Xu Youtang took out an iron pipe several feet long and about half an inch in diameter from the wooden box at his feet. Zhang Yanling's eyes widened when he saw the black barrel and smooth barrel. It was definitely different from the rough barrel.
The cast iron and cast copper gun barrel is a smooth material with luster and texture. It is definitely the first thing Zhang Yanling has seen in this era.
Without Zhang Yanling asking, Xu Youtang picked up a gun barrel and rubbed it gently: "This is the refined iron that my father refined by mixing white clay with molten iron. The hardness and strength are several times higher than ordinary copper and iron. Mr. Hou can take a look."
Zhang Yanling took the gun barrel and looked at it carefully. The steel tube was round and smooth, especially the inner tank was extremely shiny, and the thickness and size were extremely well-proportioned. You must know that this is the Ming Dynasty, not later generations. This kind of craftsmanship is naturally ordinary in later generations. But here,
This is definitely a rarity.
"It's really beautiful. Where did you get this? Your father doesn't want to help me. Did you find someone to smelt it yourself?" Zhang Yanling asked.
"Are you kidding, smelting it yourself? That requires building a furnace, which consumes a lot of manpower and financial resources. Moreover, how much clay is added during smelting and at what heat is added? Only my father knows these. Although I know a little bit, but in a short time
But I don’t have the ability. I stole the fine iron that my father smelted and forged it in a workshop outside. My father doesn’t know yet,” Xu Youtang said.
Zhang Yanling was stunned and speechless, and said in a low voice: "If Mr. Xu finds out now, wouldn't he be furious?"
Xu Youtang said: "Just tell him to scold him. The imperial court does not adopt his method of smelting iron. This piece of fine iron has been left at home for many days, and my mother used it to press the pickle jar. I won't take it for nothing."
Don’t you also hope that this can meet your requirements? Worrying about insufficient power and insufficient range, the barrel must be made of high-strength fine iron. It takes a lot of effort to make these tubes. All of these tubes are forged and shaped by manpower.
, the polishing inside and out took a lot of time. It was all polished with a terrazzo. The inner tank was polished back and forth with a special round terrazzo for six days. The hands of the apprentices who specialized in polishing in the blacksmith workshop outside had many blisters on their hands.
"
Zhang Yanling nodded slowly, of course he knew the skill involved in this. He had already tried it before when he tried to make firecrackers. There is no machine polishing method here, all of it is shaped by manpower, and the polishing is also done by manpower, using a whetstone dipped in water.
Grinding the inner tube bit by bit is even more troublesome. You have to use a round terrazzo of appropriate size and tie it to a wooden handle to grind the inner tube up and down to make it as smooth and flat as possible.
"I started. According to the drawings designed by Mr. Zhang, these parts and machine springs were also improved and formed. Success or failure depends on this."
"Okay, I'll give you a hand!" Zhang Yanling also put on a pair of gloves.
Xu Youtang started to assemble it, and Zhang Yanling was responsible for handing her the parts and accessories. The two of them worked together seamlessly, and a bunch of weird-shaped accessories on the table were assembled one by one under her dexterous fingers, and then took shape.
Time passed little by little, and the sun rose little by little. Half an hour later, Xu Youtang finally started the assembly of the barrel, butt and rear machine spring structure. When the last fixed notch clicked tightly, the three iron
After the square pegs were inserted into the card slot and completely fixed, Xu Youtang's first flint-haired bird gun in the hand of the Ming Dynasty was finally completed.
A layer of sweat broke out on Xu Youtang's forehead. He held the gun in his hand, smiled brightly and charmingly, and said in a deep voice: "It's done. Let's see if this is the kind of firearm you want."
Zhang Yanling had already straightened his eyes and could no longer look away. Although this bird gun was still very rough and looked very simple, Zhang Yanling knew that this would be a firearm that would transcend the times. This was a firearm with real significance.
In Zhang Yanling's eyes, this musket was more precious than anything else and attracted his attention more than a beautiful woman standing naked in front of him.
"I... take a look!" Zhang Yanling hoarsely reached out and took the gun from Xu Youtang's hand and looked at it carefully. The barrel of the gun was embedded straight into the groove of the hardwood gun bed below, seamlessly. The wood behind it
The butt is made of hard pear wood, polished smooth and with natural wood grain. The trigger, fire door cover, faucet are all made of shiny copper, and the black circlip mechanism is made of smelted iron. It shows the overall appearance.
Solemn tones of black and red.
Zhang Yanling gently pulled the dragon's head to the limit, then raised the muzzle of the gun at an angle, and gently pulled the trigger. There was a "click" sound, the circlip returned to its position, and an inch of the dragon's head was inlaid.
A thick piece of black flint fell forward in an arc and hit a small piece of fine iron baffle in front. Sparks flew out, and the air was filled with a faint smell of fireworks, which was the sparks from the flint.
odor.
There was no sluggishness in the entire operation. From the moment the trigger was pulled to the sparks coming out of the flint, the entire process was silky smooth and extremely responsive.
From the day he decided to let Xu Youtang study firearms seriously, Zhang Yanling decided that since he was making firearms, he had to start high and create powerful firearms that could be used. The fire blunderbuss used by the Ming Dynasty today are really poor and powerful.
The range and loading and firing speed are both unsatisfactory. Even if it is modified on the existing basis, it will be half the result with half the effort.
Zhang Yanling also wanted to create a three-eyed fire gun that was regarded as a god by some celebrities in later generations. It is said that it can be used as a firearm to fire three times as many shotguns, and can also be used as a melee assault weapon. It is boasted to be amazing. However, Zhang Yanling is the most accurate.
This simple and crude idea of increasing the firepower's strike area was abandoned. First of all, in Zhang Yanling's view, the three-eyed fire cannon was nothing more than a simple collection of three single-fire cannons. Although there were three times more shot shells fired, the strike area was
Wider, it seems that the power has been increased by three times. However, the range, accuracy, power, and rate of fire have not been fundamentally improved at all. Something that costs three times the cost to build will probably still last for 20 or 30 times.
If you can't penetrate chain mail beyond a step, it will be meaningless.
As for saying it can be used as a melee weapon, that is even more ridiculous. I am making firearms, not melee weapons. Otherwise, it would be more direct to wear a crossbow and hold a sharp blade. After all, a sharp blade is more powerful on the battlefield than an iron rod.
If you want to use a melee weapon, why bother to spend energy and money to build a melee weapon with three iron pipes tied together? Isn’t it a joke?
Of course, Zhang Yanling also wanted to create more advanced semi-automatic firearms, such as rifles and pistols. But this idea could not be realized in the Ming Dynasty. The mechanical manufacturing capabilities and the performance of gunpowder were not allowed, so he wanted to create automatic firearms.
Semi-automatic weapons, using a large killer weapon spraying blue fire to surprise the enemy is a whimsical move. No matter how experienced and wealthy you are, you cannot escape the limitations of the times and technology.
Therefore, after careful consideration, Zhang Yanling believed that creating a bird gun with good power and range and accuracy is a more practical approach that meets his own requirements. According to the information in Zhang Yanling's mind, the bird gun can reach a hundred steps away and is also very accurate.
It is high, and its power can penetrate armor. And currently, the bird gun is definitely superior to other individual firearms and long-range weapons of the Ming Dynasty.