Chapter 128: New Bullet Test

To test the quality of the nitrocellulose cloth he had produced, Owen cut a small piece and held it in his hand, then ignited it.

The nitrocellulose cloth caught fire instantly, burning completely in less than the blink of an eye, leaving only a tiny amount of residue.

It could be ignited directly in his hand without causing burns, and the smoke emitted almost had no acidic odor.

From this, Owen could basically confirm that the nitrocellulose cloth was of very high quality.

With nitrocellulose available, the primer issue for bullets was solved, and Owen could attempt to manufacture a few flintlock metal cartridges.

He first cut the nitrocellulose cloth into small squares, then took out the previously trial-produced cartridge cases and bullets and began the loading process.

Although the machines for making cartridge cases and bullets existed, the machine to assemble the case, bullet, primer, and black powder into a complete cartridge had not yet been built.

Therefore, this step had to be done manually.

He coated the nitrocellulose cloth with a thin layer of glue, then carefully used a small wooden stick to insert it into the bottom of the cartridge, sealing the ignition hole.

Next, he poured black powder into the cartridge using a paper funnel, tamped it down to ensure consistent powder charge for each bullet.

Finally, the bullet was pressed into the cartridge case by hand, then lightly tapped with a hammer. A metal cartridge was completed.

Compared to simple lead bullets, the new cartridges represented a significant improvement in craftsmanship.

Holding a newly-made bullet in front of him, Owen observed it closely and remarked.

“This bullet is really exquisite.”

“Exquisite? By my standards, the bullet you made is still quite crude.” 

Winston teased.

“It’s good enough. With our current level of technology, making bullets like this is already quite an achievement.” 

Owen replied.

“Hm… fair enough.” 

Winston conceded.

Owen continued producing bullets, and during the process, he discovered a few cases and bullets were defective—some too large, some too small—and could not be assembled.

In the end, he successfully manufactured twelve qualified bullets.

With these new bullets in hand, Owen and Mapel set off for the northern city wall to meet Viscount Jarvis.

At the camp behind the northern city wall:

“Oh? The new bullets are already made?”

Viscount Jarvis carefully examined the bullets handed to him and then looked at Owen in surprise.

“Marquis Eisen, these bullets are crafted so finely. Wouldn’t mass-producing them be difficult?”

“That won’t be a problem.” 

Owen shook his head. 

“The process for the new bullets is improved, but so is our technology. Mass production will be feasible.”

Hearing this, Viscount Jarvis felt reassured.

He then turned and picked up the new gun Owen had recently gifted him, eager to say,

“Marquis Eisen, let’s go outside and test-fire it.”

“Alright.”

Owen’s purpose in coming this time was to observe the test-fire performance of the new bullets, so he accompanied Viscount Jarvis to the outdoor shooting range.

They first conducted a precision test. Since bullets were limited, Viscount Jarvis decided to fire only three rounds for verification.

The target was placed fifteen meters away. Viscount Jarvis opened the rear rotary breech, loaded a new bullet, and closed the lock.

Although only one bullet could be loaded at a time, because it was breech-loading and used metal cartridges, the loading speed was much faster than before.

He aimed at the target and pulled the trigger. Bang! The shot hit the target.

Immediately, Viscount Jarvis opened the breech, ejected the spent cartridge, and loaded the second bullet.

The entire process was smooth and practiced, without any hesitation or wasted motion.

It was clear that Viscount Jarvis had probably been secretly practicing the operation of the new gun.

After firing three shots in a row, Jarvis turned to Owen and gave him a knowing look.

“Let’s go check the results.”

“Wait a moment.”

Owen walked over, picked up the three spent shells on the ground, and asked Mapel to hold them.

“These empty cartridges can be recovered and reused—don’t waste them.”

After all, copper is a precious metal used for minting coins, so any savings were worthwhile.

“Oh! I understand.” 

Jarvis nodded. 

“From now on, when soldiers practice shooting with the new gun, I’ll have them collect all the shells. For every bullet issued, they’ll have to return a shell.”

The three then approached the target and saw that all three bullet holes were close to the bullseye.

This showed that the accuracy of the new gun was quite impressive.

“Just like the rifled guns using Minié balls, the precision is very reliable.” 

Jarvis commented. 

“A rifled barrel really does make a difference, doesn’t it, Marquis Eisen?”

“Indeed.” 

Owen agreed.

Rifled guns were superior to smoothbore guns in many ways—a fact Owen had already learned from Winston’s history of firearms.

Next, Jarvis conducted other tests, firing all the bullets Owen had brought.

After this series of test shots, all the data collected surpassed the performance of the soldiers’ current smoothbore guns, and even slightly outperformed rifled guns using Minié bullets.

If all the soldiers switched to this new gun and became proficient with it, combat effectiveness would increase dramatically.

Jarvis rubbed the new gun in satisfaction and urged.

“Marquis Eisen, the third-generation firearm has seen a significant improvement. When can it be mass-produced? I want to equip the gun units as soon as possible.”

“Now that the effectiveness of the new bullets has been confirmed, I’ll have Gita start preparing for mass production of the new guns,” 

Owen said. 

“The mass production of bullets will also begin. Don’t worry, we should be able to provide the new guns soon.”

“I’ll look forward to it.” 

Jarvis said expectantly.

After leaving the northern city wall, Owen didn’t want to waste Jita’s time and went straight to the machine workshop where he often stayed.

The workshop was as noisy as ever.

When Jita realized that the lord himself had come, he quickly stopped his work, grabbed the dirty cloth around his neck, roughly wiped the sweat off his face, and ran over to greet Owen.

“Ah! Lord, why did you come yourself?! You could have just sent someone to tell me.”

“I know you’ve been extremely busy lately, so I came personally to inform you of something.”

Ever since taking the steam engine order from the Gemini Trading Company, Jita and his team had been even busier—not only continuing to manufacture guns but also making two steam engines to ensure delivery within three months.

“What is it?” 

Jita asked.

“The old guns have been retired…” 

Owen said. 

“From now on, you’ll start making the new guns, the two I previously asked you to produce.”

“New guns?”

Jita paused for a moment but quickly understood.

“Lord, does that mean the primer issue for the bullets has been solved?”

“Yes,” 

Owen nodded. 

“Unfortunately, the new bullets were just used up by Viscount Jarvis for test firing, so you can’t see the actual rounds yet.”

“That’s fine, Lord. What I care about is the mass production of the new bullets…”

“I’ll handle that,” 

Owen said.

“You just focus on your work. I’ll send two apprentices from your workshop to operate the machines for making cartridge cases and bullets.”

Owen’s reasoning was twofold: he didn’t want to increase Jita’s workload, and the production of nitrocellulose involves chemical knowledge, which wasn’t Jita’s expertise.

“I understand, Lord…” 

Jita said solemnly, nodding.

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