Chapter 286 Production Technology and Industrial Basis

On the morning of December 4, the second year of Ankang in the Ming Dynasty, the shooting range in the backyard of Bishuiyuan, Meng County.

Zhu Zhongliang and Zhu Jingyuan, both grandsons and grandsons, were wearing new camouflage uniforms and each held an assault rifle and fired.

Zhu Zhongliang came here specifically to see his grandson and great-grandson. He didn't come empty-handed, he also brought gifts.

Zhu Zhongliang finished one magazine in a row. Seeing that Zhu Jingyuan also stopped shooting, he put down the gun and said:

"I specifically ask the factories of the Ministry of Industry to make the assault rifles you request to make according to the specifications no matter what.

“The Ministry of Engineering repeatedly adjusted the design, developed new stamping equipment, and designed special machine tools. It took almost two years of work.

“Now the weight of the gun body is basically up to standard, the muzzle tilt range for continuous shooting has been controlled, and the shooting accuracy has also entered an acceptable range.

"Now the Dudu Mansion has re-accepted it and is preparing to start a small-scale installation trial starting next spring."

Zhu Jingyuan immediately smiled and said:

"As expected, the one who supports me the most is you..."

Zhu Zhongliang said quite proudly:

"Well, if I hadn't been keeping an eye on it, it would have taken several years for your gun to reach the standard and be mass-produced..."

Zhu Jingyuan also nodded with some emotion. The performance of the gun in his hand now basically meets his expectations for an assault rifle.

When I first wanted to design an assault rifle, I naturally thought of the most famous AK as a template.

However, I don’t have a drawing of the AK, I just know the general shape.

Therefore, in the actual design process, we still provide our own ideas and requirements and let the craftsmen complete the specific design.

The assault rifle that had just been produced at that time did indeed look more like an AK.

But after two years of continuous magic modification, the final product we have now has a big image gap with AK.

The main thing is that the butt of the gun has been changed to be straight and in line with the barrel.

The original AK stock in history inherited the design of the traditional bolt-action rifle and was slightly tilted downwards.

The straight line where the barrel of the gun is located and where the butt of the gun butt rests on the shoulder are not in the same line.

In this way, when shooting, the recoil force cannot be completely offset by the shoulder, forming an upward angular momentum.

A traditional bolt-action rifle needs to be re-aimed every time it fires, so the impact of this angular momentum is not significant.

But AK is an automatic rifle. When firing continuously, each bullet will cause the muzzle to pick up.

Continuous upward shots make it difficult to control the accuracy of AK's continuous shooting.

Subsequent new-era assault rifles have basically chosen a design in which the muzzle and butt are in line.

This can also be considered a design improvement.

As for the Ministry of Industry, which specializes in research and development of stamping equipment and the design of special machine tools, these are R&D costs.

But if this kind of assault rifle can be promoted on a large scale, this research and development cost will be nothing.

And those equipment are not only usable by this gun, other firearms will also be used later.

This is an overall upgrade of production lines and basic production processes in order to produce specific products, which is an upgrade of the industrial base.

My grandfather really cares about his own affairs.

If it weren't for the special attention of the Supreme Emperor, the Ministry of Industry would have continued to optimize the design in accordance with its own requirements.

But they may not have the courage to upgrade production equipment immediately.

"Production equipment, production technology, industrial foundation..."

Zhu Jingyuan savored these words in his heart, and his thoughts suddenly became slightly divergent.

Most of my designs and inventions have been applied designs based on existing industrial foundations.

It seems that there are not many inventions and creations that directly improve the "industrial base".

Even the armor steel formula can only be regarded as an applied creation, and he did not improve the Ming Dynasty's steel-making technology.

As more and more inventions are made and more and more modernized, the requirements for the industrial base will become higher.

The difficulty for craftsmen to realize these ideas will become increasingly greater, eventually reaching the point where it is completely impossible to realize without hinting at the industrial foundation.

For example, the 420mm caliber artillery that I requested uses 1,300 to 1,500 kilograms of shells.

With the current level of metallurgical technology in the Ming Dynasty, it may not be possible at all.

After Zhu Jingyuan realized this problem, he immediately turned to Zhu Zhongliang next to him and said:

"Grandpa, when you came here, did you go see the development of the 420mm artillery?"

Zhu Zhongliang immediately said with some dissatisfaction:

"I didn't go directly to the factory, but I was always paying attention to the progress.

"Now the new 420mm cannon can fire 1100kg shells.

“According to the previous standards of the Ministry of Industry and craftsmen, this already has high practical value.

"But it's still a little far behind the 1,300 kilograms of bullet weight you requested.

"If you insist on meeting the bullet weight of more than 1,300 kilograms, the weight of the barrel and turret will be unacceptably heavy.

"So now the factory has temporarily stopped continuing to improve the design and started to specialize in the production process of the gun barrel to develop improvement plans."

Zhu Jingyuan nodded directly after hearing this:

"Sure enough, the production process can't keep up..."

At this time, Zhu Zhongliang hung his gun on his body and came to Zhu Jingyuan:

"The specifications for your artillery shells are too high, which seriously slows down the design progress of the next generation of battleships.

“My suggestion is that if the production process level cannot be improved quickly in the short term, the design specifications should be lowered.

"I think that the weight of the 1,100 kilogram shell is already acceptable.

"It can be put into production first, and then the process can be slowly optimized and the naval gun can be replaced on the improved version."

Zhu Jingyuan gathered in his mind the information he still remembered:

"The production process always needs to be improved, and its use is not just for the production of large-caliber naval guns.

“However, it is impossible to predict easily whether the production process can be improved quickly.

"I'll write down my ideas and send them to the Ministry of Industry for a try..."

Zhu Zhongliang nodded slightly:

"In other words, do you really have an idea?"

Zhu Jingyuan didn't know how to answer:

"It's just an idea for now, I'm not sure if it's feasible yet."

Zhu Zhongliang said with a smile:

"If you have an idea, go for it quickly."

Zhu Jingyuan quickly agreed, continued to shoot a magazine of bullets, and completed the daily training process.

I went back to my residence, took a shower, and then went back to the office area to sort out my thoughts.

When Zhu Jingyuan thought of optimizing the naval gun production process, what came to mind was the use of two metallurgical and manufacturing technologies, "electroslag remelting" and "barrel self-tightening" used in modern tanks and artillery.

Electroslag remelting uses the resistance heat generated when electric current passes through molten slag as a heat source to melt steel ingots. It can reduce impurities in the steel ingots, improve the purity of the steel, and improve the crystallization effect of the ingots.

To put it simply, the properties of the steel smelted in this way far exceed those of traditional steel ingots.

It can be used to make modern artillery with high bore pressure, high-precision castings, as well as bearings, molds, cutting tools, etc.

Using this process to make artillery barrels can greatly increase the barrel's endurance and service life under the same barrel weight, or use a lower barrel weight to meet the original design indicators.

The principle of electroslag remelting technology was actually discovered very early. The Lucians claimed that at the end of the 19th century, and the Americans claimed that they discovered the relevant principles in electric welding in the 1930s.

However, due to the impact of World War II and the misunderstanding of this discovery by technology discoverers and manufacturers, it was not until the late 1950s that electroslag remelting began to be applied in the industrial field.

Therefore, those battleship guns in history had no chance to use electroslag remelting technology until they were eliminated.

The steel ingots that could be cast in early proven electroslag remelting furnaces were very small, basically only a few hundred kilograms to a few tons.

The weight of a naval gun barrel of more than 400 mm starts at 100 tons.

It seems impossible to use electroslag remelting technology on large-caliber naval guns.

But Zhu Jingyuan also remembered that the electroslag remelting process itself did not seem to be difficult, and the focus was on the accumulation of technical experience.

After the electroslag remelting technology was rolled out in the late 1950s, it took less than ten years. By the mid-1960s, the scale of single-furnace ingots had rapidly increased to the 100-ton level.

By the early 1980s, China had built a two-hundred-ton electroslag resmelting furnace, which was enough to manufacture super cannons with a caliber of more than 500 millimeters.

In other words, in the mid-to-late 1960s, electroslag remelted naval guns with a caliber of 400 mm could be manufactured.

However, by this time, battleships and large-caliber cannons had long been eliminated.
To be continued...