<P> In France and Britain, a mechanically operated machine gun was patented in 1856 by the Frenchman Francois Julien . This weapon was a cannon that fed from a type of open - ended tubular magazine, only using rollers and an endless chain in place of springs . </P> <P> The Agar Gun, otherwise known as a "coffee - mill gun" because of its resemblance to a coffee mill, was invented by Wilson Agar at the beginning of the US Civil War . The weapon featured mechanized loading using a hand crank linked to a hopper above the weapon . The weapon featured a single barrel and fired through the turning of the same crank; it operated using paper cartridges fitted with percussion caps and inserted into metal tubes which acted as chambers; it was therefore functionally similar to a revolver . The weapon was demonstrated to President Lincoln in 1861 . He was so impressed with the weapon that he purchased 10 on the spot for $1,500 apiece . The Union Army eventually purchased a total of 54 of the weapons . However, due to antiquated views of the Ordnance Department the weapons, like its more famous counterpart the Gatling Gun, saw only limited use . </P> <P> The Gatling gun, patented in 1861 by Richard Jordan Gatling, was the first to offer controlled, sequential fire with mechanical loading . The design's key features were machine loading of prepared cartridges and a hand - operated crank for sequential high - speed firing . It first saw very limited action in the American Civil War; it was subsequently improved and used in the Franco - Prussian war and North - West Rebellion . Many were sold to other armies in the late 19th century and continued to be used into the early 20th century, until they were gradually supplanted by Maxim guns . Early multi-barrel guns were approximately the size and weight of contemporary artillery pieces, and were often perceived as a replacement for cannon firing grapeshot or canister shot . The large wheels required to move these guns around required a high firing position, which increased the vulnerability of their crews . Sustained firing of gunpowder cartridges generated a cloud of smoke, making concealment impossible until smokeless powder became available in the late 19th century . Gatling guns were targeted by artillery they could not reach, and their crews were targeted by snipers they could not see . The Gatling gun was used most successfully to expand European colonial empires, since against poorly equipped indigenous armies it did not face such threats . </P> <P> In 1870 a Lt. D.H. Friberg of the Swedish army patented a fully automatic recoil - operated firearm action and may have produced firing prototypes of a derived design around 1882: this was the forerunner to the 1907 Kjellman machine gun, though, due to rapid residue buildup from the use of black powder, Friberg's design was not a practical weapon . </P>

When was the first fully automatic weapon made