In the Southern Song Dynasty, I competed with Mongolia for the world

Chapter 429 Rifling is a bit difficult

If you could only shoot two or three times a minute before, now a skilled gunner can shoot four or even five times a minute.

After Zhao Yurui finished telling his sons, they deliberately looked at their two sons. The eldest son Zhao Qi didn't seem to be interested. Zhao Qi liked shooting guns, but he didn't seem to be very interested in how these guns were made and what the functions of each part were. On the contrary, the nine-year-old son Zhao Yu looked very serious and interested. Listening to Ning Shen, he didn't know whether he was really interested or just pretending.

After Zhao Yurui finished speaking, Zhao Yu immediately said: "Father, can I take a look at this Thunder Gong Fire Hat?"

"Of course." Zhao Yurui handed it to Zhao Yu.

Zhao Fu held it in his hand and played with it, still looking very interested.

Zhao Qi looked around and stared at the new flintlock gun next to him.

This was a new gun that had just been built and equipped with a Thundergon flash cap. He looked at it a few times and seemed to want to try it, but his father didn't say anything and he didn't dare to move.

When the Thundergon flash helmet was first developed, it was made of paper and was later developed into metal.

But Zhao Yurui's Song Dynasty is directly made of metal, and its style is probably like the mineral water bottle cap of later generations.

The metal needs to be soft, so copper has always been used to make it in history. The flash cap in front of Zhao Yurui is also made of copper. It is smaller than the cap of a mineral water bottle and as big as a fingernail. It has fulminate glued inside.

"Father, can an impact force of 200 grams set him on fire?" Young Zhao Yu asked at this time.

"Well, it's usually about 200-400 grams." Zhao Yurui picked up a small metal rod from the side and handed it to Zhao Yu.

Zhao Fu was stunned for a moment, then looked at the flash cap in his left hand and the metal rod in his right hand. After a moment, he put the flash cap on the table, picked up the metal rod and lightly smashed it into the flash cap.

Phew, sparks suddenly flew out of the flash cap.

"Haha, it's true." Zhao Yu's expression was surprised and happy, and it felt very novel.

Tang Bo, Zhang Xiaoshi and other craftsmen and officials beside him originally wanted to say that His Highness is really smart, but Tang Bo opened his mouth for a moment and then closed it again because he found that the eldest prince Zhao Qi was also there. You can't shoot your fart randomly.

After looking at the flash cap, Zhao Yurui picked up the new and improved flintlock gun.

Today's flintlock guns are much lighter than before. Because there is no powder tank, the ignition rate has greatly increased, and the misfire rate has reached 1 in 200.

At the same time, the amount of gunpowder used is also less, and the loading step is also one less step.

The overall performance can be described as a qualitative improvement.

Zhao Yurui took the gun and took his two sons to the shooting range outside again. He tried a few shots and found no misfires. He was very satisfied.

"How long does it take for a skilled gunman to shoot now?" Zhao Yurui asked after finishing the shooting.

"Your Majesty, the charge pool is missing." Tang Bo said: "It can save several breaths of time. A fast gunner can shoot one round in about ten breaths."

Nowadays, the skilled Song Army can basically complete four rounds per minute, and some powerful ones can even complete it within twelve seconds, reaching five rounds per minute.

Don't underestimate the step of charging the medicine pool, it is quite time-consuming.

In the past, when the Song Army took out the fixed ammunition, they had to first hold the line between the ignition powder and the detonating powder in the middle, then open the medicine pool, and be careful to pour some of it. They also had to worry about pouring too much or too little, watching the standard line pour, and then Then pour the rest into the barrel of the gun.

This process takes at least five or six seconds.

Now we can save this step and just pour it all into the barrel of the gun, which doesn't take much time.

Pour it in and stab it with a stick. If you are fast, you can finish it in ten seconds.

However, Zhao Yurui obviously wanted to go faster.

Wouldn't it be faster if you didn't have to pour it in and use a poke stick to poke it?

So you need rifling and bullets, and a breech loading method.

In the fourth year of Yuanzhen, Zhao Yurui also proposed the concept of rifling and bullets. Then Tang Bo mentioned a craftsman named Xu Li and also mentioned the breech. Zhao Yurui was also overjoyed at that time and specially ordered Xu Li to be promoted. He was promoted from a craftsman to a master craftsman and became the head of the firearms bureau. From a sixth-grade official, he was given a group of people to research breech-loading and conical bullets and cannonballs.

Of course, Zhao Yurui also talked to Xu Li about the experience of later generations, which usually develops gradually, because with the current technological capabilities of the Song Dynasty, it cannot be achieved overnight.

Zhao Yurui soon came to another area.

Xu Li was also waiting for His Majesty the Emperor with several craftsmen.

There are artillery on the ground at the scene, and they will demonstrate the new type of wooden-supported artillery shells to His Majesty the Emperor.

When the previous cannonballs and gunpowder were in the barrel together, the gap in the middle was relatively large. Because the cannonballs were round and the pressure area was relatively large, the pressure they endured was small. This resulted in a limited range and unstable flight of the cannonballs.

Later generations gradually changed to conical cannonballs. The cannonballs flew farther and farther, and could hit dozens or hundreds of kilometers. This is how it gradually developed.

Zhao and Rui also followed the progress of history and invented the wooden cannonball first.

That is to create a cylindrical wooden support, which is similar to the shell of later cannonballs, but shorter.

The front is a half-moon arc, which just holds the round cannonball.

After being loaded into the gun barrel, it fits very well and has good sealing. After the propellant explodes, the pressure area it bears is small, the pressure becomes larger, and the kinetic energy naturally becomes larger. Moreover, after the wooden support shell is fired, because the front part is heavier than the rear part It is light, similar to a badminton, making the trajectory more precise, the center of gravity is stable, and the range is longer.

The wooden pallet cannonballs are already close to the cannonballs of later generations, resulting in improved accuracy and longer range, and Zhao Yurui's artillery has also been further improved.

The gunners on the scene fired several shots. The light artillery used by the Song Army in field battles had a range of more than 400 steps, and the medium and heavy artillery of more than 1,000 kilograms could reach about a thousand steps.

After seeing the shelling at the scene, Zhao Yurui was of course very satisfied, but he did not plan to put it into service immediately.

At this time further improvements were put on the agenda.

The Mongolian army has a majority of cavalry, but only a small number of infantry attacks. Now only flintlocks can deal with a large number of infantry attacks. If you want to severely damage the cavalry on the way to the cavalry attack, you have to rely on explosive shells, that is, explosive shells.

Previously, the artillery of the Song Army relied on the shells to cause greater damage after rolling on the ground. This purely depends on luck and face.

Moreover, in geologically distant places such as the Mongolian grasslands, or when it rains and is muddy, the shells will not roll far after landing.

"Next step, you have to develop artillery shells that can explode after landing." Zhao Yurui said at this time.

The craftsmen around him listened calmly.

There were explosive bombs in the Ming Dynasty, but the quality was extremely poor. The blooming bombs at that time had several shortcomings. For example, the diameter of the barrel was larger than the diameter of the shell. After the propellant was detonated, it would spray out from the gap between the "shell" and the barrel, which could easily ignite the "shell." The exposed fuse caused premature explosion.

Secondly, the casting process at that time could not produce the entire shell at one time. It had to be produced in half and then pieced together. This kind of shell was very fragile and could easily be destroyed when the propellant exploded. Furthermore, in addition to being dangerous, even if it was successfully launched, Due to the gunpowder formula and other reasons, the power was also very small, so the "flowering bullet" was not popular at that time, and then it was slowly abandoned.

Now Zhao Yurui has the best gunpowder formula, and there is no problem with the explosive power.

The sealing and gap have also been solved, and it has been changed to wooden shells. It is no longer possible to raise the fuse that ignites the shell outside, causing premature explosion.

Now Zhao Yurui and the others have to solve several problems. First, the shell shell cannot be too thick or too thin.

If it is too thick, the explosion will not be very powerful. If it is too thin, it may explode before it comes out of the chamber.

Then there's the issue of fuses.

The fuze is very important, because the artillery must estimate the flight time and landing distance, and then burn the fuze to that position, and it will explode after landing.

If the fuse is short and explodes in mid-air, it will be wasted.

If the fuse is long, it will explode after landing, giving the opponent time to avoid it.

This principle is similar to that of grenades, so how was it solved in history?

Historically, wooden tube fuse cannonballs would have a scale marked on the wooden tube in advance. When firing, the artilleryman would estimate the flight time of the cannonball based on the distance, and then dig a hole on the corresponding scale (to allow access to the gunpowder inside the cannonball), and then Then insert the wooden tube fuse into the shell.

The scale on the wooden tube is marked according to the distance of the cannonball launch, which is calculated after a large number of experiments. For example: within ten seconds of burning, you can fly six kilometers; then it takes five seconds for the cannonball to fly three kilometers, and 1.5 kilometers is two and a half seconds. Just mark the scale on the wooden tube in advance, so it can Control the cannonball to explode in time within a set distance.

Although Zhao Yurui did not understand these things and only knew the general principle of wooden tube fuse shells, after explaining the principle, the craftsmen would develop in this direction, and they would just spend more time to conduct experiments and verify it.

"This thing may explode in advance or explode the chamber. You must be careful when testing it."

"In the end, the length of the fuse and the attack distance can be determined by the amount of gunpowder and burning time."

Zhao and Rui have repeatedly warned the craftsmen to be careful, as these craftsmen are all his treasures.

The current blooming explosive bomb with a wooden tube fuse is already relatively low-tech in front of craftsmen like Zhao Yurui, and it is much easier than developing a thundergon.

After Tang Bo listened, he expressed his opinion on the spot that it could be developed in half a year at most.

"Don't brag yet, don't be in a hurry, we all have time." Zhao Yurui said with a smile: "The safety of the craftsmen, craftsmen, and gunners is the most important thing."

He is only thirty-one years old now, just in his early thirties, in the prime of life, and has plenty of time.

"Thank you, Your Majesty." The ministers were still very moved.

During the transition, Zhao Yurui was quite excited.

With wooden support shells and further improvements to explosive wooden fuse shells, the range, accuracy, and power of artillery in the Song Dynasty increased several times.

When the time comes, it will explode into a large area and cause powerful damage to the cavalry charge.

Equipped with flintlock guns, the Song army could easily defeat the Mongolian army in the wild.

Unfortunately, the next venue soon left him slightly disappointed.

The transition place is where Song Dynasty made rifling.

Originally, rifling only appeared in the 15th century, but it was not until the 19th century that it was widely used in armies of various countries. The reason is of course that rifling is difficult to make. To be precise, it is difficult to make high-quality and durable rifling.

Zhao Yurui also made several suggestions back then, and the craftsmen have been developing in these directions.

At the current level of technology, the simplest and easiest to operate is the scraper method.

The scraper method uses a steel rod that is slightly smaller than the inner diameter of the barrel, carves a groove in a specific part of it, and installs a carbide steel sheet with one or two protruding strips with a certain inclination angle. It is a strip-shaped body with a sharp edge at the front end and adjustable protrusion height. Pull back and forth on a rifling position dozens of times to cut out a vaginal rifling, then adjust the position and cut the next one. In this method, a single scraper is generally used to cut odd or even numbered riflings, and a two-way scraper can be used to cut even numbered riflings. You can also install a single scraper, double scrapers or three sets of knives at opposite positions to cut out 2 to 6 rifling lines at a time.

This is one of the easiest methods to operate in the feudal era, and it is also the easiest to understand.

But it also has several difficulties.

First, in this era, it is more difficult to make a steel rod that is slightly smaller than the inner diameter of the gun barrel, and the accuracy must be controlled.

Second, the materials used to install the carbide steel sheets require constant experimentation.

The barrels of Zhao Yurui's flintlock guns all use drilled tubes, which is considered the most advanced technology of this era.

However, it is quite time-consuming and inefficient. Tens of thousands of craftsmen are involved, and more than 20,000 can be made in a year.

In recent years, Zhao Yurui has turned a large number of craftsmen who originally made crossbows into making flintlock guns.

At present, tens of thousands of craftsmen from the Song Dynasty are involved, making more than 20,000 flintlock guns every year.

The entire army currently only has 70,000 flintlock muskets. Zhao and Rui are fighting the Mongolian army in various places at the same time, and each army is assigned a limited number of flintlock muskets.

Making the steel rod for the scraper is as time-consuming and labor-intensive as making a gun barrel, and the key is that it is not durable enough.

As for the cemented carbide material, the craftsmen have gone through countless tests for almost two years and have finally found a more suitable formula. This has also led to improvements in drill bits.

"A steel rod can only pull four barrels, and all of them need to be done by hand. The level of each craftsman is different, so the rifling may be different."

The different rifling means that it is unrealistic for Zhao and Rui to replace it with bullets. Moreover, the efficiency of manual work is very low, and a large number of craftsmen need to be deployed. This will slow down the speed of making flintlock guns, and the gain outweighs the loss.

There is also a relatively simple method that can be operated in the early stage is the 'hook knife broaching method'.

This kind of hook-shaped cutter is placed on a steel pull rod that is slightly thinner than the diameter of the gun bore. The height of the hook-shaped scraper blade can be adjusted by adjusting the screw on the layer of the pull rod. Each time it is pulled through the barrel, the pull rod moves a few microns. As the barrel rotates at a constant speed, a bore line with a certain twist is broached. After reaching a predetermined width, the second rifling line is changed to another position. An early rifled gun only needed to broach about twenty times to draw a chamber line, while a better gun needed to broach the same chamber line about a hundred times. The more times you pull, the thinner and more precise the groove formed.

This can be done with wooden machinery, so it is relatively easy.

The disadvantage is that it requires complete manual work and a large number of craftsmen.

(End of this chapter)