It was Claude's first time seeing a matchlock in this world. He had seen pictures of early matchlocks on the computer in his past life, but he didn't get to hold one in his hand like he did now.
He secretly compared the matchlock guns in this world, and it seemed that the matchlock guns in this world were not much different from the pictures he had seen in his previous world.
Welikro said that it was a gun his father brought back from the army. It was a Gally mark 3 matchlock and could be considered an old-fashioned firearm.
The kingdom's army was now using aubass mark 2 matchlocks and the Gally mark 3 matchlocks had long been retired.
His father also said that while it was a decent weapon for soldiers, it wasn't very suitable for hunting.
Later on, when he had some money, his father went to the prefectural city to get someone to make two more hunting rifles and left the matchlock at home as a souvenir.
When Welikro grew up, he took the matchlock for himself.
Claude asked curiously, "Welikro, can firearms be custom-made?"
"Of course."
Welikro nodded. "The prefectural city has a firearms workshop that can produce more than 47,000 firearms of various models every year. It's the largest workshop in the three southwestern provinces and has more than 3,000 employees.
They also accept custom-made firearms for the public and give them an official serial number.
However, the requirement for custom-made firearms is that you have to be a citizen or above. Those who retire from the army can get preferential treatment. "
"Then, what's the difference between your father's shotguns and this one?"
Claude didn't really understand the difference. From his point of view, weren't they both matchlocks? They were all guns that had to be fired. You had to pour gunpowder into the gun and ignite the fuse. After that, you had to clean the barrel and only fire a single shot. It was extremely troublesome.
"The two shotguns my father custom-made have muzzles that are twice the size of this one."
Welikro drew a circle with his finger to show the size of the muzzle. "The range isn't as far as this one, but the power is several times greater.
This gun isn't a problem in hurting people and can be used in battle. But against wild beasts in the mountains, it's not as effective because humans don't have the thick fur of wild beasts for protection.
For example, if you encountered a wild boar in the mountains, if you used this gun to shoot four or five times, the wild boar might only bleed a little and be completely fine. It might even go crazy and chase you to the ends of the earth.
Not to mention the leopards and other ferocious beasts in the mountains. If the first shot missed the ferocious beast's vital point, you could only wait to draw your sword and get ready to fight. There was no chance for you to fire a second shot. When you poured the medicine, the ferocious beast would already be close to you.
So my father ordered two hunting rifles, one of which was specially designed to deal with thick-skinned animals, even wild boars could be shot down in one shot.
The other was a shotgun, used to defend against those who moved fast. One shot covered a large area, and even the most agile animals would be injured. As long as they were injured and slowed down, they would be easy to deal with.
The only drawback was that these two shotguns were large and cumbersome. After climbing the mountain for less than half an hour, he would be exhausted. When he was aiming, he had to use the trident to hold it, otherwise, he wouldn't even be able to lift it up.
In addition, it also consumed a lot of gunpowder.
This gun of mine can hold enough gunpowder for ten shots and the shotgun can't even last three shots. So, we're almost out of gunpowder at home. We'll have to fork out our own money to buy gunpowder and guns this time. "
Claude carefully examined the Gally Mark 3 in his hand. The gun was around 1.8 meters long and had a cherry wood stock. The black barrel protruded 30 centimeters out and the muzzle was shaped like a trumpet. The long and narrow body was connected to the gun by a silver-plated copper nail. The other half of the gun was also made of silver-plated copper. But due to the passage of time, most of the silver plating on the parts had worn off, leaving only the dull, scratched copper surface.
Under Welikro's guidance, Claude finally learned what a hammer was. He could recognize the clamp handle, the barrel, the hammer spring, the primer, the cartridge, the lid and the trigger.
But after Welikro simulated the firing process, Claude realized an important problem.
"Why doesn't the gun have a sighting device?"
"What's a sighting device?" Welikro asked.
"Uhh …" Claude didn't know how to explain it. It took him quite a while to make Welikro understand that the sighting device was used to aim at the target when firing.
"So that's what you're talking about. There is. Look."
Welikro came to a sudden realization and pointed the gun at Claude. "We don't call it a sighting device. We call it a firing point.
Look at the markings on the muzzle and the ones on the cartridge. Those are the firing points.
When we're ready to fire, we have to aim the two markings at the target and hold it steady. Then, we have to light the match and close our eyes before pulling the trigger. Bam! The gun will be fired. "
"No, I mean, why do we have to close our eyes before pulling the trigger?" Claude couldn't understand.
Welikro smiled. "It's to protect our eyes in case the lid on the cartridge isn't closed properly and sparks fly. Also, the gun produces a lot of smoke. If we don't close our eyes, we'll tear up from the smoke."
"But will we still be able to hit the target if we close our eyes?" Claude thought, There's no way to aim at all. I can't even hit the target if I'm standing right in front of you.
"That's why I said you have to train yourself. The most important thing is to keep your hands steady and not shake. That way, you'll have a high chance of hitting the target with your eyes closed."
That made so much sense that Claude didn't know what to say.
But then, he thought of the old problem of aiming. "By the way, Welikro, you said that the two firing points are in a straight line with the target. In that case, if the shooter is steady, will I be able to hit where I want?
In other words, will I be able to hit the body part of the target that's in a straight line? "
"That's not the case."
Welikro shook his head. "We still have to estimate the distance in advance, whether it's up or down. Usually, when the two firing points are in a straight line with the target, the distance of the shot will be one finger away from the target.
So, if I want to hit the target's head, I have to estimate the distance of one finger up before I can fire. Otherwise, I'll be aiming at the head and hitting the neck instead. "
"This gun sure is troublesome. It's not easy to fire and aim," Claude sighed.
"By the way, Eyke, let me take a look at that ship-type matchlock you brought with you."
Eriksson's matchlock was something his father had traded for. As a captain, it was a must-have weapon for self-defense.
However, it was bought by his father a long time ago. His father had won a commemorative gold-plated matchlock pistol at a captain's party, so he left the unadorned pistol at home and it became Eriksson's toy.
"This one of mine can't shoot as far as Welikro's. It only has a range of 50 meters and an effective killing range of 20 to 30 meters. It can only be used for self-defense," said Eriksson as he handed it over.
Welikro's Gally Mark 3 matchlock was said to have a range of 280 meters and an effective killing range of 150 meters. Of course, whether or not it could hit the target was another matter entirely.
However, it could pierce through a five-centimeter-thick wooden plank within a hundred meters. It was no wonder it became standard issue for the kingdom's army a few years ago.
The gun was shaped like a hook and was around 60 centimeters long. Apart from the barrel being shorter and the copper parts on the gun being smaller than Welikro's gun, there wasn't much of a difference. Instead, because the gun was shorter, the parts looked a little bulky when placed together.
"By the way, let me take a look at your gun and gunpowder. I heard from Wakri that your gun is made of some kind of ship-type with egg white added to it. It's half as expensive as Welikro's gun. Let me see if there's any difference."
What Claude didn't expect was that the gunpowder Eriksson gave him was made of paper. Even the gun was attached to the paper tube. The paper tube was made of oiled paper and was waterproof.
There was also a small piece of cork between the gun and the paper tube. It seemed to be slightly larger than the paper tube.
"What's that small piece of wood for?" Claude asked curiously. Why would there be a small piece of wood between the gun and the paper tube?
"It's used to hold the gun's chamber in place.
Since it's a short-barreled gun, it's easy for the gun and gunpowder to slip out without the small piece of wood, "Welikro explained.
Oh, Claude understood now. He was about to peel off the paper tube to see the gunpowder inside.
"Don't," Eriksson said.
"If there's more of it when we get back, you can take a look. If we take it off now, we'll have one less gun.
A gun like this costs seven fennies, so I bought fifteen of them. It cost us one riyas. "
Seven fennies was equivalent to seventy cents. Thirty cents was one sunar, so one riyas was about ten dollars.
Mister Morssen said that he was only paid one riyas a day, which was equivalent to fifteen rounds of the gun. In that case, the gun was rather expensive.
"Wero, do you use this kind of gun for your musket?" asked Claude as he stopped shooting.
Welikro shook his head. "No, they're all separate. The gunpowder is stored in the horn. It's not fixed like his gun."
"It's much more convenient than pouring gunpowder. Is it because it's too expensive?"
"No, it's not suitable for my gun."
Knowing that Claude was an idiot when it came to firearms, Welikro patiently explained, "Even though it's convenient to use a fixed gun, it's troublesome to clean up the confetti left in the barrel after firing.
Eyke's gun is short, so it's easy to see and clean up the confetti.
My gun, on the other hand, has a long body and I won't be able to clean it up if I use a fixed gun.
If I leave the confetti inside, it'll affect the accuracy and range of the gun when I reload it a second time. If the confetti accumulates in the barrel, it might even affect the lifespan of the barrel. "
Claude scratched his head in confusion. Based on what he remembered, the main characters in the historical novels he read in his past life would go back to ancient times to build cannons and conquer the world. Most of them would use fixed gunpowder as a weapon to win the war. They believed that it could effectively increase the number of times a gun could be fired and reduce the troublesome process of firing a matchlock. Why didn't it work here?
Welikro stood up and took out a few rectangular pieces of leather. "Alright, let's get ready to set off. It's around seven now, so we can set up an ambush by the stream and see if there's any prey that comes to drink.
Everyone, take two pieces of leather and wrap them around your calves. Tie them tightly with a rope so that there won't be any gaps. "
Borkal was puzzled. "Wait a minute, Welikro. Why do you want us to tie the leather?
Aren't we all wearing long pants and hiking boots? "
"This is to prevent snakes from biting us," Welikro said, "Without the leather, our pants will be bitten through by snakes and bugs.
Once we tie the leather, they won't be able to bite through it.
When traversing through the bushes and forest at night, we have to be careful of venomous snakes and bugs.
Also, tie up your collar. Don't let the bugs fall into it. "
"Then, can't we just light a torch and hit the bushes with a stick or something?"
"Hah …" Welikro laughed angrily. "We're going to ambush and hunt, not on a parade!
Do you really think any animals will get close to the stream when you light a torch and hit a stick? "
After a while, when everyone had tied the leather around their calves, Welikro said, "We'll set off when we're ready. I'll be in front, Claude and Boa in the middle and Eyke at the back.
Oh, Boa has a stone crossbow now. Claude, take my hunting bow. You're pretty good at archery back in school.
My hunting bow has two more strokes than the practice bows in school, so you should be able to use it.