"Ivy… Do you have plan for today?" My mother asked to me.
On our breakfast time. Only me and mother, father has gone for work because the place where he works need something urgent.
"Umm… Yes… No… Actually I just spend my whole day in the basement" I answered uncertainly, because sometimes mother will not considered my activities as plan if I did in basement..
"Hmm… research again?" My mother asked.
"Yes… Only assembling my component, for tomorrow solo hunting" I explained.
"... Sigh… Alright, don't forcing to much okay, be careful" My mother stopped for a little while and warned me.
"Alright" I responded objectively.
So, my activity for today is continue my research again. Why mother become so worried recently because my research last time nearly made basement destroyed.
Yeah, literally destroyed.
I made some stuff for basic, with out careful and made the basement explode. Luckily I made a barrier and protected myself, even though everything become a mess.
***
After breakfast and helped mother clean all equipment. I go to outside to enter the basement.
Inside the basement with only one way to the square room with 4x2 meters, there are some stuff and tools. Like a barrel, firewood, table and tools for farming and even sword that father stored after the war.
My goal isn't all of that, but an self next to the table in the corner of room. I push a little bit and open a secret door. With only a small room and a hatch go deeper to another room.
I opened the hatch and there are a ladder. Keep down the ladder around 10 meters, then I arrived at a small square room with large around 5x5 meters.
There are an empty wall rack, barrel labeled "Gun Powder", chair and self filled with book and paper and also three tables. The first for craft a gun, the second for produce a bullet and the third filled with so many paper and ruler for designing prototype for firearms.
This is what I did after I got the materials from Mr.Rize, crafting a new gun. In this small room, exactly when I worked at factory in my previously life.
Then, I reach to the self, take one book and sit on the chair while placing the book on table.
I open the book, it filled with so many design and prototype, some of them from my past, and some of them my new design.
"Sigh… This is my first time stuck like this" I sighed to myself. Honestly, I'm never as this confused actually.
This isn't from my poor design that become malfunction but the main problem is every single gun that I've crafted always destroyed after take one shoot.
That's what happen at my first attempt that I did in basement. Without thinking to much, even I used a blank ammo, the gun exploded after fired one bullet.
Then, the shatter from my gun scattered everywhere, until reach gunpowder barrel, and made the big boom.
Even though not made my house exploded to the sky or collapsed to the ground because the explosion, it make a quite big earthquake around village. With only lastly for 5 second, that's make a quite shock in the village. Luckily everyone don't know who is the culprit, only my parents who knew about this incident.
Alright, main problem from my gun is couldn't stand against explosive, in other word, why every single gun that fired from my gun scattered because the explosive from bullet that triggered by firing pin made the whole gun scattered as if they couldn't handle explosive.
If I could said it is from gunpowder itself, it can be one of possibility. Even though I made it using my old way to make gunpowder and even I made it the worst quality gun powder to get the weakest power. In other word, I couldn't change it anymore because it has at the weakest than I usually made from my previous world. Unfortunately it didn't give any chance, resulting bullet that I made from caliber 9mm feels like 10mm or even more.
The second possibility is from materials that I used. Honestly, at first I think all the material is same, I made component from ore that molded with magic and made modern firing system like M4A1 or HK automatic gun. Unfortunately, my father said after looking at my case, he said that quality material I used is terrible, in meaning that it couldn't use it for complex part or stuff like sword that could bear any blow attack.
Then, I try to search at least one some decent grade from metal ore that I could afford with my own money right now. Until yesterday, when Mr.Rize come to our village, he bought pretty decent grade metal ore.
With learning from past, I worked once again from the bottom. The difference is, I won't try to try out straight to the modern arm, but I'll try from basic firearms system.
Without wasting much time to think, I opened my book. Look on by one while checking what kind firearm I'll made for today. Something that with simple mechanism. Then, I come with two firearms.
- Martini 1871
- Winchester M21
- Sauer M30
Looking at them, basically both of them quite simple enough. Even there are like musket, flintlock, trapdoor or kammerlader rifle who probably could used consider their mechanism, but I erased that firearms from list because reload time and accuracy that I could said quite hard.
Different with Winchester M21, Martini Henry and Sauer M30, all of them have their advantages compared with two before. Like reload time and power. Because of that reason, I choose to craft that three guns and testing it if they could stand a power from bullet or not. Even for Sauer M30, I have a big expectation if it could withstand against fired bullet.
Luckily, because of magic, I could made a firearms easily. I only need to conduct an object to molding or shaping the object that appropriate with what I need. I don't need to through metallurgy to make ingot, I could make all component directly from raw material.
I started with Martini Henry first, because their system is quite simple. First, I make a component parts like breech with their firing pin inside and then the trigger part together with lever for open and close the breech, that's for firing mechanism. Next, I just need to make a barrel, wood part for stock, in front and back.
After that, I assemble all of component. From buttstock with firing mechanism and then combine it with barrel and fore stock and then lock it with handguard bans. Finally, one weapon has made.
The second, I need to make a Winchester M21. Different from before, this gun has different mechanism. I didn't said that firing mechanism is complex, but it has two firing system on one rifle and also between barrels and firing system is separated. Only connected by the lever that also connected with casing extractor.
Then, I start make all components for this firearm, including two barrels, fore stock and buttstock. After that, I assemble again all parts like before. From buttstock with firing system, like trigger, hammer, safety side and top lever. Also for barrels with fore stock and mechanism with extractor shell. Later on, I just combine that two parts with joint pin at frame under the barrel. Eventually, the second firearm has made.
Lastly, Sauer M30. The rifle that used from first and second world war from my previous life. It is even become favorite rifle for hunter when pre-nuclear war era because it's reliability and could change from shotgun to rifle, using 12 gauge and .375 calibre.
Basically, for making this gun have the same concept with Winchester M21, only at trigger and safety slide who add some parts to change hammer position from shotgun to rifle barrel, also it has 3 barrels, side by side for 12 gauge and one barrel under side by side for .375 bullet.
I only need to make with same step like Winchester before. Only reshaping at some parts for make it could use three barrels for two triggers. Finally, the last and all of rifle that I planned has complete.
If you have a rifles, you need a bullet. Then my next step is make a bullet. Now, I need to make bullet for this test run, I think I'll made for each riffle 5 rounds. 5 rounds .577/450 for martini henry, 20 rounds 12 gauge for Winchester and Sauer and 5 rounds .375 cartridge.
After I made all the bullets, I only need to test it before try some hunting run in the forest. Then I make an iron plate with different thickness, I made 4 plate 50x50 cm with thickness 1, 3, 5, and 7 mm. Also, I make it for 4 pieces for each.
Rifle, bullet and iron plate has done. Next, I need to go out to plain area that near from village to do test run. Then, I exit from my basement, with all the bullet on my pouch, and all of rifle include the plate in my magic storage.
Like usually, I pass some villagers, they greeting me and asking where will I go, I just tell them that I'll make another run test outside the village for my weapon. They usually know about what I mean because it is the fifth run test.
Later on, I finally arrived at plain area. I look for some area near high ground and so I could put that high ground as wall if the bullet piercing all of iron plate.
I arrange all the iron plate with range 10 centimeters, and range from iron plate to the high ground around 2 meters. After arranged all of that, I started with martini henry 1817, from 10 meters and then gradually move each 20 meters until I at the range 100 meters.
At first, I using earth magic to build a table, place the rifle on top, tie it with rope at fore stock and rearstock, also I make sure to aiming at the iron plate. Then, using a string that tied up to the trigger, I start the test.
"Martini Henry 1817, .577/450 ammo, first test, fire!" I shouted and pull the trigger from the string.
BANG
Quite a loud bang honestly, hope there aren't any village who suspicious about this. Then I check the rifle if it didn't scatter around. After checked, I think this rifle still could continue the run test.
Then from 40 meters using martini henry 1817, aimed at the iron plate and take a shoot.
BANG BANG BANG BANG
I shot gradually from 40, 60, 80 and then 100 meters. Without checking the result or what, I continue to another rifle, with the iron plate and table that I've prepared. From Winchester M21 and then Sauer M30, both of them could stand against the fired bullet.
Finally, I check the result. Looking back at the iron plate that become target, I carefully examine the plates, until I come to an result.
First, martini henry give a quite shock result, because from 20 to 100 meters have a good accuracy, even though I don't know what happen if I test back from 200 meters, but I quite satisfied with the result. Even with the poorest gunpowder quality, it could pierced all plates in every shot, even though the power decreased as the distance become farther.
Second, Winchester M21 has a good power at short distance and also have a wide spread from the shotgun shell, even though the power reduced decreased greatly than martini, this rifle dominated for short range.
Lastly, Sauer M30, this gun basically same with M21, great power at short distance, only with more centered spread and have more distance than M21, like as if M21 only could 50 meters, Sauer M30 could reach 80 meters using gauge shell, even the most shocking result is the rifle cartridge, .375 still on top power even at distance 100 meters, and also the accuracy is still high.
In the end, looking at the result I choose Sauer M30 for my weapon. Even thought I've planned to try again martini henry when I have a quite far away target and using Winchester M21 for close combat. That's for another story.
After the test end, I'm back to the village with happy mood, not only because the rifles that I made manage to withstand on their first test run, but also finally I could running my previous job as gunsmith, hope I could make another rifle in future.