Chapter 511 (1/2)

In fact, the 76 mm mortar and cannon can be developed thanks to Jack Williams and David Dean, the first European alchemists to follow the stone bear.

The former is an Englishman, proficient in mechanical manufacturing, while the latter is a Frenchman, but has outstanding talent in metal smelting.

With the help of the alchemists brought by Hank and the guidance of the stone bear, Jack Williams finally improved the steam engine and made a precision boring machine for large caliber guns.

The processing technology of gun is much higher than that of rifle, especially the processing technology of gun barrel and metal materials.

Stone bear knows very well that although he has made his own catapult and mortar, these two weapons belong to the category of small caliber. Even if the caliber of 55 mortar can be regarded as medium caliber, the range still limits the power of this weapon.

Therefore, in order to ensure the homeland security of the Indian Empire in the future, the research and development of large caliber artillery must be put on the agenda.

To develop large caliber artillery, the first thing to solve is the problem of metal materials. Although the 76mm diameter is only two centimeters larger than the 55mm diameter, there is a huge gap in the requirements for metal materials.

And whether it's a catapult or a mortar, the requirements for the barrel are not very high, but if you want to develop a real howitzer or cannon, the requirements for the metal material of the barrel will be improved by more than one level.

The iron and steel smelting formula in the hands of Shi Xiong before, at most, can build some heavy weapons such as catapults or mortars. It's far from enough to build more powerful cannons with longer range and even howitzers.

Therefore, the smelting of metal materials has become the most critical part.

However, David adian is here, and the stone bear knows more or less the properties of some later metal materials, so under his guidance, David adian has made countless attempts, and finally found several qualified smelting formulas for metal materials.

After constant exclusion and testing, David adian finally determined a steel that can be used to build the barrel of a 76mm cannon or howitzer.

But even so, the life of gun barrel made of this kind of steel is not very long.

For example, the 76 mortar barrel made of this kind of steel can fire 340 rounds at most, but when it is used to make howitzer barrel, the service life of this kind of barrel is immediately reduced to about 120 rounds. If it is used to make more powerful cannon barrel, the service life of cannon barrel will be reduced, and only 90 to 100 shells can be fired at most.

This kind of gun barrel life is obviously not enough, but the stone bear has no way for the time being.

The material is not something that can be made. It takes countless attempts to find the best formula. And now there is no electric furnace, even converter and flat furnace, relying on the only local blast furnace on hand to make such steel is really good.

With barely enough steel to meet the requirements, Jack Williams was able to cast the corresponding machinery.

While David Addison was working on the material formula, Jack Williams began to improve the steam engine and develop the large bore boring machine under the guidance of stone bear.

In fact, at this time, Mr. James Watt, who was far away in Europe, had already brought out the improved steam engine a few years in advance, but it was also limited by the problem of materials. Watt's improved steam engine did not get large-scale application.