Breech - loading swivel gun A breech - loading swivel gun was a particular type of swivel gun and a small breech - loading cannon invented in the 14th century . It was equipped with a swivel for easy rotation and was loaded by inserting a mug - shaped device called a chamber , pre - filled with gunpowder and projectiles . It had a high rate of fire , as several chambers could be prepared in advance and quickly fired in succession and was especially effective in anti - personnel roles . It was used for centuries by many countries of Europe , Asia and Africa . Characteristics . Although breech - loading is often considered as a modern innovation which facilitated the loading of cannons , breech - loading swivel guns were invented in the 14th century , and used worldwide from the 16th century onward by numerous countries , many of them non - European . They have been called by many names , sometimes " Murderer " in English , " Perrier à boîte " in French , " Berços " in Portuguese , " Versos " in Spanish , " Stangenbüchse " in German , " Folang zhi " ( " 佛朗机炮 / 佛朗機砲 , Frankish gun " ) in Chinese , " Furanki " ( 仏郎機砲 , " Frankish gun " ) or 子砲 ( " Child cannon " ) in Japanese . Some of them were used until the 20th century . Breech - loading swivel guns were developed surprisingly early , and were used from 1370 onward . The guns were loaded with mug - shaped chambers , in which gunpowder and projectile had been filled in advance . The chamber was then put in place , blocked with a wedge , and then fired . As the loading was made in advance and separately , breech - loading swivel guns were quick - firing guns for their time . An early description of a breech - loading swivel gun puts the weight of the gun at 118 kg , equipped with three chambers for rotations , each 18 kg in weight , and firing a 280 g lead shot . The guns had a disadvantage : they leaked and lost power around the chambers , but this was compensated by the high rate of fire as multiple chambers could be prepared in advance . Breech - loading swivel gun could fire either cannonballs against obstacles , or grapeshot against troops . During the Middle - Ages , breech - loading swivel guns were developed by the Europeans also partly as a cheaper alternative to the very expensive bronze cast muzzle - loading cannons , as bronze was many times more expensive than iron . As cast iron was not yet technologically feasible for the Europeans , the only possibility was to use wrought iron bars hammered together and held with hoops like barrels . With this method , a one piece design was very difficult , and a fragmental structure , with separated chamber and barrel was then selected . Around 1500 , Europeans learnt how to cast iron , and shifted their cannon productions to one - piece iron muzzle - loaders . China started to adopt European breech - loading swivel guns from 1500 onward , limiting at the same time the production of their own muzzle - loaders , because of the high effectiveness of the breech - loading swivel gun as an anti - personnel gun , which to them was more interesting than the sheer power of a cannonball . Usage of the breech - loading swivel gun continued in Europe however , with , as early as the 17th century , characteristics very similar to the modern machine - gun or mitrailleuse . Use . Breech - loading swivel guns were used to advantage at the bow and stern on warships , but were also used in fortifications . In China and Japan , breech - loading swivel guns were brought by the Portuguese in the 16th century . A shipwreck in 1523 apparently brought the gun to China , but the transmission may have occurred earlier . In Japan , Ōtomo Sōrin seems to have been the first recipient of the guns , possibly as early as 1551 . In 1561 the Portuguese , allied with Otomo in the Siege of Moji , bombarded rival Japanese position , possibly with swivel guns . In the Battle of Takajō in 1587 , Ōtomo Sōrin used two swivel guns obtained from the Portuguese . The guns were nicknamed " Kunikuzushi " ( " Destroyer of Provinces " ) . In the later portions of the Ming dynasty ( mid 16th century onward ) it appears that these type of guns were the most common and numerous type of artillery used by the Ming forces . a great deal of variation of such cannons were produced , and it appeared in pretty much all of the conflicts of this time , including the Imjin War . Until the introduction of heavy Dutch cannons in the early 17th century , there were even attempts by the Ming to make large heavy versions of such guns . Other countries also used swivel guns . In Bali , such a gun was found in the possession of the Raja of Badung , and is now located in the Bali Museum . Numerous such guns were also used in Northern Africa by Algerian rebels in their resistance to French forces . Breech - loading swivel guns were also used extensively in Southeast Asia as early as the 16th century , apparently even before the arrival of the Portuguese and Spanish there , and continued to be in use as a preferred anti - personnel weapon as late as the 20th century . The Americans fought " Moros " equipped with breech - loading swivel guns in the Philippines in 1904 . Steel rifled breech - loading swivel guns are known which were manufactured by the United States towards the end of the 19th century , and used in colonial theaters such as in Madagascar .