In order to confirm the quality of the nitrocellulose gauze produced, Owen cut off a small piece, placed it on his hand, and lit it on fire.

The nitrocellulose gauze burned instantly and burned out in less than a blink of an eye, leaving only a trace residue.

It can be ignited directly on the hand without burning, and the smoke after burning has almost no sour smell.

From this, it can be basically determined that the quality of this nitrocellulose gauze is very good.

With nitrocellulose, the primer problem of bullets was solved, and Owen could try to make a few flintlock metal fixed bullets.

First, cut the finished nitrocellulose gauze into small squares, then take out a batch of previously trial-produced cartridge cases and warheads, and start loading.

The machines for making cartridge cases and warheads are available, but the machines for assembling cartridge cases, warheads, primers and black powder into bullets have not yet been built.

Therefore, this step can currently only be completed manually.

Stick a circle of glue on the nitrocellulose gauze, and then use a small wooden stick to carefully bring it to the bottom of the cartridge case to seal the ignition hole.

Immediately afterwards, use a paper funnel to pour black powder into the cartridge case, and then compact it to ensure that the amount of gunpowder in each bullet is consistent.

Finally, press the tail end of the warhead into the cartridge case, align it with your bare hands, and tap it a few times with a hammer. A metal fixed bullet is completed.

Compared with lead shot, the manufacturing process of the new bullet has obviously improved several levels.

Holding the new bullet in front of his eyes, Owen looked at it carefully and couldn't help but feel: "This bullet is really exquisite."

[This is also called exquisite? According to my standards, the bullets you made are very rough.] Winster complained.

[It’s already possible. With our current technological level, it’s great to be able to make such a bullet. 】

【Yeah...that's right.】

Next, Owen continued to make new bullets. During the process, he discovered that several warheads and cartridge cases were not up to standard. They were either too large or too small and could not be assembled into bullets.

In the end, he produced twelve qualified bullets.

Taking these new bullets with them, Owen and Mapel immediately set off for the northern city wall to find Viscount Jarvis.

…

In the camp behind the northern city wall.

"Oh? New bullets have been made?"

After taking the bullet that was handed to him, Viscount Jarvis looked at it carefully, and then looked at Owen in surprise.

"Marquis Aisen, this bullet is so finely made, will it be difficult to mass-produce it?"

"That's not true." Owen shook his head, "The process of the new bullet has indeed improved, but our technology has also improved, so mass production is not a problem."

Hearing what Owen said, Viscount Jarvis felt relieved.

Then, he turned around and picked up the new gun that Owen had given him not long ago, and said impatiently: "Marquis Aisen, let's go outside and test-fire."

"Um."

The purpose of Owen's visit this time was to see the test firing effect of the new bullet, so he and Viscount Jarvis went to the shooting training field outside.

The accuracy test was conducted first. Due to the limited number of bullets, Viscount Jarvis decided to only shoot three bullets for verification.

The target stood fifteen meters away. Viscount Jarvis picked up the new gun in his hand, opened the swing lock at the end of the barrel, loaded a new bullet, and closed the lock again.

Although it can still only load one bullet at a time, because it is loaded from the back and uses metal fixed bullets, the loading efficiency is still much faster than before.

Aim at the target and pull the trigger. With a loud bang, the gun hits the target.

Immediately afterwards, Viscount Jarvis quickly opened the lock, the cartridge case jumped out, and loaded the second bullet.

The whole process was very smooth, skillful and not sloppy at all.

It can be seen that Viscount Jarvis must have secretly practiced the operation of the new gun in private.

After firing three shots in a row, Viscount Jarvis turned his head and winked at Owen.

"Let's go and see the effect."

"Wait a moment."

Owen walked over, picked up the three bullet casings that fell on the ground, and asked Mapel at the side to help hold them.

"These empty bullet casings can be recycled and reused, so don't waste them."

In any case, copper is a precious metal used to mint currency, so you should save it as much as possible.

"Oh! I understand." Viscount Jarvis nodded understandingly, "In the future, when soldiers use new guns to practice shooting, I will ask them to collect all the bullet casings. How many bullet casings will be recovered according to the number of bullets fired."

Subsequently, the three people came to the target and could see three bullet holes appearing near the bullseye.

In other words, the accuracy of the new gun is quite good.

"Similar to the previous rifled guns that used Minie bullets, the accuracy is very reliable." Viscount Jarvis commented, "This rifle is really useful if it is drilled with rifling, right? Marquis Aisen."

"Indeed." Owen agreed.

Rifled guns were superior to smoothbore guns in many respects, and Owen had long known this clearly from Winston's history of firearms.

Later, Viscount Jarvis conducted other tests until all the bullets brought by Owen were used up.

After a series of test firings, the data obtained are better than the smoothbore guns currently used by soldiers, and also slightly better than rifled guns using minie bullets.

If all soldiers wear this new gun and use it skillfully, their combat effectiveness will be greatly improved.

Viscount Jarvis rubbed the new gun with satisfaction and urged at the same time: "Marquis Eisen, this third-generation musket has been greatly improved. I wonder when it will be mass-produced? I want to equip it to the musketeers as soon as possible.

."

"Now that the effect of the new bullet has been confirmed, I will ask Gita to prepare for the mass production of the new musket when I return, and the mass production of the bullet must also be started." Owen said, "Don't worry, it should be very good.

New guns will be available soon.”

"Then I'll wait and see." Viscount Jarvis said expectantly.

After leaving the northern city wall, Owen didn't want to waste Gita's time, so he went directly to the machine tool room where he often stayed.

The machine tool room was as noisy as ever.

Knowing that the lord came to see her in person, Gita hurriedly stopped what she was doing, grabbed the dirty cloth hanging around her neck, roughly wiped her sweaty face, and then trotted over to greet him.

"Oops! Lord, why are you here?! If you have anything to do, just send someone over and call me."

"I know you've been very busy recently, so I came here to inform you of something."

Since receiving the steam engine order from the Gemini Chamber of Commerce, Gita and the others have been even busier. Not only must they continue to manufacture muskets, they must also take the time to build two steam engines to ensure that they can be delivered as expected in three months.

"What is it?" Gita asked.

"The old muskets have been eliminated." Owen said, "From now on, you have to start making new muskets, the two ones you were asked to make before."

"New musket?"

Gita was stunned for a moment, but quickly came to her senses.

"Lord, do you have the primer for the bullet?"

"Yes." Owen nodded, "Unfortunately, the new bullets have just been used up by Viscount Jarvis, so I can't show you the real thing."

"It's nothing, Lord. What I'm concerned about is the mass production of new bullets..."

"I will be responsible for this matter. You can continue to work on your business. I will come over and recruit two apprentices from you to be responsible for operating the machine that makes bullet casings and warheads."

In addition to not wanting to add a burden to Gita, the more important reason why Owen did this was that the preparation of nitrocellulose involved knowledge in the chemical field, which was not an area Gita was good at.
Chapter completed!