The Puckle gun could be the first functional machine gun in history. Designed in 1717 by British inventor, jurist and author James Packle.
Pakl's machine gun, as it was officially called, was a weapon between a revolver and a light gun. It had a single barrel, but also a rotating breech with 6-11 "ports" for an equal number of prepared cartridges similar to those fitted to the muskets of the time. The barrel was 91 cm long and 32 mm in diameter. Patented in 1718.
Pakl created two models, one against Christians who fired conventional fireballs and one against the "unbelieving Turks" which fired square fireballs which caused frightful injuries. According to some sources it could also fire cannonballs with 16 musket balls each.
The gun operator engaged by turning a crank like later Gatling type machine guns. When the barrel was empty, it was replaced by a new one. In this way the firing rate was kept high for the time.
During tests the gun fired 63 rounds in 7 minutes, that is about nine rounds per minute. This rate of fire was amazing for the time considering that well-trained soldiers could not fire more than three shots per minute with their muskets.
In 1717 Pakle presented his weapon to the British army but they were not impressed. Also no investors were found. Its production was small – probably only two operational examples were produced. In 1722 the British forces had two guns of the type during operations in the Caribbean (Saint Lucia and Saint Vincent). It remains unknown, however, whether they used them in battle.