Leonardo da Vinci designed an organ gun with 33 small gun barrels arranged in three rows.
The weapon was called an organ gun because its grouped barrels resembled the pipes of a musical organ. Leonardo’s arrangement was intended to fire multiple shots in sequence or together, increasing the volume of fire compared with a single early firearm. The barrels were mounted on a supporting frame that could be adjusted.
This design belongs to the family of volley guns, which used several barrels to deliver repeated or simultaneous fire. It was not a machine gun in the modern sense: it lacked automatic loading, cartridge ammunition, and continuous powered firing. Each barrel still required the loading and ignition methods available in the Renaissance.
Leonardo’s organ gun was a proposal recorded in his military-engineering work. It illustrates his effort to improve battlefield firepower through arrangement and timing, even though the practical weapon was far less advanced than later firearms.