473, punch, metal bullets and gunpowder-propelled grenade 2
Yang Fan's secret weapon is the hand-operated Gatling gun.
The Gatling gun is a multi-barreled rotating firearm. Each barrel is responsible for loading, firing, ejecting and reloading, achieving continuous shooting during rotation.
Now Yang Fan's bullets have a firing rate of only half because of the unreliable primer.
It is a recipe for death to use it on a rifle. Once it misfires, the soldier must hurriedly withdraw the ammunition.
Single-shot rifles do not have a magazine. You must use a knife to pry the outer convex bottom edge of the bullet outward to eject the cartridge case.
This is very troublesome. With this skill, the enemies will have already rushed up.
However, if this kind of bullet is used in a hand-operated Gatling gun, there will be no problem.
As the handle is shaken, multiple barrels rotate, and the fired bullets are ejected.
A misfired bullet will eject together with the cartridge case while spinning.
Apart from affecting the rate of fire, it does not have much impact on normal use.
The hand-cranked Gatling is a rotating barrel machine gun composed of multiple tubes. When shooting, the crank is manually turned, and the bullets will automatically fall from the upright magazine and be loaded into the multi-barreled rotating chamber.
As the barrel rotates, each bullet is fired quickly to maintain continuity of firepower.
The handle of the machine gun only needs to be rotated once to fire 6 rounds of bullets.
With constant shaking, it can reach a firing rate of 200 rounds per minute.
Yang Fan's bullets have a half misfire rate, but even so, they can still reach a rate of fire of one hundred rounds.
This rate of fire is sufficient. The actual rate of fire of Japan's crooked machine gun is only 120 rounds.
This hand-operated Gatling gun was invented in 1850. Yang Fan has the design drawings, and all parts can be produced with Yang Fan's current technical level.
There is no problem in making it. In fact, the biggest difficulty is in the metal fixed ammunition. This thing cannot be knocked out with a hammer.
As long as the cartridge case is not a standard cylinder, it will not fit into the bore of the gun, and it will leak when it is installed. Moreover, the cost of manually producing cartridge cases will be too high to bear.
Yang Fan put down his rifle and wiped his hands that were blackened by the black powder propellant with the hot towel sent by the orderly. The first batch of experimental percussion guns were not sealed well. After firing, his hands were black.
gunpowder residue.
Seeing Yang Fan put down the gun, Lin Yueru and Xiao Niangpi also enthusiastically grabbed several other percussion guns and went up to shoot them. They were also very interested in new weapons.
Before the two of them had finished fighting, they saw a group of people dragging equipment. Three trial-produced hand-operated Gatling guns were brought up.
The hand-operated Gatling gun has a barrel of one meter long. Because the bullet caliber reaches 15 mm, the barrel is very thick. The six barrels are fixed together, making it very heavy.
It couldn't be moved by manpower. So Yang Fan directly ordered the guns to be mounted on wheels and marched with mules and horses like artillery.
This is the heavy-duty Gatling gun.
Considering the convenience of cavalry troops, a model mounted on the back of a camel was designed.
Considering the needs of mountain troops in combat, a model mounted on a wheelbarrow was designed, which can be pushed by one soldier and can also pass on narrow mountain roads.
The three Gatlings delivered are models A, B, and C.
The first one, as heavy as a gun carriage, was placed in the first firing position.
The second unit, a light Gatling, was transported on the back of a camel. After arriving at the shooting position, the camel lay on the ground.
First put down the four brackets and support them on the ground, so that the camel does not need to bear any force. The camel is only responsible for maneuvering with the firearms and ammunition. Then start firing.
This design idea comes from the idea of Geldan's camel city, camel artillery unit and camel heavy matchlock unit during the battle between Kangxi and Gerdan.
The third one is the Gatling integrated into a trolley. This kind of unicycle is also called a chicken bus. It can be pushed by one person, or it can be dragged by someone in front. It is very suitable for marching in mountainous areas and areas with extremely poor roads.
Chang Zhu saw that the test-firing personnel at the arsenal were all ready and asked: "Sir, which one do you want to test-fire?"
Yang Fan considered that it would be difficult to carry a heavy one on this trip north, so he said: "Let's test-fire this kind of trolley."
"Okay, launch the No. 3 car!" Chang Zhu ordered.
As soon as the order was given, the three people immediately started working.
One person is responsible for delivering the magazine, one person is responsible for loading the magazine, and one person shakes the handle to start shooting.
The magazines are all fifty rounds. Because the caliber is too large, the magazines are very heavy. Fifty rounds is already the maximum limit. Although the sustained firepower of the machine gun requires as many magazines as possible, the better.
No matter how much ammunition is loaded, manual loading will be difficult.
The muskets of this era, whether they were matchlocks or flintlock muskets, had larger calibers. Generally, they were between 15 and 25 mm.
The caliber of some heavy matchlocks even reaches 25-35 mm, such as turtle dove guns, Japanese large barrels, Spanish heavy matchlocks, etc.
The reason why the diameter was large was mainly because the technology at that time was not good enough. It was very difficult to process small diameters. Larger diameters were easier to produce.
Yang Fan handed each of them a pair of industrial noise earplugs. He motioned to Xiao Niangpi and Lin Yueru to plug their ears with the earplugs.
As soon as the three men plugged their ears, the Gatling gun opened fire.
As the handle was shaken, the barrel of the gun rotated and sprayed out flames. It made a deafening sound, and the bullet casings also clanged out and rolled to the ground.
The light Gatling has only three barrels, which are responsible for loading, shooting, and ejection.
At this time, the three barrels cooperated closely, completing the three actions perfectly, and dense bullets were fired towards the target on the opposite side.
The targets and scarecrows on the opposite side were shattered by bullets, and grass foam flew everywhere.
Although the cartridge case is still filled with black powder and the warhead is still a cast lead slug, the bullet has a large caliber, a long barrel, and a large amount of powder. The muzzle velocity of the bullet leaving the chamber is much higher than that of a rifle, and the range and power are very impressive.
The effective range can reach 500 meters due to the stability of the gun mount.
At such a high muzzle velocity, the armor is basically the same as Zhihu's, there is no difference.
Xiao Niangpi and Lin Yueru were so surprised that they never imagined that firearms could be fired like this.
The rate of fire of one hundred rounds per minute, in their opinion, is like a violent storm. In front of such a weapon, anyone will be torn apart in an instant.
The fifty-round magazine was quickly finished. The person on the left of the shooter quickly pulled out the magazine. The person on the right of the shooter quickly loaded a new magazine.
The hand-operated Gatling gun, after a brief ceasefire, roared wildly and fired again.
Because the machine gun is mounted on a column and has a height and pitch device and a left and right swing device, it can conveniently shoot at enemies in the sector-shaped interface in front.
Two ammunition handlers took turns loading magazines, waiting for a box of twenty magazines to be finished. In front of the cart, the metal cartridge cases on the ground looked yellow.
Of course, half of the bullets here are blind fire and are ejected without being fired at all. If they were all fired, the rate of fire would be a full 200 rounds per minute.
These stink bombs are completely recyclable and can be refurbished and used again.
The shell casings on the ground must also be recovered and reloaded into new ammunition.
Copper is very expensive, and Yang Fan can't afford it. In the Ming Dynasty, copper is money.
"Master, this is too scary. We have such terrible weapons, so we don't have to be afraid of cavalry. With such fierce shooting, no matter how many cavalry come, they can defeat it." Tu Shanyue said with a pale face and a clear heart.
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"Master, under such fierce firepower, what's the use of personal bravery? The future is really going to change." Lin Yueru also said with a complicated mood.
Yang Fan was very satisfied with the results of today's test firing.
This scene is similar to the last scene in the movie "The Last Samurai", where the hand-cranked Gatling gun shoots samurai cavalry.
Yang Fan said with a smile: "This will scare you. There is a big killer who has not yet appeared. Wait for the experiment and you will be frightened."
"Ah, this machine gun is already so terrifying. Master, is there any more powerful weapon?" Xiao Niangpi asked in disbelief.
"Of course there is. This thing is called the Iron Fist, and it is fired using black powder, but strictly speaking it should be called a gunpowder-propelled grenade."