With the smokeless powder complete, now comes the manufacturing of one of the first weapons to use it. Nirra sat in her room a day after she had managed to reach the milestone. She cleaned her Model 1873 with a dirty rag while wearing a small smile. As she was cleaning, she thought of the next firearm to make.
'With smokeless powder comes self-loading firearms. I need to test it first with a bolt-action rifle before moving to easier self-loading pistols.' She then remembered about her new press.
'With the press, I can make firearms easier with sheet stamping, but first as with all firearms. I need to make the cartridge first. Maybe even put that new cylinder roller attachment on its paces.' She slowly assembled her Model 1873 again before she stored it on the wall.
'Maybe I should train more with the darkness mana so I can start storing weapons and not just ammunition. Maybe later.' She picked up some things in her room before she exited the room while she held the door for Mofu.
She walked down the brightly lit hallway with Mofu, their steps echoing through the seemingly empty corridor, when they bumped into Ellie, who was returning from her morning run with Ameria.
"Oh, sis, are you going to the smithy again?" She asked while she wiped the sweat off of her forehead with a piece of cloth.
"Yeah, the next stage of the weapon I'm crafting starts with the cartriges," Nirra shared, not mentioning her breakthrough with smokeless powder.
"Cartriges are the combination of those lead pieces and brass casing, right?" Ellie guessed based on the things Nirra told her the other day.
"You're finally learning," Nirra said nonchalantly before continuing. "Yes, I need to make the cartridge before starting the weapon itself," she explained. "You know, I never saw you make these cartridges. Mind if I tag along?"
"I don't see why not." Nirra shrugged. "I'll wait for you here. Go get a shower. Change your clothes. You smell like sun and sweat." She covered her nose before trying to fan the smell away from her nose.
"Says the one who smelled like burnt charcoal and sweat the other day." Ellie fired back before she quickly ran to her room before Nirra could react.
Nirra just sighed as she kneeled down to spend some time with Mofu while she waited for her sister. When she came back, she looked refreshed and in a new pair of clothes. They made their way back to Nirra's smithy to start making the cartridge.
"So, how do you make these cartridges, and can't you just use the used ones you keep picking up?" Ellie sat down on a seat near the table where the lathe was located.
Nirra turned to her sister as she wore her leather apron. "First of all, we can make the case using brass pressed into a sheet and rolled into a cylinder, and second, the firearm I'm thinking requires a different-sized cartridge—a larger one to deal with my penetration issues."
"And this new weapon should promise more penetration?" Ellie asked, a bit confused.
Nirra walked to her forge and loaded some charcoal into the confines of its bricks. "Look at it this way. The bigger the cartridge, the more penetrating capacity it has," Nirra explained in simple terms.
"Got it." Ellie finally understood while she watched her sister at work.
Nirra started the fire with Mofu's help, and she waited until it was big enough. Then she placed a brass ingot in the flames and waited for it to start heating up. After it was red hot, she pulled it out of the fire and onto the confines of the mechanical press. She used her lightning mana to operate the electric motor as the press squished the ingot. She reversed the circuit so that the press would go upwards before changing it to normal to once again press the ingot.
She repeated the process of reheating and pressing until she was left with a large sheet of brass. Her sister diligently watched her work.
"That took no time at all. Usually it takes a while to hammer ingots into sheets, but with that, it was done in a few minutes," Ellie commented while she pointed at the press.
"Well, it has more uses on the industrial side." Nirra used a ruler to determine the length of the case, which was 50mm.
She cut the sheet into strips before she attached the roller assembly to the electric motor, which was taken from the press.
She rolled it into a cylinder, with one side having a larger circumference than the other, after which she capped off the cartridge with a brass circle. She measured the circumference of the base and checked if it was 8mm. After she was done, she moved on to the next case. In the end, she ended up with 30 cases waiting for their projectile and propellant.
"Here, I need some help actually making the bullets," Nirra said as Ellie stood up and approached her.
"Here is the mold of the bullet; I already measured it, so you only need to cast lead into this shape. Be careful not to breathe in any particles that come off of it. I need 30 bullets." Ellie nodded and understood her task as she prepared to cast lead into small bullets.
Nirra grinded the casings so it would have a more finished look. She finished just as Ellie was letting her work cool. After it was done, the younger twin broke it out of the sand and put it in a bucket with water to cool it down.
"Hey, sis, what are those tiny notches on the bullet?" Ellie asked as she waited for it to cool.
"It's for the bullet to ride the grooves inside the barrel, which is the long metal tube in my weapon," Nirra explained.
"But isn't that just going to make it spin?" Ellie asked, confused a little.
Nirra explained further. "Yes, that is the goal—to make the bullet spin. Arrows have fins to keep it pointing in the right direction, but they can cause a problem in range, since fins produce drag. If you spin a specially shaped projectile without fins, it would have a much larger range than an arrow."
Ellie somewhat understood as she noticed that the lead was already cool and handed it to her sister, who dried it using a rag. After that, Nirra pulled out her stash of smokeless powder she made the other day. It was about 3 kg of smokeless powder from 7 kg of that salamander goo.
"These aren't that red powder you usually use to load your bullets. What is this?" Ellie grabbed a flake and inspected it.
"It's a special mixture I made called smokeless powder. In simple terms, and as the name suggests, it produces little smoke and little residue when burned but produces a lot more gas, unlike the powder I used previously." Nirra used a funnel to pour it into the case before she used a mallet to gently hammer the bullet into place.
"I see." Ellie placed the flake back in its storage, which was a metal pan with a cover that was placed in a large pan with water to prevent it from igniting.
Nirra repeated the process until she ended up with thirty 8 x 50mm rounds of ammunition.
Ellie examined the finished cartridge and said, "You're right, these are bigger than the ones you previously used."
"Tomorrow, I'll get started on the weapon itself. Let's just go get some lunch now because I'm starting to get hungry," Nirra said while she extinguished the flames on the forge and furnace.
"Alright! Let's go. I'm also getting super hungry." She ran out of the room when Nirra held the door for her, the latter having a blank expression as she left in a hurry.
"C'mon, Mofu." Nirra opened her arms.
"Mofuu~" The small fox jumped into it as she closed the door to the forge behind her.
With the smokeless powder complete, now comes the manufacturing of one of the first weapons to use it. Nirra sat in her room a day after she had managed to reach the milestone. She cleaned her Model 1873 with a dirty rag while wearing a small smile. As she was cleaning, she thought of the next firearm to make.
'With smokeless powder comes self-loading firearms. I need to test it first with a bolt-action rifle before moving to easier self-loading pistols.' She then remembered about her new press.
'With the press, I can make firearms easier with sheet stamping, but first as with all firearms. I need to make the cartridge first. Maybe even put that new cylinder roller attachment on its paces.' She slowly assembled her Model 1873 again before she stored it on the wall.
'Maybe I should train more with the darkness mana so I can start storing weapons and not just ammunition. Maybe later.' She picked up some things in her room before she exited the room while she held the door for Mofu.
She walked down the brightly lit hallway with Mofu, their steps echoing through the seemingly empty corridor, when they bumped into Ellie, who was returning from her morning run with Ameria.
"Oh, sis, are you going to the smithy again?" She asked while she wiped the sweat off of her forehead with a piece of cloth.
"Yeah, the next stage of the weapon I'm crafting starts with the cartriges," Nirra shared, not mentioning her breakthrough with smokeless powder.
"Cartriges are the combination of those lead pieces and brass casing, right?" Ellie guessed based on the things Nirra told her the other day.
"You're finally learning," Nirra said nonchalantly before continuing. "Yes, I need to make the cartridge before starting the weapon itself," she explained. "You know, I never saw you make these cartridges. Mind if I tag along?"
"I don't see why not." Nirra shrugged. "I'll wait for you here. Go get a shower. Change your clothes. You smell like sun and sweat." She covered her nose before trying to fan the smell away from her nose.
"Says the one who smelled like burnt charcoal and sweat the other day." Ellie fired back before she quickly ran to her room before Nirra could react.
Nirra just sighed as she kneeled down to spend some time with Mofu while she waited for her sister. When she came back, she looked refreshed and in a new pair of clothes. They made their way back to Nirra's smithy to start making the cartridge.
"So, how do you make these cartridges, and can't you just use the used ones you keep picking up?" Ellie sat down on a seat near the table where the lathe was located.
Nirra turned to her sister as she wore her leather apron. "First of all, we can make the case using brass pressed into a sheet and rolled into a cylinder, and second, the firearm I'm thinking requires a different-sized cartridge—a larger one to deal with my penetration issues."
"And this new weapon should promise more penetration?" Ellie asked, a bit confused.
Nirra walked to her forge and loaded some charcoal into the confines of its bricks. "Look at it this way. The bigger the cartridge, the more penetrating capacity it has," Nirra explained in simple terms.
"Got it." Ellie finally understood while she watched her sister at work.
Nirra started the fire with Mofu's help, and she waited until it was big enough. Then she placed a brass ingot in the flames and waited for it to start heating up. After it was red hot, she pulled it out of the fire and onto the confines of the mechanical press. She used her lightning mana to operate the electric motor as the press squished the ingot. She reversed the circuit so that the press would go upwards before changing it to normal to once again press the ingot.
She repeated the process of reheating and pressing until she was left with a large sheet of brass. Her sister diligently watched her work.
"That took no time at all. Usually it takes a while to hammer ingots into sheets, but with that, it was done in a few minutes," Ellie commented while she pointed at the press.
"Well, it has more uses on the industrial side." Nirra used a ruler to determine the length of the case, which was 50mm.
She cut the sheet into strips before she attached the roller assembly to the electric motor, which was taken from the press.
She rolled it into a cylinder, with one side having a larger circumference than the other, after which she capped off the cartridge with a brass circle. She measured the circumference of the base and checked if it was 8mm. After she was done, she moved on to the next case. In the end, she ended up with 30 cases waiting for their projectile and propellant.
"Here, I need some help actually making the bullets," Nirra said as Ellie stood up and approached her.
"Here is the mold of the bullet; I already measured it, so you only need to cast lead into this shape. Be careful not to breathe in any particles that come off of it. I need 30 bullets." Ellie nodded and understood her task as she prepared to cast lead into small bullets.
Nirra grinded the casings so it would have a more finished look. She finished just as Ellie was letting her work cool. After it was done, the younger twin broke it out of the sand and put it in a bucket with water to cool it down.
"Hey, sis, what are those tiny notches on the bullet?" Ellie asked as she waited for it to cool.
"It's for the bullet to ride the grooves inside the barrel, which is the long metal tube in my weapon," Nirra explained.
"But isn't that just going to make it spin?" Ellie asked, confused a little.
Nirra explained further. "Yes, that is the goal—to make the bullet spin. Arrows have fins to keep it pointing in the right direction, but they can cause a problem in range, since fins produce drag. If you spin a specially shaped projectile without fins, it would have a much larger range than an arrow."
Ellie somewhat understood as she noticed that the lead was already cool and handed it to her sister, who dried it using a rag. After that, Nirra pulled out her stash of smokeless powder she made the other day. It was about 3 kg of smokeless powder from 7 kg of that salamander goo.
"These aren't that red powder you usually use to load your bullets. What is this?" Ellie grabbed a flake and inspected it.
"It's a special mixture I made called smokeless powder. In simple terms, and as the name suggests, it produces little smoke and little residue when burned but produces a lot more gas, unlike the powder I used previously." Nirra used a funnel to pour it into the case before she used a mallet to gently hammer the bullet into place.
"I see." Ellie placed the flake back in its storage, which was a metal pan with a cover that was placed in a large pan with water to prevent it from igniting.
Nirra repeated the process until she ended up with thirty 8 x 50mm rounds of ammunition.
Ellie examined the finished cartridge and said, "You're right, these are bigger than the ones you previously used."
"Tomorrow, I'll get started on the weapon itself. Let's just go get some lunch now because I'm starting to get hungry," Nirra said while she extinguished the flames on the forge and furnace.
"Alright! Let's go. I'm also getting super hungry." She ran out of the room when Nirra held the door for her, the latter having a blank expression as she left in a hurry.
"C'mon, Mofu." Nirra opened her arms.
"Mofuu~" The small fox jumped into it as she closed the door to the forge behind her.
