John Montagu, 2nd Duke of Montagu, Master-General of the Ordnance (1740-1749), purchased several for an ill-fated expedition in 1722 to capture St Lucia and St Vincent. One newspaper of the period sarcastically observed, following the business venture's failure, that the gun has 'only wounded those who hold shares therein'. As with other designs of the time it was hampered by 'clumsy and undependable flintlock ignition' and other mechanism problems. The Puckle Gun drew few investors and never achieved mass production or sales to the British armed forces. However, 'at a public trial held in 1722, the gun was able to fire 63 shots in seven minutes in the midst of a driving rain storm, an amazing feat for the period.'

Prototypes were shown in 1717 to the English Board of Ordnance, but they were 'not impressed'. They would, according to the patent, convince the Turks of the 'benefits of Christian civilization.' The square bullets, however, were discontinued due to their unpredictable flight pattern. The square bullets were considered to be more damaging. Puckle demonstrated two versions of the basic design: one, intended for use against Christian enemies, fired conventional round bullets, while the second variant, designed to be used against the Muslim Turks, fired square bullets. One modern author remarked however that 'James Puckle's patent in 1718 contains more rhetorical fervor than technical rigor.' Two versions Īccording to the Patent Office of the United Kingdom, 'In the reign of Queen Anne of Great Britain, the law officers of the Crown established as a condition of patent that the inventor must in writing describe the invention and the manner in which it works.' This gun's patent was one of the first to provide such a description. It was thus a manually operated (thus externally powered) machine cannon. It had a pre-loaded cylinder which held 11 charges.

The barrel was 3 feet (0.91 m) long with a bore of 1.25 inches (32 mm). It was intended for shipboard use to prevent boarding. It is a tripod-mounted, single-barreled flintlock weapon fitted with a multishot revolving cylinder.

Puckle gun empire total war