A manual machine gunSourced
An early use of the name did not mean automatic fire
The Puckle gun was a manually operated revolving firearm patented in 1718. A later shipping record called it a machine gun, though its operation differed from modern automatic weapons. Production was very limited, and it was not used in combat. The name traveled further than the invention.
Historical terminology can suggest a machine that did not yet exist.
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Puckle gun · Wikimedia contributors
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Reviewed: 2026-10-05