Leonardo da Vinci’s organ gun design had 33 barrels.
The weapon was a multi-barrelled cannon arrangement that Leonardo illustrated in the late fifteenth century. Its barrels were placed in parallel rows on a wheeled frame, allowing several shots to be fired in succession. The design’s resemblance to the pipes of a musical organ gave this type of weapon its common name.
Leonardo’s arrangement was intended to increase the rate of fire compared with a single cannon. While one group of barrels was being fired, another could be loaded, potentially reducing the delay between volleys. The concept was part of his broader study of military engineering.
The organ gun should not be confused with a modern machine gun. It still used separate gun barrels and gunpowder charges, and Leonardo’s surviving drawings do not prove that his exact 33-barrel design was constructed or used in battle. Its importance lies chiefly in the mechanical solution it proposed.