"Early Automatic Rifle" Circa 1600

[NukemJim]

In "'Small Arms from hand cannons to automatic weapons" by Rupert Matthews ISBN978-1-62686-089-6 on page 64 there is a reference to an "Early Automatic Rifle" with a picture (which I will try to post later, I am SO not a compugeek) and the description "This ingenious hunting gun dates to about 1600. The rifled barrel was designed to take up to 16 cartridges that were set off one after another by the wheel lock mechanism. The trigger was pulled once, the resulting sparks fired the first cartridge which then set off a trail of powder that fired the second cartridge a second later, the third and subsequent cartridges following in turn. The ivory plaques show pictures of men hunting and natural motifs." The image shows an iron barrel and "Dog head holding pyrites to create spark."

My presumption is that this is like an early version of a Metalstorm system.

Has anyone else ever heard of this style of firearm?

Thank you NukemJim

 

[arcticap]

No, I don't specifically recall seeing an automatic.
But I d9 recall seeing some multi-barrel handgonnes from this website:--->>> http://www.handgonne.com [handgonnes of the far east]

IRON TRIPLE BARREL CHINESE HANDGONNE [.66 - .70 Cal.]


Rare Chinese made Iron Triple barrel Gonne.


Business end of Chinese made Iron Triple barrel Gonne.


Vent area of Chinese made Iron Triple barrel Gonne.

Here we have a fantastic and unique iron Chinese Triple Barrel Handgonne in pristine condition! It is NOT made of brass or bronze! This rare find is 13.75 inches long (35 cm). The weight is approximately 6 lbs. and the bore sizes are between 17 and 18 mm. This cannon was in use for 300 to 400 years! The nipples were filled with a fine flash powder and a waxy paper was placed over each nipple to keep the powder from leaking out. A punk stick was then used to set off the charge. Originally, some of these fired by inserting a red hot wire in the touch hole! Believed to be a 16/17th Century antiquity, almost impossible to find in this condition. NOT sea salvage. An early step towards superior firepower. These photos and edited text contributed by BRONZECANNON.COM.

KOREAN HANDGONNE


Handgonne from Korea


Muzzle

Here we have a multi bore handgonne found in South Korea, its origin is unknown. Overall length is 18.3 cm ( 7.2 in). Barrel cluster is 3 cm ( 1.18 in ) diameter. Bore size is approximately 7mm ( .28 cal). These photos and edited text contributed by BRONZECANNON.COM.

Reference Page:--->>> http://www.handgonne.com/gonne_7.html

 

[Erwan]

Did you seen this one from Nuremberg circa 1580:
https://www.cjoint.com/doc/19_03/ICwaAzGQIo3_96e1e8281e49fce2fa52ef059c681443.jpg
It's not a pistol or an automatic weapon, but it's the oldest matchlock revolver I know.

I think that you can get eight shots in one time or very fast with this tecnology...

 

[Loyalist Dave]

Sure you could.
It's rather expensive to mass produce, and gets dirty very fast. Cost and "down-time" have defeated many of the "rapid" firing guns down through the centuries until caps made the revolver practical, then came cartridges which made rapid repeating arms truly feasible.
Nock developed his volley gun flintlock. Which saw some use at sea for naval ships to repel boarders, but as a one man weapon, rather heavy.

Then there was the flintlock Puckle Gun, which was a light artillery piece, again with the idea for naval use...

Then there was a fellow named John Collier (iirc) who developed both revolvers and revolving rifles...

So you get fouling that messes with the action and thus tends to doom the piece, so they go to revolving barrels, which makes the piece heavy, or they use revolving chambers such as the puckle gun which are cranked into a sealed position to avoid the fouling of the motion of the mechanism but you get trouble sealing the mechanism.

Colt didn't really invent the revolver...clearly..., but it's just possible that his big contribution was the cone at the beginning of the barrel, Previous designs were flat and 90 degrees to the chamber giving the fouling a shelf to build up upon, but not with Colt's revolver. Now sure they get dirty, but the fouling as it builds up is deflected away from the chamber mouths, so it takes more shots to foul the piece beyond functioning.



LD

 

[Erwan]

It's a great shame that most of the people forgot the Pukle gun: the only one made for shooting round cannonballs on "all them coming from a Christian background" and with "square balls for the infidels".
This was an idea conform to his century (square = it hurts more) but for ballistics, it could leave a little something to be desired.

Anyway this mas an idea that 'll stays in the memories.

 

[Erwan]

To Articap,
Tks for the adress http://www.handgonne.com/

 

[MihiT]

Guns and Rifles of the World (ISBN 0907486010) lists multi-barreled guns (from 3 to 12 barrels) as early as circa 1500-1510.
It also lists several "Superimposed charge guns" referencing the Wu Pei Cheh dated 1691 - by which point they must have been a developed technology.