Siheyuan: Game of Red Dust

Chapter 29 New Firearms
In the steel mill laboratory, three days had passed since his last fishing trip, and Li Weidong had finally produced the six special steels he had deduced during his university years. They were:

Tungsten steel, this type of steel is very hard and is mainly used in metal processing tools, tank tracks and axles, etc.

Molybdenum steel is high temperature resistant and is mainly used to manufacture aircraft crankshafts, engine blades, etc.

Manganese silicon steel has exceptional toughness and is mainly used to make springs, etc.

Tungsten-chromium steel has high hardness and toughness. It is used to make machine tool tools and molds.

Hot work die steel, it has good resistance to thermal fatigue, tempering stability and good smelting, forging, heat treatment and machining performance.

The last one is high-strength stainless steel.

After the production was completed, Li Weidong immediately asked Secretary Xiao Wang to call Director Wang.

Soon Director Wang and Secretary Wang arrived.

"Lao Wang, here are the samples of special steel I made, along with the materials. Please send them to the Ministry of Industry."

Director Wang checked the time and called the Ministry of Industry directly, saving himself the trouble of having to go there when the leaders had already left work.

When the leaders of the Ministry of Industry heard that Li Weidong had developed several new types of special steels, they immediately told Director Wang not to delay and to bring the things to the Ministry of Industry immediately.

Director Wang left the steel mill in a hurry and went straight to the Ministry of Industry.

Li Weidong was studying space in the laboratory when he suddenly had an idea: since he could control everything in space, could he make things in space?
Just do it when you think of it. Throw several kinds of special steel into the space and let them change into the shape you want according to your ideas. It works.

Then Li Weidong began to design parts according to the weapon drawings in his mind.

Li Weidong finally finished making all the parts in the space, sorting them by type and thoughtfully including an assembly diagram. It would have been faster to assemble directly in the space, but how could he explain it? He hadn't done anything in the lab, and suddenly a new type of firearm appeared? Li Weidong only thought of it after he finished making the parts.

Li Weidong went out and called the guard squad leader in, explained the situation to him, and asked them to help assemble the guns according to the installation drawings, which was very simple.

The security squad leader quickly called in a few people and they started the installation, which was completed in about half an hour.

Looking at the guns in front of them, everyone was amazed.

李卫东制作的是81式突击步枪、81式班用轻机枪、CS/LM12机枪、89式重机枪、88式狙击步枪和巴雷特反器材狙击步枪。

81式自动步枪发射7.62×39毫米弹药，采用30发弹匣供弹，有效射程400米左右。

The Type 81 squad light machine gun weighs 10.3 catties and measures 1 meter tall. It has a drum magazine capacity of 75 rounds and uses the Type 56 cartridge. It can fire in both semi-automatic single and continuous modes. It utilizes a short-stroke piston gas system.

The CS/LM12 is a belt-fed Gatling machine gun with a 7.62mm caliber. It has an effective range of 7.62 meters, a base rate of fire of 1000 rounds per minute, and a maximum rate of fire of 2500 rounds per minute. It can rotate 6000 ​​degrees for easy firing and comes with a large 360-round magazine.

The Type 89 heavy machine gun is the first to utilize a hybrid short-recoil, gas-operated automatic system, a rotating locking mechanism for the barrel, and a circular lever transmission mechanism for its ammunition feed. This mechanism significantly reduces recoil and overall weight, resulting in a total weight of only 26.5 kg. The Type 89 heavy machine gun primarily employs flat-fire fire, designed to kill group targets, suppress enemy light fire points, damage light armor, and can also engage low-altitude targets such as attack helicopters. Weighing only 26.5 kg, it has a rate of fire of 825 m/s, with a theoretical rate of fire of 450 to 600 rounds per minute. The actual rate of fire is approximately 600 rounds per minute, and the effective range is relatively moderate, around 1500 meters.

The Type 88 sniper rifle, a bullpup design, is lightweight, compact, and highly maneuverable. It chambers the 5.8×42mm cartridge and feeds from a 10-round detachable magazine, with an effective range of 800 meters. The Barrett anti-material sniper rifle utilizes a short-recoil, semi-automatic firing mechanism. During firing, the barrel recoils approximately 25mm, while the chamber remains safely locked by the rotary bolt. After a brief recoil, the bolt release lug pushes into a curved release groove in the receiver, allowing the bolt to rotate and unlock the barrel. Simultaneously, the bolt accelerator arm momentarily depresses backward, transferring some of the barrel's recoil energy to the bolt, completing the cycle. The barrel then recoils and becomes locked, while the bolt continues its recoil, ejecting a cartridge case. The bolt then returns to its normal position, ejecting a cartridge from the magazine and chambering it. Finally, the rotary bolt and the barrel-locking firing pin return to the cocked position. The magazine holds 10 rounds. It uses the large-caliber 2mm ammunition of the Browning M12.7 heavy machine gun. Its effective range is 1850 meters and its maximum range is 2500 meters.

Li Weidong said to the guard squad leader, "Squad Leader Wang, please ask the security department if there is a shooting range nearby. I want to test these weapons."

Upon hearing this, Guard Squad Leader Wang immediately said, "No need. I know where there's a shooting range nearby. I can notify them first and have them reserve a design site for us."

"Okay, you notify them and we'll go there right away." Li Weidong said.

Squad Leader Wang went to make a phone call and called a truck.

Six soldiers from the guard squad, along with the squad leader and Li Weidong, entered the laboratory and moved the guns to the car. When squad leader Zhang wanted to take the Barrett anti-material sniper rifle, he was stopped by Li Weidong.

"Sergeant Wang, there's no need to move this gun for now. We're still missing a scope." Li Weidong said.

"Engineer Li, it's at the shooting range. Just install it there." Squad Leader Wang said.

"Then move it up." Li Weidong said.

All the guns were loaded into the car, and then a layer of cloth was covered on the outside of the guns, so that even their outlines could not be seen. Six soldiers armed with live ammunition sat in the car.

Li Weidong called Secretary Zhang and followed the truck out of the steel mill.

The truck went straight to the shooting range, but the so-called shooting range was actually in a nearby military camp.

The car quickly passed through the camp and soon arrived at the shooting range behind the camp.

An officer and two guards were already waiting for them here.

Seeing Li Weidong getting off the car, the officer came up to him with a smile and asked, "You must be Engineer Li, right? I'm the commander of the guard regiment, my last name is Zhou. I heard you were here to test the new guns, and I'm very curious."

"Hello, Captain Zhou, I'm really sorry to bother you. I hope it doesn't affect our troops." Li Weidong said politely.

This was actually the Guard Regiment's base, no wonder there were so many tanks and artillery pieces in the camp. Furthermore, there were anti-aircraft guns and machine guns in the camp, a truly remarkable display. Only the garrison troops of the former capital could boast such a display.

Although he is just a regimental commander, if he were in other troops, he would definitely be a brigade commander.

"No, no, it doesn't matter. Minister Wang from your Ministry of Industry even called us personally and told us to pay attention to your safety. Moreover, Engineer Li still needs to test the weapons, which are also designed for us soldiers.

If you have any weapons that need testing in the future, you can come to me. Just let me know in advance. I have basically everything here at my base, and the testing range is very comprehensive."

Li Weidong didn't hesitate and asked someone to take the guns down.

(End of this chapter)