Chapter 76 Comparing Products

"You may need this." Wang Tom handed Luo Shengdong a strange small object.

Luo Shengdong took it and put it on his face according to Wang Tom's instructions. He found that the front of his eyes was covered by a layer of transparent material.

"This way you don't have to close your eyes when you wait to shoot." Wang Tom patiently explained to him.

Luo Shengdong suddenly realized, and suddenly felt that the practicality of Haihan's gadget was really very strong. In order to avoid gunpowder splashing and burning the eyes when shooting, the musketeers in this era always closed their eyes at the last moment of firing and igniting the gun.

. And if you want to hit a slightly farther target with this shooting method, you obviously need a lot of luck.

When Luo Shengdong first joined the army, he was assigned as a cannon soldier and received systematic training. Although the fire cannon in his hand is different from the bird cannons and Lumi cannons currently equipped by the Ming army, it is

The general structure of the gun body is the same, and there will be no obstacles for Luo Shengdong to operate it.

Luo Shengdong first cleaned the primer hole and primer pot in the middle of the gun body. This place is very easy to be blocked by gunpowder residue. If you are not careful, it will cause the launch failure due to the inability to ignite the fire.

Then Luo Shengdong picked up the primer, carefully poured it into the primer pot, then closed the lid and gently blew away the primer scattered outside the primer pot. Then he picked up the vial marked "Propellant"

, pour the propellant from the muzzle into the barrel. Luo Shengdong noticed that the gunpowder used by the Haihan people was not in the form of common powder, but in the form of tiny granules. According to normal operating procedures, the gunpowder uses multiple

The weight of the gunpowder should be the same as the weight of the bullet. But Luo Shengdong didn't understand the difference in performance between this kind of gunpowder and the gunpowder he used before. Out of caution, he still reduced the usual weight.

Went a little.

Luo Shengdong picked up a lead bullet from the small dish on the table and loaded it into the muzzle of the gun. Just by the weight he felt in his hand, Luo Shengdong was almost certain that the matchlock gun made by Haihan was

The caliber should be the same as the blunderbuss equipped by the Ming army.

Luo Shengdong stretched the rod into the barrel of the gun, compacted the projectiles and propellant, then lit the match with a lighter, fixed the match rope on the match rope clip of the gun body, leveled the matchlock gun, and pointed it at the target a hundred steps away.

The target. The target was newly replaced by Wang Tom's order just now. It was a wooden board painted with several layers of concentric circles with white paint. Even if it was placed a hundred steps away, Luo Shengdong could see it very clearly.

Luo Shengdong held the matchlock gun steadily and pulled the trigger. When the matchlock fell, the lid of the primer pot was opened, and the burning gunpowder gave off a dazzling white light. Then he felt a shock in his hand, which must have been the bullet fired.

But when the matchlock was fired, the white smoke caused by the burning gunpowder obscured Luo Shengdong's sight, so he could not see clearly the results of his shooting for a while.

Luo Shengdong was not in a hurry to see if he hit the target. After seeking the consent of Wang Tom and others, he fired five more rounds before reluctantly putting down the matchlock gun.

"How?" Tao Donglai asked with great interest. As one of the future customers of Chuanzhong's arms business, Luo Shengdong's experience in using it is obviously very important. This will serve as a reference for the relevant departments to improve the matchlock technology in the future.

Luo Shengdong pondered for a moment and said: "This fire gun is slightly heavier than the bird gun equipped by our Ming army, but the body of the gun is very stable when shooting. It must be the effect of the wooden handle on the shoulder."

The biggest difference between the matchlock gun made by Chuanzhong and the bird gun used by the Ming army is the butt on the rear of the gun. Although the bird gun has a structure similar to the butt, it is more suitable for holding it under the arm.

Naturally, the stability when shooting is not much better. This weird gun-holding posture actually didn't seem strange at the time, because you can't open your eyes to aim when shooting, so the height of the gun does not need to be at the same level as your head.

The matchlock gun used by Chuanzhong adopts the butt design of a modern rifle. When firing, the butt is placed on the shoulder, and most of the recoil is relieved by the body, so the stability is naturally superior.

Luo Shengdong continued: "I intentionally reduced the amount of gunpowder when loading, but the power of the explosion seems to be better than that of a blunderbuss. There must be something unique in the production of this gunpowder."

Tao Donglai nodded lightly with a smile. Of course, the future arms trade will not only sell guns and cannons. The ammunition must also be sold in combination. And if the weapons sold are to have normal power during use,

Then it must be combined with the use of special gunpowder made by the Travelers. Such a combination design is not only to make a few more money, but also to take precautions before they happen, even if potential enemies pass through certain

Having purchased weapons from the public through channels, they have to be restricted by others when it comes to ammunition. After the introduction of fixed-loading rifles and artillery in a few years, the effect of this restriction will be more obvious.

Soon the militiamen from the new barracks retrieved the target that Luo Shengdong had just aimed at. Luo Shengdong was surprised to find that the one-inch-thick wooden board had several holes punched through by bullets. At such a distance,

The bullets can still maintain such power, which is much better than the gunpowder. It must be the effect of the unique gunpowder. It is difficult for the birdguns in the Ming army to hit the target at a distance of a hundred paces. There are only a few well-made Lumi guns.

Only then can it be done. And even if it hits, it will hardly have the power to penetrate the target. The Haihan people's matchlock gun can directly penetrate an inch-thick wooden board at this distance, so it at least maintains the power of breaking cotton armor.

.And if a general bird gun wants to penetrate cotton armor, it probably needs to shorten the distance.

"Three out of six shots hit, the marksmanship is quite accurate." Wang Tom expressed his appreciation for the accuracy of Luo Shengdong's marksmanship.

"I neglected to practice, it's ridiculous!" Luo Shengdong gestured with his fists in contented hands.

The "New Book of Jixiao" written by Qi Jiguang has clear requirements for the accuracy of bird gun shooting: "Erect a five-foot-high, two-foot broadwood sign at eighty paces, and hit one out of three shots, and seven out of ten shots."

." The diameter of the target that passed through the trees just now is at most two feet, and Luo Shengdong can maintain a 50% hit rate at a distance of a hundred steps. In addition, it is the first time for him to use this kind of matchlock gun. The result is indeed

It’s not easy. In fact, when the people from the Military and Police Department tried shooting before, many of them hit one out of five because they were not used to the shooting method. No one could hit all the marks at this distance.

.

"The accuracy of this fire gun is comparable to that of the Lumi gun, and its power is even better. It must be quite difficult to make, right?" Luo Shengdong probed cautiously.

Since Luo Shengdong was interested in asking questions, Tao Donglai was naturally willing to answer his questions: "I know that the bird guns used by your Ming army are very difficult to make. It often takes skilled craftsmen a month to make a bird gun.

Completed. But our kind of matchlock gun is not that troublesome. Different positions produce different parts, and it only takes a skilled worker about one day to assemble a gun."

Luo Shengdong's eyes widened immediately. He didn't know whether what Tao Donglai said was true, but if the Haihan people could really shorten the production time of this kind of firecracker to one day, that would be a great thing. Not for now.

Talking about the cost, the speed of this equipment alone is beyond the reach of the Ming army. It is rare to change their equipment for decades. You must know that a considerable part of the bird blunderbuss and Lumi blunderbuss currently equipped by the Yazhou garrison are

An old thing from the Wanli period can be used to scare people at ordinary times, but it is difficult to use it in actual combat during wartime, because no one knows whether the rusty bird gun will explode when fired. If not, it is better to use it in actual combat.

Ci Luo Shengdong led his team to sneak attack Chuanzhong, but they would not be beaten with a casualty ratio of fifteen to zero.

Of course, Tao Donglai's statement is actually watery, because if Chuanzhong wants to manufacture firearms on a large scale, it will definitely adopt a production form in which parts are processed separately and then assembled on an assembly line. And this so-called "one day" is actually based on the cost.

In terms of working hours, the actual time required is more than this number. But even so, the industrialized manufacturing method will leave its Ming Dynasty counterparts far behind in terms of production efficiency, and correspondingly,

There is a huge difference in manufacturing costs.

It is recorded in the "Book of Divine Weapons" written by Zhao Shizhen, a firearms expert of the Ming Dynasty, that "the value of a Kuang gun is only the cost of one person's settlement and one month of food." According to the prices at that time, the settlement fee of a soldier varied from region to region, and was approximately

Between five and ten taels. The more accurate Lumi gun is almost double the cost because of its more sophisticated craftsmanship. According to what Luo Shengdong learned from his father, the imperial court issued a gun during the Wanli period.

The purchase price of these Rumi guns issued to the border troops by the Ministry of War was around twenty taels of silver, and the bird guns were also around ten taels of silver. Although they were expensive, Ming Dynasty still gritted its teeth and widely equipped the troops.

Individual firearms based on bird cannons.

Luo Shengdong was now familiar with Chuanchuanzhong, so he told some of what he knew. After listening, Tao Donglai asked Tom Wang: "How about, how much advantage does our product have in terms of cost?"

?”

Wang Tom shook his head and said: "It's useless for you to ask me this. I'm just a technical person, not a cost management person. I only know that our matchlock gun will definitely be lower than the price Luo Ba said, but as for how much lower, you have to

Ask the person in charge of this project."

Luo Shengdong shook his head and said: "No need to bother, this fire gun is excellent, but even if the price is low, Yazhou Water Village does not have the right to purchase it on its own. To change ordnance, at least it must be reported to Qiongzhou Fucheng."

Tao Donglai sighed, shook his head and sighed: "Bureaucracy is harmful to people!"

However, this matchlock gun is still in the trial production stage. Even if small batch production begins, it will definitely be equipped with militia troops first. As for exporting arms, it is unlikely in the short term, at least until the technical department has made one with higher technical content.

Flintlock guns must ensure that there is a technical gap between their own armaments and the exported arms. Therefore, Tao Donglai is not too anxious about exporting arms. Since Luo Shengdong has stated that there are still difficulties, then step by step

Just take your time.
Chapter completed!