While projectile weapons that could fire more than one round at a time had existed in one form or another for centuries, it was only with the development of the Gatling gun in 1862 and the Maxim gun some 20 years later that the first two true machine guns were brought into combat in any widespread way. The development of these weapons hinged upon two developments in cartridge technology: the cased round that incorporated its own percussive cap, and the development of slow-burning smokeless powder.
At the outbreak of the American Civil War in 1861, most projectile weapons were still muzzle-loaders; that is, powder was poured down the barrel of the rifle, a round was rammed down with a ramrod, a percussion cap was placed on a "nipple" at the far end of the barrel, and when the hammer fell upon the cap, a spark was thrown into the breech of the barrel, igniting the powder, which caused an explosion that propelled the bullet forward. This was a time-consuming and awkward process, and the effectiveness of any multiround weapon was severely hampered by the process of having to load it.
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