After lunch, Nirra went back to her smithy to start the first step of creating her bolt-action rifle. While Ellie excused herself before Ameria called for her earlier, the rifle in Nirra's mind is the Lebel Model 1886. The rifle, french made, was one of the first to use smokeless powder in its cartridge, as opposed to the first bolt-action rifle, which was the Nadel Gewehr and uses gunpowder. The Lebel Model 1886 is similar to her Winchester Model 1883 with the tubular magazine, but it uses a bolt-action method of moving the bolt rather than the lever action found on the Winchester.
"I should be able to complete this in a day or two. Bolt actions are fairly simple to make." Nirra nodded to Mofu to signal for him to start the furnace and forge once again.
She starts, of course, with the barrel and tubular magazine. She attached the newly crafted drillbits to the electric motor mounted on the lathe and started by forging a long cylinder of steel.
She measured the length and noticed that it was too long. An idea creeped inside her as she heated the cylinder again. This time after, the forging was a fair bit longer, and it now turned from a cylinder into a very long rod. As she reheated it once again, she cut the end off with a chisel and reformed the rounded finish near the edges. After cooling, one rod was visibly thicker than the other.
Now, she moved to the lathe to drill holes straight through the rods. She used a larger drill bit on the thicker rods. So that the cartridge could fit inside it.
After both rods had holes through the length of them, Nirra used the special drill bit she made to drill grooves inside the smaller rod while keeping it cool by pouring water on the drill. After she had done that, the grooves were in place. She moved on to the next step, which was the frame.
The main bodies of these weapons were composed of mostly wood. With metal plates covering import parts like the elevator mechanism and bolt rail. She grabbed a piece of wood and started carving out the appearance of the frame. She even used the lathe to precisely machine some parts to fit the metal pieces that would go inside of it. After it was done, she asked Mofu to gently torch the skin of the wood to give it a blackened appearance. Mofu agreed and torched the wooded exterior until it was charcoal black, which Nirra sanded afterwards.
Next, Nirra casted some parts of the trigger, sear, bolt assembly, firing pin, bolt, lifter, follower, and bolt handle using molten steel. She also drilled a hole in the bolt where the firing pin would be housed and noticed so that the sear would engage with the firing pin itself; this is called pin firing, as opposed to the hammer striking the firing pin, which is called hammer firing. She used the press to cut some steel sheets to make the cover of the lifter mechanism and drilled holes in it so she could put a metal pin to hold the parts in place. Once done, she added a small boom slime core to the tip of the firing pin and placed it on the table where the final assembly will occur, along with the barrel and tubular magazine. Thanks to the extra equipment she made, the process is made easier with the upgraded lathe and mechanical press. She used a cartridge to inspect the barrels and see if the larger one could house the cartridge, which it did.
With how simple bolt-action rifles are and how much she has access to some equipment, the forging, casting, and stamping did not take long. When she made her lever-action rifle, it took her 4 days to make. Now that she has access to more specialized equipment, the rifle only took her one day, but that day is already quickly turning into night.
Next, she sanded the parts of the trigger mechanism, feeding system, barrels, and any other component that was made of metal. After which, she moved on to the final assembly.
There was one advantage pin-fired firearms had over their hammer-fired counterparts. One of them has fewer moving pieces for simplicity. She attached the two rods to the end of the metal plate of the housing and slowly attached the trigger, sear, and lifter while she used a mallet to hammer pins in them so that they would be held in place. She placed a long spring into the tubular magazine, with the follower on the end of the spring. Next, she inserted a small but long spring on the firing pin before she dropped it inside the bolt assembly and pinned it in place while she attached the handle of the bolt assembly. The bolt itself has grooves that engage with the end of the barrel to lock it in place while the fire arm was ready to fire, and to unlock, it had to be rotated 90 degrees counterclockwise. The bolt has a small opening for the firing pin to have access to the bottom of the cartridge. After she checked that everything was installed correctly, Nirra slid the bolt carrier group over the trigger assembly and waited for a click. The click means that the notch she left in the middle of the bolt carrier has engaged with the sear. Once she heard it, it was in the right position, and she used bolts to end the rail so she couldn't accidentally take off the bolt carrier during combat. The moment of truth arrived as she pressed the trigger, hoping that she would hear the familiar sound of the firing pin going off. To her dismay, though. She didn't, and she sighed as she disassembled the bolt carrier to find out what was wrong.
She indeed found something wrong; it was the firing pin. More specially the hole it was housed it. She drilled the hole a few millimeters to the left, which was not much but was enough so that the firing pin would miss the part of the sear that would compress the spring so that it could be fired off once the trigger was pressed.
Nirra sighed as she had to reforge another bolt carrier, one with the correct hole placement so that the sear would engage with the firing pin spring.
"No matter how good one's equipment is, human error and overconfidence will always be key factors in mistakes." Nirra sighed before she spent the next hour making another bolt carrier.
After she had finished, night had already fallen. She reassembled her firearm and double-checked the bolt carrier to see if it had the correct notches and holes. Once satisfied, she reassembled the bolt carrier, inserted it back into the firearm, and heard the same satisfying click of the sear engaging with the bolt carrier.
Once she pressed the trigger again, she heard the click of the firing pin going off and sighed in relief. She covered the entire assembly with a metal sheet with holes for her to insert new rounds. She then placed a wooden mock-up of her cartridge and first loaded it in a tubular magazine port, which was located similarly to her model 1873, which was on the metal plate covering the elevator mechanism.
She grabbed the handle of the bolt carrier and pulled it back. She then inspected the inside and noticed that the round was deposited on the elevator. She then pushed the bolt carrier forward, which blocked her view of the inside. She had hoped that the round would be inserted into the barrel with the bolt locking behind it when she twisted the bolt downward. She moved the lever of the bolt carrier upwards to unlock the bolt and pulled it back again as the mock round ejected out of the breech and onto her hand. She sighed in satisfaction that the system worked and did everything that it was supposed to do this time around.
She inspected the finished firearm and noted that it had some rough edges, but it should work. She looked out of the window and noticed it was already night.
"It took a day, a nice improvement from the 4 days it took to make one." She then turned her attention back to her newly built Lebel Model 1886.
"Those rough edges should be fixed by the time I make a self-loading pistol in the Colt M1911," she said to herself as she gazed at the messy smithy that was in front of her.
"Damn, I thought I just cleaned this place…." She sighed while she grabbed a broom to start cleaning.
SpoilerAnd here's the rifle added to Nirra's arsenal:
[collapse]
After lunch, Nirra went back to her smithy to start the first step of creating her bolt-action rifle. While Ellie excused herself before Ameria called for her earlier, the rifle in Nirra's mind is the Lebel Model 1886. The rifle, french made, was one of the first to use smokeless powder in its cartridge, as opposed to the first bolt-action rifle, which was the Nadel Gewehr and uses gunpowder. The Lebel Model 1886 is similar to her Winchester Model 1883 with the tubular magazine, but it uses a bolt-action method of moving the bolt rather than the lever action found on the Winchester.
"I should be able to complete this in a day or two. Bolt actions are fairly simple to make." Nirra nodded to Mofu to signal for him to start the furnace and forge once again.
She starts, of course, with the barrel and tubular magazine. She attached the newly crafted drillbits to the electric motor mounted on the lathe and started by forging a long cylinder of steel.
She measured the length and noticed that it was too long. An idea creeped inside her as she heated the cylinder again. This time after, the forging was a fair bit longer, and it now turned from a cylinder into a very long rod. As she reheated it once again, she cut the end off with a chisel and reformed the rounded finish near the edges. After cooling, one rod was visibly thicker than the other.
Now, she moved to the lathe to drill holes straight through the rods. She used a larger drill bit on the thicker rods. So that the cartridge could fit inside it.
After both rods had holes through the length of them, Nirra used the special drill bit she made to drill grooves inside the smaller rod while keeping it cool by pouring water on the drill. After she had done that, the grooves were in place. She moved on to the next step, which was the frame.
The main bodies of these weapons were composed of mostly wood. With metal plates covering import parts like the elevator mechanism and bolt rail. She grabbed a piece of wood and started carving out the appearance of the frame. She even used the lathe to precisely machine some parts to fit the metal pieces that would go inside of it. After it was done, she asked Mofu to gently torch the skin of the wood to give it a blackened appearance. Mofu agreed and torched the wooded exterior until it was charcoal black, which Nirra sanded afterwards.
Next, Nirra casted some parts of the trigger, sear, bolt assembly, firing pin, bolt, lifter, follower, and bolt handle using molten steel. She also drilled a hole in the bolt where the firing pin would be housed and noticed so that the sear would engage with the firing pin itself; this is called pin firing, as opposed to the hammer striking the firing pin, which is called hammer firing. She used the press to cut some steel sheets to make the cover of the lifter mechanism and drilled holes in it so she could put a metal pin to hold the parts in place. Once done, she added a small boom slime core to the tip of the firing pin and placed it on the table where the final assembly will occur, along with the barrel and tubular magazine. Thanks to the extra equipment she made, the process is made easier with the upgraded lathe and mechanical press. She used a cartridge to inspect the barrels and see if the larger one could house the cartridge, which it did.
With how simple bolt-action rifles are and how much she has access to some equipment, the forging, casting, and stamping did not take long. When she made her lever-action rifle, it took her 4 days to make. Now that she has access to more specialized equipment, the rifle only took her one day, but that day is already quickly turning into night.
Next, she sanded the parts of the trigger mechanism, feeding system, barrels, and any other component that was made of metal. After which, she moved on to the final assembly.
There was one advantage pin-fired firearms had over their hammer-fired counterparts. One of them has fewer moving pieces for simplicity. She attached the two rods to the end of the metal plate of the housing and slowly attached the trigger, sear, and lifter while she used a mallet to hammer pins in them so that they would be held in place. She placed a long spring into the tubular magazine, with the follower on the end of the spring. Next, she inserted a small but long spring on the firing pin before she dropped it inside the bolt assembly and pinned it in place while she attached the handle of the bolt assembly. The bolt itself has grooves that engage with the end of the barrel to lock it in place while the fire arm was ready to fire, and to unlock, it had to be rotated 90 degrees counterclockwise. The bolt has a small opening for the firing pin to have access to the bottom of the cartridge. After she checked that everything was installed correctly, Nirra slid the bolt carrier group over the trigger assembly and waited for a click. The click means that the notch she left in the middle of the bolt carrier has engaged with the sear. Once she heard it, it was in the right position, and she used bolts to end the rail so she couldn't accidentally take off the bolt carrier during combat. The moment of truth arrived as she pressed the trigger, hoping that she would hear the familiar sound of the firing pin going off. To her dismay, though. She didn't, and she sighed as she disassembled the bolt carrier to find out what was wrong.
She indeed found something wrong; it was the firing pin. More specially the hole it was housed it. She drilled the hole a few millimeters to the left, which was not much but was enough so that the firing pin would miss the part of the sear that would compress the spring so that it could be fired off once the trigger was pressed.
Nirra sighed as she had to reforge another bolt carrier, one with the correct hole placement so that the sear would engage with the firing pin spring.
"No matter how good one's equipment is, human error and overconfidence will always be key factors in mistakes." Nirra sighed before she spent the next hour making another bolt carrier.
After she had finished, night had already fallen. She reassembled her firearm and double-checked the bolt carrier to see if it had the correct notches and holes. Once satisfied, she reassembled the bolt carrier, inserted it back into the firearm, and heard the same satisfying click of the sear engaging with the bolt carrier.
Once she pressed the trigger again, she heard the click of the firing pin going off and sighed in relief. She covered the entire assembly with a metal sheet with holes for her to insert new rounds. She then placed a wooden mock-up of her cartridge and first loaded it in a tubular magazine port, which was located similarly to her model 1873, which was on the metal plate covering the elevator mechanism.
She grabbed the handle of the bolt carrier and pulled it back. She then inspected the inside and noticed that the round was deposited on the elevator. She then pushed the bolt carrier forward, which blocked her view of the inside. She had hoped that the round would be inserted into the barrel with the bolt locking behind it when she twisted the bolt downward. She moved the lever of the bolt carrier upwards to unlock the bolt and pulled it back again as the mock round ejected out of the breech and onto her hand. She sighed in satisfaction that the system worked and did everything that it was supposed to do this time around.
She inspected the finished firearm and noted that it had some rough edges, but it should work. She looked out of the window and noticed it was already night.
"It took a day, a nice improvement from the 4 days it took to make one." She then turned her attention back to her newly built Lebel Model 1886.
"Those rough edges should be fixed by the time I make a self-loading pistol in the Colt M1911," she said to herself as she gazed at the messy smithy that was in front of her.
"Damn, I thought I just cleaned this place…." She sighed while she grabbed a broom to start cleaning.
SpoilerAnd here's the rifle added to Nirra's arsenal:
[collapse]
