Starting from Robinson Crusoe-Chapter 32 - 12: The Inner Corridor Room (Part 2)

Chapter 32: Chapter 12: The Inner Corridor Room (Part 2)
Closing the lid, thinking about how painful it would be to transport this box of lead plates in the future, Chen Zhou couldn’t help but kick the wooden box, then picked up the short gun from another box.
This gun looked quite special at first glance, resembling a long-barreled pistol, but in reality, it was a light matchlock gun with its barrel cut short.
Compared to other matchlock guns, the short-barrel matchlock gun increased portability and reduced weight, but also sacrificed power, accuracy, and range. It could at best shoot prey within ten meters, which was far less practical for Chen Zhou than a heavy matchlock gun.
Because he knew that the heavy matchlock gun had a solid foundation, its design concept and structure were on the right path; history simply hadn’t advanced to that stage yet.
Whereas the design concept of the short-barrel matchlock gun was completely misguided, contrary to the functions pursued by firearms. It wouldn’t take long before it was completely obliterated in the long river of history.
On the contrary, the heavy matchlock gun was on a broad highway.
In about a hundred years, in the 18th century, the heavy matchlock gun would be revamped through generations of improvements, becoming the mainstay of warfare due to its high cost-effectiveness. Its flaws would gradually diminish or even disappear.
The first issue to be addressed was the cumbersome fire-striking process and its susceptibility to rain.
About ten years later, a German clockmaker invented a spring-driven rotary device.
This device was inspired by the toothed rotating steel wheels in clocks. Fire was generated by friction between the steel wheel and flint clipped into a flint holder, igniting the gunpowder, thus completing the firing action. It eliminated the steps of lighting the match and no longer feared rain, hence greatly showcasing its prowess in warfare, replacing some matchlock guns.
However, the rotary flintlock’s craftsmanship was complex, its structure intricate, and production costly. Furthermore, the ignition became unreliable if the steel wheel was contaminated or blocked, leading to its obsolescence after just over a decade.
Next to take the stage was the flintlock gun invented by a Frenchman.
Chen Zhou couldn’t recall the name of the Frenchman, but he clearly remembered the ingenious innovation of the flintlock gun.
The flintlock gun overturned the traditional design approach of matchlock guns. It moved the ignition position from directly above to the side and sparked the gunpowder by striking a flint-holding hammer onto an anvil next to the flash pan.
This ignition mechanism later became known as the striking flintlock.
The emergence of the striking flintlock greatly simplified the shooting process, increased ignition success rate and design precision, and was convenient to use. Its low production cost facilitated mass production, quickly becoming the mainstream equipment in European armies.
Then that Frenchman developed even more reliable and complete firing mechanisms and safety mechanisms, thereby producing the best-performing gun in the world at that time.
Until the 21st century, some retro firearms enthusiasts still hold flintlock shooting competitions, which shows the popularity of this gun type.
Chen Zhou was well aware that he wasn’t a genius; creating great innovations was beyond him, but he could certainly copy work standing on the shoulders of predecessors.
During a boring college summer break, he once whimsically modeled the flintlock gun and the revolver popular during the American West era, so he was thoroughly familiar with the structure of these two types of firearms.
Yet he had never thought at that time that these outdated pieces of knowledge would one day become useful.
With ample time and no legal restrictions, Chen Zhou believed he could entirely handcraft a striking flintlock, modifying the heavy matchlock gun into a flintlock gun, thereby facilitating his hunting activities on the island.
Moreover, he also knew a loading speed-up method invented by a later American gunsmith, namely using grease-soaked flax cloth or deer skin to wrap the bullet and gunpowder into the muzzle.
The lubricating grease reduced friction, sped up the loading process, sealed the barrel, provided airtightness, and improved shooting accuracy and range.
The most important thing is that this loading speed-up method has a low usage threshold and doesn’t require any profound technology, one can master it just by understanding the principles.
If he could successfully apply these "black technologies" to the heavy matchlock gun, compensating for its deficiencies, with its 22mm caliber, Chen Zhou was confident he could take down not just wild goats or Cannibal Tribes but even an elephant with one shot.
Yet he couldn’t let a wonderful future cloud his mind as he had to prioritize tasks. Although gun modification was intriguing, it had to be postponed compared to sorting supplies and shipbuilding.
Sketching a scene of himself holding a gun and leading a dog across the island, Chen Zhou reluctantly placed all matchlock guns together and stored the gunpowder separately around the room to prevent chain explosions. Only after accounting for everything did he leave the gunner’s room.
The hallway door was open, and as soon as the gunner’s room door was closed, a gust of wind blew in, making Chen Zhou instantly feel a chill between his thighs.
Looking down, he then remembered that he was originally heading to Robinson’s room to get dressed, but forgot, distracted by admiring the seascape for a while.
Thus, he returned to Robinson’s room to put on shorts and a shirt, took off the brim hat that obscured his view, and headed to the end of the hallway.
The hallway had six doors in total, besides the entrance door, there were two doors on either side; the rooms belonged to Robinson, the ship doctor, the carpenter, and the gunner, with the interior space gradually expanding from outside to inside.
As for the last door, it was at the end of the hallway, right in the middle, directly opposite the entrance door.