The Swedish king Gustav II Adolf, who took an active part in the Thirty Years' War, sought to reduce the weight of the guns and make them more mobile. For this purpose, the so-called "leather cannons", invented in 1627 by the German colonel Melchior von Wurmbrandt, were introduced into the Swedish army. They consisted of a thin copper barrel 1/8 gauge thick and were reinforced with iron hoops. In addition, they were rewound with ropes, fixed with a kind of glue, and pulled together with skin. The weight of the barrel was only 74 kg. Such cannons were made at the Julit cannon factory in Södermanland.
During the Polish war of Gustavus Adolphus, these guns did not perform well, as they overheated too much during firing, and sometimes burst. In this regard, they were replaced by 3-pounder light guns made of cast iron and gunmetal, which were made by the Swedish artillery colonel Hans von Seegerut.