My Red Mansion Career

Chapter 127
Early tube rolling machines

World Expo Center Space Industrial Zone

It is said to be an industrial zone, but it is actually a three-story building covering an area of ​​more than 3 square meters.

And Jia Yu is working loudly here.

There was only one thing he did, and that was drilling holes.

More than a month ago, Jia Yu asked someone to purchase [-] wrought iron rods in the capital for a simple purpose: making gun barrels.

As for why we don’t use seamless steel pipes and steel products with better quality in industrial areas, the reason is simple: we can’t bear to part with them.

Although there seems to be a lot of modern and good steel materials in the industrial area, it gives people the illusion that they can be made casually.

But Jia Yu knew very well that these steel materials and steel pipes were all consumables, and there was nowhere to buy them once they were used up.

Furthermore, what he wants to make now is just an ordinary musket. Ordinary wrought iron is enough. It would be a waste to use too good steel.

"when!"

A piece of processed wrought iron... no, what should be called a gun barrel now rolled out from the exit of the drilling machine. Jia Yu picked up the processed iron pipe and looked at it.

The inner wall of the barrel is smooth and flat, with no burrs or bumps inside.

He nodded with satisfaction and turned off the machine.

He looked at the bundles of barrels that had been packed behind him. After these days of hard work, five thousand barrels were finally processed, which also meant that the most difficult part of the musket was completed.

Not to mention the remaining hammers, gunpowder pools, purge bars, bayonets and other items. After going out, you only need to find some craftsmen to assemble the made stock and assemble the parts to become a complete musket.

In fact, the history of using fire guns in the Great Xia Dynasty is quite early.

The main reason why there is no large-scale equipment is that the manufacturing difficulty of gun barrels is too high.

Because the barrel of a gun cannot be cast like that of an artillery gun, the barrel of the gun in this period did not use a casting process, but a rolled tube.

The so-called rolled pipe is to roll the iron sheet tightly around the circular "steel frame" into a tube shape, then weld the seams, and then pull out the steel frame, so that a simple smoothbore barrel can be obtained.

However, the above tube rolling method was too simple and unreliable, so it was quickly replaced by a more complex hot rolling process. People used better-performing stainless steel to make "cold bones", and then rolled red-hot iron sheets around the outside of the cold bones. It is formed into a tube, and then several layers of high-temperature iron sheets are rolled on it while the iron is still red, so that the barrel can achieve better air tightness.

But whether it is cold rolled tube or hot rolled tube, their shortcomings are very obvious.

That is, the processing procedures are complicated and costly. It will take a skilled craftsman at least several days to build a qualified barrel.

But even so, the quality of the gun barrel was not satisfactory, and the military affairs department in Daxia was rife with corruption.

Officials arbitrarily withheld materials and mistreated craftsmen, and craftsmen could not even maintain basic food and clothing. Therefore, firearms in Daxia often had their barrels burst.

This also led to the reason why the soldiers of Daxia would rather fight with swords and spears than use firearms issued by the imperial court.

After coming out of the space, Jia Yu appeared in the military camp of the Wucheng Soldiers and Horses Division in the capital.

He took everything out of the space and piled it all into a large warehouse. He also asked his soldiers to call in dozens of craftsmen he had hired from the War Bureau.

He pointed at the things on the ground and said, "You have all seen it, right? These things on the ground are all parts of firecrackers. All you have to do is assemble them all within ten days. Can you do it?"

One of the oldest craftsmen with wrinkles on his face first glanced at the parts on the ground, nodded and said: "To tell you what, if you just use these things to assemble the fire blunderbuss, let alone ten days, five or six days will be enough.

What the little old man is worried about is that the tubes of these guns are not easy to make. If they are not made well, the barrel will explode after one or two shots, which will harm others and yourself. Jia Yu smiled and pointed to the gun pipe on the ground: "Old man, you don't have to worry about this. Just pick up a pipe and see how the quality is?" "

The old craftsman bent over and took out a gun barrel and looked at it doubtfully. However, this did not matter, and the whole person almost froze.

Then he suddenly turned the barrel over and looked carefully, trying to find traces of processing on the barrel, but no matter how hard he searched, he could not find any trace of hammering and welding.

Immediately afterwards, he frantically pulled out another gun barrel. After looking at it, he bent down and pulled out another one. He stopped after looking at all the barrels in the bundle.

Suddenly, he rushed to Jia Yu.

The two soldiers behind him quickly blocked Jia Yu when they saw this, and at the same time drew out the steel sword from their waists and shouted sharply.

"Stop, don't come forward, otherwise we will shoot without mercy!"

"It's okay...let him come over."

Jia Yu, who was behind him, waved his hand, signaling to the soldiers to let the old craftsman come forward.

The old craftsman's eyes were red with excitement, "Sir...this...could it be that these pipes of yours are not rolled, but drilled directly?"

"Yes!"

Jia Yu nodded and said with a smile: "Why...old man, you also know how to drill holes."

"Of course I know, but... I just shouldn't. How do you drill such a long barrel without drilling it crookedly?" the old craftsman asked excitedly.

In fact, no one has tried to use drilling to make gun barrels these days, but before the invention of high-precision drilling machines, early drilling could only be done using hydraulic power, and only short barrels such as handguns could be drilled. hole.

As for those gun barrels with a length of more than one meter, forget about it, and even if it can be done, the time and cost will be hopelessly high.

Facing the old craftsman's question, Jia Yu could only smile and said he had no comment.

After the excitement subsided, the old craftsman realized that his question was unexpected.

Craftsmanship like this can be passed down from generation to generation. If you don't trade it for a fortune, how can you tell yourself so casually?

Jia Yu patted his shoulder: "Okay, old man, don't think too much. It's better to quickly assemble a few firecrackers and let us open our eyes first."

"You are right, I will install it for you right away."

It has to be said that this old man is indeed an old man who has worked in the War Bureau for most of his life. The barrel, spring, powder tank, trigger, bayonet, purge and other parts are as if they are alive in his hands.

Even if it's a part he hasn't seen before, he can understand its purpose after thinking about it for a while.

After three strokes, five divisions and two divisions, a fire gun was assembled in less than ten minutes.

After assembling it, he handed the gun to Jia Yu and begged.

"Sir... I have a gracious request. Can I be the first to conduct a test launch?"

Jia Yu was slightly startled, and instantly understood what the other person was thinking.

He smiled and said, "Of course, why not."

(End of this chapter)