Manufactured in the 1880s and 1890s to serve the professional hunter market, Pieper’s 7-barrel Mitrailleuse was essentially a rimfire volley gun. It was offer in both .22 rimfire and .32 rimfire calibers, both models having clusters of 7 rifled barrels which fired simultaneously with a single trigger pull. The purpose was to offer an alternative to the large-bore punt gun for effective hunting of fowl at extended range. A volley from one of these was essentially like firing a round of buckshot, but with each pellet actually a rifled bullet, thus providing much improved accuracy.