Chapter 1165: The Minié Ball Is Here
The fact that it could penetrate a wooden board four centimeters thick from twenty-five meters away proved that the revolver’s gas seal was exceptional. Without such airtight precision, achieving that kind of power would have been impossible.
To put it in perspective, that was roughly the same stopping power as a standard single-shot pistol.
The firing range suddenly erupted in a round of applause as the surrounding observers voiced their admiration. "This is a truly unprecedented and magnificent invention!"
"His Majesty’s hands have surely been blessed by the Almighty himself."
"The rate of fire is simply beyond belief!"
"Only His Majesty could have crafted such a miraculous weapon..."
Louis XVI corrected them in a low voice, "This firearm was a joint effort between myself and the Crown Prince."
Joseph offered a smile. "The credit is mostly yours, Father. Tell me, what do you intend to name it? How about the Auguste Pattern 1797?"
"No, I already have the naming rights for two other new rifles, and those were ultimately based on your original concepts anyway." Louis XVI seemed to have made up his mind long ago and answered immediately, "I have decided to name this sidearm the Joseph Pattern 1797 Pistol."
Seeing that Aymeric had finished reloading the cylinders, Louis XVI eagerly stepped up to the breastwork. He pulled back the hammer and took aim.
Six shots rang out in rapid succession. He held the revolver up to his eyes, inspecting it closely; there was no deformation, proving the craftsmanship was rock-solid.
Soon, the range was filled with the rhythmic "Bang! Bang!" of continuous gunfire.
Joseph waited patiently for his father to have his fill of the excitement. Just as he reached for the pistol to try a hand at loading it himself, two palace guards came sprinting towards them, followed by a lady-in-waiting clad in fine garments.
Seeing both the King and the Crown Prince present, the two guards bowed hastily. "Your Majesty, Her Majesty the Queen sent me to investigate if something has happened. Please forgive the intrusion, but the sounds of heavy gunfire reached all the way to Versailles."
The firing range was located south of the Palace of Versailles, part of the Royal Armory complex. While it was a fair distance away, the sharp cracks of gunfire still carried through the silence of the night.
Based on the intensity of the shots, Queen Mary’s captain of the guard had informed her that there were likely ten to twelve men opening fire simultaneously.
His estimation was technically correct, at least when measured against the standard fire rate of a flintlock musket.
Joseph gave them a brief explanation of the situation, telling them to report back to the Queen that all was well and they were simply testing a new prototype.
After that, Louis XVI reluctantly ordered the revolvers to be put away. He took his son by the arm and headed back toward the palace—if they didn't return soon, the Queen would likely spend the entire next day lecturing him.
The following morning, Joseph climbed out of bed with heavy dark circles under his eyes. He hadn't finished at the range until half-past one in the morning; he was lucky his mother had sent someone to "rescue" him when she did.
After a listless breakfast, he headed straight for the Engineering Design Institute to begin planning the breech-loading cannon project.
Upon arriving at the institute’s gates, he sent Eman inside first to confirm that his father wasn't there before proceeding.
It was best to keep the breech-loading cannon project a secret from the King for now. Given his father’s addiction to new weaponry, Joseph didn't think he could handle the distraction.
Lazare Carnot, the president of the Engineering Design Institute, listened to the Crown Prince’s requirements and quickly recommended several capable experts, primarily specialists in casting and mechanical design.
Finally, the president pointed to himself with a bit of a bashful expression. "Your Highness, in truth, I also have some experience in artillery design."
Joseph was well aware that Carnot was a renowned mathematician and engineer. With his significant achievements in mathematical analysis and analytical geometry, he was the perfect candidate to oversee the breech-loading cannon’s design.
Thus, starting that afternoon, Joseph joined Carnot, five other experts from the institute, and three senior technicians from the Royal Armory to discuss the blueprints.
As Joseph had expected, manufacturing a cannon was far more difficult than making a handheld firearm. For instance, there was currently no existing method for casting a gun barrel that was open at both ends.
As for the complex structures of the breechblock and the firing mechanism, those would require an immense amount of design work and testing.
By the time night fell and Joseph returned exhaustedly to Versailles, the project team hadn't even finished assigning individual roles.
It seemed a new type of artillery wouldn't be appearing anytime soon. As he walked, feeling the cool night breeze, he began to ponder other, simpler weapons.
A breech-loading rifle?
It seemed simple enough on the surface, but the research and development were actually harder than for a breech-loading cannon.
A cannon could use a complex breechblock and bolt system to create a gas seal, but a rifle had to rely on a simple bolt while maintaining high airtightness.
With current machining precision, that was extremely difficult to achieve. Historically, an American had developed a breech-loader around 1820, but it leaked gas so badly that soldiers nicknamed it the "hand-burner."
Furthermore, breech-loading rifles were heavily dependent on fixed ammunition—integrated rounds containing the bullet, propellant, and percussion cap.
Developing that was even more troublesome than the rifle itself.
A copper cartridge case was out of the question; that required precision stamping machines to manufacture.
Even a paper cartridge was technically demanding. If the dimensions were off by even a hair, it wouldn't seal properly or might fail to fire entirely.
While skilled craftsmen could hand-roll them, the output could never meet the demands of a front line. A single day of a large-scale battle could consume hundreds of thousands of rounds, which would take thousands of craftsmen over a month to produce.
This was why, historically, European nations preferred to use the muzzle-loading Minié rifle until the mid-nineteenth century, rather than equipping their armies with existing breech-loaders. They waited until the advent of the stamping machine.
Thinking of the Minié, Joseph suddenly froze. How could he have forgotten that miracle of engineering?
Compared to the Thouvenin rifles currently in service, the Minié ball could significantly increase loading speed. It also eliminated the need for the long iron spindle inside the powder chamber, making the weapon more reliable and durable.
Most importantly, the current Thouvenin rifles only needed minor modifications to fire the Minié ball. The army would barely feel the impact of the transition.
The reason it hadn't been used before was the difficulty of processing—hand-crafting them made it impossible to guarantee precision, and production was painstakingly slow.
But now, with high-precision finishing equipment, the obstacles to mass-producing the Minié ball had vanished.
Joseph recalled a documentary he had seen about firearms. The production of the Minié ball utilized a process called the Mold Extrusion Method.
Essentially, one would first manufacture a precision steel mold—which could be carved out by a high-precision milling machine—containing dozens or even hundreds of pits shaped like the Minié ball.
During production, molten lead was poured over the mold, and then a machine applied pressure to squeeze out the excess liquid lead. His father’s stamping machine was perfect for this. Even if its power was relatively low, it was more than enough to press lead bullets.
Finally, the bullets were removed from the mold and finished with a grinding machine.
With that method, they could produce tens of thousands of rounds a day.
Comments