1850 American Gold Tycoon.

Chapter 503 Party A's Requirements

"All of you here are experts in the field of firearms. I think the benefits of being shot, so I don't need to say more."

For these experts, Liang Yao, there is no need to introduce the benefits of medium-firing bullets in detail.

The gunsmiths whispered to each other, commented on this ammunition, and expressed their admiration.

At the same time, the gunsmiths at the Sacramento Armory were deeply ashamed that such an epoch-making ammunition was not developed by them, the most technologically powerful arsenal in California, but a product of a little-known small company.

Sartre's main attention was not on the bullets, but on the title of the bidding conference for new rifles and machine guns using medium-fired rounds.

In other words, Liang Yao wanted to invite bids for two types of weapons, one was a new type of rifle that used medium-fire ammunition, and the other was an unheard of machine gun.

Everyone is familiar with rifles. Sacramento Armory also has rich experience in manufacturing rifles. To develop a rifle that uses medium-fire ammunition, for a large factory like Sacramento Armory, there is no high technical threshold. As long as you are willing to develop Input can produce products.

It's just that the Volcanic Stone Repeating Weapons Company participated in the bidding to spoil the situation. The pressure to bid for the Sacramento Armory this time is greater than ever.

They not only have to come up with products that meet the requirements, but also have to come up with products that are better than those of the Volcanic Stone Lianfa Company in order to win the bid.

As for the machine gun, this unheard-of burst weapon, Sartre still has no idea what a machine gun is?It is only vaguely known that this is a rapid-fire weapon with a faster rate of fire than a lever gun.

Not only did Sartre have no clue, but the gunsmiths present, including the gunsmiths from the Volcanic Stone Repeating Weapons Company, which had just developed a new lever gun, also had no clue.

But right now, Sartre's biggest concern is not this, but if the Sacramento Armory wins the bid for a new rifle, what should the Arsenal's original Walter M1851 rifle production line do?
These production lines are worth a lot, not to mention that the performance of the Walter M1851 rifle is still at the leading level in the world.

In this case, Sutter believes that there is no need to start a new project.

"I don't know what a machine gun is, but I know what a rifle is. The current performance of the Walter rifle is not outdated." Sutter stood up and spoke first.

"If a new project is launched rashly, regardless of the risk of success or failure of the development, if the development is successful, how should the Walter rifle production line be handled?
It took us five years to get the cost of the Walter rifle down to $14 apiece, and if we continue to drive down the price, we will be able to get the Army order soon.

Missing the order of the entire army will be a huge loss for the arsenal. "

"We can't stop the research and development of new weapons just because the Walter rifle is not outdated yet." Liang Yao said without looking up, writing and drawing on the blueprint.

"The performance of the Walter rifle was undoubtedly excellent in the first two years of its launch. However, with the entry of the British P53 rifle and the improvement of the Dreiser needle gun by the Prussian Dreiser Arsenal, our technical advantages have become more and more advanced. smaller.

We need a weapon with better performance.

As for the existing Walter rifle production line, we have many choices, we can choose to keep it, or we can choose to sell it to France or the Qing Dynasty.

The French and Qing armies are currently equipped with a large number of Walter M1851E (Walter rifle export version) rifles, and they are very satisfied with the performance of the Walter rifle.If we want to get rid of the production line, it's not a big problem. "

During the Crimean War, the French army ordered 15 Walter rifles from the Sacramento Arsenal because they were dissatisfied with the performance of domestic active weapons.

Not to mention the Qing army, in order to meet the needs of Yueyong, the Sacramento Armory also set up a special ammunition factory in Xiangshan to produce ammunition for Yueyong.

And now the Qing army equipped with Walter rifles is not the only unit of Yueyong, the Hunan Army has also purchased Walter rifles.

Liang Shaoqiong was suppressed by the court, and when he was out of work, he even sold this weapon to the Taiping Army, and used the Taiping Army to suppress the Hunan Army.

"We can improve on the basis of existing weapons, so that the cost is lower and the production line can be preserved. Isn't that how the Springfield Armory came here?" Sutter still wanted to struggle.

"Director Sartre, these issues are not the focus today. Our focus today is the parameter requirements of new weapons, not how to dispose of the production line of old weapons." Liang Yao was already a little impatient.

"The medium round is already available, the potential of the Walter rifle has been exhausted, and there is no need for improvement."

If the mid-range ammunition is not successfully developed, Liang Yao can accept the improvement plan of the Walter rifle.

It's just that the medium-bore ammunition has come out now. Moreover, the fundamental purpose of Liang Yao's development of new weapons is to eliminate the congenitally defective edge needle ammunition, not to target the Walter-style rifle.

Seeing that Liang Yao's tone became a little impatient, Sartre knew that he couldn't talk to Liang Yao, so he stopped talking.

While talking, Liang Yao drew a sketch of the Gatling hand-cranked machine gun on the blueprint, and handed the sketch to Zeiss, who asked Zeiss to copy the sketch on the blackboard for the reference of the gun designers present, to understand This concept and principle of operation of the machine gun.

In terms of machine gun development, Liang Yao had two jobs to copy, one for the Gatling machine gun and the other for the Maxim machine gun.

Liang Yao is a pragmatic person. After careful consideration, he still chose the Gatling machine gun instead of the Maxim machine gun.

If you compare the hand-cranked Gatling machine gun with the Maxim machine gun, there is no doubt that the design concept of the Maxim machine gun is more advanced.

It's just that the Maxim machine gun requires a higher level of technology and more complicated manufacturing processes than the Gatling machine gun, mainly because it works differently from the Gatling machine gun.

The working principle of the Gatling machine gun is to use the principle of recoil action, and the exhaust gas generated by the medicine salt ignited by the primer to push the barrel to move backward, so as to achieve the effect of circular shooting.

The Maxim machine gun uses the principle of air pressure. The air pressure inside the barrel pushes the cartridge case out of the barrel, thereby achieving circular shooting.

This working principle requires a higher level of craftsmanship, and has higher requirements for the airtightness of mechanical components to ensure that the air pressure in the barrel is strong enough.In addition, the parts of the Maxim machine gun are more complicated, requiring higher precision and technical level to manufacture a machine gun with high precision and good reliability.

Not to mention the current precision machining industry in California, I am afraid that even the precision machining industry in the UK at this time may not be able to meet the requirements for mass production of Maxim machine guns.

The gunsmiths of the Sacramento Armory and Volcanic Stone Repeating Weapons Company did not have much expectation for Liang Yao's sketch.

There is a specialization in the art industry, Liang Yao is a good player in leading troops, and few people can match his talent in business, but they don't think that Liang Yao can be competent in the highly professional field of firearms design. What a great achievement.

Except for Walter and Nobel, laymen don't understand Liang Yao's talent in invention, but Walter knows it very well.

Among other things, the two great inventions that are popular all over the country, the pedal sewing machine and the bicycle that are marketed overseas, were both created by Liang Yao.

As a general with rich experience in actual combat, Liang Yao has some attainments and comprehension in firearms, which is nothing unusual.

He was looking forward to Liang Yao's blueprint.

Nobel is also very much looking forward to Liang Yao's design sketch. Although he and Walter jointly developed the mid-range bomb, the inspiration comes from Liang Yao.

They just solved the details and material problems according to the drawings provided by Liang Yao, and developed the medium-bore bomb.

The first name on the patent of Zhongfa Bomb was Liang Yao.

After Zeiss finished drawing the blueprint of the machine gun on the blackboard, only one and a half of the people present understood what a machine gun is.

One is Walter, a genius in the invention world, and his expression is very excited.

Half of them were Winchester from the Volcanic Stone Repeating Weapons Company. Winchester asked for a blueprint and carefully copied the sketch on the blackboard.

Other gun designers were scratching their heads and thinking hard at the sketches on the blackboard.

Seeing that most people did not understand the essence and principle of machine guns, Liang Yao once wondered if his drawing ability was too poor.

He asked for a small stone mill and a small bag of wheat, so that these people could quickly understand the working principle of this machine gun.

"Everyone, my inspiration comes from the stone mill." Liang Yao walked up to the stage, grabbed the handle of the stone mill with his right hand, and grabbed a handful of wheat with his left.

"Look, everyone, suppose I'm holding the crank handle of a machine gun in my right hand and the medium round in my left hand."

As he spoke, Liang Yao slowly poured the wheat in his left hand into the hole of the stone mill, and at the same time turned the handle to grind the wheat into powder.

Liang Yao's vivid metaphor made these gun designers react quickly.

Winchester suddenly realized: "I understand, rifles are like stone mills. Before the invention of stone mills, people used stone and wood mills to grind flour, and machine guns used stone mills to grind flour!
What a genius idea!In this way, just like a stone mill can continuously grind more flour, a machine gun can continuously shoot more bullets! "

"I've improved the water turbine! This is essentially the same as the operation principle of the water turbine!" said a gunsmith very excitedly.

"If a machine gun can be developed, one machine gun is worth a platoon! Even a company!" Sutter's eyes lit up.

"My God, how many soldiers will lose their jobs if this invention comes out!"

Liang Yao scoffed at Sartre's statement. History has proved that the invention of the machine gun did not make many soldiers unemployed.

Human beings just changed to a more efficient mode of war, and continued to kill each other, making wars more cruel and making lives more fragile and cheap.

"It's good that you understand."

Seeing that the gunsmiths had already understood the basic principles of machine guns, Liang Yao was relieved, and then he put forward the parameter requirements for the new rifles and machine guns: "The parameter requirements for the new rifles that use medium-fire ammunition are as follows:
Ammunition: Medium rounds must be used.

Caliber: Under 0.50 inches.

Barrel length: not to exceed 850mm.

Total length of the gun: not to exceed 1400mm.

Weight: must not exceed 4 kg.

Magazine capacity: single-shot loading and above.

Effective range: must exceed 400 meters.

Bore: Must contain 4, right-hand, deep grooved rifling.

Shooting method: A reliable manual firing pin ignition system must be used.

Sights: Must include fixed front sights and adjustable rear sights for accurate shooting.

Cost: In principle, the unit price should not exceed $20.

Machine gun parameter requirements are as follows:

Caliber: Under 0.50 inches.

Barrel length: under 900 mm.

Total weight including the gun rack: less than 30 kg.

Gun body length: below 1200mm.

Bullet Type: Medium rounds must be used.

Loading method: Manually, by turning the barrel with the crank to load, or a more convenient loading method.

Rate of fire: up to 300 rounds per minute.

Range: The effective range is more than 500 meters, and the limit range needs to exceed 2000 meters.

Cost: Unit price shall not exceed $1000. "

After the meeting, both the representatives of the Sacramento Armory and the representatives of the Volcanic Stone Repeating Weapons Company had a sad look on their faces.

The requirements for the new rifles and machine guns proposed by Liang Yao are very strict, and neither company is fully sure that they can produce products that meet Liang Yao's requirements.

Such stringent parameter requirements made Sartre wonder whether his worry that the Walter rifle production line would face elimination was superfluous.

However, compared to the Sacramento Arsenal, the Volcanic Stone Repeating Weapons Company is more of a headache.

The Sacramento Armory is rich and powerful, and when the Sacramento Armory is manufacturing the Walter rifle, it has accumulated rich experience in rifle development and digested the technology of the Dreiser needle gun.

Newer rifles require a reliable manual striker ignition system as a method of fire.This one is almost tailor-made for the Sacramento Arsenal.

The Volcanic Stone Repeating Weapons Company does not have the technology in this area.

"Chairman Kony, our Lava Stone Repeating Weapons Company is not as rich and powerful as the Sacramento Armory. If we do both projects, I am afraid it will be difficult to win the bid in the end." Winchester looked at the sketches he had just copied at the meeting .

"My thoughts coincide with yours." Coney nodded, and he deeply agreed with Winchester's point of view.

"We have no advantage in the project of new rifles, and the possibility of successful bidding is very small. I also advocate giving up the bidding for the rifle project directly.

The limited funds, manpower and material resources were invested in the development of the machine gun. The machine gun was a brand new weapon. The Sacramento Armory had not manufactured a similar weapon before.

In this program, we are on the same starting line as the Sacramento Arsenal. "

Kony advocated dropping the bid for the new rifle and focusing on the machine gun program.Only in this way can the Volcanic Stone Repeating Weapons Company be able to win the bid.

"Heroes see the same thing." Winchester laughed. "This project was proposed by General Liang himself. As long as we can develop a machine gun that meets the requirements, there will be no shortage of follow-up orders."

(End of this chapter)