Chapter 328: Developing the Needle Rifle

Ludwig stood on the range contained within the weapons testing facility that lies outside the boundaries of Kufstein City. In his hand was a prototype that he had been working on for some time now. Due to the advancements in chemical technology such as Mercury Fulimanate and the creation of percussion caps Ludwig had finally been able to complete his design.

The working title for this weapon was the Schmidt Needle Rifle; the reason for this name was the fact that this single shot, bolt action rifle, used a long needle to penetrate through the end of a paper cartridge, where it would strike the percussion cap embedded within and thus ignite the powder propelling the bullet downrange. 

The rifle was equipped with a 33.66-inch barrel that utilized the same polygonal rifling that the 1419 Jaeger Rifles were equipped with; it also used the .451 lead alloy projectile. Unlike the hexagonal bullets issued to the Jaeger Rifles, this Needle Rifle utilized a cylindrical projectile of a more traditional design. 

The sights on this gun were a ladder-style iron sight that graduated from 100 to 1600 yards, though truthfully, that maximum range was being optimistic. Unlike needle rifle designs from Berengar's previous life, this rifle was manufactured with durability and reliability in mind, and as such, it utilized a reinforce locking system, and a more robust needle, that was easily replaceable from the rear of the action in the event that it became damaged. 

Overall, its appearance resembled the Mauser Model 1871 from Berengar's previous life. Ludwig had designed a new blade-style bayonet that was similar to the 1871/84 pattern bayonet from Berengar's past life. The most significant difference between the Mauser 1871, and the Schmidt Needle Rifle, was that this was not a centerfire weapon, but a needle gun. 

Ludwig loaded the hand-rolled paper cartridge into the chamber before shutting the bolt; after he did so, he aimed down the sights at a hundred yards before pulling the trigger. The needle on the bolt pierced through the rear of the paper cartridge and struck the percussion cap, igniting the powder and sending the .451 lead alloy projectile down range and into the target. 

As for the rest of the paper cartridge, it was blown out the bore of the rifle; the moment Ludwig fired the cartridge, he cycled the action to the rear, where he placed another cartridge in the chamber before firing at the target once more. It was another solid hit; after doing so, he continued this for a total of 12 rounds in a single minute. 

The garrison who were watching him test out this new rifle were amazed by its fire rate. However, they were uncertain of its effective range, and due to Ludwig being a poor shot, he had not hit all of his targets. 

With this in mind, a man walked over to Ludwig; he was not wearing the standard army uniform. Instead, he was dressed in the feldgrau uniform used by the Jaeger corps. This man was using crutches as he approached Ludwig. 

Evidently this young soldier was wounded in battle and sent home to recover; he just so happened to be hanging out with one of his friends from the Garrison when Ludwig showed up to test-fire his new weapon. 

The Jaeger was blown away by the rate of fire of the weapon. However, he was not impressed with the accuracy, being the expert marksman that he was, he deduced it was most likely due to a lack of proper training from the man who wielded it, and as such, he decided to volunteer for the position to test the gun after seeing it was safe to operate.

"My Lord, Corporal Lach Wickten at your service! It would be my honor to test this rifle for you to see how effective its range is! That is if you do not mind an old Jaeger like myself doing so..."

Ludwig looked over at the man and noticed he was dressed in a military uniform unlike one he had ever seen before, it was sleek and lacking the noticeable embellishment that most of Berengar's troops used.

Despite Ludwig's lack of formality with the uniform, the old man recognized the silver oakleaf pin on the man's field cap which designated him as a member of the Royal Austrian Jaeger Corps; it was a crime to reproduce the pin and use it without authorization. 

As such, the man before him was either a member of Berengar's elite forces or a fraud risking a criminal sentence. Ludwig was betting on the former of those two possibilities and nodded his head with a stoic expression.

"Not at all; show me what you Jaeger's are capable of!"

The soldier smiled and sat down at the bench rest before grabbing ahold of the Needle Rifle and placing a paper cartridge in its chamber just as Ludwig had done prior; he then adjusted its iron sights from 100 yards to 1000 yards, a shot he was usually capable of pulling off with his Jaeger Rifle under ideal conditions. 

He gauged the wind in the air before squeezing the trigger, sending the projectile downrange at a steel target that was sitting out at roughly 1000 yards, the audible ping of the lead crashing against steel resounded throughout the testing field and signaled to everyone present that the Jaeger had hit his mark. 

This was a phenomenal feat for the average soldiers of the garrison; most troops in the Austrian Army were unaware of just how proficient the Jaegers were at long-range combat; they had never witnessed them in battle due to them being a force deployed far ahead of the traditional battlefield. 

After pulling the trigger and sending the round downrange, the Jaeger immediately cycled the bolt back to the rear and put another paper cartridge lying on the table into the chamber before sending the bolt home. After doing so, he aimed down at another target 1200 yards downrange and adjusted his sights to compensate for the difference in distance. 

Having made his calculations, the young soldier pulled the trigger, and once more, an audible ping resounded throughout the range. This action of two shots in under ten seconds successfully hitting targets at such a distance shocked the crowd of soldiers even more. 

After the Jaeger had followed up with a third shot at 1500 yards that also successfully hit its target, he cycled the bolt back to clear the weapon, not that it needed to do so, before chuckling to himself. As he did so, he cried out at the top of his lungs. 

"Wonderful, simply wonderful! I need one of these for when I go back to the field; how much do you want for it?"

However, Ludwig shook his head as he informed the young soldier about the reality of the weapon.

"This is just a prototype; the final product will have to be approved by the King for service in the Army. You will have to wait until then..."

Despite Ludwig declining his offer the Jaeger was persistent and made a sizeable offer

"If you can make another one of these for me, I will pay two, no three Guldens! I know plenty of my comrades who would do the same!"

Ludwig was tempted to take the soldier up on his offer, but the weapon still hadn't been thoroughly tested yet, and he didn't want the man to lose his life due to a malfunction; as such, he declined once more.

"Once I figure out the kinks in the rifle and improve it, I will be happy to sell you one if you really can't wait until they become standard issue."

The soldier frowned in response to this, but he understood that Ludwig had good intentions; as such, he agreed to the man's terms. 

"Alright, don't keep me waiting too long; in a few weeks, I will be back in the field, and I would feel a hell of a lot safer with this rifle as my primary weapon than the current issue Jaeger Rifle!" 

Ludwig scratched the back of his head as he responded to the soldier's eagerness to purchase his rifle.

"I will see what I can do. Hopefully, I can have a functional variant made for you to use in the field by then." 

After saying this, the Jaeger thanked Ludwig before picking up his crutches and heading off from the testing facility; he had a broad smile spread across his face like a kid on Christmas; such an excellent weapon solved his biggest complaints about the currently issued muzzleloading rifles. 

As for Ludwig, he sighed in relief after the overly-excited soldier was gone before picking up his prototype rifle and bringing it back to the shop, so far everything seemed like it functioned properly, but he was going to need to stress test the weapon over the coming days to make sure there were no serious issues with it. 

However, for the prototype, the weapon was beyond functional, and that made him happy. He could not wait until King Berengar could finally witness the rifle that the old man had designed entirely by himself. He could already anticipate the commendation he would get for creating such a revolutionary type of weapon. 

With that said, Ludwig returned to the state-run armory that he managed, where he began to manufacture more paper cartridges to test the rifle in the upcoming days. By the time Berengar marched on Florence, there would be thousands of these Schmidt Needle Rifles in the hands of Berengar's most elite forces.

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