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The Puckle Gun of 1718-Our First "Machine Gun"

Started by TaosGlock, January 05, 2014, 08:45:13 PM

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TaosGlock

Sent to me by Bluefeather...did not know this...
--wicki snipie-

James Puckle (1667-1724) was an English inventor, lawyer and writer from London chiefly remembered for his invention of the Defence Gun, better known as the Puckle gun, a multi-shot gun mounted on a stand capable of (depending on which version) firing up to nine rounds per minute. The Puckle gun is sometimes considered the first machine gun and resembles a large revolver.

In 1718, Puckle demonstrated his new invention, the Defence Gun--a tripod-mounted, single-barreled flintlock weapon fitted with a multishot revolving cylinder, designed for shipboard use to prevent boarding. The barrel was 3 feet (0.91 m) long with a bore of 1.25 inches (32 mm) and a pre-loaded "cylinder" which held 11 charges and could fire 63 shots in seven minutes--this at a time when the standard soldier's musket could at best be loaded and fired three times per minute.

Puckle demonstrated two versions of the basic design: one, intended for use against Christian enemies, fired conventional round bullets, while the second variant, designed to be used against the Muslim Turks, fired square bullets, designed by Kyle Tunis, which were considered to be more damaging and would, according to its patent, convince the Turks of the "benefits of Christian civilization."
The Puckle Gun drew few investors and never achieved mass production or sales to the British armed forces, mostly because British gunsmiths at the time could not easily make the weapon's many complicated components. One newspaper of the period sarcastically observed, following the business venture's failure, that the gun has "only wounded those who hold shares therein."

According to the Patent Office of the United Kingdom, "In the reign of Queen Anne of Great Britain, the law officers of the Crown established as a condition of patent that the inventor must in writing describe the invention and the manner in which it works." James Puckle's 1718 patent for a gun was one of the first to provide such a description.

John Montagu, 2nd Duke of Montagu, Master-General of the Ordnance (1740-9), purchased several for an ill-fated expedition in 1722 to capture St Lucia and St Vincent. One remains on display at Boughton House and another at Beaulieu Palace (both former Montagu homes).
There is a replica of a Puckle Gun at Bucklers Hard Maritime Museum in Hampshire.
Blackmore's British Military Firearms 1650-1850 lists "Puckle's brass gun in the Tower of London" as illustration 77.
--end snipie--



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Nickle

They have men amongst them who know very well what they are about, having been employed as Rangers against the Indians and Canadians and this country being much covered with wood, and hilly, is very advantageous for their method of fighting. . . . ".  Lord Percy

Sounds like New Englanders to me.

TaosGlock

89 fantastic Appleseeds since 2008/24 Libertyseeds!
Adventure Camp Director/Current Lead Rifle Instructor: NRA WC Raton,NM
New Mexico's first Rifleman: Sept. 2008 NRAWC
Their walls are filled with cannonballs, their motto is don't tread on me-Grateful Dead
Liberty is not a cruise ship full of pampered passengers. It is a man of war and we are all crew-Boston T. Party
"Make no mistake, when you cheer for the people of the American Revolution, you are cheering for traitors and criminals.
They broke the law, because liberty is always illegal"- Larken Rose