page_title: Volley gun
section_title: 15th-century volley guns
hierarchical_section_title: Volley gun / 15th-century volley guns
caption_attribution_description: English: Polish multiple gun from XVI-XVII century
context_page_description: A volley gun is a gun with several barrels for firing a number of shots, either simultaneously or in succession. 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.
  In practice, large volley guns were not particularly more useful than a cannon firing canister shot or grapeshot. Since they were still mounted on a carriage, they could be 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.
context_section_description: The Ribauldequin was a medieval version of the volley gun. It had its barrels set up in parallel.  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.
  Multi-barreled artillery pieces continued in use during the 16th and 17th century. A double-barreled cannon called Elizabeth-Henry, named after Charles I's youngest children, was used by the Cavaliers during the English Civil War and fired 2oz charges. It could also fire grapeshot. The barrels were wrapped in leather to prevent rusting.
  On the continent, 16th century Aragon developed a 15-barrel volley gun; German and Polish gunsmiths invented handheld multi-barrel guns. These were sometimes combination sword and axe pistols such as Henry VIII's Walking Staff, a 3-barreled gun and battle mace. Henry VIII also owned a multi-barreled German wheel lock rifle capable of firing a superimposed charge.
caption: Polish 20-barrel artillery piece. The barrels are designed to enable the shot to spread out and cause maximum damage
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