Career
The is one of the first weapons referred to as a machine gun (though its operation does not match the modern definition of the term) and resembles a large revolver. In 1718, Puckle patented his new invention, the Defence Gun — a tripod-mounted, single-barreled flintlock weapon fitted with a multishot revolving cylinder, designed for shipboard use to prevent boarding. The barrel was 3 feet (091 m) long with a bore of 1.25 inches (32 mm) and a pre-loaded cylinder which held 6-11 charges and could fire 63 shots in seven minutes—this at a time when the standard soldier"s musket could at best be loaded and fired five times per minute.
One leaflet of the period sarcastically observed, following the business venture"s failure, that the gun has "only wounded those who hold shares therein."
According to the Patent Office of the United Kingdom, "In the reign of Queen Anne, 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." James Puckle"s 1718 patent, number 418, was one of the first to provide such a description.
John Montagu, 2nd Duke of Montagu, Master-General of the Ordnance (1740-1749), purchased at least two for an ill-fated expedition in 1722 to capture Street Lucia and Street Vincent. One remains on display at Boughton House and another at Beaulieu Palace (both former Montagu homes).
There is a replica of a Puckle Gun at Bucklers Hard Maritime Museum in Hampshire. Blackmore"s British Military Firearms 1650–1850 lists "Puckle’s brass gun in the Tower of London" as illustration 77:this appears to have been one of the Montagu guns on loan to the Tower at the time.