I Became a Plutocrat in World War I: Starting with Saving France-Chapter 227: Original text - The Improvement of Gauze After modification - 227 The Improvement of Gauze

Chapter 227: Original text: Chapter 227 The Improvement of Gauze After modification: Chapter 227 The Improvement of Gauze

Shire groaned inwardly.

How to modify this machine gun?

To really modify it, it would be almost like redesigning a new machine gun, right?

It has flaws everywhere, but because the war suddenly broke out and all countries lacked light machine guns, it still received a certain number of orders.

However, the battlefield’s evaluation of it was:

"It’s normal for it to malfunction."

"If it malfunctions, just discard it; it’s not worth bringing back for repairs."

"This is not a machine gun; at most, it’s a rifle capable of automatic firing!"

...

Shire stared at the machine gun for a while and then looked up at Dominic: "Tell me its flaws."

"The biggest problem is that the barrel overheats after firing more than two hundred rounds," Dominic pointed at the barrel and said, "Although we’ve installed heat sinks on it, they still don’t make much difference."

Shire laughed and shook his head, saying, "This isn’t the biggest problem, Dominic, you don’t even need to worry about it."

"What?" Dominic looked up at Shire with puzzlement.

Shire didn’t answer; he pointed to the sickle-shaped magazine under the machine gun and asked, "Hollow design?"

"Yes!" Dominic nodded, "To lighten the gun’s weight."

"Do you know what this means on the battlefield?" Shire calmly said, "The battlefield is full of dirty water, sand, and many things we can’t imagine. They will enter the magazine through the hollow parts and then be carried into the gun mechanism by the bullets, and then..."

Needless to say, it will jam.

Dominic was stunned; he really hadn’t considered this point. Now, being reminded by Shire, it seemed indeed to be the case.

The environment used for their testing was too clean, and the operations were very standardized; there was even a maintenance performed before testing.

If it were used in actual combat, it might be exactly as Shire said, not even capable of firing 200 rounds before the barrel overheats.

Dominic said dejectedly, "But it already weighs 9 kilograms. If we don’t lighten the magazine, it might lose its significance as a light machine gun."

Shire understood what he meant.

A hollow vs. a non-hollow magazine might seem not much different, but the key point is that the magazine has a low capacity; a magazine only holds 20 rounds.

A machine gun, by any standard, should carry two to three hundred rounds, which means dozens of magazines. Having them strapped to one’s back makes a big difference.

If a light machine gun requires the setup of three or even more personnel, it might as well be equipped with a heavy machine gun.

Shire paced around, slowly circling the machine gun for a while, and summarized two particularly prominent flaws:

One is the barrel overheating.

The materials of this period aren’t very good; the barrel overheats after firing two hundred rounds. Adding heat sinks only allows a few dozen more rounds, which doesn’t make much difference and adds weight—a redundant feature.

Two is the taper of the French Army bullets.

Their unique large taper inevitably makes the magazine semi-sickle-shaped; this can’t be changed.

After thinking for a while, Shire came to a conclusion. He said unhurriedly, "We might consider removing the heat sinks."

"Remove the heat sinks?" Dominic exclaimed, "Then it can only fire 200 rounds..."

"We can design the barrel to be replaceable," Shire pointed to the joint between the barrel and the gun body, saying, "Design a barrel lock around here, add a handle to the barrel, hold the handle to replace it when the barrel overheats, and so on."

Modern machine guns widely use this design, allowing quick barrel changes, which can be done in as little as 5 seconds.

Dominic and Steed looked at each other, surprised. Can it really be designed that way?

But it seems indeed feasible; it doesn’t drill into the stubborn "heat dissipation" issue but rather simply replaces the barrel. When one barrel overheats, replace it; by the time this one overheats again, the other one will have cooled, thus allowing continuous replacement.

This greatly enhances the sustained firepower, surpassing ordinary light machine guns.

"Good idea!" Steed nodded in approval.

This production merely increases a barrel lock for tight coupling with the gun body, yet solves a major problem.

"Magazine issue!" Shire removed the magazine from the gun and examined it, saying, "If it really has to be semi-sickle-shaped, why not design it as a drum magazine?"

"Drum magazine?" Dominic’s eyes widened.

"Yes." Shire noticed another magazine in the long box, picked it up, and joined the two: "Drum magazine, fully enclosed design, try to use lightweight metal to reduce weight while possibly hold a few more rounds."

Shire was inspired by the DP-28 pan magazine; such a drum magazine can well accommodate the taper issue of the Lebel Rifle Cartridge. Inside, it’s just rounds connected in a circle, and the taper issue is minor.

Dominic stared at Shire in shock: "This might solve the magazine issue, but how... how can we install such a drum magazine?"

Steed shared the same doubt—it’s not that they hadn’t thought of this method, but if everything spins into a circle, where could it be installed?

Without hesitation, Shire patted the top of the gun case and said, "Install it here, open a loading port below the drum, and load bullets from top to bottom."

Unconsciously, Shire had modified the machine gun to somewhat resemble a "big plate chicken."

Dominic and Steed exchanged glances, seeing the excited shock in each other’s eyes.

Steed was unsurprised; he knew of Shire’s design talent long ago, hence seeking Shire’s help at this moment.

Dominic, however, had thought Shire wouldn’t be much help.

After all, Shire had only just begun learning about guns; how could he possibly solve machine gun issues after learning shooting practice just an hour earlier?

He hadn’t even touched the machine gun’s trigger!

But the facts were laid out—Shire provided several invaluable ideas:

Replaceable barrel, enclosed magazine.

Though replacing two sickle-shaped magazines with one drum magazine doesn’t alter the weight much, the sustained firepower improves from 20 rounds to 40 rounds or possibly even more, which is a significant leap.

"Brilliant idea, Colonel!" Dominic excitedly shook Shire’s hand, "I didn’t expect you to have such deep research on firearms. I believe we can... have more collaboration in the future!"

Steed smiled contentedly; Dominic hadn’t admired anyone in firearms before but was now deeply impressed by Shire.

"Certainly." Shire nodded.

Watching Dominic tidy up the machine gun, Shire frowned and turned to Steed, saying, "The original design of this machine gun may still serve a purpose."

Steed’s eyes flashed with confusion: "It can still serve a purpose?"

Shire responded with an "Hmm": "If you have a way to disclose it to Pito Armory..."

Steed immediately understood Shire’s intention and smiled meaningfully: "Of course, Colonel, there’s certainly a way!"

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