Organ guns: a 33-barrelled ribauldequin cart
Three views of a multi-barrelled swivel-gun cart firing eleven barrels at a time
Three studies of a spingarda a organi, an 'organ gun' or ribauldequin. The cart carries 33 small gun barrels, arranged so that eleven are fired in a single volley. A note explains that the part of the carriage next to the guns' breeches, marked a, is raised in order to draw out the breeches for reloading.
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Cart of 33 organ-gun barrels
The upper drawing shows a cart mounted with 33 scoppietti (small guns) grouped so that eleven are discharged at once, the barrels set in rows on a large-wheeled carriage.
Raising part a to withdraw the breeches
In the second figure the part of the cart adjoining the guns' tails, marked a, is lifted when the breeches (code) must be drawn out for loading or servicing. The letters a - a mark the hinged section.
Fan-shaped barrel array on a wheeled carriage
A second configuration splays the barrels into a fan on a long-trailed carriage, spreading the shot over an arc; a rectangular battery of barrels is drawn below.
