Empire Rising: Spain

The new rifle adopts an innovative 6.55×52mm center-fire rifle cartridge, and because of the reduced caliber, the bullet weighs about 10.5 grams.

Additionally, complemented by smokeless powder, the bullet’s velocity is greatly increased, and with its high velocity, it compensates for the loss of power due to the reduced caliber.

Experiments also prove that these smaller caliber bullets are not lacking in power.

A steel plate with a thickness of one millimeter was placed 100 meters away. Soldiers sequentially fired using a 10.4mm rifle cartridge with black powder and a 6.5mm rifle cartridge with smokeless powder. Ultimately, it was found that the 6.5mm rifle cartridge completely penetrated the steel plate, whereas the larger caliber 10.4mm cartridge got stuck in the steel plate.

The next test further demonstrated that the bullet’s power has not diminished.

To test the bullet’s damage to the human body, the Royal Military Factory specially prepared two sheep to simulate the human body.

The 10.4mm rifle cartridge with black powder can indeed create larger wounds but only causes a small penetrating injury.

Conversely, the smaller caliber 6.5mm smokeless powder rifle cartridge, due to its high velocity, quickly rotated after hitting the sheep’s body, causing lethal effects that are hard to compare with larger caliber bullets.

The conclusion is also clear that compared to the large caliber bullets with black powder, the small caliber bullets with smokeless powder are not inferior in power.

Though their might is not as great as the large caliber bullets with smokeless powder, the damage from these small caliber bullets is sufficient, and there is no need to pursue an excessively large caliber.

After all, in this era, there are no tanks, these big guys protected by iron plates and steel sheets, and ordinary soldiers are not equipped with bulletproof vests; small caliber bullets hitting a person can still cause severe damage.

By the time tanks emerge, the Spanish rifles would have already been updated. It won’t be too late then to pursue large caliber bullets, so there’s no need to consider so much now.

Small caliber bullets can also reduce logistical pressure; the same amount of bullets weighs less, is smaller in volume, and is easier to transport.

Of course, the manufacturing cost of small caliber bullets is also lower, which is undoubtedly a good thing for Spain.

Once all specifications of this rifle are confirmed to meet the Ministry of Defense’s requirements, the next and most crucial test is the rifle’s stability.

Only during continuous and uninterrupted shooting can it be tested whether the rifle will jam, damage or burst.

Only rifles with a low incidence of such issues can be considered genuinely good rifles. What the Spanish Military needs is this type of qualified rifle, not those that look excellent on paper but encounter problems with prolonged use.

To better demonstrate the rifle’s stability, all ten new rifles will be used in the upcoming test, with continuous shooting to test if long-term use results in issues.

Considering the rifle’s firing rate, this is destined to be a lengthy test.

The Ministry of Defense’s requirement for the rifle stability test is that at least 100 rounds must be fired continuously without issues for the product to be considered qualified.

More rounds are impractical; after all, Western Spain’s logistics are not wealthy to such an extent.

Firing 100 rounds continuously with one rifle translates to 100,000 rounds for 1,000 rifles, and 10,000,000 rounds for 10,000 rifles.

How long will it take to continuously fire 100 rounds? According to this new rifle’s maximum firing speed, it will take less than four minutes.

In any battle in any war, such a situation is impossible. After all, bullets of every country don’t come from nowhere; they are produced one by one using various resources.

Each soldier can use up to 100 rounds per day, with fewer possibly only tens of rounds or even just a few.

In such circumstances, the Ministry of Defense’s requirement of continuously firing 100 rounds has already met all battlefield conditions, so there’s no need to consider more stringent demands.

After the ten rifles underwent a total of 1,000 rounds of firing, the final design results are freshly out.

The Royal Military Factory, as Spain’s largest military factory, indeed guarantees the quality of the weapons designed and manufactured.

During the continuous firing test of the ten rifles, only two rifles experienced jamming, and none showed severe damage or bursting barrels.

Even the jamming occurred only after firing dozens of rounds continuously. Due to continuous firing, the rifle barrel became severely hot, causing internal structure deformation and leading to jamming.

This actually means, apart from these extreme conditions of uninterrupted firing leading to heat and causing deformation of internal parts, the new rifle will hardly encounter problems in ordinary situations, and its stability can be assured.

Upon learning of the final test results, many military generals smiled, and Carlo let out a sigh of relief.

This new rifle will significantly enhance the combat power of the Spanish Army, which holds great significance for Spain.

Although equipping all military units with new rifles requires substantial expenditure, this cost is worth it compared to the enhancement in combat power the rifles bring.