When Xiao Ruxun arrived at the blacksmith camp, it wasn't even lunchtime yet. He could only hear the sound of hammering iron and saw that the entire camp was filled with blacksmiths swinging their hammers. Among the tasks that he assigned to the blacksmith camp, one of them was to produce a qualified gun barrel. The barrel of a musket didn't require a lot of technology, and the traditional method of hammering iron with a rolling iron rod could also be used. However, the Ministry of Daming couldn't do it, and the high rate of rejection was purely due to the system.
Xiao Ruxun's group of blacksmiths had a quality rate of 95%. With just 70-80 people, they could produce hundreds of qualified gun barrels in a month. When he was in North Korea, the muskets produced by these blacksmiths were of excellent quality. Most of them were given to the frontline soldiers of Daming, and a small number were given to the North Korean army to practice their musket tactics. Xiao Ruxun was also able to use the resources of North Korea to train his blacksmiths.
At that time, Xiao Ruxun had drawn up a blueprint for them, and then requested them to start making qualified springs according to his requirements, to make a qualified flintlock mechanism. At that time, those old blacksmiths with 20 years of experience gathered together, frowning as they looked at the blueprint. Xiao Ruxun showed them the matchlock mechanism for comparison, saying that the structure of the two was similar, but the strength of the spring was completely different.
Muskets used an open flame to ignite the gunpowder. As long as the open flame touched the gunpowder, then it would be a matter of minutes. The requirements for the ignition device weren't that high, but the flintlock was different. It relied on the strength of the spring, and the flint would collide with the flintlock to ignite the gunpowder, and then ignite the musket. The firing principle was the same as a matchlock, but the ignition device was like heaven and earth.
When Xiao Ruxun explained the "self-igniting method" to them, he used two flintlocks to ignite the gunpowder. Seeing the sparks flying, Xiao Ruxun said that this was the principle. You make a device, and when the soldier pulls the trigger, the flint will release a spark, ignite the gunpowder, and then ignite the gun. The firing principle was the same as a matchlock, but the ignition device was like heaven and earth.
The blacksmiths didn't seem to fully understand, but after forging muskets for a period of time, they also had their own understanding of the firing mechanism. An old blacksmith vividly described the scene he imagined. The soldier would pull the trigger, and the flintlock would be driven by the gun's action and hit the opposite torch, creating a trail of sparks. The flintlock would then ignite the fuse at the bottom of the torch, igniting the gunpowder and igniting the musket.
Xiao Ruxun immediately praised the old blacksmith, and appointed him as the project manager of the flintlock research project, giving him a generous salary and rewards, as long as he worked hard to make the flintlock and keep it a secret.
In North Korea, before Xiao Ruxun crossed the sea to fight the Japanese, this old blacksmith had already used traditional techniques to make some spring pieces, but the strength was not ideal, and could not be used in practice. On the way back, the old blacksmith assembled a flintlock and showed it to Xiao Ruxun. At that time, Xiao Ruxun was very excited, because the appearance of the flintlock was exactly the same as his famous flintlock, and when he pulled the trigger, he rolled his eyes.
There was no elasticity at all, and it was not much better than a matchlock.
Xiao Ruxun did not know if there were any improvements to it, but it could be said that it already had some charm on the outside. It was just that the inside was still an idiot. She did not know if the inside had also gained some charm during this period of time. But even so, Xiao Ruxun knew that although the cost of a flintlock was still cheaper than cavalry and cold weapons, it was still far more expensive than a matchlock. Although the success rate of firing was higher, it was still expensive and difficult to make.
With the current technology, it was very difficult to ensure a high production rate, and the best thing about the flintlock was that it didn't need to rely on open fire, and it wasn't afraid of wind and rain, so the reason why the northern soldiers hated the matchlock disappeared. But the flintlock itself also had a lot of problems that couldn't be solved, so when the primer technology was invented, the flintlock was quickly eliminated.
And the speed at which the flintlock replaced the matchlock was not fast at all. In the current European army, the matchlock was still the mainstream, and it would take decades for the flintlock to completely replace the matchlock. Xiao Ruxun insisted on the flintlock because he wanted the technology to mature as soon as possible, so that it could be used as a medium for the next generation of matchlocks. He wasn't very keen on the flintlock itself.
Xiao Ruxun entered the camp and found the old blacksmith.
"Old Li, how's the self-ignition? Let me take a look at this gun. "
When Xiao Ruxun entered, he saw Old Li holding a gun and looking left and right. This gun was the experimental gun from before. From the outside, it looked no different from a flintlock, the only difference was the spring and ignition mechanism. Other than this gun, there was also a gun mechanism on the table. It was also modeled after the picture, but it didn't have any elasticity.
"Admiral!" When Old Li saw Xiao Ruxun come in, he stood up to greet him and handed over the gun in his hand. Xiao Ruxun took the gun and fiddled with the trigger. With a crisp sound, the hammer hit the flint, but whether it was the hammer or the flint, the elasticity was still weak.
"This can't go on, it can't go on like this. There's no feeling of self-ignition. Old Li, you still can't make a qualified shrapnel?"
Old Li pointed at the pile of shrapnel on the table and said: "The shrapnel that Admiral is talking about, I, Daming, have never made it before. These obviously don't meet the requirements of Admiral. I had seven or eight people continuously make all kinds of shrapnel and used various kinds of wrought iron to make it, but it still didn't work. Now, we are going to try using iron of hundred refinement."
"Iron of hundred refinement … Maybe it'll work? Don't be too anxious, I'm just hoping that you guys can make it as soon as possible, but if it's really difficult, you won't be able to do it in a short time. Don't worry, take your time. If you need anything, just let me know. This time, I'll bring you guys along to see if there's a chance to get something from the Red-haired Barbarian. Oh, right, how's the cannon barrel? "
Old Li pointed outside: "Admiral, please follow this old man."
Xiao Ruxun nodded and followed Old Li to the outside of the barracks. They walked to the warehouse behind the barracks. As soon as the warehouse was opened, Xiao Ruxun saw five long and thick cannon barrels. The front was thin and the back was thick. This kind of cannon barrel wouldn't explode easily. Compared to the cannon barrels in Daming's territory, which had the same front and back, it was much more practical.
"This is made according to Admiral's requirements, with an iron body and a copper core. I don't know how effective it is, but it's best to test it, but this old man and the others can't do it."
Xiao Ruxun nodded and said: "You don't need to worry about these things. You just need to make it! The rest is this Admiral's matter. Old Li, you have to hurry up with the spring! "
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