1850 American Gold Tycoon.

Chapter 434 Lever Action Rifle

"I didn't expect you to see through my small thoughts. To be honest, my company's sales have been very poor because the weapons it produces are too deviant. If you can't get an order, a comparison If there is a large order, it can only declare bankruptcy."

Kony spread his hands helplessly.

"I can't even see through your thoughts, so am I still worthy to be your boss? Isn't your construction company running well? Why are you involved in the weapon manufacturing industry now?" Liang Yao asked.

"It's not like before. In the past, there were only a few construction companies in California, with little competition, and they could make money lying down. Now there are construction companies everywhere in California, and the profits of construction companies are not as good as each year." Kony is very serious. said.

"The barriers to entry for construction companies are too low. My idea is that construction companies will continue to do it first, and at the same time enter some industries with relatively high barriers to prepare for their own future. Besides, I am also the son of Vanderbilt. , you can’t be your assistant for the rest of your life, can you?”

"You said it as if you were wronged by being my assistant." Liang Yao gave Kony a bad look.

"It's my honor to be your assistant, and it's something that many people wish for, but my background doesn't allow me to be your assistant all the time." Kony smiled helplessly and said.

"It would be a peace of mind if I could be your assistant for the rest of my life. The salary is high, and I only need to follow your instructions, and I don't need to mess around myself."

Liang Yao didn't say anything more. The fact that Kony had this kind of thought showed that he was no longer the cynical rich second-generation son he was back then.

He picked up the rifle on the table, which, it must be said, was beautifully made.

The sophisticated lever mechanism told him it was an expensive gun.

The barrel of this rifle is only two-thirds of that of a conventional rifle, or even shorter, and its weight is much lighter than that of a normal rifle.

After playing with it in his hand for a while, Liang Yao carefully looked at the inscription on the gun: volcano rifle (volcanic stone rifle).

Lava stone rifle?This is the famous volcanic stone rifle?
As an early lever-action rifle, the Lava Stone Rifle was a commercial failure.

However, due to its excellent manufacture, low output, and the addition of early mass-produced lever-action rifles, the volcanic stone rifle and the volcanic stone pistol produced in the same year have always been the darlings of later generations of gun collectors.

The Henry M1860 lever-action rifle that shined during the Civil War was a lever-action rifle developed and produced by the famous New Haven Arms Company that Winchester poached a technician named Henry from the Volcanic Stone Company.

Due to catch up with the Civil War, the Henry M1860 lever action rifle was an unexpected success.

It’s just that Henry didn’t end well.

In 1866, the success of the Henry M1860 lever rifle brought the technician to the pinnacle of his life.

His wallet was bulging, his body was getting fatter, and his heart began to drift. Henry believed that the success of the New Haven Company was entirely due to him, so he tried to get the Connecticut court to transfer the New Haven Company to him.

Henry, who was just a technician, was no match for an old fritter in the business field like Winchester.

The boss Winchester admired Henry very much. He was very moved after seeing his ardent love for the company. Then he emptied Henry's shares and swept Henry out of the house. Then he reorganized and changed the name of New Haven Company, which we are very familiar with. Winchester Repeating Arms Company.

As for Henry, he has nothing to do with the new company.

This is why later generations think of Winchester, not Henry, when they mention lever-action rifles.

The two founders of Lava Stone Company, Smith and Wesson, and their company ended relatively well. Although the two went through several twists and turns, they finally decided to continue to cooperate.

Smith & Wesson eventually found its niche, producing acclaimed police firearms and items.The company has also been operating well into the 21st century.

"What's the name of your company?" Liang Yao asked Coney while continuing to play with the rifle in his hand.

Kony's eyes are quite poisonous.

"Volcano Repeating Weapons Company."

Seeing that Liang Yao was interested in this gun, Coney continued, "This company was established in 1854 by a guy named Smith and a guy named Wesson. They specially purchased Mr. Walter's patent to develop and produce guns. This rapid-fire rifle caught my attention.

But their product wasn't a success, and the company ran into trouble and faced bankruptcy.It happened that I had a little money, so I spent $185000 to acquire 51% of the shares of Lava Stone Company, and the remaining shares were held by their two founders and speculator Winchester.

I think this weapon has potential, and I've asked some cavalrymen about it.

The cavalry said that the Colt revolver was good for everything, but the range was too short. They wanted a lighter weapon that could fire as fast as the Colt revolver, so they could use it on horseback.

This weapon is very suitable for cavalry, you think about it, buy a goddamn thousand and eight hundred to equip your cavalry? "

Sure enough, the Lava Rifle, the Lava Rifle and Lava Pistol was an early lever-action rifle made by the Lava Repeating Arms Company.

Liang Yao checked the bullets used in the volcanic stone rifle, but to his disappointment, the gun used lead bullets without shells.

Uncased bullets mean less reliability.

It is also a helpless move for the volcanic stone rifle to use bullets without shells. If you want to be stable and reliable, the best choice is of course the bullets with metal shells.

It's just that in the middle of the 19th century, the development speed of bullets failed to keep up with the development speed of firearms. The backwardness of ammunition technology restricted the development of firearms.

At this stage, the relatively mature metal case bullet is the edge needle bullet, which is the ammunition used by Liang Yao's own version of the Walter M1851 rifle.

This kind of bullet is relatively expensive. Currently, only Liang Yao's western brigade is using this ridiculously expensive gun and ridiculously expensive bullets.

Expensiveness is only one aspect, and side needle ammunition is not so convenient and reliable compared to the simple-looking intermediate-fire ammunition (center-fired ammunition) of later generations.

When fighting in Borneo, many soldiers complained that the side needles of the side needles were not resistant to bumps, and they were easily damaged by frequent bumps, so they had to be careful with these troublesome bullets.

The logistics department also complained that due to the existence of side needles, it is more troublesome to transport this kind of bullets in large quantities.

Compared with the latter shortcoming, the shortcoming above the side needle bullet is only a minor defect.

This shortcoming is that this kind of one-sided asymmetric ammunition cannot be used on automatic weapons, which is the fatal shortcoming of side needle bullets.

It is also the main reason why this kind of edge-fired ammunition has gradually been eliminated and withdrawn from the mainstream stage, and can only become a toy for a small number of firearms players.

Take the volcanic stone rifle in Liang Yao's hand as an example. Due to the side needles that hindered the ammunition, it was impossible to stuff multiple side needle bullets into the magazine bay.

This bullet can only be used on single-shot rifles such as the Walter M1851 and revolvers.

Of course, if the problem of mid-range ammunition can be worked out, it will be easily solved. History has proved that mid-range ammunition is the optimal solution for gunpowder bullets.

As long as you can produce medium-range ammunition, you can produce a reliable lever-action rifle, or even a hand-cranked machine gun, which is a fast-firing and efficient weapon of war that can harvest life efficiently.

However, it is not easy to develop medium-range ammunition, and requires advanced chemical technology, metallurgical technology, and mechanical processing technology.

With the current level of technology in California, it might be possible for Liang Yao to manufacture a few medium-bore bombs for himself to play with, but it is impossible to put them into mass production and enter the military.

After all, the cost of bullet-type consumables needs to be considered once it enters service.

It is already very luxurious for the Western Brigade to spend five cents a side needle bomb. In California, a place with a very high cost of living, one can have a decent breakfast for five cents.

Just like this, it is still in the case that the cost has dropped after mass production.

When the side needle bomb was first put into production in Sacramento, the purchase price was 7 cents a piece.

After Yueyong experienced several battles, except Liang Shaoqiong’s direct descendant, Shanziying, which was still equipped with Walter M1851 rifles with side-trimmed needles, other troops also chose more cost-effective weapons in subsequent weapon purchases. Shelled Walter M1851E rifle.

There is no other reason, but it is too expensive.

In the early days, this thing was used by the nobles for hunting and entertainment, and naturally it was not something the army could bear.

Since Liang Yao's own troops were equipped with Walter M1851 rifles, the soldiers' live-fire shooting training had to be reduced, and the soldiers were required to pick up the eggshells after shooting.All this to reduce the cost of bullets.

After all, once it is sent out, it is a meal fee.

If it weren't for Liang Yao's strict military discipline and strict control over weapons, and the fact that the sale of Walter M1851 rifles was prohibited among the people, these big-headed soldiers would have to sell their bullets for money.

"Is this kind of gun reliable?" Liang Yao asked.

"Reliable, very reliable!" Kony said hastily.

"Really?" Liang Yao looked at Coney full of doubts.

The early lever-action firearms were still lever-action firearms that used caseless ammunition, you told me it was reliable.

Kony felt a little numb under Liang Yao's stare, scratched his head and smiled, "The two in your hand were carefully selected by me, they are absolutely reliable!"

"That is to say, the yield rate is not very high."

This was also expected by Liang Yao. If the volcanic stone rifle was reliable, Henry would not compromise on its power, and would use rim-firing bullets as the ammunition for the Henry M1860 lever-action rifle.

"Yes, I asked Mr. Walter about this issue, and Mr. Walter said that the quality rate of the gun is still secondary, and the main problem is still the bullet.

Mr Walter said he would look to see if he could develop a suitable ammunition for the rapid-fire weapon.

Once this ammunition is successfully developed and put into production, the future of this rapid-fire weapon is very bright! "Kony said very excitedly.

"Come on, I don't need you to draw a big cake for me." Liang Yao interrupted Kony, and then asked the question he was most concerned about.

"How much is this gun?"

Kony is not completely running the train with his mouth full. The lever rifle is indeed more suitable for cavalry and some pioneers who perform special tasks.

This kind of rapid-firing weapon, which can fire while reloading as long as the hand speed is fast enough, is very attractive to Liang Yao.

"Eighty-five dollars," Corney replied.

"It's $85, and the performance is not so reliable. This is a failed product, at least from a commercial point of view." Liang Yao commented.

The Springfield rifle only costs 10 dollars, and the expensive Walter rifle, which has been criticized for being counterfeit, only costs [-] or [-] dollars.

If there is a market for the unit price of 85 US dollars, it will be hell. This is almost the annual income of an ordinary American!

"But this is a very promising product!" Kony said hastily.

"I can first buy 120 for the cavalry unit to try out, and then inject 20 US dollars into the Volcano Repeating Weapons Company in the form of capital shares to help you tide over the difficulties."

As he spoke, Liang Yao filled out a check for $20 and handed it to Kony.

"If you can't come up with a product that satisfies me in the future, I will no longer be interested in this weapon."

The order of 120 guns was far from Kony's psychological expectations. Fortunately, Liang Yao was willing to invest US$10 in the Volcanic Repeating Weapons Company, which also solved the urgent need of the Volcanic Stone Company.

It's just that after Liang Yao's capital injection, Kony's equity will be diluted, and he will no longer be the absolute controlling shareholder of Volcanic Stone Company, so the price he paid is still a bit high.

"Okay, I'll ask the technicians of the Volcanic Burst Weapons Company to ask Mr. Walter for advice, and try to come up with a product that satisfies you as soon as possible," Kony said.

For the Volcanic Burst Weapon Company to succeed, whether it can get a big order from Liang Yao is very important.

Compared with the other colonels and generals in the American military who kept their hands shut, Liang Yao was the most generous one among them.

The weapons that Liang Yao is not willing to pay for are mostly weapons with no future.

"You can't catch Mr. Walter alone." Liang Yao pointed out a clear way for Connie.

"Mr. Walter has already said that bullets are the bottleneck of rapid-fire weapons. I think you can ask Nobel for advice on this aspect. Don't think that Nobel is very young. His accomplishments in chemistry are comparable to Mr. Walter's and even those of many universities. Chemistry professors are all tall."

"Nobel? This kid is not as old as me, does he really know so many things?" Kony said with some disdain.

"Those who want to achieve great things must not only be informal, but also have a broad mind. I know that you and Nobel have some emotional disputes, and I don't like Nobel. But in the field of chemistry, no one in California can hold a candle to him. Only he can I will provide you with the greatest help in developing new bullets." Liang Yao patted Kony on the shoulder and said.

"Thank you for your teaching, I know what to do." Kony took off his hat and bowed to Liang Yao, then put on his hat and prepared to leave.

"Wait a minute, are you going to find someone empty-handed like this?" Liang Yao called to stop Kony who had just moved away.

"I'll prepare a gift for him." Coney paused and said.

"The gift you prepared may not be liked by others." Liang Yao said to Kony, "I brought back a few barrels of oil from Borneo. You bring two barrels to Nobel. He will like these things."

(End of this chapter)