Chapter 171: Revolver Pistol
After going through a series of routine procedures, the Beasts Pirates’ first weapon factory was finally completed smoothly, but it did not start operations immediately as imagined.
On one hand, those special employees who were recruited back needed to learn machine operation and other work processes under the guidance of professional technical personnel.
After all, they were either missing an arm or a leg, and it took two or three of them together to barely match one complete laborer.
Of course, their wages were only a fraction of a normal person’s.
After all, this was still a pirate crew, not some Charity Hall, let alone a nursing home.
However, for these people, the free three meals a day provided by the factory were actually more than enough, much better than begging outside.
On the other hand, in a small building on the side of the factory that was full of a technological style exterior, Obei was discussing the type of the Beasts Pirates’ first weapon with the weapon experts and engineers recruited from South Blue.
“Obei… Miss, is this your design?”
A researcher wearing round glasses and sporting a mustache looked at the blueprint in his hand and said.
“It can’t really be called mine; it’s just copying other people’s ideas.”
“Oh~”
That researcher nodded, thinking to himself that it was indeed so.
“The design of this revolver pistol is indeed exquisite; compared to the flintlock guns on the market, it has a revolutionary advantage.”
Revolver pistol, or revolver, was the first weapon Obei planned to launch after careful consideration.
This pistol is actually not advanced at all and has basically been replaced by semi-automatic pistols in modern times, gradually becoming a hunting gun or police pistol.
But in this world where muzzle-loading flintlock guns are the main handheld firearms, it has an absolute advantage.
The overall structure is simple, the parts processing craftsmanship is not complicated, and most importantly, it won’t jam and the integrated ammunition design has excellent waterproofing.
This is a life-or-death indicator on battlefields dominated by naval warfare.
“That’s right.”
Another slightly older weapon engineer took the revolver pistol blueprint, looked at it while tutting in amazement:
“Whether it’s firing rate, reload time, ammunition capacity, theoretical range, accuracy, or waterproofing, it far surpasses flintlock hand cannons.”
“If this thing is produced, all the flintlock pistols on the market will probably go unsold.”
After all, it was a design several versions ahead, so a comprehensive crush in all six attributes was normal.
“And this~ the integrated fixed ammunition and this beautiful rifling design… ah~ rigid and flexible in harmony~ just like the most seamless symphony~”
A researcher wearing a fancy dress snatched the blueprint and then hugged it while dancing gracefully.
It had to be said that these guys hired at great expense had the skills; basically everyone could see through the principles and advantages of the revolver pistol at a glance.
But in terms of personality… well, they all had various quirks, like this two-meter-tall burly man who was just dancing.
“If there’s no problem, then modify the parameters of those devices according to the specifications needed to produce this weapon.”
For a completely new weapon, there were of course no suitable production devices on the market, so they could only buy universal ones and modify them themselves.
Fortunately, for these hardcore experts with max hands-on ability, modifying equipment was simple.
After all, the various instruments they used in their own research had mostly undergone their own wildly imaginative modifications.
……
Two days later, as the master craftsman from the original Beasts Pirates weapon logistics department forcefully pressed down the handle, a exquisite and classic .38 caliber bullet was successfully produced.
The master craftsman carefully took the shiny golden bullet from the press table and examined it closely in his palm.
So beautiful~ this little one.
Compared to traditional rough-surfaced lead bullets, she was like a princess dressed elegantly.
“Master, this…”
The surrounding apprentices and other workers crowded over, surrounding it in layers.
They eagerly wanted to see the first bullet produced by their factory, just like the kingdom’s people gazing at a newly born princess.
“Here, pass it around among yourselves and take a look.”
“After you’re done, remember to send it to Lord Obei and tell her the equipment can operate normally.”
The master craftsman handed the bullet to his eldest apprentice, then clapped his hands and went to check the pistol production line.
The first batch of revolver pistol finished products had actually been produced as early as yesterday.
After all, except for the rifling and firing pin craftsmanship, the other mechanical structures were quite simple, unlike bullets that also had to consider gunpowder and primer issues.
Looking at the neatly arranged, shiny silver revolver pistols in the box, the master craftsman felt a bit dazed.
These were the remnants after yesterday’s batch was taken for inspection; they hadn’t received orders to continue production before the performance tests were completed.
He picked one up from among them, flicked his wrist…
Click!
The cylindrical cylinder popped out from the left side.
Swish—
With a gentle flick of the finger, a pleasing mechanical rotor sound entered the ears.
Click!
With another gentle flick of the wrist, the cylinder reset.
He, who had dealt with weapons his whole life, looked at these gun firearms like artworks and couldn’t help but sigh inwardly:
“Truly impeccable…”
“These elegant ladies will surely captivate all the lads on the sea…”
In fact, even he, an old man over sixty, couldn’t put down these revolver pistols.
……
Bang!
The bullet hit the bullseye.
“Whew~”
The testing engineer whistled, clearly very satisfied with the power and range.
“A perfect work~”
“Too bad there’s only one bullet.”
Click~
He ejected the cylinder and removed the spent casing; the engineer’s actions were smooth as flowing water, clearly having fiddled with the empty gun many times before.
“Since we’ve proven the bullet’s primer and gunpowder ratio are fine, have them produce a batch for testing on each machine.”
“Then shoot that batch of guns until they are scrapped, record all the data, and if there’s no problem, we can mass-produce.”
Obei said coldly; she didn’t want to spend too much time on these ordinary weapons.
“Eh ah~ Little Obei is so cold-blooded~ Shooting until scrapped and all~”
The other said in an affected tone.
Obei didn’t respond, just tossed the other two small golden stamps, one square and one round.
These were anti-counterfeit stamps Obei specially made with her authority, able to etch the surface upon contact, forming extremely shallow dark-text steel stamps.
By changing angles under sunlight, one could see text like “Beasts Heavy Industry” and “Copyright owned, counterfeits will be pursued.”
Because ordinary materials couldn’t withstand her destructive authority, she specially got two pieces of divine metal of the same material as executive tokens from Rana.
So this small anti-counterfeit mark was arguably the part with the highest technical content on the entire firearm.
“Remember to stamp the qualified finished products; the square one for firearms, the round one for bullets.”
After instructing, Obei left quickly.
She really couldn’t stand a two-meter-tall burly okama posing in front of her.
Back in her own laboratory, she locked the door, and Obei looked at the various materials on the table, reaching out to pick up a small shell.
“Phew~”
“Well then, let’s start the experiment.”
Regarding firearms in《One Piece》, I’ve seriously researched them for days and checked a lot of data. I can only say the early parts are okay, but later on Oda completely let loose, with submachine guns, Gatling guns, rocket launchers all coming out.
Luckily my current storyline is decades before the main story, so I’ll just treat it as a tech explosion back then.
What I’m basing this on is the .44 caliber six-shot revolver that Mr.5 introduced himself on Little Garden thirty years later for the protagonists; he even emphasized it was a new weapon from South Blue, which is a fairly rigorous reference.（Revolver pistols were actually the first firearms to use rifling）
