Making Guns, Unlocking the Firearms Technology Tree!

The six-hour trading session ended at 3 p. m., and as Su Mo stepped out of the Light Gate, the Golden Light behind him shattered abruptly after twenty or thirty seconds.

The light gradually turned into specks of light, fell to the ground, and merged into the snowdrifts.

Apart from the shelters and the mountain of supplies that had been piled up, the depression had returned to its former tranquility.

The 3,200 Iron Block, arranged in two layers, have densely covered the area around the Underground Shelter, occupying approximately three to four acres.

The copper blocks were also neatly stacked and lying on the ground to the left of the Underground Shelter.

These supplies cannot be stored in the Underground Shelter even if the storage space is several times larger; they can only be temporarily piled up outside.

"Great, being in a low-lying area means no one can detect how many neighbors I have here, and I don't have to worry about them being stolen if I store things outside."

Walking on the Iron Block, with Oreo on guard, Su Mo was not afraid at all that anyone with ulterior motives would come to the vicinity of the shelter to steal resources.

Even if they did, with their pitifully small Storage Space, they couldn't take much with them at once, so there's no need to worry.

After using the Storage Space to move all the steel from the outside into the garage, Su Mo picked up the five-unit copper block and nervously went to the second floor to turn on the generator.

The supplies were obtained after days of risky travel, and even nearly costing them their lives.

Finally, on the last day, it all came down to strength!

Looking at the Small Thermal Weapon Laser Manufacturing Machine Tool that had already begun its self-testing, Su Mo was filled with excitement.

The operation of laser machine tools is not difficult, and with the addition of amazing modular technology, manufacturing has been greatly simplified.

Simply select the weapon you want to make, put in the required materials as needed, and once it passes the machine tool's inspection, you can proceed with the simple placement process and wait for the finished product to be produced.

"Modular technology is indeed a good thing, but unfortunately we didn't manage to acquire a single modular machine tool this time."

"But even if they did, these people wouldn't necessarily sell them unless they were about to die."

Shaking his head, putting aside some greedy thoughts, and seeing that the green light had come on after the self-check was over, Su Mo gently selected the M-1 Rifle, and the material requirements popped up instantly.

Three units of steel, two units of iron, one unit of copper, one unit of wood, two units of water, and ten kilowatt-hours of electricity! The machine tool also has its own battery module, which needs to be fully charged before it can start, ensuring that the charge is higher than the manufacturing value.

This is a requirement set for situations where manufacturing failures or machine tool damage may occur due to a sudden power outage.

Seeing that the machine had started charging rapidly in the lower right corner, Su Mo was in no hurry and patiently sat in front of the machine tool to wait.

The manufacture of firearms involves some seemingly simple but actually very complex specifications. For example, rifling is a very simple yet very important part.

Rifling, also known as rifling, is called windmill grooves because its cross-sectional shape resembles that of a windmill.

Rifling can be considered the soul of a gun barrel. Its function is to give the bullet the ability to spin, so that the bullet can maintain its intended direction after leaving the barrel.

Although there are records of rifling being used as early as the 15th century, it did not become widespread until the 19th century due to the difficulty of manufacturing the equipment.

Without the relevant knowledge, Su Mo could only hope that the machine tool would perform well and not make any mistakes!

Half an hour later, the charging was complete. Looking at the manufacturing button that popped up on the side of the machine tool, Su Mo Mo's expression was solemn. He gently placed all the materials into the machine Storage Module, which was only one square meter in size. He pressed the manufacturing button with both hands and started making the first firearm! Crack! Crack! A piercing sound accompanied by a slight vibration began to burst out from the machine tool as the button was pressed down.

A chilling, high-pitched cutting sound startled not only Su Mo but also the Big and Little Spark on the second floor, who gurgled in fright.

The Laser Probe above began to slowly rotate under the force of the machine tool.

Before Su Mo could properly examine how the machine tool manufactured weapons, an iron cover suddenly rose from both sides of the machine tool.

Driven by the electric motor, the cover slowly began to form a sphere, leaving only a few heat dissipation holes, completely covering the entire machine tool.

Then, a blinding light suddenly burst from the heat dissipation vents of the cover, illuminating the research room with extraordinary brightness.

The high temperature generated by laser cutting began to escape through the heat dissipation holes.

As the temperature gradually rose, Su Mo simply summoned the Lion Man's Wind to cool the large iron ball.

After repeating this cycle for five minutes, the light begins to dim.

Poof! With bursts of steam, the cover slowly began to fall, revealing what was inside.

At this moment, where the finished product was ejected, there was a newly produced gun, with a distinctive design and extremely aggressive appearance.

From the spearhead to the butt, carefully examining the shaft, Su Mo calmed down at this moment of reaping the rewards.

When the green indicator light came on again, signaling that Su Mo could take the gun, the temperature of the M-1 Rifle had also dropped and reached a stable temperature.

Picking up the gun, Su Mo first felt its weight.

"It's not heavy, the unloaded gun weighs about five pounds, and with bullets, it's between six and six and a half pounds."

After removing the magazine, Su Mo examined its capacity.

The magazine is fitted with 5.56 x 45 mm bullets, using the same STANAG magazine as those on Earth, with a standard capacity of 40 rounds.

"If you ignore the name and the different pattern design, it really is a bootleg M4A1."

Stroking the intricate patterns on the gun, Su Mo was unsure of its power and could only try to continue operating the machine tool to manufacture ammunition.

The M-1 Rifle uses the M193 Rifle Bullet, which is the standard 45mm caliber. This small-caliber rifle cartridge has a huge killing power that is disproportionate to its size.

The M193 bullet has no steel core; the bullet is filled with soft lead, and the copper coating on the outside of the bullet is very thin, making the entire bullet very soft.

Upon impact with the target, the bullet will rapidly deform and shatter, creating multiple penetrating wounds (meaning a single bullet can create several holes), resulting in severe bleeding.

However, the Technology Tree for firearms is not as simple as just building guns.

The biggest problem facing all the humans in the wasteland right now is the production of ammunition.

Even with the current abundance of resources in the Underground Shelter, to manufacture suitable bullets, we still need to explore a new Technology Tree: Smokeless Gunpowder!

Black Powder burns slowly and at low pressure, resulting in a low muzzle velocity for the bullet.

To achieve sufficient range and effectiveness, basic physics dictates that the bullet needs to be very massive, and thus the bullet caliber must be even larger.

Therefore, during the Black Powder era, rifle bullets of tens or even 20 millimeters were commonplace.

To achieve better results, the late Black Powder era increased chamber pressure by loading compressed Black Powder, which could also provide a speed close to that of Smokeless Gunpowder.

The development of Smokeless Gunpowder resulted in faster combustion, higher pressure, and higher temperature, leading to greater speed, reduced ammunition caliber and weight, and reduced logistical burden. However, it also brought about countless design changes.

Smokeless Gunpowder allows for smaller ammunition calibers, higher speeds, and flatter trajectories.

A flatter trajectory means less impact from distance errors.

For example, in trench warfare during World War I, it was common to need to hit an exposed head at a distance of about 300 meters. However, a difference of tens of meters from the zeroing point could result in the bullet hitting too high or too low.

A flatter trajectory reduces the elevation error caused by distance, making it easier to hit the target.

"While the method of preparing Smokeless Gunpowder depicted in the TV series 'Hanyang Type 88 Rifle ' is somewhat exaggerated, it still offers some points of reference."

With the M1 rifle placed on the Work Table, Su Mo began to carefully consider how to mass-produce Smokeless Gunpowder.

Without advancing the ammunition Technology Tree, no matter how powerful the guns become in the future, they're useless without bullets.

"The manufacturing process of nitrocellulose and guncotton is not complicated; the only problem is finding suitable cotton. After that, you just need to soak the guncotton in ethanol and Ether and then dry it to obtain Smokeless Gunpowder."

"The preparation of ethanol and Ether is not difficult either. Ethylene can be extracted from petroleum, and ethylene can be used as a raw material to produce ethanol. Ethylene can be hydrolyzed to obtain ethanol, and the catalytic reaction of ethanol can then produce Ether."

Finding a piece of paper, Su Mo tried his best to recall his limited chemical knowledge and pieced it together with information from TV dramas to complete a vague idea for making Smokeless Gunpowder.

A flash of light, and after systematic evaluation, it was confirmed that the design was completely without problems and the approach was correct.

"So, the last difficulty is the cotton? The quality of the cotton is very important in making the right guncotton!"

In the TV series "Hanyang Type 88 Rifle", Xu Jianyin once presided over the research and development of Sulfuric Acid at the Tianjin Arsenal, which solved the problem that Sulfuric Acid was entirely dependent on imports at that time.

Zhang Zhidong recognized his outstanding talent and recruited him to the Hanyang Steel and Ordnance Factory to be in charge of ammunition production.

One of the main raw materials for making gunpowder is cotton. In his research, Xu Jianyin discovered that there are significant differences between domestic cotton and imported cotton.

Therefore, when conducting trials in China, the temperature, humidity, time, pressure, and liquid concentration should also be changed accordingly. This may be the main reason for the failure of the Jiangnan Arsenal.

In order to quickly find a production method suitable for China, Xu Jianyin "personally ground and refined the materials by hand every day with a pestle and mortar."

In just six months, a Smokeless Gunpowder sample was finally produced.

After testing, the sample's performance was found to be comparable to imported Smokeless Gunpowder.

This also shows that as long as suitable cotton is found, it is entirely possible to refine suitable Smokeless Gunpowder in a very short time.

"System, how many Survival Points are needed to create one pound of cotton for making matchcotton!"

Instead of rushing to the market to acquire them, Su Mo opened the System Panel, clicked on the creation interface, and first recorded the system's requirements.

This price is neither low nor high.

65 Survival Points can be exchanged for one pound of cotton used to make guncotton, 300 points can be exchanged for one pound of finished guncotton, and 520 points can be exchanged for one pound of developed Smokeless Gunpowder.

Each bullet requires about 2g of ammunition, and one pound can fill 260 bullets. In terms of gunpowder, the cost of one bullet is close to 2 Survival Points, which is a huge loss!

"No, I need to equip myself with bullets in the future, so I'll have a suitable production line. I'll just buy cotton and train myself!"

Thank you all for the monthly votes! The defense is finally over, and I can resume updates after May Day. These past few days have been really busy, but thankfully I have your support. Love you all!