At Hordas Arsenal in Bohemia, the engineers were conducting weapons tests. Twenty testers raised their rifles at once and fired at the targets ahead.
After a burst of gunfire, weapons designer Holman-Sterling stepped forward to inspect the results. He calculated the figures at top speed, then said with satisfaction, "It passes."
The specifications were as follows:
Caliber: 12.68 mm Weight: 4.2 kg Length: 1,417 mm Barrel length: 920 mm Ammunition: paper-cased, acorn-shaped lead bullet Loading method: breech-loading Rate of fire: 12–15 rounds/minute Muzzle velocity: 410 m/s Effective range: 650 m Maximum range: 1,512 m Feed: single-shot
Hordas, the arsenal director, walked over with a beaming smile and said, "Congratulations, Mr. Sterling. You've designed another outstanding rifle.
"This rifle is exceptional. It allows soldiers to reload while lying down or crawling, and its close-range accuracy surpasses that of most rifles.
"I hear the Prussians have already begun replacing their weapons on a massive scale. We managed to get hold of several of their rifles as well, but their performance still falls short of ours."
Holman-Sterling said calmly, "Mr. Hordas, this is only a laboratory product. Whether it can be mass-produced industrially remains unknown.
"In fact, our laboratory has produced quite a few advanced firearms over the years, but because of production costs, very few have been worth adopting into service.
"For example, the previous 1850 Series Rifle outperformed this one in every respect. Yet because of production costs, we had no choice but to abandon it with a heavy heart."
As a weapons design expert, the first thing one had to learn was how to give up. Weapons were not necessarily better just because they were more advanced; overall costs had to be considered as well.
From a design standpoint, even rifles from a century later could be designed