usatvline Chapter 61 Shell Prototype Production
Chapter 61 Shell Prototype Production
Chapter 61 Shell Prototype Production
Chen Yuan remained alone deep inside the work shed, the door already bolted shut.
On the workbench, the two heavy Type 97 mortar shells gleamed coldly under the oil lamp.
He took a deep breath, placed his hand on the cold rock wall again, and let his consciousness sink into that deep blue.
"Shuhuo, I need materials for all the metal parts of the Type 97 mortar shell, including the shell body, tail fin tube, and ammunition belt copper ring, as well as the fuse. This includes the blueprints, specifications, and manufacturing steps. For the fuse, clearly indicate the function and assembly sequence of each part, as well as precautions and safety restrictions during manufacturing. Specifically, indicate which parts are standard and you can provide them directly, and which parts need to be hand-made by me."
The instruction has been issued.
The platform responded quickly, projecting the complete 3D structural diagram and breakdown list generated after the scan and analysis into Chen Yuan's consciousness, and began listing the material requirements:
Projectile body: high carbon cast iron, weight: approximately 3.2 kg.
The pre-made fragment grooves are already included in the rough casting mold. Machining requirements: grind the outer surface, clean the burrs in the inner cavity, ensure uniform wall thickness, and the key point is that the bottom thread (where it connects with the tail fin tube) needs to be tapped by hand.
Tail fin tube: Seamless steel pipe; the platform provides tube blanks with suitable diameter and wall thickness.
Processing requirements: Cut to the specified length, machine an external thread on one end (to connect with the projectile body), and flare the other end and drill holes for installing the tail fin.
Tail fin: Thin steel plate, provided by the platform.
Processing requirements: Stamp or cut into a specific streamline shape, and drill and rivet holes at the corresponding positions of the tail fin tube.
Ammunition belt: Specially made copper ring. Machining requirements: This is a critical component, requiring precision machining to a specific outer diameter and shape to ensure effective gas sealing as the projectile slides down, withstand the pressure of the propellant gases, and impart rotation.
The platform can provide semi-finished products, but the final precision shaping and polishing must be done by hand.
List of metal components and processing requirements for the fuse:
Fuze body: made of brass or steel, provided by the platform for rough machining.
Manual drilling is required to install the firing pin hole, the ignition hole, and to machine the external safety groove and threads.
Strike pin: High-hardness tool steel; platform supplied with standard steel wire or small round steel. Hand-ground tip, hardened, and grooved at the tail for mounting the safety spring.
Fire cap holder: A small copper mold; a platform can provide a stamped prototype. The bottom fire-transmitting hole needs to be precisely drilled.
Parts for insurance mechanisms: including safety pins, safety springs, inertia cylinders, etc.
The small helical spring platform can be provided in standard parts, while the safety pin and inertia cylinder need to be hand-turned or ground.
Detonator housing: miniature copper or aluminum tube; the platform provides miniature tubing.
It requires extremely careful cutting and sealing of the bottom.
Expander explosive casing: a slightly larger copper tube, provided by the platform. It also requires precise cutting and bottom sealing.
The platform specifically notes: "Caution: All processes involving pyrotechnics, such as the loading and pressing of mercury fulminate, needle explosives, and detonators, as well as the preparation and binding of propellants, are extremely dangerous and require specialized equipment, a strict environment, and professional knowledge."
This platform cannot provide finished products or complete related processes.
All pyrotechnic devices and propellant materials mentioned must be sourced externally and assembled in-house.
"Understood," Chen Yuan murmured.
The platform can provide high-quality blanks or semi-finished products for almost all metal parts, including some precision small parts, but the most core and dangerous part, the "charge" part, as well as the precision assembly and debugging that requires extremely high manual skills and experience, especially the fuse, must be completed by himself or future professionals.
The materials began to be silently produced by the platform and piled up in the inner corner: gray-black cast iron projectile blanks, shiny copper rings and copper tubes, steel bars and tubes of various specifications, thin steel plates, and a small pile of small brass and steel parts blanks.
Looking at these materials, Chen Yuan knew that the real challenge had begun: manual processing and assembly, especially of the fuse, which had a complex structure and required extremely high reliability and safety.
He started by practicing with the relatively simpler parts of the projectile body and tail fin.
They used a simple woodworking lathe, bench vise, various files, scrapers, taps, dies, and drill bits in the workshop shed.
The cast iron projectile blank needs to have its outer surface polished smooth, and the casting residue inside the cavity cleaned with a scraper. The most crucial part is the threaded hole at the bottom that connects to the tail fin tube.
He carefully aligned the screws and used a tap to slowly create neat internal threads. He repeatedly tested the screws with the tail fin tube to ensure a tight fit without being too tight.
The cutting, flaring, and drilling of the tail fin tube, the cutting, shaping, and riveting of the tail fins—these tasks were tedious, but thanks to the precise blanks and clear drawings provided by the platform, coupled with the feel for the guns he had honed during this period, the progress was relatively smooth.
The real challenge is the fuse.
The platform provides a brass blank for the fuse body, which is just a cylinder with a central hole. He needs to precisely drill two small holes perpendicular to each other: a through horizontal hole to install the safety pin, and a smaller angled ignition hole to connect the flash cap holder and the detonator.
Even slight deviations in the position, angle, or depth of the drill hole could affect the reliability or safety of firing. With the help of the simple indexing tools provided by the platform and his own drill jig, he held his breath and drilled little by little.
The first time, the hole was drilled crookedly, ruining one. The second time, the depth wasn't controlled well, ruining another one.
Fine beads of sweat appeared on his forehead, not from fatigue, but from tension and complete concentration.
The firing pin requires extremely high tip hardness and precise shape during machining.
He used the high-carbon steel wire provided by the platform, heated it red-hot in the furnace, and carefully forged it into a cone shape on an anvil with pliers before quenching it.
The quenching temperature is extremely difficult to control. The first quenching makes it too brittle and it will break at the slightest touch; the second quenching makes it too soft and the tip will easily become blunt.
He experimented five or six times before finally obtaining a firing pin that was barely acceptable in terms of hardness and toughness, and the tip still had to be carefully ground to the right angle on an oilstone.
The fire cap holder is a copper bowl smaller than a little fingernail, with an extremely tiny fire-transmitting hole drilled in its bottom. It requires the finest drill bit, and the hand must be as steady as a rock; the slightest tremor will break the drill bit or cause it to deviate from its intended path.
Drilling just this one hole took him most of the day and ruined several blanks.
The safety spring is a miniature helical spring provided by the platform, which saves a lot of trouble.
However, small parts such as the safety pin and inertia cylinder need to be hand-machined or painstakingly filed out. The size requirements are extremely strict. If they are too big or too small, too long or too short, they will affect the reliable release of the safety mechanism when the shell is fired and the reliable firing when it hits the target.
The processing of detonator casings and explosive charge casings is so precise that it is almost like torture.
The miniature copper tubes need to be cut to a specific length, and one end must be sealed with special tools with extreme care to ensure a tight seal without deforming or cracking.
Chen Yuan practically lay prone in front of the vise, using the lightest force and with the help of a magnifying glass, operating the machine bit by bit, failing time and time again.
Chen Yuan practically dedicated himself to this task, entrusting the gun repair work to Shuanzhu and his team.
Apart from necessary meals and short breaks, they spent all their time deep inside the work shed.
My hands were covered in countless tiny cuts and blisters from the tools, and my eyes were bloodshot from focusing on the tiny parts for so long.
The ground was littered with all sorts of scrapped parts: misaligned fuses, cracked firing pins, broken primer holders, and safety pins that didn't fit the dimensions—the materials provided by the platform were being consumed at a considerable rate, while successful finished products were few and far between.
"I'm so clumsy—" Chen Yuan cursed himself under his breath as he looked at the inertia cylinder, which had deformed once again due to excessive force.
You know, I've been too hands-on before, and I'm basically useless except for playing games and typing on the computer. That's the biggest loss I've ever suffered.
It seems that in the future, if we want to mass-produce, we can't rely on ourselves; we'll have to find specialized technicians and workers.
This time, Chen Yuan gained a deeper understanding of his own practical skills.
No matter how precise the platform's guidance or how clear the blueprints, ultimately it still depends on his own hands to realize it.
The technological gap between repairing firearms and manufacturing such precise fuse parts was far greater than he had imagined.
But he did not give up.
Each failure made him more familiar with the characteristics of the parts, the use of the tools, and the feel of the work.
He constantly adjusted his methods: adding water to cool the drill bit during drilling to prevent it from burning out; and trying different media and temperatures during quenching.
When making the final touches with a small file and whetstone, try to breathe as quietly as possible.
Gradually, the scrap rate began to decrease, and qualified parts began to appear one by one.
On the evening of the fourth day, he finally arranged all the processed fuse parts neatly on the worktable: fuse body, firing pin, primer holder, safety pin, safety spring, inertia cylinder, detonator shell, and detonator casing.
Next comes the most crucial step—simulated assembly and functional testing.
Following the platform's instructions, he first inserted the firing pin into the fuse body, then secured the safety spring and safety pin to simulate the shell's storage state; then he inserted the inertia tube; and finally, he carefully placed in the empty detonator casing and the detonator casing.
The entire process must be seamless and the force moderate, ensuring absolute safety during normal times, reliable disengagement of the safety mechanism after launch, and reliable firing pin engagement of the cap upon impact with the target.
Fortunately, all the simulations were conducted without explosives, so there was no danger whatsoever.
He repeatedly assembled, disassembled, and tested the smoothness of the safety mechanism's operation, and checked the fit clearance between various parts.
Using homemade, simple tools, we simulated the launch impact and collision to observe whether the internal mechanism of the fuse operated according to the predetermined procedure.
It failed twice more, once because the safety pin got stuck and once because the inertial cylinder was not moving smoothly.
He had to disassemble the relevant parts and then fine-tune and polish them again using an extremely fine oilstone.
By the early morning of the fifth day, the light from the oil lamp had turned dim and yellow.
Chen Yuan's bloodshot eyes were fixed on the mechanical fuse of the Type 97 mortar shell in his hand, which he had completely handcrafted and assembled.
He conducted a final simulation test, pressing down the safety pin to simulate a loaded shell: he quickly pushed the fuse to simulate firing acceleration, hearing a soft "click" from inside, as if the safety pin had been pushed open by the inertial cylinder; then he gently tapped the top of the fuse with a wooden hammer to simulate the shell hitting the target—he felt the internal mechanism move smoothly, and the tip of the firing pin accurately "hit" the position of the percussion cap.
"It's done—probably." He let out a long breath, slumped into a chair, his whole body aching, but a sense of accomplishment welled up inside him.
It was just an empty shell, without any pyrotechnics, and a far cry from a real shell. But at least, he had found a theoretically feasible path for the most complex mechanical parts.
He assembled the empty fuse with the previously processed projectile body, tail fin tube, and copper ring of the ammunition belt. A complete, but empty, replica of the Type 97 mortar shell was presented on the workbench.
It is heavy, and although the surface still has some handmade marks and is not as smooth as the original, the shape, size and key components are all present.
Chen Yuan looked at this "lump of iron" and felt a mix of emotions.
He knew this was just the beginning.
Where do explosives come from?
How to safely insert that tiny detonator casing and detonator tube?
How are the high explosives inside the shell proportioned and cast?
How are propellant packs made?
These are all problems that he is currently completely unable to solve.
But he at least proved that he was capable of solving the problem of metal parts, and that he could solve it very well.
After daybreak, he asked Shuanzhu to invite Secretary Wen.
Wen Shizhou rushed over, and his eyes widened instantly when he saw the complete shell model on the worktable. "This—"
"Master Chen, you—you got it done? Only five days!"
"It's just an empty shell, there's no medicine inside, it won't fire," Chen Yuan said wearily but earnestly.
"But the missile body, tail fins, missile belt, and the most troublesome fuse casing and all the small parts inside have all been made according to the specifications. Whether it will work or not still needs to be tested. The most crucial thing is the explosive and ignition powder inside; I have absolutely no idea how to do that."
Wen Shizhou carefully picked up the cannonball model, examined it closely, and weighed it in his hand. His face was full of unbelievable surprise: "Great! That's wonderful! Master Chen, you really are—I'll go to Jiangshui Town right away! Notify Master Yang immediately!" He didn't even drink a sip of water before turning around and running out.
The news quickly reached Yang Fuyun, who was coordinating supplies in Jiangshui Town.
The gunpowder production at the arsenal in Jiangshui Town is increasing rapidly, and the number of grenades assembled each month has exceeded 2000.
This is a joyous occasion.
Now that he heard good news again, he could hardly believe his ears and immediately rushed back to Gouzi Village.
When he saw the heavy, meticulously detailed model of the shell, especially when he disassembled the complex fuse and saw the handcrafted but exceptionally precise reeds, firing pins, and inertia cylinders inside, he was so shocked that he was speechless for a long time.
"Master Chen—you, you dismantled those two shells?" Yang Fuyun's voice trembled slightly, a mixture of excitement and lingering fear.
Disassembling unexploded shells is an extremely dangerous task!
Chen Yuan quickly waved his hand: "No, no! Master Yang, how could I dare! I'm so careful with those two intact shells, I haven't even dared to touch them or damage them. This is what I—well, I used to know a little about the principles of mortar shells, and this time I just tried to imitate them by myself based on the sample and the dimensions."
"Look, the workmanship is really rough, and a lot of materials were wasted." He pointed to a small pile of scrapped parts in the corner.
Yang Fuyun glanced at the scrapped parts, then examined the finished products, his shock undiminished.
Even with a sample for reference, the fact that such a complex part could be handcrafted in such a short time using such simple tools, especially the fuse, demonstrates a level of skill, understanding, boldness, and meticulousness that far exceeded his expectations.
This is definitely not something you can figure out by "blindly thinking"!
"Master Chen, you're not just making things up." — Yang Fuyun took a deep breath and looked intently at Chen Yuan.
"You've got real skills! Real skills! The projectile body is cast so evenly and solidly, the tail fins are riveted so firmly, and the size of the brass rings in the cartridge belt—it's practically the same as the original! And this fuse, my God, how did you even make the spring, the pin, the catch—?!"
Chen Yuan could only give a vague answer: "I just slowly filed and ground it, and tried it countless times. The main thing is that the materials are good. Among the car parts I brought before, there were some spring steel sheets, copper wires and the like, which came in very handy."
Chen Yuan could only try to gloss over the situation for now. Anyway, it had already been processed. If you didn't believe him, you could figure it out yourselves!
Yang Fuyun was skeptical, but the most important thing right now was the result.
He carefully reassembled the shell model, as if holding a precious treasure. "Good! Excellent! With this shell, we have a clue how to handle the most difficult part! The propellant, the fuse's charge—that's a real challenge, but at least we know which direction to apply the force! I'll take this—sample—along with the repaired guns, and immediately return to headquarters to report! The leaders are probably getting impatient waiting for this news!"
With the efforts of Shuanzhu and others, and relying on the high-quality standard parts provided by the platform and Chen Yuan's guidance, more than 20 of the hundreds of damaged rifles he brought have been repaired and are now usable again.
More complex damage requires more time and more specialized tools.
Without lingering, Yang Fuyun immediately took the crucial shell model, the repaired gun, and the detailed list of supplies and medicines that Chen Yuan had written down, and hurriedly left Gouzi Village under escort, heading towards the headquarters deep in the Taihang Mountains.
He knew that what he was bringing back was not just a metal model, but a heavy hope, and a brand new problem about "⊥" and "explosion" that headquarters needed to focus its efforts on solving.
The blacksmith shop in Gouzi Village has proven with its actions that, at least in the realm of "iron" and "shape," they can create far more than anyone can imagine.
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