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The Montigny mitrailleuse was an early type of crank-operated machine-gun developed by the Belgian gun works of Joseph Montigny between 1859 and 1870. It was an improved version of the "Mitrailleuse", ((英語:Grapeshot shooter)) invented by Belgian Captain Fafschamps in 1851 which was a fixed 50-barrelled volley gun.〔(''Machine Guns'' by James H. Willbanks p.35 )〕 The Montigny mitrailleuse was designed to defend narrow defensive positions such as the moats of fortresses. The Belgian army initially purchased Fafschamps volley guns. Only later did they acquire Montigny mitrailleuses. Joseph Montigny also promoted and sold the weapon for offensive field use by placing the weapon on an artillery carriage. ==Specifications== The weapon consisted of 37 barrels of 11 mm inside a cylindrical protective casing. Loading was performed with a loading plate containing 37 cartridges. It was inserted against the breech in one stroke and locked in with a hinged loading lever attached to the rear of the gun. The ammunition had a brass head and thin rolled brass foil body and was fired by needle pins.〔(An Encyclopaedia of the History of Technology By Ian McNeil, p.985 )〕 With the rotation of a crank, all shots were fired simultaneously, although later improvements used a cam which permitted the progressive firing of the 37 shots.〔 Around 150–250 shots per minute could be fired depending on the skills of the operators.〔〔(''A History of Firearms'' By W. Y. Carman p.84 )〕 The whole weapon was very heavy, weighing .〔 The Montigny Mitrailleuse was built in numbers and used mostly to defend Belgian forts and other defensive positions.〔"...produced in small numbers by ordnance engineers Joseph Montigny and Louis Christophe to arm fortifications." ''Soul of the Sword: An Illustrated History of Weaponry and Warfare'' by Robert L. O'Connell, John Batchelor — 2002 — page 198〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Montigny mitrailleuse」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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