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The mitrailleuse - a 19th-century volley gun.

A volley gun is a gun with several barrels for firing a number of shots simultaneously or fire their barrels in sequence. They differ from modern machine guns in that they lack automatic loading and automatic fire and are limited by the number of barrels bundled together. Image File history File links Question_book-3. ... Front view of mitrailleuse at Les Invalides, Paris Image by ChrisO File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Front view of mitrailleuse at Les Invalides, Paris Image by ChrisO File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... The mitrailleuse was a manually-fired volley gun originally developed in Belgium in the 1850s. ... This article is about the video game. ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ... A machine gun is a fully-automatic firearm that is capable of firing bullets in rapid succession. ... M2 Browning machine gun An automatic firearm is a firearm that automatically extracts and ejects the fired cartridge case, and loads a new case, usually through the energy of the fired round. ...

In practice the large ones were not particularly more useful than a cannon firing canister shot or grapeshot. Since they were still mounted on a carriage, they were still as hard to aim and move around as a cannon, and the many barrels took as long or longer to reload. They also tended to be relatively expensive since they were more complex than a cannon, due to all the barrels and ignition fuses, and each barrel had to be individually maintained and cleaned. For other uses, see Cannon (disambiguation). ... Canister shot was a kind of anti-personnel ammunition used in cannons. ... Grapeshot was a kind of anti-personnel ammunition used in cannons. ...

15th-century volley guns

Main article: Ribauldequin

The ribauldequin was the medieval version of the volley gun. It had its barrels set up parallel. The ribauldequin, also known as a rabaud or organ gun, was a medieval-era gun with many small-caliber iron barrels. ...

This early version was first employed during the Hundred Years War by the army of Edward III of England, in 1339. Later on, the late Swiss army employed it. The first part of the Hundred Years War was from 1337 to 1360, from the outbreak of hostilities until the signing of the Treaty of Brétigny. ... This article is about the King of England. ... Events Emperor Go-Murakami ascends to the throne of Japan Kashmir is conquered by the muslims Births July 23 - King Louis I of Naples (d. ...

19th-century volley guns

Two notable artillery-sized volley guns were developed in the mid-19th century, although neither was particularly successful in practice. General Origen Vandenburgh of the New York State Militia designed a weapon in 1860 that had eighty-five parallel .50 calibre rifle barrels. After failing to sell the weapon to the United Kingdom, he reportedly sold a small number to the Confederate States of America, although there is no record that they were actually used, one Vandenburgh gun was located at Fort Fisher, NC. Also developed in the 1860s, the French mitrailleuse is an example of a multi-barreled volley gun that could fire all of its barrels simultaneously or sequentially over a short period of time. New York Guard MPs on post in New York City. ... Motto Deo Vindice (Latin: Under God, Our Vindicator) Anthem (none official) God Save the South (unofficial) The Bonnie Blue Flag (unofficial) Dixie (unofficial)  States that seceded under CSA control  States and territories claimed by CSA without formal secession and/or control Capital Montgomery, Alabama (until May 29, 1861) Richmond, Virginia... The mitrailleuse was a manually-fired volley gun originally developed in Belgium in the 1850s. ...

A few hand-held volley guns were also developed during the 18th and 19th centuries. One of the most distinctive was the "duck's-foot" volley gun, a pistol with four .45 calibre barrels arranged in a splayed pattern, so that the firer could spray a sizable area with a single shot. The principle behind this type of pistol is one of confrontation by one person against a group; hence, it was popular among bank guards, prison warders and sea captains in the 1800s and early 1900s. The British Royal Navy used gunsmith Henry Nock of London's volley gun around the time of the Napoleonic Wars. This was a seven-barreled gun capable of firing seven .50 calibre pistol balls at the same time, intended for use in repelling boarders or to clear an enemy deck in advance of friendly boarding parties. However, its immense recoil made it an extremely physically demanding weapon to use. The Nock gun was recently brought to public attention by its inclusion in Bernard Cornwell's Sharpe novels where it was wielded by Sharpe's friend and colleague Sergeant Patrick Harper. It is worth noting that in addition to the recoil problems, this weapon would have required almost two minutes to reload, even in the hands of an experienced soldier. This article is about the navy of the United Kingdom. ... Combatants Austria[a] Portugal Prussia[a] Russia[b] Sicily[c] Sardinia  Spain[d]  Sweden[e] United Kingdom French Empire Holland[f] Italy Etruria[g] Naples[h] Duchy of Warsaw[i] Confederation of the Rhine[j] Bavaria Saxony Westphalia Württemberg Denmark-Norway[k] Commanders Archduke Charles Prince Schwarzenberg Karl Mack... Nocks Volley gun - 7 barrels brazed together with the outer 6 having their breeches plugged. ... Bernard Cornwell OBE (born February 23, 1944) is a prolific and popular English historical novelist. ... Richard Sharpe is the central character in Bernard Cornwells Sharpe which also formed the basis for the Sharpe television series, where the eponymous character was played by Sean Bean. ...

Modern connection

More recently, a number of designs of electronically fired explosive-propulsion projectile weapons and non-explosive projectile weapons have been developed which have some similarities to 18th-century volley guns, particularly in that they use many barrels which can be fired all at once or in sequence. However, they are not as yet in general use. The Australian company Metal Storm is one of the leading developers of such weapons, designing a 36-barrel volley gun capable of a theoretical firing rate of more than a million rounds per minute. Metal Storm Limited is a research and development company that specializes in electronically initiated stacked projectile weapons technology. ...

Various forms of the weapon have been designed, including aircraft-mounted guns firing downward, man-portable artillery packs and defensive applications, such as ship-based anti-missile defense systems (for which Gatling guns are currently used). An 1865 Gatling gun. ...

The Spanish Navy also uses a volley-gun system, the Meroka, which consists of twelve 20 mm cannon mounted in a tight cluster with an externally powered automatic loading system. It delivers an exceptionally high rate of fire for a very short burst, and reloads in less than 0.3 seconds. This makes it suitable for close-range defense against missiles, aircraft and small boats. This article or section is not written in the formal tone expected of an encyclopedia article. ... Phalanx CIWS A Close-in weapon system (CIWS) is a naval shipboard weapon system for detecting and destroying incoming anti-ship missiles and enemy aircraft at short range (the threat(s) having penetrated the ships available outer defences). ...

In fiction

• The Shagohod, a nuclear-equipped tank in the video game Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, is equipped with a volley gun.
• In Lone Wolf and Cub manga Ogami Itto has an early volley gun built into the front of his baby carriage.
• In The Alamo (1960 film) Jim Bowie (played by Richard Widmark) wields a seven-barrel volley gun in the battle against Santa Anna's army
• In the Sharpe series of books, Sgt. (Patrick) Harper carries a hand-held volley gun (see Nock gun), only effective due to the size of Sgt. Harper [1]
• In the 1966 film Django (film) Franco Nero's titular character travels with a coffin containing a Mitrailleuse type volley gun.
• In the alternate history novel, 1634: The Baltic War, volley guns were used effectively as fast mobile light artillery substituting for machine guns in several battles.
• Warhammer Fantasy has volley guns used by The Empire.
• The zoid Dibison uses clustered cannons as its primary armament.