A skilled gunner on some types could achieve over 100 rounds a minute. A small crank was then turned to manually fire each round.
The original design came from it's Belgian inventor Captain Fafchamps in 1851, but many variants saw service in the French Army leading up to the Franco-Prussian war.Ĭarrying up to 50 barrels and mounted on an artillery carriage, the weapon was breech loaded using large steel blocks studded with ammunition. The Mitrailleuse, from the French word for grapeshot, was the pinnacle of this concept. One approach to rapid fire was the clustering of large numbers of single-shot barrels together that were fed by a single large breach, firing in sequence before being loaded in again. Though it saw some action, its flaws, and the few number purchased ensured it played only a minor role in the war, and it was quickly replaced by the far more effective Gatling gun. Its range was no greater than a standard rifled musket. The feed mechanism was vulnerable to jamming, and the weapon was highly prone to overheating.
Reloading the steel tubes was cumbersome, making keeping up the rate of fire difficult, and their loss made the weapon useless. President Abraham Lincoln witnessed a demonstration and was very impressed by the weapon's performance, and a small number were purchased by the Union Army.ĭespite its impressive rate of fire, the weapon had serious disadvantages. The feeding mechanism resembled an old-fashioned coffee mill, giving it its nickname. A hand crank fed the cartridges and allowed a rate of fire of up to 120 rounds per minute.
58 rifle cartridges were loaded in special steel tubes and were placed in a large hopper on top of the weapon. The "coffee mill," or Agar gun, the namesake of it's inventor Wilson Agar and mounted on a light artillery carriage, was one such attempt. The American Civil War saw widespread experimentation in weaponry, and among the most sought was a rapid fire battlefield gun that could support the infantry. To increase lethality, its bolts were sometimes coated in poison. The bolts were light and its range was short, but it was intended for mass formations and made up for its lack of power with volume of fire. Holding up to 10 bolts, the soldier could rapidly crank a handle and fire every couple of seconds, an astonishing rate of fire for a weapon at the time. Fed by a large wooden magazine holding several dozen bolts of the weapon's cradle, it allowed its crew to crank a large windlass back and forth, allowing it to achieve a far greater rate of fire than conventional ballistics.Ī replica built by the Discovery show "MythBusters" proved that it could have been a very feasible weapon, but would have suffered from severe reliability problems.Ī device similar in concept called the Chu Ko Nu was in use by Chinese soldiers as early as the 4th century B.C., but it was conceived more as a rapid fire light crossbow. It was supposedly the invention of a Greek engineer named Dionysus, who worked at the large arsenal on the island of Rhodes. The Vlad crossbow comes with both 60lb and 90lb limbs, which can easily be switched, allowing you to choose how much power the bow has.ĭRAW: 60-90 lb / SPEED: 165-215FPS / WEIGHT: 4.The Polybolos was a large repeating ballista dating back to the 3rd century B.C. The buttstock is made out of solid aluminium and can even fold away.Ī built in 8 bolt magazine sits on top, to allow for automatic reloading and rapid firing! If that's not enough, a Speed Loader containing another 8 bolts can be clipped on the side of the Picatinny rail, which allows you to fill the entire magazine in just a few seconds!
#Automatic crossbow mythbusters free
The bow will come apart into main pieces, without tools, making it ideal for safe, hassle free transportation. Named after Vlad the Impaler, this bow is a super compact and lightweight tactical bow, which is perfect for anyone who would love a smaller version of the Adder. This semi-automatic crossbow, has a top loading magazine, much like world famous RX Adder, but in a smaller and lighter pistol style package! The Vlad is the latest repeater crossbow for sale in the UK!
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