There is a space for passenger planes in the late Ming Dynasty

Jiazhou Ordnance Factory.

After the high-level military and political meeting was held, the Logistics Department came over to report that the Jiazhou Ordnance Factory had developed the latest rear-mounted firecracker based on the ideas provided by Lin Feng last time.

Lin Feng immediately led a team of personal guards to the ordnance factory outside Jiazhou City. This was a powerful weapon that could change the battlefield situation.

Zhao Zhixin, deputy director of the Logistics Department and director of the Ordnance Factory, and Fang Zilin, deputy director, were already greeting them at the door. Several people were about to salute. Lin Feng waved to them and told them that there was no need to be polite and that there was no need for this in the technology industry.

The group of people quickly arrived at the research and development center of the ordnance factory. Two newly developed rear-mounted firecrackers were already placed on the large table in the middle.

Lin Feng picked it up and saw that it looked very close to the rifles of later generations, a bit like the 38 caps commonly used by the Japanese.

There is a row of brand-new bullets placed next to the rifle. The bullets and gunpowder have been made into one. They look very much like the bullets of later generations, but they are longer. I looked behind the cartridge case and saw that a firing primer was also installed.

It is easy to understand that the projectile body is longer. The power of gunpowder in this era is far worse than that in later generations, and it must be filled with more powder.

"Zhixin, what is this firing primer made of?" Lin Feng asked.

"According to your instructions last time, we repeatedly experimented with the reaction of sulfuric acid and mercury to create a mercury propellant, which can be fired by hitting it hard with the firing pin." Zhao Zhixin explained.

Lin Feng picked up a bullet, unbolted the rifle, and loaded the bullet. It felt very convenient.

Then he picked up the rifle, went to the shooting range outside the R&D center, aimed at the target about fifty meters away, pulled the trigger, and there was a "pop" sound, and the bullet was successfully fired, but it did not hit the target.

It was also Lin Feng's first time shooting this kind of rifle, and he had never shot it before in his later life. Naturally, there was no accuracy. Missing the target was normal.

He mainly wanted to experience the feeling of shooting and see the impact on combat. After firing one round, I immediately reloaded and fired two more rounds. I felt that the reloading and firing speed was much faster, but the smoke produced by the firing was still relatively large, and the recoil was also quite large.

"Zhixin, have you tested it? How is the performance of this fire gun?" Lin Feng asked.

"Sir, it has been tested. The range of this fire gun is about 150 meters, which is much farther than the original electric fire gun. It is also lethal up to 300 meters, and the hit accuracy is much better.

However, the most important improvement is the rate of fire. The Type 2 Fire Gun can fire 3-5 rounds at the fastest one minute. This fire gun can fire at least rounds. The improvement can be said to be very obvious. "

"Very good, what are the other major problems?" Lin Feng then asked.

At this time, another young man who looked somewhat similar to Zhao Zhixin came up and said: "Sir, there are several main shortcomings of this fire gun. One is that it is difficult to manufacture, especially the firing pin for firing, which requires high strength. Manufacturing, which limits the quantity that can be mass-produced.”

"Who is this?" Lin Feng asked Zhao Zhixin when he saw an unfamiliar person.

"Sir, this is my cousin Zhao Zhixue, who also specializes in firearms. I wrote a letter from my home in Beijing to convene the meeting. He is taking the lead in the research and development of the new fire gun." Zhao Zhixin introduced.

Upon hearing this, Lin Feng reached out and shook Zhao Zhixue's hand vigorously and said: "Welcome to Jiazhou, we need technical talents like you most! How about you, are you adaptable to living here? Are there any difficulties? Just ask."

"Thank you for your concern. The research atmosphere here is very good. Everyone respects the technical staff. The treatment is also very good. I don't know how many times better than in the capital. There are no difficulties at the moment." Zhao Zhixue replied.

"That's good, Zhixin, are there any other talents from your family here?" Lin Feng then asked.

"One of my cousins, Zhao Zhichuang, is also here. He is a craftsman who studies gunpowder and is currently working in a gunpowder workshop."

"Very good, your family should attract more talents, the more the better." Lin Feng said.

"Thank you, sir. Other members of the family are coming over one after another. They have moved their families to Jiazhou. Everyone likes the atmosphere here." Zhao Zhixin replied. "Okay, just now I learned that it is difficult to manufacture this kind of fire gun. What is the current production volume?" Lin Feng then asked.

"About a hundred have been produced, and now we can produce about fifty per month. The main reason is that the scrap rate of firing pins is too high." Zhao Zhixue replied.

"Let the iron smelting team slowly study and solve this problem. You can produce it as quickly as possible at this rate. The 100 already produced will be handed over to the Jiaolong Guards Brigade for trial use." Lin Feng explained.

"understand!"

"Any other questions?"

"The second problem is that the bullets fired are not stable enough, which affects the accuracy." Zhao Zhixue continued to report.

Lin Feng picked up the gun again and looked at the barrel. It had a smooth bore and no rifling. No wonder the ballistic trajectory was unstable.

So he said to a few people: "To solve this problem, you can put rifling in the barrel. You should all have played with tops when you were young. The spinning top is very stable. The same goes for bullets. You can put a few riflings in the barrel to make the gunpowder burn. The airflow generated rotates, so that the bullet will be very stable when it comes out of the chamber, which can greatly improve the shooting accuracy.”

"Oh, that's it!" Several people said with enlightenment.

"The third problem is that the cost of producing bullets is relatively high. The bullet cases are made of copper. Every time a bullet is fired, it costs money." Zhao Zhixue said painfully.

"This problem can be improved from the following two aspects. One is that there is no need to use pure copper to make the bullet casing, and it can be made with an alloy such as bronze; the other is to make it clear that the bullet casing must be recycled and can be reused to generate bullets." Lin Feng thought about it Opinions were raised at once.

"The two things your Excellency said are very feasible. The first one is implemented by us, and the second one requires the cooperation of the army." Zhao Zhixue replied.

"You should test the alloy materials first. I will instruct the army to implement the second point."

"Yes!"

"Sir, this fire gun has not been named yet. Please give it a name." Zhao Zhixin suggested.

"This fire gun is fundamentally different from the original electric fire gun, so it will not be called the electric fire gun type 1639, otherwise there is no need to distinguish it. This year is in the Western calendar, so let's name it Type breech-loading rifle." Lin Feng Think about it and say.

"Thank you sir for the name!"

"You have worked hard to develop this rifle. The R&D team will be rewarded with a thousand taels of silver. You will be responsible for the specific distribution." Lin Feng ordered.

"Thank you, sir!" Zhao Zhixin said happily. Each person in the R&D team of more than twenty people can get an average of fifty taels of money.

Zhao Zhixue was even more moved. The Zhenming Army cared so much for technical talents. The reward they received in one go was more than the salary he received in two years at the Jingshi Firearms Factory.

"We have to organize a research team to study the several issues that Zhixue just talked about, including firing pin strength, rifling, and cartridge case production. There will be a silver reward for each solution," Lin Feng announced.

It is also Lin Feng's consistent policy to reward technical craftsmen for their research and development, so as to inspire more craftsmen to actively specialize in technology.

"Long live the Governor!" The craftsmen on the side cheered.

After finishing speaking, Lin Feng asked Fang Xiaoyu to complete the formalities and returned to Jiazhou City with one hundred newly manufactured Type 39 breech-loading rifles.

(End of this chapter)