After getting the B gunpowder, Marlin naturally wanted to test its power. So, Marin found an arquebus and a clockwork musket to test.

The first to be tested was the oldest version of the Spanish Mushket musket, which was built by Marin's earliest hired gunsmiths from Spain with a barrel forged from the most common wrought iron.

It should be pointed out that the earliest version of the Spanish Mushquet musket was made by rolling iron sheets. That is, a layer of iron sheet is rolled first, and then heated and forged repeatedly, until the iron sheet is beaten together after a long time. Then, it is wrapped in a second layer of iron sheet and then repeatedly hot-forged.

In short, the earliest Spanish method of making gun barrels was very time-consuming. It takes a few months to build a barrel. Later, this method was passed on to the Ming Dynasty by the Portuguese, and the Ming Dynasty's bird gun was forged with a double layer of iron, which was very inefficient.

And the barrel used by Marin's Beihai State is learned by Marin from the video "The Gunsmith of Williamsburg". It is to use a rectangular wrought iron plate, which is directly forged and rolled into shape. After rolling into an iron pipe, the craftsman sprinkles iron powder on the forging seam while it is hot, so that the forging seam is melted and welded by iron powder at high temperature. Even, the red-hot forging seams are sprinkled with refined iron ore powder, that is, iron oxide. After sprinkling it, the reddened iron pipe is buried in the charcoal pile, and the iron ore powder is reduced with coal, and the reduced iron ore is directly "grown" with the forging seam...... This thermal reduction, combined with the method of forging, makes the production of the barrel easy. A skilled craftsman can forge an iron pipe in a day. If you are not skilled, you can almost finish it in two days.

Later, Marlin improved the material properties. The original wrought iron, in fact, was not of good quality. Because, there is no process of phosphorus removal and desulfurization. In fact, this process is very simple, that is, secondary refining, and then release quicklime into the molten iron to make slag to remove phosphorus and sulfur. Then, a certain amount of graphite powder is also added to increase the carbon content. After all, Marin remembered that the 56 and a half of later generations used No. 45 carbon steel, not wrought iron.

In other words, Marlin now has three different barrels in his hands - the traditional barrel made of iron sheets, the barrel of traditional wrought iron plate, and the barrel of medium and low carbon steel that is not very well controlled in carbon content......

Because B gunpowder was more than three times more powerful than black gunpowder, it stands to reason that Marlin should have reduced the charge to one-third. But Marlin wanted to test the performance of the barrel. Then, it was charged in the usual mode......

As a result, the oldest version of the double-layered iron barrel exploded on the spot. Fortunately, during the Marin test, the method of inserting a long fuse in the fire door was used, but there were no casualties.

Then, the barrel made of wrought iron plate did not withstand the pressure, and although the explosion did not occur, the barrel was also deformed......

Only the barrel of medium and low carbon steel, which has a small carbon content, withstood the test. However, there is no need for this......

Why? Even if you don't reduce the amount of propellant, it's a waste to take it! Because, after the signing of the smoothbore gun flew out of 100 yards, it basically flew randomly. Even if you use three times the power of B gunpowder, it will be a waste. Because, even with black powder, within 100 yards, the lethality is enough......

Then, naturally, the question of a reduction in the charge is considered. Obviously, B gunpowder was used, and it could not be loaded with as many propellants as before. Otherwise, it will be wasted on smoothbore guns. Moreover, it is easy to blow up.

As for how much to be reduced, Marin decided to use the data of the later Mauser rifles......

The Mauser 1871 was a black powder rifle with a bullet caliber of 11mm and a length of 60mm. The G98, which switched to smokeless propellant, has a bullet caliber of 7.92mm and a length of 57mm. Of course, this length, including the warhead part.

In this way, the charge of the new bullet is about half of that of black powder. But the actual power is much greater. For example, in the Mauser 1871, the muzzle velocity of the bullet is only 440 m/s. The G98, which uses smokeless propellant, has reached an initial velocity of 800 m/s...... The charge is halved, but the muzzle velocity is doubled......

Originally, Marlin used 10 grams of black powder for a clockwork musket that used 30 grams of lead bullet. But now with B gunpowder, it is completely possible to reduce the charge. And out of the consideration that kinetic energy will be wasted 100 yards away, Marin finally decided to reduce the charge to 3 grams when using B gunpowder......

After testing, the charge of 3 grams is quite reasonable. Because, the power has not been reduced at all......

But after this test, Marin found that it did not make much sense to use smokeless gunpowder on the rifle......

Why? Because whether you use black powder or smokeless powder, the effective range of the smoothbore gun is about 100 yards, and the is further away. Moreover, the production cost of smokeless gunpowder is quite high, and it is not cost-effective at all.

Unless, it is a copper-shelled bullet of later generations, and the use of smokeless gunpowder is valuable. After all, the savings of copper for eggshells alone are a lot of money.

But that didn't work. Because, Marlin didn't study chemistry and didn't know how to make a primer......

Primer is a difficult chemical problem, unless the top students of chemical engineering majors travel through ancient times, people in other majors will not be able to master primer technology. Although there is mercury thunderate is the simplest primer, it is not easy to tidy, the stability is worse than nitrocellulose, and the power is amazing. If you're not careful, you can kill yourself...... So, don't think about it......

Therefore, Marlin was embarrassed to find that the B gunpowder had no effect on the musket......

And when it comes to using artillery as a propellant...... It doesn't seem to work...... After all, musket propellant is fired by a few grams, while artillery propellant is measured by pounds, and a few pounds of propellant is fired at a time......

Now the cost of making smokeless gunpowder in Marin is so high that it is used as artillery propellant...... I can't afford it, I can't afford it......

As a result, Marin was completely depressed - it was sad that he had finally come up with a modern smokeless gunpowder, but it was useless......

……

In the end, Marin's depression was still Dhoni. Ciri gives a good ...... for "cure"

How is it "cured"? It turned out that Dhoni. As the leader of the demolition team, Cri came to Marin to apply for a batch of powder kegs for training. After all, blasting work is also very important. In wartime, the demolition team can blast through enemy gates. And in peacetime, they can still mine......

Dhoni. Ziri himself does not know how to cure diseases and does not persuade people, but his arrival is a reminder to Marin - since B gunpowder is not suitable as a propellant for smoothbore guns and smoothbore guns, it can still be used as explosive charge......

In any case, the detonation rate of B gunpowder is close to 2000 meters per second, which is still the effect of being passivated. But it is also stronger than the detonation speed of black powder at 500 meters per second.

So, Marin asked Doni. Ciri got a powder keg filled with B gunpowder to practice blasting, and it was so powerful that he almost injured the demolition team. However, this is still a gap from Marin's expectations......

Why? According to theoretical data, the detonation rate of B gunpowder is 4 times that of black powder, and the amount of gas produced by combustion is also more than 3 times that of black powder, so theoretically the power should be three times that of black powder powder keg. However, the test showed that the explosive power of the powder keg of this new type of B gunpowder was less than twice that of black powder......

"What's going on?" Marlin was a little confused. But when he picked up the B gunpowder particles in his hand and looked at them, he discovered the reason......

It turned out that Marin himself was to blame for this. Because, in order to reduce the burning rate of B gunpowder, Marlin deliberately passivated the surface of the particles. That is, a thin wax film is applied to the surface of the particles with a beeswax solution. The presence of wax film affects the burning rate of gunpowder particles and also affects the speed of deflagration......

Therefore, Marlin soaked the remaining B gunpowder again in alcohol, washed and filtered, and removed the wax film from the surface. In this way, after further testing, the power really reached about 3 times that of the black powder keg.

Eventually, Marlin settled on it - B gunpowder was used exclusively to make blasting canisters......

However, now Marin won't fight anyone for several years, and even if he gets a blaster, it's useless...... It's so distressing......

In the end, it was a drunkard who reminded him......

Marin went out for a walk and saw a drunkard, probably who went crazy after drinking a bottle of Erguotou, and directly threw the half-pound small glass bottle out directly. That posture is very much like the throwing of the afterlife...... Hand grenade......

"Yes, I can use B gunpowder to make grenades......"

Before, Marlin didn't think about getting grenades. It's just that the power of black powder is too low, and the grenades made can only hurt people, not kill people. Even with the addition of steel balls, the power is still a little low.

In many histories, it is said that putting black powder in a clay pot can kill all directions, which is simply a boast. In fact, using black powder to make grenades was done by the Eighth Route Army back then. However, the grenades that came out of this way, were of poor quality. Let's put it this way, the clay grenades made of black powder often blow up in half. As for the killing effect...... There were only kills, not kills on the spot...... Its biggest effect is to send one or two devils to the hospital. Of course, there is another effect, which is to scare the enemy by surprise......

However, it would be wrong to say that this kind of native grenade is completely incapable of killing people. After all, if the steel balls or iron nails in the grenade happen to fly to the enemy's temples and other vital parts, they can also kill them on the spot......

Those histories say that they used black powder jars to blow up the enemy's troops...... Don't blow it, but it's quite possible to blow up the enemy's war horse and get it frightened. After all, animals are generally afraid of the sound of explosions. Especially if you haven't encountered it before, you are more likely to be frightened.

Speaking of which, in the early years of the Ming Dynasty, the reason why the Ming army was able to defeat the Mengyuan cavalry was because the war horses of the Mongolian army at that time did not receive relevant training. As soon as the decisive battle began, the war horse was frightened on a large scale, and he still played a P?

By the end of the Ming Dynasty, the Manchu army knew how to adapt the war horse to the training of the sound of guns and cannons (those who were not suitable were eliminated directly), and gave the war horse earmuffs. Then, the role of firearms in the Ming army was greatly reduced......

……

Of course, that's talking about a dirt grenade made of black powder. That kind of power will definitely not work, but if you use smokeless gunpowder with three times the power...... Although the power cannot catch up with the effect of the high-explosive products of later generations, it is much better than the specially scary native grenades made of black powder......

So, Marin ordered to start developing a small iron canister with a wooden handle for holding B gunpowder as a grenade. The way to ignite it, because there is no rope technology, you can only use the fire rope to ignite......

Its shape is made in the style of a wooden-handled grenade in later generations. The wooden handle is hollow and puts the fuse. Usually, the top of the wooden handle is covered, mainly to prevent moisture from the fuse. To use, first open the lid, light the fuse with a fire rope, and then throw it out with a wooden handle in hand......