What name is commonly given to Leonardo da Vinci’s many-barreled firearm design?

Leonardo da Vinci’s many-barreled firearm design is commonly called the 33-barrel organ.

The weapon consisted of multiple small cannon arranged in three rows on a wheeled frame. The arrangement resembled the pipes of a musical organ, which explains the name. Each row could be fired in sequence while the others cooled or were reloaded, potentially creating a sustained barrage compared with a single muzzle-loading gun.

The design belongs to Leonardo’s military engineering studies in the late 15th century. It was not a modern machine gun: the barrels still required separate loading, and the mechanism did not provide automatic feeding or continuous fire. The practical rate of fire would also have depended on trained crews and suitable ammunition.

Leonardo’s proposal illustrates how he applied rotation, carriage design, and grouped barrels to artillery. Whether the exact weapon was ever constructed or used in combat is not established by surviving evidence.