The world's first machine gun powered by bullet propellant without external force was invented in 1883 by a British American, Ma Keqin.
1882, when Ma Keqin visited Britain, he found that soldiers' shoulders were often scratched due to the recoil of old rifles. This phenomenon shows that the recoil energy of the gun is not small, and this energy comes from the gunpowder gas produced when the bullet is fired, which Ma Keqin thinks can be used. Ma Keqin first carried out a refit test on an old Winchester rifle. By using the gunpowder gas emitted by the bullet when shooting, the gun completed a series of actions such as unlocking, unloading, delivering and re-locking, so as to realize automatic continuous shooting of the bullet and reduce the recoil of the gun. Ma Keqin successfully developed the world's first automatic rifle for the first time in 1883. Later, based on the experience gained from this rifle, he further developed and perfected the principle of automatic shooting with short recoil of barrel. He made a 6-meter-long canvas chain for a continuous supply of ammunition. 1884, Ma Keqin made the world's first machine gun capable of automatic continuous shooting, and in the same year obtained a patent for the machine gun applying this principle.