In the first half of the 19th century, the term breech gun was no longer a mysterious code, but gradually entered the eyes of the great powers, a powerful weapon that could change the fortunes of the country.

Although the early breech guns were very primitive and various problems arose, the breech guns quickly drove the breech guns out of the historical stage by relying on the huge advantages in both the rate of fire and accuracy. In the Austro-Prussian War, the Peak Breech Mini was eliminated by the original Dresser rifle, which is a classic example.

And through the situation that the people are facing now, it is necessary to choose a gun as a prototype in the era closest to the metal bullet rifle, and after improvement, equip the troops.

This period was in the middle of the 19th century.

At that time, France and the United States were born almost at the same time as two excellent breech-loading rifles: Chasebo and Sharps.

Both of these guns are breech-loading paper pack fixed cartridges, with a range of more than 800 meters+, and both have high accuracy, which is a model of breech guns before the popularization of metal bullets, which is very suitable for today's cross-cutting forces.

And after the ticket players were all driven away, the minority factions who remained in the conference room were basically rational people who had considered the actual situation of the crossing forces in advance and advocated that the troops should be equipped with breech-loading paper-wrapped rifles.

Therefore, Ma Zekai can finally discuss the advantages and disadvantages of these two rifles with you calmly.

The first is Sharps.

The Sharps rifle was designed by the American Christine Sharps in 1848 and is called the "American Gun".

The American gun is a descending structure in the machine: this is a tongue twister, in fact, it is a reference to the locking principle of artillery, the bolt is along the groove in the accommodating wall vertically up and down, vertical wedge locking.

The trigger retainer of this gun is linked to the bolt, which means that when the shooter pulls the metal guard under the trigger, the bolt slides at the same time, and the chamber is exposed and can start reloading.

The gun is fired by a fire cap and a beak hook. The fire cap and the paper-wrapped bullet are loaded separately, and after locking, the shooter pulls the trigger, and the beak hook falls, detonating the fire cap, and then igniting the black powder in the paper-wrapped bullet.

It is worth mentioning that the locking block of this gun is designed with a sharp semicircular facet, which allows the tail of the paper-wrapped bullet to be cut open by the way when locking, thus revealing black powder: this eliminates the need for the shooter to bite the bullet with his teeth.

By any standard, the Sharps gun is one of the best rifles of the pre-metal cartridge case, safe and reliable, with high accuracy and great power.

This gun, Ma Zekai, who is proficient in firearms, also likes it more: for the low-quality troops who crossed the public in the 17th century, the simple structure of this gun is a big plus: the bolt has only three parts: the locking block, the air closure ring, and the coupling latch, which is very easy to clean and can be disassembled without any tools.

......

Back to Chasebo.

Chasepo is a rifle designed by the Frenchman Antoine Chasebo around 1857, here we call it the French gun.

The difference between the American gun and the French gun is that the French gun has a rotating rear pull bolt, the firing pin is fired, and the locking method is somewhat similar to the original pull bolt. And the American gun is vertically locked up and down, and the two guns show a fundamental difference here.

The reason why the French gun is not favored by Ma Zekai is here: compared with the American gun, this primitive pull bolt structure is too airtight.

The French gun originally had a unique design to solve the problem of breath-holding: rubber rings.

However, after a few shots, the rubber ring will harden due to the high temperature generated by the gunpowder gas and lose the ability to lock, so the soldier needs to carry the rubber ring to replace it at any time.

This move hits the soft underbelly of a certain force: rubber.

The difference between the French guns and the need for rubber rings or alternatives to ensure firing is clear from the American guns by design and without the need for additional attachments.

In addition, the French guns required additional springs and firing pins, which added unnecessary strain to the industrial sector.

...... After such an analysis by Ma Zekai, most of the people present realized the problem: the French gun is not suitable for the current crossing forces.

"But the rate of fire of Chasebo is unparalleled!" Zeng Rong, a supporter of French guns and the director of the carpentry factory, almost gave up resistance at this time, but he still discussed at the end and pointed out the biggest advantages of French guns.

"Hehe, the high rate of fire comes at a price." When Ma Zekai heard this, he nodded and said: "Because the warhead, black powder and fire cap are one paper-wrapped bullet, so Xia Saibo's firing pin can directly penetrate the tail of the paper shell and trigger a shot, which is the most concise way, so Xia Saibo's rate of fire was the fastest at that time." ”

"But with a high rate of fire comes a high failure rate." Ma Zekai paused and said, "Xia Saibo's original firing pin must first penetrate the paper shell before it can detonate the fire cap. The original springs and firing pins, due to the stroke, ablation and quality, often have the paper shell breaking, and the fire cap is not strong enough to fire normally. At this time, the egg hurts - the broken paper shell bullet can't be picked out by hand. ”

"And the American gun is different." Ma Zekai waited for everyone to digest the information before he said slowly: "The fire cap and paper shell bullet of the American gun are packed separately, even if the fire cap is dumb, just change it." And the beak hook design does not need to penetrate the paper shell for a long time like a firing pin - the tail of the paper shell is cut by the locking ring when it is locked, and the black powder has been exposed, which is a classic. ”

"The French guns are about 12-14 rounds per minute, while the American guns have a rate of fire of 8-10 rounds per minute, which is enough to use."

After Ma Zekai lit a black lanzhou, he said leisurely: "Our enemy is a 17th-century army with arquebuses and axes and spears. On a battlefield filled with black powder smoke, the rate of fire of 8-10 rounds per minute is actually a bit redundant. Soldiers need to shoot after a steady observation, in fact, 5 rounds per minute can wipe out all of your imaginary enemies - don't forget, the Lobster Troopers are fighting the world with the Brown Bess and what is the rate of fire of the Brown Bess ? ”

"Well, this is really unnecessary, 10 rounds per minute can't be used up at all." Han Xiaobo, who had been listening for a long time, nodded and said.

"That useless increase in rate of fire comes at the cost of rubber rings, springs, firing pins, and a high failure rate, which is unnecessary."

After Ma Zekai finished speaking, he finally looked around, and then concluded: "Well, if everyone has no opinion, then I will report the results of today's meeting, and our final choice is a black powder rifle based on the American Sharps?" ”

After waiting for 1 minute, seeing that no one objected, Ma Zekai nodded and let out a sigh: "OK, then let's have dinner together, I'll report, let's continue in the afternoon to see what needs to be improved in the new gun." ”

......

2:30 p.m., small conference room.

In view of the fact that most of the ticket holders who came to participate before have dispersed, and even a few people who stayed last to participate in the meeting in the morning, after confirming that the new gun has been finalized, did not come to continue to participate in the seminar to discuss the details in the afternoon, so Ma Zekai arranged the seminar in a small conference room in the afternoon - there are only 5 participants left, why do you run the restaurant? The small meeting room is so convenient, and there are computers and projectors that can be used to put slides.

......

"Okay, let's say the same, starting with range. Who comes first? After seeing the people coming, Ma Zekai did not delay the time and started directly.

"I'll do it first." Mu Longcheng, who had checked the information at noon, spoke at this time: "According to the information, the effective range of Sharps is 460 meters, and the maximum range is 900 meters +, and the power is huge, it can shoot North American bison at a distance of 91 6 meters, is this thing overflowing with firepower?" ”

"It's a bit of an overflow." Han Xiaobo, who was beside Mu Longcheng, opened his mouth and added: "Our soldiers don't need to put down the bison at a distance of 900 meters, in fact, no matter what kind of firearm, the best aiming distance for the human eye will not exceed 400 meters, so we suggest that the power of the new gun type should be appropriately weakened and the portability of the gun should be increased." ”

After Ma Zekai crackled and typed a word in his notebook, he raised his head and thought about it, and then opened his mouth and said, "I have written down all my opinions." But I don't know if you have considered one thing, in the future, our army will encounter a large number of enemies fighting in arrays - it is now the 17th century, and a neat formation of thousands of people is the hallmark of all strong armies, and by that time, the range of 900 meters + will be useful. ”

"It's still too strong." Han Xiaobo shook his head after hearing this: "You can kill people at a distance of 800 meters, and you can aim and shoot at a distance of 400 meters, which is enough." ”

"Well, let's take a look." Ma Zekai called up the information in the notebook and looked at it and said: "The Sharps we just talked about refers to the 0.52-inch caliber Sharps M1859 rifle in the Civil War, this bullet is loaded with 9g of black powder, and the muzzle velocity reaches 431m/s, which is enough for the hunter to hunt a North American bison weighing 900kg within 914m, hehe, it is a bit fierce." ”

"If you want to reduce power, there are ready-made ones." Ma Zekai turned the notebook around: "Well, after the Civil War, the 0.45-inch model launched by Sharps Company, as well as the Carbine type, should meet your requirements." ”

After Han Xiaobo looked at the computer screen, he nodded: "The 45 carbine type should be about the same, so let's modify it on this basis." In short, the barrel of 1.2 meters is too long, and the total weight of 4.3 kg must be reduced, you know, many of our soldiers are only 1.5 meters in size, and it is too funny to hold this kind of gun, and the recoil is too great. ”

......

Once the most important aspects of firepower of the new gun have been set on the standard, the rest of the details will be easy to say.

The next step is the bolt.

In the early Sharps rifles, there was a problem with the bolt: the direction of the bolt's landing and sliding was not perpendicular to the axis of the barrel, so after locking, there was still a gap between the barrel and the bolt, and more gunpowder gas was leaked when shooting.

The problem was solved by the improved vertical take-off and landing bolt in the later period, which made the Sharps rifle shine in the Civil War.

...... This aspect of the bolt is the strong point of the traversal: you know, the vertical wedge locking similar to the Sharps rifle is often seen in later artillery, and what is the latching gap of later artillery? 0.02 mm......

In the future, whether the kiln area is cut with CNC machine tools or stamped with machinery, in short, the bolts made by the public, including the most important air-holding gap, even if they are not as perverted as 0.02 mm, will definitely throw the American bolts of the 19th century out of the nine streets.

This is also the confidence of the military led by Han Xiaobo to dare to demand that the power of the gun be reduced - if the breath-holding link is good, there will be less gunpowder wasted, and even if the barrel is shortened and the charge is reduced, the power will not be reduced too much.