It was invented by a Dr. Josephus Requa (1833–1910), a dentist by profession, who had at the age of 16 spent three years as an apprentice to William Billinghurst (1807–1880), a New York riflemaker.

The gun consisted of twenty-five heavy .58 caliber rifle barrels, each 2 feet (0.61 m) long and mounted together in a secure frame, which could be elevated for range.

Ripley however dismissed Requa with the argument that such a weapon would consume expensive ammunition at such a rate that it would cause logistical problems.

At the demonstration, the gun blasted holes in a wooden barrel target setup 1,800 feet (550 m) away in the Genesee River.

As a result, an additional five guns were ordered, but advances in firearms technology soon rendered the weapon obsolete.