Chapter 231: Improvements to the Chauchat
Charles inwardly sighed.
How was he supposed to improve this machine gun?
The Chauchat had flaws in nearly every aspect. In fact, redesigning it almost meant creating an entirely new weapon. Yet, because the war had erupted suddenly, every nation was in dire need of light machine guns, and so the Chauchat had received orders despite its shortcomings. But on the battlefield, the reviews it garnered were telling:
"It's only working when something isn't broken."
"If it jams, throw it away—it's not worth carrying back for repairs."
"This isn't a machine gun—it's barely a semi-automatic rifle at best."
Charles studied the gun for a moment, then turned to Dominique. "Tell me, what are its biggest flaws?"
"The main problem is the barrel overheats after just a couple hundred rounds," Dominique said, pointing to the barrel. "Even with the cooling fins we added, it barely makes a difference."
Charles shook his head with a grin. "That's not the biggest problem, Dominique. In fact, you don't even need to worry about that."
"What?" Dominique looked at Charles, confused.
Instead of answering, Charles pointed to the gun's distinctive crescent-shaped magazine. "Perforated design?"
"Yes!" Dominique nodded. "It was to reduce the gun's weight."
"And do you know what that means on the battlefield?" Charles said calmly. "The battlefield is full of mud, sand, water, and other debris that will inevitably find its way through those holes into the magazine, get picked up by the rounds, and carried straight into the chamber, causing…"
The rest didn't need to be said: jams.
Dominique was stunned. He hadn't considered this before, but Charles's logic was undeniable. The controlled testing environment they'd used had been pristine, with regular cleaning and maintenance. But in real combat, the gun might not even make it through 200 rounds before it jammed from debris.
Dominique looked down, discouraged. "But the gun already weighs nine kilograms. If we don't reduce the weight of the magazine, we risk losing the entire point of a 'light' machine gun."
Charles understood the concern. The issue wasn't merely the magazine itself but rather its limited capacity—each magazine only held twenty rounds. A machine gun needed a supply of two or three hundred rounds to maintain fire, meaning soldiers had to carry up to ten magazines. The extra weight of enclosed magazines would add up quickly.
If a "light" machine gun required a three-man team just to carry ammunition, then it was hardly more convenient than a heavier model.
Charles paced in a slow circle around the gun, considering. After a moment, he addressed Dominique and Stede. "We could start by removing the cooling fins."
"Removing the cooling fins?" Dominique exclaimed. "Then it'll only be able to fire 200 rounds before overheating!"
"We could make the barrel replaceable," Charles explained, pointing to where the barrel joined the receiver. "Add a barrel lock here and a handle to the barrel itself. When it overheats, the operator can hold the handle and swap out the barrel, repeating the cycle as needed."
In modern machine guns, similar designs allowed operators to replace barrels in as little as five seconds.
Dominique and Stede exchanged surprised looks. Could a gun actually be designed this way?
Yet the concept made sense: it sidestepped the problem of "cooling" entirely by simply swapping the barrels. When one barrel overheated, a replacement could be used while the other cooled down, ensuring continuous fire.
"Brilliant idea!" Stede nodded approvingly.
"Now, the magazine," Charles said, removing the magazine from the gun to inspect it. "If it has to be crescent-shaped like this to accommodate the tapered rounds, why not design it as a disk?"
"A disk?" Dominique's eyes widened in astonishment.
"Yes." Charles picked up a spare magazine from the case and demonstrated, combining them in a circular shape. "A disk-shaped magazine with a closed design. Use lightweight metal for it to minimize weight, and you could probably increase the capacity slightly too."
Charles was drawing inspiration from the Soviet DP-28, a machine gun with a disc-shaped magazine that accommodated similarly tapered rounds. Rounds could be stored in a circular arrangement, which minimized any issues with the bullet taper.
Dominique was still staring at Charles, amazed. "That could address the magazine's flaws, but… how would we mount a circular magazine like that?"
Stede shared Dominique's concern. A circular magazine was a novel idea, but how would it attach to the gun?
Without hesitation, Charles tapped the top of the receiver. "Mount it here. The magazine would sit on top, with a loading port at the bottom, feeding rounds directly into the chamber."
Without realizing it, Charles had essentially transformed the Chauchat into something resembling the later DP-28 machine gun.
Dominique and Stede exchanged excited, wide-eyed glances. Stede was pleased, as he had always known of Charles's talent for design, which was why he had turned to him for help. But Dominique, initially skeptical of Charles's expertise, now found himself completely won over.
With a look of admiration, Dominique shook Charles's hand. "These are excellent ideas, Colonel! I had no idea you understood firearms so well. I hope we can work together more in the future."
Charles smiled and nodded.
As Dominique packed up the Chauchat, Charles turned back to Stede, an idea forming. "Actually, Stede, this original design might still be useful."
Stede raised an eyebrow. "How so?"
"We could… leak it to the Puteaux Armory," Charles said with a knowing smile.
Instantly, Stede understood Charles's intention. A similar smile spread across his face. "Of course, Colonel. I'm sure we can find a way to make that happen."
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