The Ming Dynasty did not revolutionize

Chapter 133 Firearms Caliber Artillery
Zhu Jianxuan guided the process direction of seamless steel pipes, then picked up a rifle on the table and pulled the bolt to see the structure inside:

"Apart from the bullets, are there any obvious differences in the performance of these guns?"

Song Wendao stood beside Zhu Jianxuan and introduced:
“My lord, we all followed your ideas and drafted more than a dozen different designs in the early stages.

“After discussion and evaluation, we eliminated those that were highly similar or had obvious flaws, and selected three design options.

“We made three sample guns for each type of weapon for actual testing, and the test results were basically in line with the design direction.

"The Type A gun has the strongest bolt, the tightest locking, and the highest muzzle velocity.

“It also has the longest effective range, ranging from 500 to 800 meters.

“But the bolt operation is not flexible, and the maximum rate of fire is relatively slow, probably less than 20 rounds per minute.

"The Type B gun has a more flexible bolt action, so its rate of fire is also the fastest, at least 30 rounds per minute.

“But the bolt is not strong enough, the locking is not tight enough, and the ballistics and range parameters are not as good as the Type A.

“The Type C gun has a uniquely designed receiver and replaceable magazine.

"Depending on the size of the magazine, it can hold up to sixteen bullets and is a byproduct of the design of a lightweight motorized musket.

“The handguard is divided into two parts, front and back, which is relatively easier to produce.

“But both the receiver and the magazine are not easy to produce.”

Zhu Jianxuan did not have any accurate drawings of the rifle in his mind. He only proposed the design idea of ​​a bolt-action rifle.

The final actual design was completed by the craftsmen and disciples.

Different people will have different ideas, which will naturally lead to significantly different designs.

The most important difference between the final three rifles that entered the final round was the different locking structure.

A more secure latch will operate more slowly, while an easy latch will not be as secure.

Zhu Jianxuan feels that the first type is a bit like the German Mauser and the Russian Mosin-Nagant, and the second design is a bit like the British Lee-Enfield.

Of course, the structures are different, but the features are somewhat similar.

As for the third type, Zhu Jianxuan couldn't tell what kind of rifle it was, but he could see that its design was advanced.

The magazine, a very common design in later generations, was not easy to manufacture in this era.

In the era of bolt action, the number of magazines in a rifle was not important.

Infantrymen may not be able to fire all five bullets in one battle, and loading too many bullets would be an obvious waste of resources.

The key point is that smokeless gunpowder at this time is unsafe.

Zhu Jianxuan thought for a while, and before deciding which model to use as the final standard rifle, he asked another key question:
"Barrels of the same caliber are all the same, right? Bullets are also universal, right?"

Song Wendao answered immediately:
"Your Majesty, the barrel is universal. The male diameter of an 8mm rifle barrel is 7.7mm and the female diameter is 8mm.

"The bullets are universal, but the Type A rifle can theoretically use bullets with more powder, and the powder charging process can be further optimized in the future."

Rifled guns have rifling, so the inside of the barrel is uneven, so naturally there is more than one caliber.

Measuring the distance from the protruding part relative to the rifling gives the minimum diameter, also known as the positive line diameter.

Measuring the distance relative to the recessed part of the rifling gives the maximum diameter, also known as the negative diameter.

The maximum diameter of the bullet, usually the same as the diameter of the shadow line.

If the manufacturing process is of low quality, the diameter of the bullet may be deliberately made a little smaller to avoid barrel explosion accidents during use.

So a gun and its corresponding bullet put together usually have two or even three caliber data.

The numbers usually used as model numbers may be any one of these three, or none of the three.

Because there are also various issues left over from history, issues of customary names, issues of design improvements, issues of unit conversion, issues of simple bore expansion, etc.

The German Mauser rifle bullet was originally marked as 7.92×57 mm bullet, but was later changed to 8 mm.

However, the actual maximum diameter of the bullet is 8.2 mm, the negative line diameter of the 98k rifle barrel is also 8.2 mm, and the positive line diameter is 7.89 mm.

It has nothing to do with 7.92 mm.

On the contrary, the nominal caliber of the Mosin-Nagant is 7.62 mm, and the maximum diameter of the bullet used is exactly 7.92 mm.

As for the initial size choice, it will be directly affected by the common measurement units in your country.

In order to facilitate the production of products and improve production accuracy as much as possible, it is best to round up to the units you use.

The caliber of 7.62, which was common in the past, all originated from the 0.3-inch caliber of the British country. The caliber of Lee Enfield and Browning are both 0.3 inches.

Influenced by Britain, the Russian industry created a unit called "line" based on the inch, stipulating that 10 lines equal 1 inch. The caliber of the Mosin-Nagant is 3 lines, which is also 0.3 inches.

0.3 inches converted to metric is 7.62 millimeters.

Due to the huge influence of Britain, the United States and Russia in the past, the caliber 7.62 appears very frequently in weapons.

The main differences are in metric countries such as France, Germany and Italy.

The earliest French smokeless powder bolt-action rifle, Lebel, and a series of German rifles known as various Mausers, had an initial caliber of around 8 mm.

Starting from the Chongzhen period of the Ming Dynasty, the "Chongzhen System" was implemented in the industrial and commercial fields, which was a modified definition based on the previous system.

One meter is one forty-millionth of the length of the earth's meridian, with derivative units such as decimeter, centimeter, millimeter, and kilometer.

Ming Dynasty craftsmen usually used the metric system for calculations and testing. When the caliber of smokeless powder rifles needed to be reduced, they naturally chose the 8mm caliber.

Zhu Jianxuan certainly would not use metric equipment to work out numbers like 7.62 in this world because of the influence left by Britain in his previous life.

For metric countries, especially when the processing accuracy is not enough, the second decimal place after the millimeter does not have much meaning, and forcing it will only increase the additional error. The Ming Dynasty in this world completed the industrial revolution first, and coupled with the huge influence it will surely have in the future, the metric system will definitely become the mainstream.

The 8mm and 12mm calibers will definitely become the most common calibers of bullets in the future.

7.62 may still appear, but it will definitely be a niche.

Zhu Jianxuan fiddled with the three rifles one by one, observed and considered for a while, and then decided:

"Each has its own advantages and disadvantages, but none of them has been tested enough for us to jump to conclusions about which one is more suitable.

“For now, we will use the most reliable Type A as our target type, and start trying to mass produce it after returning to Australia.

"Don't give up on Type B and Type C either. Produce a batch on a small scale and equip the troops with them for testing.

"If in actual production and use, it is found that Type B and Type C have very obvious advantages, then we will replace the standard rifle in the future.

“The range of uses for guns and ammunition is too wide to allow for a share of the rewards to be given to the designers, so the only bonus is a buyout bonus.

"But you can get dividend shares from a factory that specializes in producing the corresponding rifles or bullets."

After hearing this, Song Wendao and other craftsmen immediately agreed, and then guided Zhu Jianxuan to see the two machine guns they designed.

One type uses a magazine to feed ammunition and is generally relatively light, so one person can carry it.

Zhu Jianxuan feels a bit like an automatic rifle, but it is much heavier than an automatic rifle and cannot be used as a general-purpose rifle:

The other type uses a belt-fed ammunition supply, has a specially equipped bracket and water-cooling equipment, and requires the cooperation of multiple people to operate.

Both machine guns would have been very typical weapons in the early twentieth century.

This is what World War I was about.

But now it is the end of the eighteenth century, more than a hundred years ahead of time, so it seems very advanced.

Zhu Jianxuan pointed it out directly at the beginning and asked the craftsmen to find a way to use the thrust of the bullet gas to achieve automatic loading and shell removal of machine gun bullets.

Naturally, this also directly led to the creation of these designs with a strong sense of déjà vu.

Zhu Jianxuan looked at the two machine guns with great satisfaction, imagining their power on the battlefield.

"You can consider equipping a squad with one as fire support."

"In this case, a squad can be responsible for two machine guns as a dedicated firing point."

Then, Zhu Jianxuan quickly thought of the difficulty of manufacturing:
"Can these two machine guns be mass-produced now?"

Song Wendao said very "happily":
"Your Majesty, it's not possible now. We must develop special machine tools and design a special production line..."

Zhu Jianxuan was not discouraged after hearing this. It would be outrageous if these two monsters could be mass-produced directly:
“Then we will start to tackle the problem after we return to Australia. There is no need to be too anxious. We can take it one step at a time.

"With new gunpowder, new rifles, new artillery, and new bombs, our troops have become the most powerful in the world."

After looking at the machine guns, Zhu Jianxuan went to look at the artillery.

The four calibers of 40mm, 80mm, 120mm and 160mm are all the result of rounding off the Chongzhen metric data.

They are all breech-loading rifled guns.

The shape is similar to the Armstrong cannon from the mid-nineteenth century in the previous life, and the bore is obviously much thicker than the front barrel.

The manufacturing process is also very similar.

The inside is wrapped with wrought iron liner and the outer shell is reinforced with cast steel casing.

Using a bolt-action breech block, smokeless powder can be used, but the amount of powder must be controlled, or traditional black powder can be used.

Round-headed cylindrical shells were used, including blasting shells with picric acid charge, blasting shells with black powder charge, and traditional armor-piercing shells with no charge at all.

The effective range of small-caliber artillery is about two kilometers, and the effective range of medium and large-caliber artillery is more than three kilometers.

Compared with traditional muzzle-loading smoothbore guns, it has doubled.

However, in order to keep the weight within a controllable range, the amount of explosives must still be limited, otherwise the effective range should be doubled.

That's why the craftsmen wanted to improve the performance of the gun barrel, and then they wanted to make seamless steel pipes.

After listening to the introduction of the artillery, Zhu Jianxuan asked directly again:
“Can all these artillery pieces be mass-produced?”

This time Song Wendao answered decisively:

"Your Majesty, no problem."

Zhu Jianxuan's anger suddenly rose:
"We will start building a factory for mass production as soon as we return to Australia, and strive to replace all our artillery in the future."

A group of craftsmen immediately agreed solemnly.

After looking at the artillery, the next thing to look at is the various electronic equipment.

Large generators for steam engines, large electric motors for industrial machine tools, and small general-purpose electric motors.

There are also various electrical equipment, including telephones, telegraphs, electric fans, phonographs, light bulbs, electron tubes, etc.

Song Wendao followed Zhu Jianxuan to the equipment and first turned on an electric fan, which blew out a steady and continuous cool breeze.

Then Song Wendao continued to report to Zhu Jianxuan with a smile:
“Your Majesty, we have connected a generator and a high-speed steam engine in series.

"The two machines are installed on a specially made steel stand, which allows them to work continuously and stably on board and provide power for various electrical appliances in the laboratory.

“Now you can flip the telegraph switch, or pick up the phone and give the order.

"The four new guns on the side of the battleship have been prepared and will immediately fire according to your order."

(End of this chapter)