Brandt's so-called new propellant inspired by Italian macaroni really looks a bit like Italian macaroni, which is a propellant made from a cotton wool base and added with other stabilizing agents, and the black-brown gunpowder does not look much different from other gunpowder, except that the shape of the gunpowder particles is very unique. This gunpowder has a thin tubular shape, just as the middle of the spaghetti is empty, and the middle of this gunpowder is also empty. In fact, this is exactly the shape used by later generations of rifle propellants.

"Well, it's an interesting design. This is to keep the burning rate constant, right? Scrooge asked.

"Yes, Mr. MacDonald, look!" Brandt took out an incendiary dish and placed some of the flakes of gunpowder that were now commonly used on it.

"Look, Mr. MacDonald. This is traditional granular gunpowder, it burns quickly, but because in combustion, its burning area is getting smaller and smaller, so its burning speed will be slower and slower, in order to make it easier to observe, I made the particles very large, so that the combustion speed will be much slower. So if you look closely, you will see that the flame will rise high in an instant and then quickly go down. While saying that, Brandt ignited this gunpowder on the one hand, and under no closed conditions, gunpowder (guns and artillery propellants belong to gunpowder and the like) will not explode (explosives are different, even if they are not sealed, they will explode if ignited, little pot friends must not play around), but the flame suddenly jumped high, and then, before people could see clearly, the flame became low and then extinguished.

"Mr. MacDonald, if we use such a charge in a rifle, the chamber pressure will be very high at the beginning, and if we want to reduce the danger of exploding, we will either have to make the barrel very thick or we will have to reduce the charge. The former will make our rifles unspeakably heavier, and what about the latter? The problem arises: at the beginning, the chamber pressure is appropriate, and the bullet begins to move forward with the impetus of gunpowder gases. However, it burned too fast, and before the bullet could fly out of the muzzle, it burned out, so the chamber pressure dropped rapidly, and the muzzle velocity dropped when the bullet was fired out of the muzzle. So, we need a gunpowder that burns at a relatively constant rate. The rate at which gunpowder burns is very large depends on the area in which it burns. So I think that if we can ensure that the burning area can be maintained during the combustion process, or that the change is very small, then we can obtain a gunpowder with a constant combustion rate that can provide a stable bore pressure for a long-barreled weapon......" Brandt began to show off his creativity triumphantly, like a child showing off his new toy.

"So you made this macaroni?" "In this structure, the outer surface of the tube is about smaller, and the inner surface is indeed larger. It's a good idea to strike a balance. ”

"I'll light it up for you to see." Brandt quickly added some gunpowder of similar shape to his new projectile, but noticeably several sizes larger, into another incendiary dish, and lit it. The flame rose high, then steadied a little, and then suddenly extinguished.

"You see, until it is extinguished, there is no noticeable change in the size of the flame."

"It's good, it's impressive." Scrooge said. With this, the performance of the rifle can climb again. Think about it, at the beginning of the war, when the arrogant Northerners took front-loading rifles and attacked the South, which was already armed with at least tens of thousands of MacDonald 1857 rifles (Scrooge estimated that many of the end users of these rifles purchased by the people were Southerners), they would definitely be beaten to the ground, and then they could sell the MacDonald 1857 to the Northern Army at a patriotic price. So the war will enter a stalemate, and the Northern Army will continue to buy MacDonald 1857 from here, or buy patents for Spearfield to manufacture, but considering the time of the change, the number of direct purchases will definitely not be small. What about the Southern Army? Well, they will also buy the British version of 1857 from the British, and for each one they buy, the British will give themselves two and a half dollars. By the time the war dragged on until President Lincoln's first term was approaching, the pressure on Lincoln would be great if the Northern Army could not open the way up. At that time, if he came up with all kinds of new gadgets with excellent performance that could overwhelm the weapons in the hands of the Southern Army, would he dare not buy them? By that time, sixty dollars a magazine rifle using smokeless gunpowder (a knockoff version of Springfield 1903), a smokeless powder bullet for five cents, a grenade for ten dollars (the heart was too dark), and new artillery and high-explosive shells, the price of which would be set later, and the U.S. government would have to empty the entire treasury anyway. Well, when the time comes, he really has no money, and MacDonald Bank can also provide him with a big loan for the aftermath and let him use customs duties as collateral!

"How's the development of the draw-on fuse?" Scrooge asked. (A grenade for ten dollars depends on it)

"There's been a lot of progress. However, this project is what Raphael is working on, and I don't know the specific progress. Brandt said.

"Mr. MacDonald, we have developed two kinds of pull-out fuses, one mechanical, which is struck by a spring-propelled firing pin against the fire cap. This kind of has basically matured, that is, the cost may be high. There is also a friction fire pipe, which has a good effect, but there is still a gap in reliability and mechanical type. Researcher Raphael, who was following him, replied.

"How much of a difference?" Scrooge asked.

"Mechanically, there is now about one failure for every 100 fires, and now the success rate with a fire hose is less than 90 percent." Raphael replied.

"So one or two out of every ten won't explode?" Scrooge asked.

"Yes, Mr. MacDonald."

"I think that's enough. Oh, how much more expensive is a mechanical one than a pull fire tube? Scrooge asked.

"If the fire pipe is mass-produced, one cent can probably make at least five out. Spring-loaded ones, about five to ten cents each. Raphael replied.

"Then don't develop the spring type anymore, and concentrate on improving the fire-pulling tube type. Oh my God, the cost is so much worse. Oh, by the way, are there samples of grenades? Take me to see it. Scrooge said.

……

According to Scrooge's prior instructions, there were two types of grenades under development. One is the so-called offensive grenade, which has a large charge and few shrapnel when it explodes, mainly relying on the air wave of the explosion to hurt people. Of course, the radius of destruction is relatively small, at least much smaller than the throw distance, and it is suitable for soldiers who are attacking when there is no concealment nearby. The other is the so-called defensive grenade, which is equipped with a prefabricated fragmentation casing, which explodes with a large number of shrapnel, mainly by shrapnel, and the killing range is also larger, even close to or beyond the throwing distance. This grenade is suitable for defenders who have ready-made concealment nearby.

Raphael put samples of both grenades in front of Scrooge and asked Scrooge, "Mr. MacDonald, would you like to give it a try?" ”

Scrooge thought for a moment and said, "Forget it." Just let the people in Blackwater try it. ”

Raphael led Scrooge into a safe bunker away from the field, and a Blackwater mercenary skillfully threw both grenades one after the other. Both grenades successfully exploded.

"Well, yes, good!" Scrooge was so happy that he even promised to give them a small bonus.

"Mr. MacDonald, I have a new idea." Raphael was very pleased to see Scrooge and took the opportunity to talk to Scrooge about his new idea.

Scrooge has always been a supporter of ideas that bring revenue to the company. Said Scrooge stopped and said to Raphael, "Tell me? ”

"We can make a sleeve of prefabricated fragments, and when we need to defend, we can put it on top of an offensive grenade, and the offensive grenade will become a defensive grenade; When you need to attack, take it off and the defensive grenade will turn back into an offensive grenade. Raphael said proudly.

Seeing Raphael's happy face, Scrooge was reluctant to dampen his enthusiasm. But there are some things that must be taught to him, otherwise, if he doesn't do it well, he will use his talent in the wrong place like this. So Scrooge thought for a moment and said this to Raphael:

"Raphael, your design is imaginative and completely feasible. However, you have to pay attention to such a point. That is, the ultimate goal of any innovation we make is to be able to sell more products to users. If you think about it, if you don't adopt this new idea, the user needs to buy a batch of offensive grenades in order to fight offensively, and he needs to buy a batch of defensive grenades in order to fight defensively. Then they need to buy at least two batches of grenades from us. And if the idea of a cow is used, it is enough for them to buy a batch of grenades. As a result, their purchases will go down. And that means less money we make. So, Raphael, now do you understand the problem with this idea of yours? A R&D person should not only think about how to make things better, but also think about how to deal with the market. I hope that when you do your research in the future, you will not forget the reaction of the market. As long as you can do that, you will have a lot of money in the future. ”

……

On the boat leaving the 51st arrondissement, Scrooge said to Romans, the lawyer who was with him, "Go and patent Raphael's idea right away." ”

"Oh, his mind is not ......"

"When grenades from other companies appear on the market, his idea is the magic weapon to win." Scrooge said.