back to ancient times to be emperor

Chapter 61 Rifling (recommended for collection)
It is not difficult to manufacture a gun barrel. As long as you master the steelmaking technology and the steel produced is tough, then the gun barrel is considered ready.The most difficult part of making a rifle is pulling the rifling.

If in later generations, the rifling can be squeezed out after being processed by a machine tool.But in this different time and space, where is there a machine tool?There is no other way, so we can only use the most primitive method, using a special hook-shaped turning tool to dig out the material bit by bit.Slowly form a groove, turn the tool or pipe during the cutting process to keep the groove at a certain slope, so that the cut out groove becomes a spiral rifling.This is the oldest method of making rifling, but this method is too time-consuming and labor-intensive to be suitable for mass production. In later generations, only guns that require special precision were used to carve rifling by hand.

But this different time and space does not even have the most basic machine tool, so it can only use this stupid method to pull out the rifling one by one.Therefore, it is not easy to make a qualified gun barrel. It takes a skilled craftsman a day to make a gun barrel about [-] inches.

The barrel is the hardest part, and the next parts are not easy either.In particular, Lu Chengqi wanted to make a relatively advanced flintlock gun in one fell swoop, or directly make a breech-loading needle gun.

But these two guns are not easy to make.The first difficulty lies in the production of reeds. The reeds must be durable and flexible.The second type of gun, Lu Chengqi, is just thinking about it. After all, there is no thunder or mercury, let alone a flash cap. How do you do it with a breech needle?

Then you have to settle for the next best thing.The previously produced rotary rifle, because of the sealing problem, the kinetic energy of the bullet’s ejection was not enough, and there was no rifling, so the range was only [-] paces.The range of the musket is almost the same. If it is farther away, there will be no accuracy. It depends on luck whether you can hit it or not.

After the experiment, Tang Xun, Shen Kuo, and Su Song all believed that the rotary rifle was of low practicality. Although it could fire bursts, it had no range and could not restrain cavalry.Then we can only test other gun types. Shen Kuo's idea is a front-loading flintlock gun, and the bullet enters from the barrel.After hearing this, Lu Chengqi waved his hands and rejected the proposal.Although the sealing problem is solved, the reloading speed is too slow to be practical.Su Song thought that changing the rotation of the first rifle to be loaded from the flank, Lu Chengqi thought this proposal was not bad, but how to fire it was another problem.Tang Xun's idea is the most peculiar. He thinks that a mechanism that can be opened between the butt and the barrel is made, and then the ammunition is loaded from the back, and then fired with flint.

Lu Chengqi knew that they were all people with real talents and learning, and it would be very difficult to convince them if there were no real things to show up.Let each of them make the gun they think is the best, compare it, and see whose gun is the most powerful and practical, and then use whose gun for finalized mass production.

Three days later, Lu Chengqi received a report from the Military Weapons Supervision, saying that the guns of the three people were ready, so he immediately dropped his work and went to the Military Weapons Supervision to find out.

On the proving ground, the three inspectors were holding rifles of different styles, all aiming at their respective wooden targets.After a rigorous test, all three guns were put in front of Lu Chengqi, and the pros and cons were commented on.

Lu Chengqi asked the three of them to talk about their strengths and weaknesses.Shen Kuo first said: "The rifle made by the minister is loaded with bullets as your majesty said, and the speed is extremely slow. And it can't be fired continuously, but can only be fired one at a time. But the sealing is handled well, and the range has been improved, reaching 120 steps. 120 steps away, the lethality is almost zero, and even thicker clothes can't penetrate." Lu Chengqi knew that this was the loss of kinetic energy, and the lethality was gone.

Su Song pondered for a while, and said: "For my rifle, I use the lever to load the ammunition from the side, push it to the back, and use the flint to ignite it. In this way, the airtightness is guaranteed, and the range can reach more than 200 steps. It's just that it is not easy to clean the gunpowder tank. , it won’t work if you use it too much, you need to dismantle and clean the gunpowder tank.”

Lu Chengqi's eyes lit up, and he said, "That's right, it has a range of two hundred steps. It's just that the design of cleaning the gunpowder tank still has flaws."

Tang Xun was the first to come into contact with black, gunpowder and rifles, so he naturally has his own understanding of rifles.In addition, Lu Chengqi, a reborn person with a thousand years of knowledge, taught some knowledge about rifles intentionally or unintentionally, which was a great inspiration to Tang Xun.

Tang Xun said: "The gunpowder tank and loading bullets are designed behind the barrel of this rifle made by the minister. The special bullets are used, and the loading is not slow. After pushing the bullets and gunpowder in, it can be fired. The shooting range is also short Yes, the maximum distance can reach nearly four hundred steps."

Lu Chengqi was startled, snatched the rifle from Tang Xun's hand, and said in surprise: "About four hundred steps? How could it be so far away?" Overjoyed, Lu Chengqi picked up the rifle, examined it carefully, and then suddenly realized, I have to admire Tang Xun's whimsy.The rifle he made is clearly the famous minigun in official history!The only difference from the Minigun is that the bullets used are not Minie bullets, so the power is a little less.

Lu Chengqi asked people to use lead and cork to make a cylindrical miniature bullet, stuffed it into the barrel of the gun, added gunpowder, and aimed at the huge wooden target placed five hundred paces away, "Boom!! With a sound, after a puff of black smoke came out, the bullet roared out and hit the huge wooden target.

Lu Chengqi asked people to check it, and Tang Xun was pleasantly surprised to find that such bullets still had a huge lethality at a distance of [-] paces.The buckshot was deformed and embedded in the wooden target, about an inch deep.If it is injected into a vital part of the human body, it will definitely cause death in an instant.

In fact, the reason why such a famous gun as the Minigun is invincible lies in the advanced nature of its bullets. It uses custom-made bullets with the same shape and much faster loading, and its power is greatly improved.This kind of bullet is threaded around the body to match the rifling, and the middle of the thread is filled with animal oil.The bottom of the bullet uses cork material.When shooting.Gunpowder gases impact the cork.The cork suddenly expands the bullet after being impacted instantly, and the bullet is stretched to provide huge kinetic energy, so that the bullet can be shot so far.

Lu Chengqi fired a few more shots excitedly, and the measured distance was almost 650 steps, which is equivalent to 1000 meters. Shen Kuo, Su Song, and Tang Xun were all inexplicably excited.

After Lu Chengqi handed the rifle to the inspector without hesitation, he said excitedly: "Tang Qing, this is the rifle. I want to equip a thousand-man army as soon as possible. Can it be done?"

Tang Xun said: "This kind of rifle is not easy to make. It takes a craftsman three days to make one. I'm afraid..."

Lu Chengqi smiled and said: "Tang Qing, you can do this, divide the parts of this rifle into dozens of small parts after customization, each small part is produced by several craftsmen together, and divided into dozens of production groups, then the speed will be faster. It will be brought up."

Tang Xun slapped his head: "It's a good way, your Majesty's head is still bright!"

Lu Chengqi praised: "No, I never thought that Tang Qing, you can make such an excellent rifle. Now, I have a bit of confidence to deal with the Khitan people. But if I want to win all battles, I still need a lot of time." thing."

The three of them all knew about the artillery paper, and said in unison: "The artillery!"

(End of this chapter)