Two days after the general meeting, Iron Axe once again received the order to test a new weapon.
Since the northwest side could be attacked by demonic beasts at any time, the new shooting range was set across the Redwater River. When Iron Axe arrived, the prince's guards had already surrounded the open space with hemp ropes and red flags, and set up sentry posts at both ends of the steel bridge to prohibit unauthorized personnel from passing through.
Obviously, His Highness attached great importance to this weapon test.
Iron Axe walked quickly in the snow of different depths. Looking at the friendly eyes of the guards, he could not help but think of the scene when he participated in the first gun test. At that time, he was just an unknown alien from the Sand Nation, and the people of Graycastle always looked at him with suspicion and vigilance. Even though he had lived in the town for five years and impressed the hunters with his superb archery, no one would look at him outside the old district.
He originally thought that he would live in seclusion in this barren land as a hunter, and either die of old age in bed, or die under the claws of demonic beasts or prey. He did not expect that His Highness, as a Sand Nation, would take a fancy to him and let him see the power of Skyfire and Thunder. The following changes were too fast for him to follow. From the establishment of the militia to fighting against demonic beasts to the establishment of the First Army in Border Town, he became the commander-in-chief of the First Army from the captain of the hunter team. What was even more surprising was that because of His Highness' attitude towards witches, he once again met the heir of the Osha clan, Lady Drow Silvermoon, in Border Town, which made up for the biggest regret of his life. For this trust and appreciation, as well as the compensation for his fate, Iron Axe had long vowed to dedicate everything to his new master.
Approaching the center of the testing ground, Iron Axe saw His Highness Roland. To his slight surprise, in addition to His Highness and the Chief Knight, there were also several Sleeping Island witches.
"Your Highness, Iron Axe reporting for duty!" He stepped forward and saluted the prince.
The latter nodded and said, "Now that everyone is here, we can start." He handed the two spears to Iron Axe and Carter. "This is one of my newly developed weapons. It's still in the prototype stage, and the quantity is limited. Let's take turns to try it."
Iron Axe carefully looked at the new gun in his hand. It looked very similar to a revolving rifle. The only difference was that the new gun did not have a cartridge.
He was stunned. Could it be that this gun was like the earliest flintlock that needed to be loaded from the front of the barrel?
"It's called a bolt rifle," His Royal Highness quickly explained, "The bullets use the latest smokeless double base propellant, and the caliber is 8mm. Although it's smaller than the 10mm revolving rifle, it's more powerful." He flipped the gun over. "The ammunition is inserted from the front of the trigger, and each clip can insert five bullets. However, it can't be fired continuously like a revolving rifle. It needs to be manually unloaded and loaded."
According to His Royal Highness' demonstration, Iron Axe quickly understood how to operate the new rifle, and raised it to test firing a clip of bullets. The new gun was quite powerful. Every time he pulled the trigger, he could feel the impact of the butt on his shoulder, and the sound was much louder than that of a revolving rifle.
After firing five shots, he noticed that there was almost no smoke in front of the muzzle. If it was an old rifle, the smoke from five bullets would be enough to completely obscure his sight. This was probably the credit of His Highness's so-called "smokeless ammunition". However, there was nothing special about the gun itself. Compared to the huge gap between the revolver and the flintlock, not to mention that the new rifle was no progress, Iron Axe even felt that it was inferior to the revolver. The most obvious difference was that the firing speed had become slower.
Compared with the former, which could be fired continuously after aiming, the new gun was extremely inconvenient to shoot standing up. After manually loading the bullets, he had to raise the gun and aim again. Although the process was much faster than that of the flintlock, he needed to suppress the enemy in a short time. For example, when he was cleaning up the rebellious nobles in Longsong Stronghold, the new rifle was far less useful than the revolving rifle.
After Iron Axe told Carter about his experience in the test, Carter expressed the same opinion.
The prince nodded. "Indeed, it's not as convenient as the revolving rifle, but its advantages are also very obvious. Andrea, you demonstrate. "He handed a rifle to the witch." Remember to shoot with your ability. "
"Uh-huh." The blonde witch took the gun and skillfully pulled the bolt and loaded it. It was obvious that this was not the first time she had touched this weapon. "Watch carefully!"
With three deafening gunshots, Iron Axe was surprised to find that the three farthest wooden targets had fallen one after another. The bullets not only hit the fingernail-sized targets, but also hit the pole below the targets.
After all, they were at least 400 meters away from the target!
"Your Highness, this is..." Carter said in disbelief.
"Andrea's derivative ability allows her to accurately hit the target, whether the weapon in her hand is a bow or a gun," the prince said with a smile. "But it doesn't directly affect the bolts or bullets. Instead, it depends on the accurate control of the weapon's performance. In other words, if you throw a stone yourself, you can probably hit a target about 10 meters away. If you throw a bird, it's very likely that you won't hit anything."
"You mean... ordinary people can also reach this level after training?"
"Yes, this is the biggest advantage of the bolt rifle. It won't leak due to the gap between the cartridge and the barrel, which greatly improves the range and accuracy." Roland nodded. "When equipped with a scope, even an ordinary soldier can accurately kill an enemy about 400 to 500 meters away. However, the accurate shooting range of a revolver is less than 100 meters."
Iron Axe suddenly understood the horror of this weapon. Most people would not be on guard against a sneak attack at this distance. As long as they hid in residential houses or high ground, they could easily kill important targets. If it was Lady Nightingale holding it, almost no one would be able to defend against a bullet shot from a corner.
"Your Highness, you promised to give me one when you mass-produce it," Andrea said, covering her mouth.
"Of course." Roland put away the two rifles, walked to the other side, and uncovered a bulging piece of cloth. "In fact, the bolt rifle is just an appetizer before the test. This thing is the focus of today's test."
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