Chapter 285 Berlin - Mauser Arsenal
Inside the Hechingen Arsenal in Berlin.
The director of the factory, Mayne, was showing Ernst the performance of the two rifles. On the table were the Dreiser rifles of the Prussian army and the Chasaipo rifles captured on the battlefield.
Main picked up the Chasaipo rifle and explained to Ernst: "The Chasaipo rifle used by the French borrowed from many successful practices of the Dreiser rifle. It also uses a rotating rear puller, a firing pin to fire, and paper fixed bullets. However, it is slightly better than the former. For example, the locking system has a problem with the Dreiser rifle. It is not airtight and leaks, which greatly affects the effectiveness of the gunpowder, and in turn affects the initial velocity of the bullet."
"The Chasepo rifle has been improved to solve this problem. It changed Dreiser's hollow bolt to a solid one, and added a rubber seal ring on the top of the bolt. When the bullet is fired, the high temperature generated by the gunpowder gas will expand the rubber, and the entire chamber will be well sealed. The sealing is improved, the muzzle velocity is also increased, and the range is also improved. Another example is the primer of the bullet. The primer of the Dreiser bullet is located in the middle of the bullet. The firing pin must be very thin and long. , and the primer of the Chasepo bullet is changed to the tail of the bullet, so the firing pin does not need to be very long, and the failure rate is greatly reduced."
"The various performances of the Dreiser rifle in the war have shown that it has completely fallen behind, so we originally planned to retire a set of production lines after the war, but all of this will not be completely replaced until the new rifle confirmed by Prussia comes out." Maine, the director of the Hechingen Arsenal in Berlin, said to Ernst who came to inspect.
"Well, let's retire this Dreiser production line! Now you have a new task, which is to focus on the research and development of new firearms. This time I contacted your collaborators." Ernst said directly after listening.
Ernst intends to directly move this outdated Dreiser rifle production line to East Africa. It is backward, and there is still a market in Africa.
Main asked curiously: "I wonder which of our colleagues is the collaborator you are looking for, Your Highness?"
"I wonder if you have heard of the Mauser brothers of the Kingdom of Württemberg?" Ernst asked curiously.
"So it's them! I really know them, mainly because I had previously communicated with their father, Anders Mauser of the Royal Arsenal in Oberndorf-Württemberg. Anders Mauser is a famous gunsmith, but he has quite a lot of children." Mayne said, "I heard that his two young sons have indeed followed the old path of their father. However, Your Highness, I don't think the two young people can achieve much. They seem to have just been kicked out by their partners a few days ago. They must not have fooled you again!"
This matter has to start with the family of the Mauser brothers. As a family of guns, the Mauser brothers should have had a good life since they were young, but their family is a bit special. The old Mauser has 13 sons, so life is very difficult.
The Mauser brothers had to work as handymen in the Württemberg Arsenal in Ordorf in their youth, so they could barely make ends meet. However, the Mauser brothers really dared to think and do it. Long before the Franco-Prussian War, they tried to make some improvements to the Dreiser rifle, but the Württemberg Arsenal closed down a few years ago.
The unemployed Mauser brothers were forced to work in Norris Arsenal. In the Norris Armory, there is a "big man" Samuel Norris, who is the representative of the famous American firearms company - Remington in Europe. At the Norris Armory, Samuel and the Mauser brothers "met each other late". Based on the Chasepo rifle, they combined some of the Mauser brothers' improved technologies on the Dreiser rifle to jointly design the "Mauser-Norris" rifle and applied for a US patent. Just when the Mauser brothers finally felt that the bright moment was coming, Samuel tore up the cooperation contract and kicked the Mauser brothers away. The Mauser brothers had to go back to their hometown and build a handicraft workshop.
For the invitation of a crown prince, the Mauser brothers certainly had no reason to refuse. They agreed to cooperate with the Hechingen Arsenal, but the name of their small workshop "Mauser Arsenal" should also be retained. This was their last insistence.
Ernst doesn't care about this. Anyway, the Hechingen Arsenal in Berlin will become a firearms research and development center in Germany in the future, so it can be renamed "Berlin-Mauser Arsenal".
As for East Africa, well, there is no research and development capability. To be honest, if the Hechingen Arsenal is really moved to East Africa, it will be abolished.
So East Africa will continue to be a processing factory at most, and as for R&D, it should be placed in Germany. Only when education in East Africa develops in the future can the R&D function be moved back to East Africa.
At the same time, it is impossible for Ernst to give up the Prussian arms market, so the new "Berlin-Mauser Arsenal" will continue to produce equipment for the German army.
"Mayne, don't say that. In fact, young people always have their own ideas, and the Mauser Brothers' Mauser-Noris" I feel pretty good. Let them improve on this basis. I think the new rifle will be very good. Now we just need to give two young people a chance." Ernst said, "And we don't have the ability to develop firearms. Accepted."
Before the development of the "Mauser-Norris Rifle", the Dreiser rifle improved by the Mauser brothers was once noticed by the Ministry of War of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, but in the end it was not adopted by the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
Mayne said: "Okay! Your Highness, if you really think so, I have no objection, but the research and development of firearms is a matter that needs to be cautious. If we take the wrong path, the market will not wait for us."
"Hehehe, don't worry! Even if the market doesn't approve it, it doesn't matter. The Kingdom of East Africa can support the new rifle. Even if no other country orders it, we will place an order ourselves." Ernst said.
In fact, the reason why Ernst is confident is that the Mauser brothers have matured their firearm design. They completed the preliminary design of the previous Mauser M1871 rifle in 1869. Now as long as there is a more advanced and perfect working environment, the Mauser M1871 rifle can be finally improved.
How about the performance of this gun, it is basically certain that it will not be too bad, so East Africa will not overturn the order after it is developed.
"Since that's the case, then I won't say anything more, but Your Highness! Do you understand guns?" Mayne asked curiously.
"Of course I don't understand." Ernst said, "I just rely on my intuition."
(end of this chapter)