Early stages in the rapid-fire weapons development

The paper examines evolution of the rapid-fire weapons from the 14th to the 19th centuries. It analyzes in detail not only development of the weapons themselves, but also the technological prerequisites making their appearance and improvement possible. Development of the production methods for both the hand-held and multi-barrel weapons is considered with an emphasis on alteration in the metallurgy, machine tool building, and materials treatment technologies. Particular attention is paid to introduction of the flintlock and unitary paper cartridges, which led to a significant increase in the rate of fire, compared to the earlier systems, but appeared to be insufficient to satisfy growing demands in the military tactics of the time. This, in turn, served as an incentive for design, development and introduction of the multi-barrel weapon systems. The paper presents an in-depth analysis of the early examples, including the ribadequin, i.e. the multi-barrel artillery system widely used in the 14th–15th centuries, and the unique 44-barrel mortar battery designed by A.K. Nartov and created in the 18th century. Their contribution to development of the salvo fire concept is substantiated. The paper considers design and mechanisms of the Montigny mitrailleuse as one of the key stages on the way to a modern machine gun. A detailed analysis of the Agar machine gun with its innovative revolver cartridge feed system and loading mechanism is provided. The paper emphasizes complex and multifaceted relationship between the technological progress, military requirements and evolution of the rapid-fire weapons, and demonstrates how technical advances, alterations in tactics and design solutions shaped the firearms development over several centuries.

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