Mitrailleuse

Mitrailleuse (literally "Grapeshot shooter") was an early form of "machine gun". In French "mitrailleuse" became the standard word for all machine guns, but in English it is used to refer to the early models derived from the first mitrailleuse invented in 1851 by the Belgian Army Captain Fafschamps, 10 years before the advent of the Gatling gun. It was followed by the Belgian Montigny mitrailleuse in 1863. Then the French 13mm X 25 barrels "Canon à balles", better known as the Reffye mitrailleuse, was adopted in great secrecy in 1866. It became the first rapid-firing weapon to be deployed as standard equipment by any army in a major conflict. This happened during the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71. The objective of the Reffye mitrailleuse was to extend the lethal effects of heavy 13mm ( 50 caliber ) cylindrical bullets at very long distances, far beyond the reach of the infantry rifles of that period . A perforated steel block containing 25 center fire cartridges was pressed against the breech before firing. With the rotation of a crank, the 25 rounds were fired in rapid succession. The normal firing rate of the Reffye mitrailleuse was 100 rounds per minute and the effective battlefield reach of its bullets extended to about 2500 yards. Reffye mitrailleuses were always deployed in 6 gun batteries and were manned by artillery personnel. They were not infantry support weapons but rather a form of special artillery.

Although innovative and capable of good ballistic performance, the Reffye mitrailleuse failed as a tactical weapon because its basic concept and operational usage were flawed. On the contrary the Gatling gun system became widely successful and even survives in powered form to this day. The word mitrailleuse nonetheless became the generic term for a machine gun in the French language, although the mitrailleuse itself was entirely manually-operated.