The Mitrailleuse, from the French word for grapeshot, was the pinnacle of this concept. One approach to rapid fire was the clustering of large numbers of single-shot barrels together that were fed by a single large breach, firing in sequence before being loaded in again. Though it saw some action, its flaws, and the few number purchased ensured it played only a minor role in the war, and it was quickly replaced by the far more effective Gatling gun. Its range was no greater than a standard rifled musket. The feed mechanism was vulnerable to jamming, and the weapon was highly prone to overheating. ![]() Reloading the steel tubes was cumbersome, making keeping up the rate of fire difficult, and their loss made the weapon useless. President Abraham Lincoln witnessed a demonstration and was very impressed by the weapon's performance, and a small number were purchased by the Union Army.ĭespite its impressive rate of fire, the weapon had serious disadvantages. The feeding mechanism resembled an old-fashioned coffee mill, giving it its nickname. A hand crank fed the cartridges and allowed a rate of fire of up to 120 rounds per minute. 58 rifle cartridges were loaded in special steel tubes and were placed in a large hopper on top of the weapon. The "coffee mill," or Agar gun, the namesake of it's inventor Wilson Agar and mounted on a light artillery carriage, was one such attempt. The American Civil War saw widespread experimentation in weaponry, and among the most sought was a rapid fire battlefield gun that could support the infantry. To increase lethality, its bolts were sometimes coated in poison. The bolts were light and its range was short, but it was intended for mass formations and made up for its lack of power with volume of fire. Holding up to 10 bolts, the soldier could rapidly crank a handle and fire every couple of seconds, an astonishing rate of fire for a weapon at the time. Fed by a large wooden magazine holding several dozen bolts of the weapon's cradle, it allowed its crew to crank a large windlass back and forth, allowing it to achieve a far greater rate of fire than conventional ballistics.Ī replica built by the Discovery show "MythBusters" proved that it could have been a very feasible weapon, but would have suffered from severe reliability problems.Ī device similar in concept called the Chu Ko Nu was in use by Chinese soldiers as early as the 4th century B.C., but it was conceived more as a rapid fire light crossbow. It was supposedly the invention of a Greek engineer named Dionysus, who worked at the large arsenal on the island of Rhodes. To finish, the magazine can stock 7 arrows and is very reliable.The Polybolos was a large repeating ballista dating back to the 3rd century B.C. Including a solid body to hold it, two small pin in order to lock the loading arm in loaded position (right or left handed person). The arrow is stuck partially in the magazine when the string pass through (the sliding path is lower than the string).Īlso, the crossbow is equipped with some interesting design for better handling. The second point is in the front of the magazine, in order to release one arrow by one arrow and lock it when the magazine is reload. The first in order to lock correctly the string without damage it, and release it without too much force on the trigger. The main points are the little gap to lock the string, and the design of the magazine. ![]() Then the trigger pushes the string and liberates the arrow. The basic functioning is to have a rotating arm which reloads the arrow with a little gap at the end to lock the string. The model was inspired by a Chinese Repeating Crossbow, you can read here an article about it to understand the functioning. ![]() That is why I decided to create a new crossbow with better loading and reloading and power. I did not make it because this crossbow was not perfect, regarding the reloading, reliability and power. Preview of the instructions at the end of the article.Īfter uploading the video of my first crossbow, you were many to ask for instruction.
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