Datang: What's wrong with my fief being a billion points larger?

Li Yuanji came to the Firearms Bureau, and Liu San welcomed him in early.

"You look so happy. Has the Firearms Bureau made any new breakthroughs?"

Li Yuanji looked at Liu San's uncontrollable joy and felt extremely happy. Liu San's expression showed that the Firearms Bureau had made progress again. How could he not be happy when the Firearms Bureau had made progress?

"Your Majesty is truly amazing. You have already guessed it before I even said it."

The smile on Liu San's face was released without any restraint, which made Li Yuanji not only even happier, but also extremely curious.

"Since there is a breakthrough, judging from your appearance, you should have tried it before. Take me to see it quickly."

"Your Majesty, please follow me. I have specially invited people from the research institute to develop this together. It was only with the ideas you proposed that this product was formed."

Li Yuanji followed Liu San inside out of curiosity. He had proposed quite a few ideas, but now he didn't know which ones of them the Firearms Bureau had realized.

When he arrived at the testing ground, he saw Liu San making some arrangements, and the first thing that caught Li Yuanji's eye was a gun.

Li Yuanji picked up the gun and began to look at it. Compared with the original flintlock rifle, it was a little longer. At a rough glance, it was about 1.2 meters long. Moreover, there was no wooden material at the end of the barrel, but a long sword, which was a bayonet.

Including the length of the bayonet, the length of the gun reaches about one and a half meters.

As for the gun body, it looks smoother than before.

At the tail of the gun, in front of the buttstock, and above the trigger, the original gunpowder chamber was gone. Seeing this scene, Li Yuanji immediately looked at Liu San.

Seeing this, Liu San spoke quickly.

"My lord, the shooting of this gun, as you said at the beginning, this length is for more accuracy. The original length was not like this, but after several tests, the accuracy was not enough, so we extended the length a little bit and gradually began to test.

This barrel length is the most suitable nowadays. While improving accuracy, it will not cause the barrel to heat up and explode due to continuous shooting, making it more suitable for continuous combat.

At the end, based on the feedback from the sergeants who originally wanted to install bayonets on the flintlock rifles, we lengthened and fixed the bayonet connection part and merged it with the gun body, and the bayonet was also adjusted.

The bullets used in this gun were developed by the Research Institute and cast by the Iron Bureau, abandoning lead bullets and using this type of bullet. "

Liu San then took out the bullet and placed it on the table.

"My lord, this bullet is made of newly cast iron from the Iron Bureau. The people at the Research Institute built a machine tool that can grind bullets. They sharpened the front of the bullet a little. Although it still looks a bit round, this is the maximum that can be achieved at present.

As for the tail of the bullet, we placed the gunpowder according to what the king said, wrapped it with a layer of copper shell and assembled it with the bullet. When it was time to shoot, the bullet would be fired and the copper shell would remain in the gun.

When you need to shoot again, just pull the cartridge case out of the barrel and shoot again without reloading gunpowder, thus shortening the shooting time.

I have tested it hundreds of times. To be honest, I almost gave up. Finally, with the help of the people from the Research Institute, the bullet reached the level that the king said. Then I adjusted the barrel according to the bullet and made internal construction, and finally succeeded. "

Li Yuanji looked at the gun in his hand, then at the bullet, and became more and more excited. The scenes before his eyes told him that after more than a year, the Firearms Bureau, the Research Institute, and the Ironware Bureau had joined forces to develop the rifle.

The precision parts and bullets were manufactured using machine tools designed by people from the Research Institute. The Iron Bureau provided smelting technology support, and the Firearms Bureau provided technology and repeated testing support. That's how they were made.

With the advent of rifles, compared to flintlock rifles, as long as the army is equipped with rifles, the strike capability of their firearms will be further enhanced.

Think about the flintlock. Although it was a great improvement over the matchlock, the gunpowder still needed to be filled, and the barrel was not optimal. After shooting, it still took a lot of time to reload the ammunition. The actual performance on the battlefield still did not reach the perfection in his mind.

But rifles are different. They save a lot of time on reloading bullets and can be used for continuous shooting. If this is put on the battlefield, basically one person will die if one comes, and a thousand will die if one comes.

But Liu San's voice did not stop and continued to come.

"Now the firing range of this new musket has reached 400 meters, but the effective firing range can only reach 230 meters.

I have thought about this reason together with people from the Research Institute, and we have come to the conclusion that the steel produced by the current Iron Bureau is not strong enough. If better steel can be produced, the shooting distance can be increased.

Another disadvantage is that the rifling wears very quickly, so it is best to shoot continuously for thirty times to allow the barrel to cool.

If you continue shooting, there will be no barrel explosion, but the accuracy will decrease and the shooting distance will also be reduced.

By then, the shooting distance will probably be only about 350 meters, and the effective shooting distance can only reach 180 meters.

If it is completely worn out, the accuracy will be worse and the shooting distance will decrease, but it will not be so obvious. However, after continuous shooting, the risk of barrel explosion will be greater.

I suggest that each musketeer can bring a spare barrel, so that even if they fight repeatedly for a long time, they can basically be guaranteed. "

Hearing about this shooting distance, Li Yuanji felt a little regretful, because even the Hanyang rifle could not reach this distance, but the difference was not that big.

However, compared with the previous flintlock rifle, it is a complete improvement and a great enhancement. Both the loading and the range have undergone earth-shaking changes.

"How long does it usually take for the barrel to cool down? And after the rifling is completely worn out, how many consecutive shots will cause the barrel to explode?"

Li Yuanji was not too worried about the rifling of the gun. The flintlock he had exchanged for before was a rifled flintlock, not a smoothbore flintlock.

He believed that the Firearms Bureau must have a considerable understanding and mastery of rifling.

As for the fact that the strength of the steel produced by the Iron Bureau could not meet the requirements for longer shooting distances, he had no choice. Now he had no contribution points to exchange for more advanced steelmaking technology.

Moreover, more advanced steelmaking technology requires a lot of contribution points, and support from other aspects will be needed at that time. He must improve the technology in other aspects.

In Li Yuanji's eyes, the rifle that had been developed was enough. Using a rifle to fight against the musket that Li Er was still using was an overwhelming advantage even if Li Er developed a matchlock gun.

What he is most concerned about now is the performance of this rifle. If the musketeers can carry one less barrel, it will be a reinforcement. Otherwise, it will increase the burden on the musketeers. "Your Majesty, if the weather is hot, it will take two or three hours to cool down. If it is other weather, it generally does not exceed two hours, and the fastest is one hour, and the barrel can cool down.

If the rifling is completely worn out, do not shoot more than twenty times in a row. Once this number is reached, stop and cool it down again.

If the gun is fired continuously for more than 20 times, there is always the risk of the barrel exploding. After testing, it has been found that the barrel will definitely explode after 30 times."

Li Yuanji frowned and thought. Before the rifling was completely worn out, he could fire thirty times in a row, which was equivalent to firing thirty bullets in a row. At this time, the enemy had no firearms and Li Er only had the musket. After a big battle, if every musketeer could fire thirty bullets in a row, the battle would probably be over long ago.

Even when facing a siege, unless an army of 10,000 people is besieged by an army of hundreds of thousands, there is almost no chance of the barrel exploding.

And even if it was completely worn out, it could still fire twenty times in a row each time, which was more than enough in Li Yuanji's opinion.

As for the decrease in range, if the war really reaches that point, the enemy's weapons will have been greatly consumed, and their long-range firepower will definitely be insufficient, so a slight decrease in the range of the rifle will not have much impact.

If you carry a gun barrel, when the battle becomes intense, which enemy will give you so much time to change the barrel?
By the time the war is over, the original barrel can be cooled down and there is no need to replace it. It is also too late to replace it during a war, so it is completely useless.

Li Yuanji then looked at Liu San.

"According to the data from your tests, there is no need to manufacture spare barrels. If these rifles are damaged, we can simply replace them with new ones.

Now tell me how to shoot this gun and where to load the bullet. "

Li Yuanji really didn't understand. This rifle didn't even have a bolt. It was completely different from the loading method he remembered. Now he still didn't understand how to load bullets.

Liu San chuckled and took another rifle. He then held the bottom of the gun with one hand and the butt with the other hand, and gently bent the butt and the barrel apart. Liu San put the bullet into the barrel and then closed it again.

Li Yuanji looked at this scene and his eyes widened. In Li Yuanji's eyes, this is a rifle? Isn't this definitely a shotgun?

Besides the shotgun, is there any other rifle that loads bullets this way?
Now he finally understood why the rifle still had the risk of exploding. The buttstock of the damn gun was under such great pressure that it would be strange if it didn't explode under continuous shooting.

Li Yuanji said nothing. Regardless of this point, he wanted to try out the gun first to see what it was like.

Following Liu San's movements and placing the bullet, Li Yuanji then aimed at the target one hundred meters away, pulled the trigger, and with a slight shake of his arm, the bullet flew out.

Li Yuanji did not pay attention to whether he hit the target or not, but was feeling the recoil of the gun. There was some, but not much and he could totally bear it.

But after the launch, there was some smoke from the burning of the gunpowder, and the smell of gunpowder was very strong.

Li Yuanji didn't care about this. Guns would appear in the future. Could he just get rid of this thing at this time?
After a while, the person checking the target came back and he hit it successfully. Although there was a slight deviation from what he aimed at, it was good as long as he hit it.

"If we break this shell open again, will it be ejected and can we continue to load the bullet?"

Li Yuanji got Liu San's confirmation, opened it again, and the shell was ejected, and he understood everything.

Li Yuanji did not shoot again, but looked at Liu San with the gun.

"This gun is already very suitable overall, but it is still a bit bad. You can try to do this, make a gap here, connect the rifling, and the bullet can be put in from here.

Then shoot a bolt on the surface, and when you pull the bolt, it can be closed. At the same time, the bullet will be pushed into the chamber, and you can pull the trigger to shoot directly.

At the same time, below the place where the bullets are placed, a place to store bullets can be set up inside, which can hold several bullets.

After a shot is completed, the bolt is pulled, the original shell will be ejected, the bullet below will return to the chamber, and the bolt is pushed again to complete the loading of the bullet. "

Li Yuanji explained to Liu San how to load the rifle. Although he didn't know how to design or manufacture it, as long as he told him, Liu San would naturally complete it.

As long as what he said is feasible, the Firearms Bureau, which now has a solid foundation, is fully capable of making it.

Look at the gun in your hand now. Didn’t the Firearms Bureau also make it?

The first time he provided muskets, the Firearms Bureau produced the matchlock gun. Later, he provided rifled flintlock technology. The Firearms Bureau worked with the Research Institute and the Iron Bureau to directly produce the rifle. Because of the feasible ideas he provided, he saved countless contribution points.

After Liu San wrote all of this down, Li Yuanji asked another important question.

“You must implement this improvement as soon as possible. Now that you have mastered the principle, it can be said that this principle is not difficult. I will give you one month to complete the improvement.

After the test was successful, production began. How many of these rifles can be produced per month? "

This is what Li Yuanji is very concerned about. The manufacturing speed of firearms is linked to the layout of the processing plant, and the productivity is limited.

Take the red cannon, the total number of cannons equipped by his entire army is less than a hundred. Almost two years have passed, and there are still less than a hundred. This is under the premise that he is vigorously building factories.

This is also the reason why Li Er was not too worried even if he obtained those technologies. It takes time to equip the entire army after obtaining the technologies. It is not that once the technologies are obtained, all the troops can be equipped suddenly.

Liu San frowned when he heard about the production issue.

"My lord, the production of these rifles and bullets requires the use of machine tools designed by the research institute to grind them. Without the current rollout, we can only produce 52 rifles and nearly 200 bullets a month.

If we continue with the previous rollout, the production capacity could reach 600 guns and 2,000 rounds of ammunition per month, provided that we have sufficient manpower and raw materials.”

Li Yuanji also frowned when he listened. According to this productivity, there are about 7,000 rifles and less than 25,000 rounds of bullets a year. If he wants to equip the entire army with them, how many years will it take?

Now it is imperative to expand the scale and increase the scale.

"Just improve the new rifle, don't worry about the rest, I will take care of it!" (End of this chapter)