in 1663 the first mention of the automatic principle of machine guns was in a paper presented to the Royal Society of England by Palmer, an Englishman who described a volley gun capable of being operated by either recoil or gas.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VWkYoAkoMHIC&q=1663+Palmer+Gun&pg=PA22|title=Machine Guns: An Illustrated History of Their Impact|first=James H.|last=Willbanks|date=2004|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=9781851094806|via=Google Books|access-date=October 17, 2020|archive-date=December 16, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231216090902/https://books.google.com/books?id=VWkYoAkoMHIC&q=1663+Palmer+Gun&pg=PA22|url-status=live}}</ref> However, no one has been able to find this paper in recent times and all references to a multi-shot weapon by a Palmer during this period appear to be referring to a somewhat more common [[Kalthoff repeater]] or [[Cookson repeater|Lorenzoni-system gun]]. Despite this, there is a reference in 1663 to at least the concept of a genuine automatic gun that was presented to [[Prince Rupert]], though its type and method of operation are unknown.<ref>{{cite web|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=RSpAAQAAMAAJ&q=%22And+Bullet+Within+Was+Made+To+Charge+The+Piece%22&pg=PA396|title = The History of the Royal Society of London for Improving of Natural Knowledge, from Its First Rise: In which the Most Considerable of Those Papers Communicated to the Society, which Have Hitherto Not Been Published, are Inserted in Their Proper Order, as a Supplement to the Philosophical Transactions|last1 = Birch|first1 = Thomas|year = 1756|access-date = 2020-11-07|archive-date = 2023-12-16|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20231216090902/https://books.google.com/books?id=RSpAAQAAMAAJ&q=%22And+Bullet+Within+Was+Made+To+Charge+The+Piece%22&pg=PA396#v=snippet&q=%22And%20Bullet%20Within%20Was%20Made%20To%20Charge%20The%20Piece%22&f=false|url-status = live}}</ref>

===18th century===
<!-- "pyroballistic" redirects here -->
[[File:Puckle gun Photo.jpg|thumb|right|Replica [[Puckle Gun]] from [[Bucklers Hard]] Maritime Museum]]

In 1708, it was reported from Constantinople that a French officer had invented a very light cannon that could fire from a single barrel 30 shots in 2 and a half minutes for a total rate of fire of 12 shots a minute.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://archive.org/details/inventairesomma01histgoog/page/n138/mode/2up?q=Trente+Coups|title=Inventaire sommaire des archives historiques (Archives anciennes. Correspondance)|year=1898|publisher=Paris, Imprimerie nationale}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://perso.numericable.fr/cf40/articles/4041/4041060A.htm|title=Le Chasseur Français N°595 Janvier 1940 p. 60|access-date=2022-03-08|archive-date=2022-03-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220308161025/http://perso.numericable.fr/cf40/articles/4041/4041060A.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 1711, a French lawyer called Barbuot  presented to the parliament of Dijon a crank-operated 'war machine' made up of 10 carbine barrels and loaded via a 'drum' capable of firing in vollies. It was said to be accurate at 400 to 500 paces and to strike with enough force to pierce 2 or 3 men at a time when close. It was also claimed to be able to shoot 5 or 6 times before infantry came within musket range or cavalry within pistol range and with no more space between each shot than the time needed to prime a pistol, cock it and release the hammer as well as being nearly as manoeuvrable as cavalry. An alternative and heavier version was said to be able to throw grenades and it was also proposed to equip the machine with a bellows for clearing smoke that built up during firing.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://archive.org/details/inventairesomma01histgoog/page/n152/mode/2up?q=Continuellement|title=Inventaire sommaire des archives historiques (Archives anciennes. Correspondance)|year=1898|publisher=Paris, Imprimerie nationale}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://perso.numericable.fr/cf40/articles/4041/4041060A.htm|title=Le Chasseur Français N°595 Janvier 1940 p. 60|access-date=2022-03-08|archive-date=2022-03-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220308161025/http://perso.numericable.fr/cf40/articles/4041/4041060A.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>

Another early revolving gun was created by [[James Puckle]], a London lawyer, who patented what he called "The [[Puckle Gun]]" on May 15, 1718. It was a design for a manually operated 1.25 in. (32&nbsp;mm) caliber, [[flintlock]] cannon with a revolver cylinder able to fire 6–11 rounds before reloading by swapping out the cylinder, intended for use on [[ship]]s.<ref name="bannerman">Original patent claim reproduced in: Francis Bannerman Sons, ''Bannerman Military Goods Catalogue #28'' (1954) p. 103</ref> It was one of the earliest weapons to be referred to as a machine gun, being called such in 1722,<ref name="Paul Wilcock">{{cite web|url=http://eprints.hud.ac.uk/17394/1/BUCCLEUCH_PROJECT_Royal_Armouries_version_2_5_FinalProofEDIT.pdf|title=The Armoury of His Grace the Duke of Buccleuch and Queensberry|publisher=University of Huddersfield|access-date=2015-08-23|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304022855/http://eprints.hud.ac.uk/17394/1/BUCCLEUCH_PROJECT_Royal_Armouries_version_2_5_FinalProofEDIT.pdf|archive-date=2016-03-04|url-status=live}}</ref> though its operation does not match the modern usage of the term. According to Puckle, it was able to fire round bullets at [[Christians]] and square bullets at [[Turkic peoples|Turks]].<ref name="bannerman" /> However, it was a commercial failure and was not adopted or produced in any meaningful quantity.

In 1729, a report was written in France on a machine capable of firing 600 balls in a few minutes.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.servicehistorique.sga.defense.gouv.fr/ark/1147433 | title=Mémoires, rapports, correspondance concernant diverses inventions et propositions, 1729–1784 : Machine pour tirer 600 balles en quelques minutes; moulins à bras pour le service des vivres; « pompes et agrès servant à remédier aux accidents... &#124; Service historique de la Défense | access-date=2023-11-18 | archive-date=2023-11-18 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231118052952/https://www.servicehistorique.sga.defense.gouv.fr/ark/1147433 | url-status=live }}</ref>

In 1720, a French inventor called Philippe Vayringe invented a small cannon that could fire 16 shots in succession, which he demonstrated before the Duke of Lorraine.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6noDAAAAQAAJ&dq=Shots+In+Succession&pg=PA34|title=Lives of Individuals who Raised Themselves from Poverty to Eminence Or Fortune|year=1841|last1=Davenport|first1=Richard Alfred|access-date=2022-11-01|archive-date=2023-12-16|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231216090902/https://books.google.com/books?id=6noDAAAAQAAJ&dq=Shots+In+Succession&pg=PA34#v=onepage&q=Shots%20In%20Succession&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref> In 1737, it was mentioned that Jacob de Weinholtz, a Dane who was serving in the Portuguese army, had invented a cannon capable of firing 20 to 30 shots a minute though requiring 15 people to work it. The cannons were brought along with a [[Luís de Meneses, 1st Marquis of Louriçal#The journey to India|Portuguese fleet sent to India]] to take part in a colonial war in the 1740s.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=c2BSCmD0YmEC&q=Coups+En+Une+minute&pg=PA1170|title=Mercure français|year=1737|access-date=2021-09-18|archive-date=2023-12-16|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231216090902/https://books.google.com/books?id=c2BSCmD0YmEC&q=Coups+En+Une+minute&pg=PA1170#v=snippet&q=Coups%20En%20Une%20minute&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kUZSHKhKJ4gC&q=Weinholtz+Portuguese+Cannon&pg=PA49|title = SAWANTS OF WADI Coastal Politics in 18th and 19th Centuries|last1 = Mhamai|first1 = S. K.|year = 1984}}</ref> Also in 1737, it was mentioned that a German engineer had invented a 10-pounder cannon capable of firing 20 times in a minute.<ref>{{BNA |id=0000085/17370528/009/0002|title=German 10-pounder firing 20 times a minute}}</ref> In 1740, a cannon able to shoot 11 times per minute was developed by a Frenchman called Chevalier de Benac.<ref>{{BNA |id=0000191/17400927/004/0002|title=Chevalier de Benac develops canon that shoots 11 times a minute}}</ref> Meanwhile, not long after in England, in 1747 a cannon able to simultaneously charge and discharge itself 20 times in a minute was invented by James Allis and presented to the Royal Society of England.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fa5jAAAAcAAJ&q=James+Allis+1747+Cannon&pg=PA30|title=A Century of the Names and Scantlings of Such Inventions, as at Present I Can Call to Mind to Have Tried and Perfected, Etc. With Historical and Explanatory Notes, and a Biographical Memoir by C.F. Partington|first=Edward SOMERSET (2nd Marquis of|last=Worcester.)|date=April 3, 1825|via=Google Books}}</ref> In 1750, in Denmark, a Prussian known as Captain Steuben of the Train of Artillery invented a breech-loading cannon worked by 4 people and fed by paper cartridges capable of firing 24 times in a minute and demonstrated it to the King of Denmark along with some other high-ranking officials in the same year.<ref>{{BNA |id=0000570/17500227/007/0004|title=Breech-loading canon demonstrated to King of Denmark}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2B82AAAAMAAJ&q=Steuben+1750+New+Cannon&pg=PA91|title = The Universal Magazine|year = 1750}}</ref> In 1764, Frenchman Ange Goudar wrote in his work ''The Chinese Spy'' that he had assisted in Paris in the proofing of a 'great gun' capable of firing 60 times in a minute.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=q6JFAQAAMAAJ&q=Invented+Cannon+Minute&pg=RA1-PA354|title = The Universal Magazine of Knowledge and Pleasure|year = 1764}}</ref> In 1773, another cannon capable of firing 23 or 24 times in a minute and cleaning itself after every shot was invented by [[Thomas Desaguliers]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9JE-AAAAYAAJ&q=Cannon+Invented+Desaguliers&pg=RA1-PA131|title=The Annual Register|year=1803}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JgEkAAAAMAAJ&q=Desaguliers+Cannon+Invented+23+Minute&pg=PA244|title = History of the Royal Regiment of Artillery|last1 = Duncan|first1 = Francis|year = 1879}}</ref> In 1775, it was mentioned that in England two large cannons invented by an unidentified matross at Woolwich had achieved a rate of fire of 59 shots in 59 and a half seconds.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/601820514/?terms=Cannon%20Minute%20Invented&match=1|title=Newspapers.com|access-date=2021-09-18|archive-date=2021-09-18|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210918173902/https://www.newspapers.com/image/601820514/?terms=Cannon%20Minute%20Invented&match=1|url-status=live}}{{subscription required}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dmQyAQAAMAAJ&q=cannon+invented9&pg=PA339|title = Scots Magazine, and Edinburgh Literary Miscellany|volume= 37|author = Sands, Brymer, Murray and Cochran|year = 1775}}</ref>

Also in 1775, a breech-loading [[volley gun]], similar to the later mitrailleuse, was invented by a Frenchman called Du Perron which was worked by 3 or 4 men and capable of discharging 24 barrels 10 times a minute for a total rate of fire of 240 shots per minute.<ref>''Nouveau Règlement pour la filature des soies'', (no publisher name or imprint), [https://books.google.com/books?id=u_sSFRA5Q70C&pg=PA25 p. 25] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231216091357/https://books.google.com/books?id=u_sSFRA5Q70C&pg=PA25#v=onepage&q&f=false |date=2023-12-16 }}, 1775 {{OCLC|405531902}}</ref>

In 1776, a gun capable of charging and discharging itself 120 times 'by the motion of one hand only' in a minute was invented in England by an inventor from the county of Westmoreland.<ref>{{BNA |id=0000045/17760406/002/0001|title=120-times-a-minute discharging gun invented}}</ref>

In 1777, [[Philadelphia]] [[gunsmith]] Joseph Belton offered the [[Continental Congress]] a [[Belton flintlock|"new improved gun"]], which was capable of firing up to twenty shots in five seconds; unlike older repeaters using complex lever-action mechanisms, it used a simpler system of [[superposed load]]s, and was loaded with a single large [[paper cartridge]]. Congress requested that Belton modify 100 flintlock muskets to fire eight shots in this manner, but rescinded the order when Belton's price proved too high.<ref name=peterson>{{cite book |title=Arms and Armor in Colonial America, 1526–1783 |author=Harold L. Peterson |author-link=Harold L. Peterson |pages=217–18|year=2000 |publisher=Courier Dover Publications |isbn=978-0-486-41244-3}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Journals of the Continental Congress |url=https://archive.org/details/journalscontine09statgoog |author=United States Continental Congress |publisher=USGPO |year=1907 |pages=324, 361}}</ref>

In 1779, a machine made up of 21 musket barrels worked by 3 men was produced by a British inventor called William Wilson Wright which he claimed could be fired 3 times quicker than a single man could load and fire a musket 3 times.<ref>{{BNA |id=0000045/17790717/002/0003|title=wright-musket-machine}}</ref>

In 1788, a Swiss soldier invented a machine worked by 10 men capable of discharging 300 balls in 3 minutes.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zk4DAAAAMAAJ&dq=300+Balls+In+3+Minutes+Swiss&pg=PA356 |title=The Gentleman's Magazine |via=Google Books |year=1789 |accessdate=2022-02-27 |archive-date=2023-12-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231216091522/https://books.google.com/books?id=zk4DAAAAMAAJ&dq=300+Balls+In+3+Minutes+Swiss&pg=PA356#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref>

Also in 1788, it was reported that a Prussian officer had invented a gun capable of firing 400 balls one after the other.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://msa.maryland.gov/megafile/msa/speccol/sc4800/sc4872/001284/pdf/m1284-0271.pdf|title=Maryland Gazette: Thursday, August 28, 1788|website=msa.maryland.gov|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220426085357/https://msa.maryland.gov/megafile/msa/speccol/sc4800/sc4872/001284/pdf/m1284-0271.pdf|archive-date=26 April 2022|access-date=20 August 2022}}</ref><ref>{{BNA |id=0000230/17880526/001/0002|title=prussian-gun-firing-400-balls}}</ref>

In 1790, a former officer in the French military known as Joseph-François-Louis Grobert invented a 'ballistic machine' or 'pyroballistic machine' with multiple barrels operated by 4 men and a continuous rotational movement capable of firing 360 rifle shots a minute in a variety of calibers.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7K8-hwOLWlUC&q=Fusil+Minute+Grobert&pg=RA1-PA52|title=Procès-verbal des séances de l'Assemblée nationale: 1789–1791|author1=France|year=1789|access-date=2021-08-06|archive-date=2023-12-16|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231216091523/https://books.google.com/books?id=7K8-hwOLWlUC&q=Fusil+Minute+Grobert&pg=RA1-PA52#v=snippet&q=Fusil%20Minute%20Grobert&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=nnc1.0036748811&view=plaintext&seq=302&q1=360|title=Procès-verbal de l'Assemblée des communes et de l'Assemblée nationale, imprimé par son ordre|publisher=Chez Badouin, Impr. de l'Assemblée nationale|access-date=2021-06-30|archive-date=2021-07-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210709182842/https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=nnc1.0036748811&view=plaintext&seq=302&q1=360|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 1792, a French artist known as Renard invented a piece of ordnance that could be operated by one man and fired 90 shots a minute.<ref>{{BNA |id=0000341/17920824/009/0002|title=French artists invents ordnance that can fire 90-times-a-minute}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=L0Y3AAAAYAAJ&q=Renard+Ordnance+1792&pg=PA849|title=The Gentleman's Magazine|year=1792|access-date=2021-08-06|archive-date=2023-12-16|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231216091523/https://books.google.com/books?id=L0Y3AAAAYAAJ&q=Renard+Ordnance+1792&pg=PA849#v=snippet&q=Renard%20Ordnance%201792&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref>

Also in 1792, a French mechanic called Garnier invented a musket battery made up of 15 barrels capable of firing 300 shots in 2 minutes for a total rate of fire of 150 shots a minute or 10 shots per minute per barrel and of being operated by one man.<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://sul-philologic.stanford.edu/philologic/archparl/navigate/49/2/8/ | title=Archives Parlementaires | access-date=2022-04-26 | archive-date=2022-10-31 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221031193907/https://sul-philologic.stanford.edu/philologic/archparl/navigate/49/2/8/ | url-status=live }}</ref>

===19th century===
In the early and mid-19th century, a number of rapid-firing weapons appeared which offered multi-shot fire, mostly volley guns. Volley guns (such as the [[Mitrailleuse]]) and double-barreled pistols relied on duplicating all parts of the gun, though the [[Nock gun]] used the otherwise-undesirable "chain fire" phenomenon (where multiple chambers are ignited at once) to propagate a spark from a single flintlock mechanism to multiple barrels. Pepperbox pistols also did away with needing multiple hammers but used multiple manually operated barrels. Revolvers further reduced this to only needing a pre-prepared cylinder and linked advancing the cylinder to cocking the hammer. However, these were still manually operated.

In 1805, a British inventor from Northampton designed a cannon that would prime, load and fire itself 10 times a minute.<ref>{{cite web|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=TQ9HSQuyzWcC&q=Cannon+Invented+Minute|title = Annual Register|year = 1805|last1 = Burke|first1 = Edmund|access-date = 2022-04-30|archive-date = 2023-12-16|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20231216091523/https://books.google.com/books?id=TQ9HSQuyzWcC&q=Cannon+Invented+Minute#v=snippet&q=Cannon%20Invented%20Minute&f=false|url-status = live}}</ref>

In 1806, a Viennese copper engraver and mechanic known as Mr Putz invented a machine cannon that could load, fire and clean itself once every second or potentially up to 60 times a minute though the rate of fire was limited by the overheating of the barrel.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Eo4HvPvGpGkC&dq=Kanone+erfunden+minuten&pg=PA12|title=Zeitung für Industrie und Handlung|year=1806|access-date=2022-09-08|archive-date=2023-12-16|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231216091524/https://books.google.com/books?id=Eo4HvPvGpGkC&dq=Kanone+erfunden+minuten&pg=PA12#v=onepage&q=Kanone%20erfunden%20minuten&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 1819, an American inventor from Baltimore designed a gun with 11 barrels that could fire 12 times in a minute for a total rate of fire of 132 shots a minute.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/233569326/?terms=Times%20A%20Minute&match=1|title=Newspapers.com|access-date=2022-04-20|archive-date=2022-04-28|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220428143856/https://www.newspapers.com/image/233569326/?terms=Times%20A%20Minute&match=1|url-status=live}}{{subscription required}}</ref>

In 1821, a muzzle-loading repeating cannon capable of firing 30 shots in 6 minutes or 5 shots per minute was demonstrated in England by the French-American "Fire King" Ivan Ivanitz Chabert. It was worked by a "wheel" fed by paper cartridges from a store attached to the cannon and ignited using a match from a match-holder somewhere else on the cannon.<ref>{{BNA |id=0000174/18210113/002/0001|title=Muzzle-loading cannon firing 5-shots-per-minute demonstrated}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/39626007/?terms=Charged%20And%20Discharged&match=1|title=Newspapers.com|access-date=2021-09-20|archive-date=2021-09-20|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210920212405/https://www.newspapers.com/image/39626007/?terms=Charged%20And%20Discharged&match=1|url-status=live}}{{subscription required}}</ref><ref>{{BNA |id=0000045/18230412/009/0003|title=Muzzle-loading cannon firing 5-shots-per-minute demonstrated by Chabert}}</ref>

In 1825 an Italian book attempting to catalogue all topographic features of all known countries on Earth mentioned that in France there were 'mechanical rifles' used to defend warehouses that were capable of firing 120 shots without reloading.<ref>{{cite web|url = 
https://books.google.com/books?id=UdZCAAAAYAAJ&dq=120+colpi+per+parte&pg=PA138|title = 
Geografia moderna universale: ovvero descrizione fisica, statistica topografica di tutti i paesi conosciuti della terra, Volume 10|year = 
1825|last1 = 
Pagnozzi|first1 = 
G. R.|access-date = 
2023-10-30|archive-date = 
2023-12-16|archive-url = 
https://web.archive.org/web/20231216091525/https://books.google.com/books?id=UdZCAAAAYAAJ&dq=120+colpi+per+parte&pg=PA138#v=onepage&q=120%20colpi%20per%20parte&f=false|url-status = 
live}}</ref>

In 1828, a [[swivel gun]] that did not need cleaning or muzzle-loading and was capable of being made to any dimensions and used as an ordinary cannon at a moment's notice and firing 40 shots a minute was invented by a native of Ireland.<ref>{{BNA |id=0001057/18280703/010/0003|title=Irish native invents swivel gun that can fire 40-shots-per-minute}}</ref>

Also in 1828 a revolver cannon capable of firing 12 shots a minute and worked by 2 artillerymen was invented by a Frenchman called Lesire-Fruyer. In 1854 this cannon would be put on display at the French Museum of the Marine.<ref>{{cite web|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=naw0BY8lYh8C&dq=Lesire+Fruyer&pg=PA754|title = The Court Journal: Gazette of the Fashionable World, Literature, Music, and the Fine Arts|year = 1854}}</ref>

In France, in 1831, a mechanic from the Vosges department invented a lever-operated cannon that could fire 100 shots a minute.<ref>{{BNA |id=0000876/18310616/039/0004|title=French mechanic invents lever-operated cannon that fires 100-shots-per-minute}}{{subscription required}}</ref>

In 1832, a machine capable of firing 500 rifle shots a minute was devised by Hamel, a French mechanic.<ref>{{cite web|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=pbkAAAAAYAAJ&q=%22500+Coups%22+Hamel&pg=RA1-PA4|title = Annales|year = 1831|access-date = 2020-10-17|archive-date = 2023-12-16|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20231216091525/https://books.google.com/books?id=pbkAAAAAYAAJ&q=%22500+Coups%22+Hamel&pg=RA1-PA4#v=snippet&q=%22500%20Coups%22%20Hamel&f=false|url-status = live}}</ref>

In the 1830s, General Sir [[John Scott Lillie]], a British veteran of the [[Peninsula War]] invented the "Lillie Rifle battery".<ref>Féret, Charles (1900) ''Fulham Old and New'' vol. II, p. 273.</ref>

In the mid-1830s, a machine gun was designed by John Steuble ([[Swiss people|Swiss]]), who tried to sell it to the Russian, English and French governments. The English and Russian governments showed interest but the former refused to pay Steuble, who later sued them for this transgression, and the latter tried to imprison him. The French government showed interest at first and while it noted that mechanically there was nothing wrong with Steuble's invention it turned him down, stating that the machine both lacked novelty and could not be usefully employed by the army. The gun was reportedly breech-loading, fed by cartridges from some kind of hopper and could fire 34 barrels of one-inch calibre 4 or 6 times for a total of 136 or 204 shots a minute.<ref>{{cite book|last=Lenotre|first=G|title=Vieilles Maisons, Vieux Papiers|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AbhSCwAAQBAJ&pg=PT81|year=2014|publisher=Tallandier|isbn=979-1-02-100758-1|page=81|access-date=2019-08-26|archive-date=2023-12-16|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231216091901/https://books.google.com/books?id=AbhSCwAAQBAJ&pg=PT81|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.lastchancetoread.com/docs/1836-05-29-john-bull.aspx |title=Infernal Machine |work=John Bull "For God, the King, and the People!" |access-date=2019-08-26 |issue=807 |volume=XVI |via=LastChanceToRead.com |archive-date=2019-06-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190616224420/http://www.lastchancetoread.com/docs/1836-05-29-john-bull.aspx |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k427393c|title=La Presse|date=1838-05-22|website=Gallica|language=fr|access-date=2019-08-26|archive-date=2019-08-12|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190812230059/https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k427393c|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite report|author=Koenigliches Kings Ministerium|title=Die von dem Schweizer Johann Steuble erfundene, von Alexander Heilbronn in London zum Kaufe angebotene neuartige Kriegswaffe (Salvengeschütz), 1836–1837|publisher=Bayerische Hauptstaatsarchiv|language=German, French}}</ref><ref>{{BNA |id=0000151/18361123/018/0005 |title=Machine gun invented by John Steuble that fires up to 204 shots-per-minute}}</ref>

[[File:French Infantry Machine Guns.jpg|thumb|A detachment of French infantry with 2 Saint-Etienne Model 1907 machine guns (c. b1914)]]

A biography of [[William Lyon Mackenzie]] mentions that in 1839 a Detroit-based inventor was working on a cannon that could be fired 50 to 60 times in a minute.<ref>{{cite web|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=W6Ps12rXowEC&q=Cannon+%22Sixty+Times%22+Minute&pg=RA1-PA237|title = The Life and Times of Wm. Lyon Mackenzie: With an Account of the Canadian Rebellion of 1837, and the Subsequent Frontier Disturbances, Chiefly from Unpublished Documents|last1 = Lindsey|first1 = Charles|year = 1862|access-date = 2021-08-24|archive-date = 2023-12-16|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20231216091902/https://books.google.com/books?id=W6Ps12rXowEC&q=Cannon+%22Sixty+Times%22+Minute&pg=RA1-PA237#v=snippet&q=Cannon%20%22Sixty%20Times%22%20Minute&f=false|url-status = live}}</ref>

In 1842, Dr. Thomson or Thompson, an American, invented a cannon fed by pre-loaded breech-pieces with 4 barrels that was operated by means of a revolving cylinder and could be fired 50 times in as many seconds or even up to 500 times in 500 seconds.<ref>{{BNA |id=0000359/18420922/002/0001|title=Cannon invented that can be fired 50-times-per-minute}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Weekly Globe, Volume 1|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YOJSAAAAYAAJ&dq=Gun+Invented&pg=PA609|year=1842|publisher=Blair & Reeves|page=609|access-date=2022-06-21|archive-date=2023-12-16|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231216091902/https://books.google.com/books?id=YOJSAAAAYAAJ&dq=Gun+Invented&pg=PA609#v=onepage&q=Gun%20Invented&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 1846, Mr. Francis Dixon, an American, invented a cannon that loaded, primed and discharged itself through the use of a brake at a rate of fire of 30 to 40 shots a minute. A variation of it was worked by clockwork-like machinery and could be made to move by itself a certain distance along rails before firing 10 times and returning to its original position.<ref>{{BNA |id=0000183/18461027/019/0002|title=Self priming and discharging Canon invented with 30 to 40 shots-per-minute}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/604751348/?terms=Discharges%20Itself%20Cannon&match=1|title=Newspapers.com|access-date=2021-09-19|archive-date=2021-10-25|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211025180053/https://www.newspapers.com/image/604751348/?terms=Discharges%20Itself%20Cannon&match=1|url-status=live}}{{subscription required}}</ref>

Also in 1846, in Canada, inventor Simeon "Larochelle" Gautron, invented a cannon that was similar to a wooden model of a repeating cannon he constructed in 1836 but for which he had made a number of improvements since then which could be fired 10 or 12 times in a minute when the typical muzzle-loading cannon of the day could be fired at only a fraction of that speed, and an English newspaper reporting on it claimed it could be fired up to 60 times in the same period of time, and clean itself after every shot. It was worked by a crank, could be worked by one man when the typical cannon of the day required twelve or more, was fed by paper cartridges from a revolving cylinder and used separate percussion caps for ignition. Larochelle tried to interest the Canadian military in his invention but was turned down for reasons of complexity and expense which, while it drew some criticism from the French language Canadian press, led to the inventor discontinuing development of it in favour of more profitable activities. A model of Larochelle's cannon is still on display at the Musee National des Beaux-Arts du Quebec.<ref>{{BNA |id=0001283/18461107/005/0001|title=Canon invented by Simeon 'Larochelle' Gautron}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://numerique.banq.qc.ca/patrimoine/details/52327/2645275?docsearchtext=Larochelle|title=Le Journal de Québec|language=fr|access-date=2021-02-02|archive-date=2021-02-06|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210206033140/https://numerique.banq.qc.ca/patrimoine/details/52327/2645275?docsearchtext=Larochelle|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://collections.mnbaq.org/fr/oeuvre/600011681|title=Canon de Larochelle – Gautron dit Larochelle, Siméon|website=Collections &#124; MNBAQ|access-date=2021-04-03|archive-date=2021-05-16|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210516092513/https://collections.mnbaq.org/fr/oeuvre/600011681|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 1847, a short description of a prototype electrically ignited mechanical machine gun was published in Scientific American by J.R. Nichols. The model described is small in scale and works by rotating a series of barrels vertically so that it is feeding at the top from a "tube" or hopper and could be discharged immediately at any elevation after having received a charge, according to the author.<ref>{{cite book|title=Scientific American|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P680AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA172|year=1847|publisher=Munn & Company|page=172|access-date=2019-01-10|archive-date=2023-12-16|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231216091902/https://books.google.com/books?id=P680AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA172#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 1848, the Italian Cesare Rosaglio announced his invention of a machine gun capable of being operated by a single man and firing 300 rifle shots a minute or 12,000 in an hour after taking into account the time needed to reload the "tanks" of ammunition.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LAdSAAAAcAAJ&q=Rosaglio+Dodici+Colpi&pg=PP18|title=Foglio ufficiale. L'Indipendente dell' alto Po|first=Anonymus|last=AC09990011|date=April 10, 1848|publisher=Feraboli|via=Google Books|access-date=October 17, 2020|archive-date=December 16, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231216091902/https://books.google.com/books?id=LAdSAAAAcAAJ&q=Rosaglio+Dodici+Colpi&pg=PP18#v=snippet&q=Rosaglio%20Dodici%20Colpi&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref>

In June 1851, a model of a 'war engine' allegedly capable of firing 10,000 ball cartridges in 10 minutes was demonstrated by a British inventor called Francis McGetrick.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GrgXAAAAYAAJ&q=Mcgetrick&pg=PA353|title=Index and introductory. Raw materials. Machinery. vol. 2. Manufactures. Fine arts. Colonies. vol. 3 Foreign states|first=Robert|last=Ellis (F.L.S.)|date=April 10, 1851|publisher=Spicer brothers|via=Google Books|access-date=October 17, 2020|archive-date=December 16, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231216091903/https://books.google.com/books?id=GrgXAAAAYAAJ&q=Mcgetrick&pg=PA353#v=snippet&q=Mcgetrick&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 1852, a [[rotary cannon]] using a unique form of wheellock ignition was demonstrated by Delany, an Irish immigrant to America.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KaxLAAAAYAAJ&q=Repeating+Cannon&pg=RA1-PA208|title=United Service Journal: Devoted to the Army, Navy and Militia of the United States|first=William Ward|last=Tompkins|date=April 10, 1851|publisher=W.W. Tompkins|via=Google Books|access-date=October 17, 2020|archive-date=December 16, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231216091904/https://books.google.com/books?id=KaxLAAAAYAAJ&q=Repeating+Cannon&pg=RA1-PA208#v=snippet&q=Repeating%20Cannon&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 1854, a British patent for a mechanically operated machine gun was filed by Henry Clarke. This weapon used multiple barrels arranged side by side, fed by a revolving cylinder similar to that used in a turret revolver that was in turn fed by hoppers, similar to the system used by Nichols. The gun could be fired by percussion or electricity, according to the author. In the percussion version of the gun, firing was carried out by separate percussion caps and the breeches could contain either loose powder and balls or paper cartridges.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P1wWAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA163|title=Abridgments of the Specifications Relating to Fire-arms and Other Weapons, Ammunition, and Accoutrements: A.D. 1588–1858-Pt. II. A.D. 1858–1866|first1=Great Britain Patent|last1=office|first2=Bennet|last2=Woodcroft|date=23 December 2017|publisher=Printed by George E. Eyre and William Spottiswoode, pub. at the Great seal patent office|page=163|access-date=10 January 2019|archive-date=16 December 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231216091904/https://books.google.com/books?id=P1wWAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA163#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref> A model of this weapon, said to be capable of firing 1800 shots in a minute with great precision at 2000 yards and drawn by two horses, was constructed and tested though apparently not adopted for the military.<ref>https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000418/18540617/001/0003{{subscription required}}</ref><ref>https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000937/18540624/065/0006{{subscription required}}</ref><ref>https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000237/18540714/006/0003{{subscription required}}</ref><ref>https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000408/18540608/038/0003{{subscription required}}</ref> In the same year, water cooling was proposed for machine guns by [[Henry Bessemer]], along with a water cleaning system, though he later abandoned this design. In his patent, Bessemer describes a hydropneumatic delayed-blowback-operated, fully automatic cannon. Part of the patent also refers to a steam-operated piston to be used with firearms but the bulk of the patent is spent detailing the former system.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fIp8wWI5T-cC&pg=PA259|title=Provisional Specifications Not Proceeded with|work=The Mechanics' Magazine|year=1855|publisher=R. A. Brooman|page=259|access-date=2019-01-10|archive-date=2023-12-16|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231216091904/https://books.google.com/books?id=fIp8wWI5T-cC&pg=PA259#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref>

In America, a patent for a machine gun-type weapon was filed by John Andrus Reynolds in 1855.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://patents.google.com/patent/US13293|title=Improvement in fire-arms|publisher=[[Google Patents]]|access-date=23 December 2017|archive-date=16 December 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231216091906/https://patents.google.com/patent/US13293|url-status=live}}</ref> Another early American patent for a manually operated machine gun with a blowback-operated cocking mechanism was filed by C. E. Barnes in 1856.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/ref/MG/I/MG-1.html|title=HyperWar: The Machine Gun (Vol. /Part )|publisher=Ibiblio.org|access-date=23 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171225122009/http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/ref/MG/I/MG-1.html|archive-date=25 December 2017|url-status=live}}</ref>

In France and Britain, a mechanically operated machine gun was patented in 1856 by Frenchman Francois Julien. This weapon was a cannon that fed from a type of open-ended tubular magazine, only using rollers and an endless chain in place of springs.<ref>{{cite book | url=https://archive.org/details/patentsforinven04offigoog| page=[https://archive.org/details/patentsforinven04offigoog/page/n271 265]| title=Patents for inventions. Abridgments of specifications| last1=Office| first1=Patent| year=1859}}</ref>

The [[Agar machine gun|Agar Gun]], otherwise known as a "coffee-mill gun" because of its resemblance to a coffee mill, was invented by Wilson Agar at the beginning of the US Civil War. The weapon featured mechanized loading using a hand crank linked to a hopper above the weapon. The weapon featured a single barrel and fired through the turning of the same crank; it operated using paper cartridges fitted with percussion caps and inserted into metal tubes that acted as chambers; it was therefore functionally similar to a revolver. The weapon was demonstrated to President Lincoln in 1861. He was so impressed with the weapon that he purchased 10 on the spot for $1,500 apiece. The Union Army eventually purchased a total of 70 of the weapons.  However, due to antiquated views of the Ordnance Department the weapons, like its more famous counterpart the Gatling Gun, saw only limited use.

The [[Gatling gun]], patented in 1861 by [[Richard Jordan Gatling]], was the first to offer controlled, sequential fire with mechanical loading. The design's key features were machine loading of prepared cartridges and a hand-operated crank for sequential high-speed firing. It first saw very limited action in the [[American Civil War]]; it was subsequently improved and used in the [[Franco-Prussian war]] and [[North-West Rebellion]]. Many were sold to other armies in the late 19th century and continued to be used into the early 20th century until they were gradually supplanted by Maxim guns.  Early multi-barrel guns were approximately the size and weight of contemporary [[artillery]] pieces, and were often perceived as a replacement for cannon firing [[grapeshot]] or [[canister shot]].<ref name="proceedings">Emmott, N.W. "The Devil's Watering Pot" ''United States Naval Institute Proceedings'' September 1972 p. 70</ref>  The large wheels required to move these guns around required a high firing position, which increased the vulnerability of their crews.<ref name="proceedings" />  Sustained firing of [[gunpowder]] cartridges generated a cloud of smoke, making concealment impossible until [[smokeless powder]] became available in the late 19th century.<ref name="p2">Emmott, N.W. "The Devil's Watering Pot" ''United States Naval Institute Proceedings'' September 1972 p. 72</ref>  Gatling guns were targeted by artillery they could not reach, and their crews were targeted by [[sniper]]s they could not see.<ref name="proceedings" />  The Gatling gun was used most successfully to expand European colonial empires, since against poorly equipped indigenous armies it did not face such threats.<ref name="proceedings" />

In 1864, in the aftermath of the [[Second Schleswig War]], Denmark started a program intended to develop a gun that used the recoil of a fired shot to reload the firearm though a working model would not be produced until 1888.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.avisen.dk/sidste-skud-fra-det-danske-maskingevaer-madsen_7476.aspx|title=Sidste skud fra det danske maskingevær Madsen|website=www.avisen.dk|date=3 April 2008|access-date=3 April 2021|archive-date=6 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210506185329/https://www.avisen.dk/sidste-skud-fra-det-danske-maskingevaer-madsen_7476.aspx|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 1870, a Lt. Holsten Friberg of the Swedish army patented a fully automatic recoil-operated firearm action and may have produced firing prototypes of a derived design around 1882: this was the forerunner to the 1907 [[Kjellman machine gun]], though, due to rapid residue buildup from the use of black powder, Friberg's design was not a practical weapon.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/ref/MG/I/MG-3.html|title=HyperWar: The Machine Gun (Vol. I/Part III)|publisher=Ibiblio.org|access-date=23 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171222003511/http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/ref/MG/I/MG-3.html|archive-date=22 December 2017|url-status=live}}</ref>

Also in 1870, the Bavarian regiment of the Prussian army used a unique mitrailleuse-style weapon in the Franco-Prussian war. The weapon was made up of four barrels placed side by side that replaced the manual loading of the French mitrailleuse with a mechanical loading system featuring a hopper containing 41 cartridges at the breech of each barrel. Although it was used effectively at times, mechanical difficulties hindered its operation and it was ultimately abandoned shortly after the war ended ([[:de:Feldl-Geschütz|de]]).<ref>{{cite book|last=Smithurst|first=Peter|title=The Gatling Gun|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pbSdCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA46|year=2015|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing|isbn=978-1-4728-0598-0|page=46|access-date=2019-01-10|archive-date=2023-12-16|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231216091905/https://books.google.com/books?id=pbSdCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA46#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Maxim and World War I ===
[[File:Armouredgermanmachinegunnerworldwari.JPG|thumb|left|A model of a typical entrenched [[Germany|German]] machine gunner in World War I. He is operating an [[MG 08]], wearing a [[Stahlhelm]] and [[cuirass]] to protect him from shell fragments, and protected by rows of [[barbed wire]] and [[sandbag]]s.]]

The first practical self-powered machine gun was invented in 1884 by [[Sir Hiram Maxim]]. The [[Maxim machine gun]] used the recoil power of the previously fired bullet to cycle rather than being hand-powered, enabling a much higher rate of fire than was possible using earlier designs such as the [[Nordenfelt gun|Nordenfelt]] and Gatling weapons. Maxim also introduced the use of water cooling, via a water jacket around the barrel, to reduce overheating. Maxim's gun was widely adopted, and derivative designs were used on all sides during the First World War. The design required fewer crew and was lighter and more usable than the Nordenfelt and Gatling guns. First World War combat experience demonstrated the military importance of the machine gun. The United States Army issued four machine guns per regiment in 1912, but that allowance increased to 336 machine guns per regiment by 1919.<ref>{{cite book |last=Ayres |first=Leonard P.|title =The War with Germany |url=https://archive.org/details/cu31924027816820 |publisher =United States Government Printing Office|edition =2nd |date =1919 |location =Washington, D.C. |page =[https://archive.org/details/cu31924027816820/page/n70 65]}}</ref>

[[File:Vickers machine gun crew with gas masks.jpg|thumb|[[UK|British]] [[Vickers machine gun]] in action near [[Ovillers]] during the [[Battle of the Somme]] in 1916. The crew is wearing [[gas masks]].]]
Heavy guns based on the Maxim such as the [[Vickers machine gun]] were joined by many other machine weapons, which mostly had their start in the early 20th century such as the [[Hotchkiss machine gun]]. [[Submachine gun]]s (e.g., the German [[MP 18]]) as well as lighter machine guns (the first light machine gun deployed in any significant number being the [[Madsen machine gun]], with the [[Chauchat]] and [[Lewis gun]] soon following) saw their first major use in [[World War I]], along with heavy use of large-caliber machine guns. The biggest single cause of [[Casualty (person)|casualties]] in World War I was actually artillery, but combined with [[wire entanglement]]s, machine guns earned a fearsome reputation.

Another fundamental development occurring before and during the war was the incorporation by gun designers of machine gun auto-loading mechanisms into handguns, giving rise to semi-automatic pistols such as the [[Borchardt C-93|Borchardt]] (1890s), automatic [[machine pistol]]s and later submachine guns (such as the [[Beretta 1918]]).

Aircraft-mounted machine guns were first used in combat in [[World War I]]. Immediately this raised a fundamental problem. The most effective position for guns in a single-seater fighter was clearly, for the purpose of aiming, directly in front of the pilot; but this placement would obviously result in bullets striking the moving propeller. Early solutions, aside from simply hoping that luck was on the pilot's side with an unsynchronized forward-firing gun, involved either aircraft with pusher props like the [[Vickers F.B.5]], [[Royal Aircraft Factory F.E.2]] and [[Airco DH.2]], wing mounts like that of the [[Nieuport 10]] and [[Nieuport 11]] which avoided the propeller entirely, or armored propeller blades such as those mounted on the [[Morane-Saulnier L]] which would allow the propeller to deflect unsynchronized gunfire. By [[Fokker E.I|mid 1915]], the introduction of a reliable [[Synchronization gear|gun synchronizer]] by the [[Luftstreitkräfte|Imperial German Flying Corps]] made it possible to fire a closed-bolt machine gun forward through a spinning propeller by timing the firing of the gun to miss the blades. The Allies had no equivalent system until 1916 and their aircraft suffered badly as a result, a period known as the [[Fokker Scourge]], after the [[Fokker Eindecker]], the first German plane to incorporate the new technology.

=== Interwar era and World War II ===
[[File:Suomi M31 Torpin Tykit 2.JPG|thumb|[[Suomi KP/-31|Suomi M31]] [[submachine gun]] with 70-round drum magazine attached, 20- and 50-round box magazines]]
As better materials became available following the First World War, light machine guns became more readily portable; designs such as the [[Bren light machine gun]] replaced bulky predecessors like the Lewis gun in the squad support weapon role, while the modern division between medium machine guns like the [[M1919 Browning machine gun]] and heavy machine guns like the [[Browning M2]] became clearer. New designs largely abandoned water jacket cooling systems as both undesirable, due to a greater emphasis on mobile tactics; and unnecessary, thanks to the alternative and superior technique of preventing overheating by swapping barrels.

The interwar years also produced the first widely used and successful [[general-purpose machine gun]], the German [[MG 34]]. While this machine gun was equally able in the light and medium roles, it proved difficult to manufacture in quantity, and experts on industrial metalworking were called in to redesign the weapon for modern tooling, creating the [[MG 42]]. This weapon was simpler, cheaper to produce, fired faster, and replaced the MG 34 in every application except vehicle mounts since the MG 42's barrel changing system could not be operated when it was mounted.

=== Cold War ===
[[File:Gau 17 7.62mm minigun.jpg|thumb|A U.S. Navy 7.62&nbsp;mm [[Minigun|GAU-17/A]] Minigun]]
Experience with the MG 42 led to the US issuing a requirement to replace the aging Browning Automatic Rifle with a similar weapon, which would also replace the M1919; simply using the MG 42 itself was not possible, as the design brief required a weapon which could be fired from the hip or shoulder like the BAR. The resulting design, the [[M60 machine gun]], was issued to troops during the [[Vietnam War]].

As it became clear that a high-volume-of-fire weapon would be needed for fast-moving jet aircraft to reliably hit their opponents, Gatling's work with electrically powered weapons was recalled and the 20&nbsp;mm [[M61 Vulcan]] was designed; as well as a miniaturized 7.62&nbsp;mm version initially known as the "mini-Vulcan" and quickly shortened to "[[minigun]]" soon in production for use on helicopters, where the volume of fire could compensate for the instability of the helicopter as a firing platform.