"Claude, why do you have to use copper to make the bullet shell?"
"Why is the bullet shell bigger than the bullet head?"
"Why isn't the bullet round? Why do you have to make it conical?"
"Why can the entire bullet be fired so far without having to be placed in the barrel?"
"How did you come up with the concept of a revolver?"
"Also, Claude, your design of a revolving revolver is truly a genius. Can you tell me how you came up with it?"
"By the way, Claude, if I lengthen the barrel of this revolver and add a stock to it, will I be able to make a revolver rifle?"
.....
Sonia seemed to have turned into a million questions. She looked at the revolver lovingly in one hand and grabbed Claude's arm with the other.
Claude rolled his eyes. How the hell am I supposed to know why the bullet shell has to be bigger than the bullet head? The revolver's success was only based on the model of Boss' pistol in his previous life and the impression he got from westerns.
If Claude had to explain himself, all he could do was come up with some vague concepts. After all, Liboyd was listening intently to his answer. It would affect the success of his recruitment, so he couldn't help but be a little careless.
"Let go of me first, Sonia. Many of the questions you asked are related and repeated," Claude said with a cough.
After Sonia let go of his arm, he said, "Uncle, Sonia, come with me to the lab first. There's pen and paper there. I can tell you about my thoughts when I designed this revolver."
Only Claude, Angelina, Sonia, and Liboyd returned to the lab. Young Mark wanted to learn how to ride a horse, so Claude ordered Myjack to take good care of his first godson. As for Gum, she stood guard outside the lab as usual.
"I've never liked short muskets since I was young.
Compared to long muskets, they're far too weak. Also, it's troublesome to load them.
"Back then, I couldn't understand why the difference in range and power between short muskets, which were half or even a third the length of standard muskets, was so great."
Claude looked at her and smiled. "Ten years ago, I was still a junior officer and had to personally lead troops into battle. According to the standard equipment for a junior officer, I had to carry a short sword, a standard flintlock, and a short blunderbuss strapped to my thigh.
In fact, the musket was useless on the battlefield and instead became a burden.
My companions, who often fired at random, threw away their blunderbusses, and went into battle lightly armed with a sword or a musket with a bayonet, rushed into the field, and engaged the enemy in hand-to-hand combat. Thenceforth, I desired to devise a reliable short firearm, which might enable us to defend ourselves in the field of battle.
The biggest weakness of a short musket is that it's troublesome to load. Even though most of the current muskets use paper cartridges, the barrel still needs to be cleaned after firing. Then, the cartridge is inserted into the muzzle and the cartridge is inserted with the handle. Then, the cartridge is opened and the cartridge is pierced with a needle to reveal the gunpowder inside. Then, the gunpowder has to be poured into the cartridge to make contact with the exposed gunpowder. Then, the match is clipped to the cartridge. Only then can the gunpowder be aimed and fired.
This series of operations is far too troublesome and complicated. There's no time for a junior officer to use a short musket to defend himself or kill the enemy.
At the time, I was wondering if I could simplify the process even more. After thinking about it, I decided to use the paper cartridge.
My original idea was to directly ignite the gunpowder inside the paper cartridge. I didn't need anything like a matchbox, a needle, or a match. At that time, my idea was very simple. I just needed to put the flint at the back of the paper cartridge, then install a hammer at the back of the short gun to strike the flint, ignite the gunpowder inside the paper cartridge, and fire the gun. "
"I was in Squirrel Village back then. That's when I met you." Claude nodded at Sonia, who blushed.
"We discussed the possibility of breech loading back then. The first musket I designed looked like this."
Claude drew a short musket on the paper. It only had one barrel and behind it was a large hammer. There was also a wooden frame and trigger. There weren't any messy things like a match or a match on the barrel. It looked really simple. Claude then drew a curve at the bottom of the barrel that could be bent.
"Back then, I wanted to design a musket like this. The barrel could be bent and bullets could be inserted from the back. Then, the hammer would ignite and fire. That way, it would be much easier to use on the battlefield.
If possible, I also wanted to add another or two barrels to the stock. That way, I could fire three bullets at once or three times consecutively. "
Claude shrugged helplessly. "But my design failed. My imagination was beautiful, but it didn't come to fruition."
Sonia interrupted, "Claude, the first breech-loading musket I designed was similar to this one. It was bent and loaded.
Later, when I had the gunpowder, I tried this loading mode again. In the end, its range was only about 260 meters … "
Claude nodded. "That's the result of your experiments. I didn't have as much experience as you did in the army. But I did experiment with a few muskets that were damaged on the battlefield and found that the biggest problem was with the bullets, not the barrel.
Paper cartridges were not suitable for breech loading. For example, if the bottom of the paper cartridge was loaded with flint and the hammer was used to start a fire, sometimes the hammer would push the paper cartridge towards the gun barrel without sparking.
Or the paper cylinder bullets would shrink into a ball after being hit. These were all reasons for the high misfire rate of flint percussion. Not every strike would cause the flint to produce sparks and ignite the gunpowder inside the paper cylinder bullets.
After discovering this problem, I thought about what I could use to replace this paper tube as the cartridge ….
While I was stationed in Squirrel Village, I discovered a reclusive magician living in the back of the mountain. With her help, I conducted many experiments. In the end, I discovered that the most suitable material for making bullet cases was brass, as brass has excellent ductility.
If I used iron as the cartridge, it would split every time it was fired. It couldn't be reused like brass.
Also, gold and silver are too expensive. Lead and zinc are too soft and easily deformed. Steel is too hard and brittle. None of them are as good as brass.
After using brass instead of paper cartridges, there was another problem. The cartridge would easily get stuck in the barrel after firing. It would take a lot of effort to pull it out.
This question puzzled me for a very long time. It was only during an artillery exercise that I understood the reason behind it. "
Claude picked up another piece of paper and drew a simple cannon on it. "Did you notice that all cannons have thick bottoms and thinner barrels?
Back then, I was curious and asked an old artilleryman why the bottom of cannons had to be so thick.
The old artilleryman replied that if it wasn't thick enough, the explosion of gunpowder inside would easily cause the cannon to explode.
Because of the thickness of the casting, after the gunpowder exploded at the bottom, it was bound by the bottom and the two sides of the barrel. The huge force generated by the explosion of the gunpowder could only impact along the direction of the barrel, thus pushing the heavy solid projectile out …
The old artilleryman's words gave me a revelation. Since cannons are fired that way, isn't it the same for flintlocks?
The two are actually the same, except that one is bigger and the other is smaller.
I concluded that a flintlock also needs an opening in one direction and a sealed space around it. That way, when the gunpowder is ignited, the explosive force will push the bullet towards the opening.
If my conjecture was correct, then my brass cartridge had already replaced the role of the gun barrel. The gunpowder would ignite and explode inside the cartridge, just like inside the gun barrel. Next, I only needed to aim the bullet head at the gun barrel.
That's why I made the cartridge larger than the bullet head. That way, the cartridge won't get stuck in the barrel.
All I have to do is make something to hold the cartridge in place so that it won't loosen. At the same time, it can prevent the cartridge from exploding and distorting.
That's why I don't need a better barrel to withstand the explosion of more gunpowder. Adding more gunpowder into the barrel like Sonia did to increase the range of the bullet is just taking a wrong path. "
Sonia's face was covered in tears. Claude's words were rather embarrassing.
As a gunsmith, she hated herself for being so stubborn. All she knew was to increase the amount of gunpowder needed for the bullets. In the end, she wasted more than eight hundred gun barrels and wasted half a year to no avail. Why couldn't she be like Claude and change her way of thinking to focus on bullets instead?
"With this kind of brass cartridge, we can make short-barreled pistols.
But the problem is that the rate of misfiring is too high. Like I said, putting flint at the bottom of the bullet doesn't guarantee that it will produce a spark every time it's struck.
On the battlefield, there's no guarantee that you'll keep hitting the hammer or reloading bullets without the enemy noticing. So, the short-barreled pistols I designed aren't very practical.
For a long time, I couldn't find enough gunpowder to fire in one shot, so I could only draw the designs on blueprints.
"Later on, I saw a waterwheel. It's the kind that uses bamboo tubes to scoop water from the canals and turn them to the top to pour the water into the fields. I'm sure you guys remember that, right?
This gave me an idea. If a bullet misfires, then I should immediately move on to the next bullet. After one round, at least two or three bullets will be fired. This is better than staring at a bullet that misfires and using the hammer to hit it with all my might ….
"So, I started designing revolvers like the one you're looking at right now.
After some calculations, I found that five to six bullets per revolver was the most suitable. Too many would make it complicated and prone to mistakes. Sometimes, the hammer wouldn't even be able to hit the flint at the bottom of the bullet. So, I designed this six-bullet revolver. Then, I went on to design the barrel and the body of the gun. The final result is the three revolvers you see here. "
Claude picked up one of the revolvers, broke it open, removed the cylinder, and replaced it. "When I designed this cylinder, I thought about how to reload bullets quickly on the battlefield.
Then, I realized that I wouldn't have to reload bullets one by one after I finished firing. It'd be faster and more convenient to just replace it with a fully loaded cylinder.
"But I have to thank Sonia. If it wasn't for your invention of gunpowder, the revolvers I designed would still be kept in the box.
Because using a flint hammer to start a fire has a high misfire rate. My sister Anna had experimented with it before. She had fired two rounds with a revolving wheel, but not a single bullet could be fired. So I could only stuff them in the box … "
Liboyd clapped. "I have to congratulate you, Claude. You've really put us gunsmiths to shame.
You've successfully designed a new firearm that's completely different from matchlocks. It's already so perfect that there's no room for improvement.
But I still have a question. Why did you call it a revolver and not a revolver? "
Claude was sweating. That's right. Why did you call it a revolver and not a revolver? How am I supposed to ask?
It wasn't easy for him to fool the old man about how he designed and made this revolver. What he was most worried about was that the old man would think that he was just an amateur gun designer. How could he have designed and made such a perfect and mature gun …
Fortunately, Liboyd didn't question the design process. Instead, he was conflicted about the name.
Claude wiped the sweat off his forehead and unconsciously disassembled the revolver's cylinder.
Suddenly, he had an idea. "It's like this, Uncle. Didn't you notice that every time I remove this cylinder, I take it from the left side? That's why I habitually call it a revolver. Actually, a revolver is fine too, but it's not as cool and pleasing to the ear as a revolver …"
"By the way, Uncle, can you and Sonia stay here and help me?" Claude asked.
"Help you?"
Liboyd looked at Claude doubtfully. "The design of the revolver is already a success. What can I help you with?"
"It's like this, Uncle. As you know, these three revolvers were made by my sister in an alchemical formation.
If we want to mass-produce them, we have to standardize the design of each component to meet the requirements of mechanical production and manual assembly.
In addition, he also needed to design and manufacture a standard bullet production line that specialized in the production of these brass bullets.
If my sister were to assemble them in an alchemical formation, I believe she wouldn't be able to assemble a few hundred of them in a day and she'd get tired of it quickly.
"My sister and I are amateurs when it comes to standardization and mass production. We don't know where to start.
"Apart from that, I also want to design a gun that can also fire the brass bullets. But designing a revolver has already taken me a lot of brainpower and I can't think of a firing mechanism for a gun no matter how hard I try.
That's why I hope you and Sonia can stay and help me. If you're willing, I can build a firearms lab for you all by myself and satisfy all your needs. "
A firearms lab wasn't cheap. It required a lot of machinery and materials.
It was especially so for Liboyd and Sonia, who were both Rune Magicians. The consumption of some magic materials was even more costly.
Claude had been to the workshop before. Liboyd's lab was rather simple and couldn't compare to his sister's lab at all.
So, Sonia could only use Liboyd's name as the workshop's manager to experiment on the good gun barrels. Too many barrels were wasted and the inspectors protested.
Sonia smiled happily and agreed to her lover's request. "I can stay and help you."
Liboyd, on the other hand, pondered for a while and said with a bitter smile, "Claude, it's not that I don't want to help you, but there aren't any external conditions here. A good gunsmithing workshop or production line needs enough water power …"
Claude smiled. "Uncle, we don't need water. We have firepower."