Leonardo da Vinci designed an organ gun with 33 small barrels arranged in three rows of eleven.
The weapon was intended to fire a volley of projectiles in rapid succession. Its name comes from the resemblance between the parallel barrels and the pipes of a musical organ. Leonardo’s design used a wheeled mounting, allowing the weapon to be moved and aimed more easily than a fixed battery of guns.
The organ gun belonged to Leonardo’s broader work on military engineering. He studied ways to increase firing speed, improve mobility, and place several barrels on one platform. The design should not be confused with a later machine gun: it was a volley weapon whose barrels were fired in sequence or together, rather than a fully automatic firearm.
There is no secure evidence that Leonardo’s exact 33-barrel design entered regular military service. It remains an influential example of his attempt to combine mechanical organization with battlefield firepower.