Chapter 285 Berlin - Mauser Arsenal
Inside the Hechingen Arsenal in Berlin.
Factory Director Maine was demonstrating the performance of two rifles to Ernst. On the table were the Prussian Dreiser rifle and the Chassepeau rifle captured on the battlefield.
Maine picked up the Chassaipo rifle and explained to Ernst: "The Chassaipo rifle used by the French borrowed many successful practices from the Dreiser rifle. It also has a rotating bolt, a firing pin, and paper bullets. But compared to the former, it is slightly better. For example, the locking system of the Dreiser rifle has a problem. It is not airtight and leaks. This greatly affects the effectiveness of the gunpowder and, in turn, affects the initial velocity of the bullet."
"The Chassepot rifle was improved to address this problem. It changed Dreiser's hollow bolt into a solid one and added a rubber sealing ring on the top of the bolt. When the bullet is fired, the high temperature generated by the gunpowder gas expands the rubber, and the entire gun chamber is well sealed. The improved sealing increases the initial velocity and the range. Another example is the primer of the bullet. The primer of the Dreiser bullet is located in the middle of the bullet, and the firing pin must be very thin and long. If it is too short, it cannot reach it. The primer of the Chassepot 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"The performance of the Dreiser rifle in the war has shown that it is completely outdated, so we originally planned to retire a set of production lines after the war. However, all this has to wait until Prussia's new rifles are confirmed to come out before they can be completely replaced." Maine, director of the Berlin Hechingen Arsenal, said to Ernst who came to inspect.
"Well, then let's retire this Dresser production line! You have a new task now, which is to focus your energy on the research and development of new firearms. This time I have contacted a partner for you." Ernst said directly after listening.
Ernst planned to move this outdated Dreiser rifle production line directly to East Africa. Although it was outdated, it still had a large market in Africa.
Mayne asked curiously, "I wonder which of our colleagues you are looking for as a collaborator, Your Highness?"
"Have you heard of the Mauser brothers from the Kingdom of Württemberg?" Ernst asked curiously.
"So it's them! I actually know them. I've had some communication with their father, Anders Mauser of the Oberndorf Württemberg Royal Arsenal. Anders Mauser is a famous gunsmith, but he has many children." Mayne said, "I heard that his two youngest sons have indeed followed their father's old path, but Your Highness, I don't think the two young men can achieve much. It seems that they were just kicked out by their partners a few days ago. Did they fool you again?"
This matter has to start with the family of the Mauser brothers. As a family of firearms, the Mauser brothers should have had a good life since childhood, but their family was a little special. The old Mauser had thirteen sons, so they lived a very difficult life.
As teenagers, the Mauser brothers had to work as odd jobs in the Wuerttemberg Arsenal in Ordorff to barely make ends meet. However, the Mauser brothers were really bold and daring. As early as before the Franco-Prussian War, they tried to make some improvements to the Dresser rifle, but the Wuerttemberg Arsenal went bankrupt a few years ago.
The unemployed Mauser brothers were forced to work at the Norris Armory. In the Norris Armory, there was a "big shot" named Samuel Norris, who was the European representative of the famous American firearms company, Remington. At the Norris Armory, Samuel and the Mauser brothers "met too late". Based on the Chassep rifle, they combined some of the Mauser brothers' improved technology on the Dreiser rifle, and jointly designed the "Mauser-Norris" rifle, and applied for a US patent. Just when the Mauser brothers finally felt that they had reached their peak, Samuel tore up the cooperation contract and kicked the Mauser brothers away. The Mauser brothers had to return to their hometown and build a workshop.
The Americans did all kinds of bad things, but it also benefited Ernst. Just when the Mauser brothers were in decline, Ernst found the location of their small workshop in Ordorf, Württemberg through inquiries from various sources and proposed the idea of cooperation.
The Mauser brothers certainly had no reason to refuse the invitation of a crown prince. They agreed to cooperate with the Hechingen Arsenal, but the name of their small workshop "Mauser Arsenal" had to be retained. This was their last insistence.
Ernst didn't care about this. Anyway, the Hechingen Arsenal in Berlin would become the firearms research and development center in Germany in the future, so it could just be renamed "Berlin-Mauser Arsenal".
As for East Africa, well, there is no R&D capability. To be honest, if the Hexingen Arsenal is really moved to East Africa, it will be ruined. The production line is okay, it only needs workers to operate it. Without the good scientific research environment and talent pool in Europe, firearms research and development will not be possible at all.
Therefore, East Africa can only continue to be a processing factory at most, while research and development should still be placed in Germany. Only when East African education develops in the future can the research and development function be moved back to East Africa.
At the same time, it was impossible for Ernst to give up the Prussian arms market, so the new "Berlin-Mauser Arsenal" would continue to produce equipment for the German army.
"Mayne, don't say that. In fact, young people always have their own ideas. I think the Mauser brothers' 'Mauser-Norris' is pretty good. Let them improve it on this basis. I think the new rifle will be very good. Now we just need to give the two young people a chance." Ernst said, "And it is a fact that we do not have the ability to develop firearms. The Hechingen Arsenal is just a foundry, and the Mauser brothers have a mature plan. After all, their previous achievements were almost adopted by the Austro-Hungarian Empire."
Before the development of the "Mauser-Norris rifle", the Dreiser rifle improved by the Mauser brothers was noticed by the Austro-Hungarian War Ministry, but was ultimately not adopted by the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
Mayne said, "Okay! Your Highness, if you really want to do that, I have no objection, but firearms research and development is something that needs to be done carefully. If we take the wrong path, the market will not wait for us."
"Haha, don't worry! It doesn't matter even if the market doesn't approve. The Kingdom of East Africa can provide support for the new rifles. Even if no other country orders them, we will place an order ourselves." Ernst said.
In fact, the reason why Ernst was fearless was that the Mauser brothers' firearms design had matured. They had completed the preliminary design of the previous Mauser M1871 rifle in 1869. Now, as long as there was a more advanced and complete working environment, they could make the final improvements to the Mauser M1871 rifle.
It is basically certain that the performance of this gun will not be too bad, so the order from East Africa will not be a failure after it is developed.
"In that case, I won't say much, but Your Highness! Do you know anything about firearms?" Maine asked curiously.
"Of course not," Ernst said. "I just go by my intuition."
(End of this chapter)
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