mitrailleuse

The mitrailleuse was an early type of machine gun developed in the mid-19th century. It featured multiple barrels, typically 25, and used a loading plate containing a cartridge for each barrel. A crank mechanism fired pins simultaneously or in succession. The French army used the mitrailleuse, which fired 11-mm Chassepot rifle ammunition and weighed over 2,000 pounds, often employing it for volley fire. During the Franco-German War, it was used like artillery but was outmatched by explosive shells from breech-loading cannons. The term "mitrailleuse" can also refer generally to a machine gun.12