What multi-barreled firearm did Leonardo da Vinci design for rapid volleys?

Leonardo da Vinci designed a 33-barrel organ, a multi-barreled firearm intended to fire a volley. The weapon arranged many small cannons in a fan-shaped or organ-like frame, giving it the memorable name “organ gun.”

The arrangement was meant to improve battlefield effectiveness by allowing several barrels to be loaded and fired in sequence or together. A wheeled carriage could help move the weapon, while the spread of barrels could cover a broad area. The design reflects Leonardo’s interest in solving the slow reloading problem of single-shot guns.

The 33-barrel organ was a proposal, not a standard weapon known to have transformed warfare. It is sometimes mistakenly called a machine gun, but it did not use the continuous automatic mechanism associated with modern machine guns. Leonardo’s concept still anticipated the tactical value of concentrated, repeated fire from multiple barrels.