Rebirth of the 1980s: The Military Industry Empire

From the outside, the SVD rifles looked identical, with wooden stocks and bodies, long barrels, and professional scopes.

It wasn't until the 1990s that the modified SVD rifles replaced wood with composite materials.

To discern the differences between these three captured sniper rifles, one would have to examine the inside of the barrels and use professional tools to measure them: the twist rate of the rifling inside the barrel is different!

There have been many revolutionary inventions in firearms, such as the transition from muzzle-loading to breech-loading guns, and the addition of rifling inside the barrel to make the bullet spin as it flies out, increasing stability!

Almost all modern firearms have rifling, even the airgun barrels produced by Factory 960 have rifling. The spiral grooves inside the barrel have a specific technical term. The number of grooves is easy to understand, but the twist rate is much more complicated. It measures how quickly the rifling spirals, specifically, the distance the rifling travels in one complete rotation inside the barrel.

The smaller this twist rate, the faster the rifling turns, and the higher the spin rate of the bullet, which improves its stability. However, this value cannot be increased indefinitely, as it would reduce the bullet's muzzle velocity. It requires a comprehensive consideration.

When Dragunov initially designed this rifle, he set the twist rate at 315 millimeters. This worked best and provided the highest accuracy when firing the 7.62 x 54mm 7N1 high-precision sniper rounds specially developed by their research institute. However, frontline troops discovered a significant limitation: it could only fire specialized sniper rounds and not other types of ammunition!

For example, tracer rounds to indicate enemy positions to comrades, or armor-piercing rounds to attack hardened bunkers. These bullets were all 7.62 x 54mm, and could be loaded into the chamber, but they would become erratic after leaving the barrel.

Therefore, in 1974, Dragunov modified his sniper rifle, reducing the twist rate from 315 millimeters to 240 millimeters. This allowed it to fire specialized sniper rounds as well as maintain accuracy with other types of ammunition.

The rifle Qin Baoguo held in his hand, numbered 74919, was a later modification, while the previous two, with numbers starting with 68, were older models.

"Engineer Qin, you're going too far!" Yang Zhaojun couldn't hold back any longer. "You're showing off here, and then you want to take over the production task? On what basis!"

Before coming, Yang Zhaojun had assured the factory leaders that he would secure the replication task for this sniper rifle. In the field of firearm production, their Factory 296 was the leader!

Now, he didn't know what method Qin Baoguo had used to improve the rifle's shooting accuracy, but he would definitely not sit idly by and watch the replication task be snatched away by Factory 960!

How could a third-tier military-turned-civilian factory compete with their Factory 296!

In previous years, the whole country was like a chessboard, and everyone was like close brothers. It didn't matter which factory got the production task, as everyone received the same wages. If there were any areas needing support, everyone would readily help!

When Factory 960 was established, a group of technical personnel was transferred from Factory 296, along with personnel sent from the capital, to work together in that third-tier military factory. After arriving, everyone worked diligently and conscientiously, without complaint even when moving from big cities to remote mountain valleys.

But now things were different. Competition had begun. Whoever secured the task would have meat to eat, and whoever didn't would have to drink soup. Factory 296 was large and established, the leader in the industry, but it also had more mouths to feed.

Now, seeing the task about to be snatched away by Qin Baoguo, Yang Zhaojun was very dissatisfied. He wouldn't just make sarcastic remarks; if pushed too far, he might even resort to throwing punches.

"Of course, it's based on ability," Qin Baoguo said, following Qin Yang's instructions. Otherwise, as an honest person, he would have been too embarrassed to argue fiercely with technical personnel from a brother unit.

"Everyone knows that the airguns produced by our Factory 960 are of much higher quality than those of other domestic units and have reached first-class international standards," Qin Baoguo said. "That's why foreigners are coming to our factory to inspect and prepare to buy several million worth of goods."

"That's right, you know how to do business. Everyone knows that several million in foreign exchange isn't a big deal?" Yang Zhaojun's voice rose even louder. "You're just a military enterprise bullying some outsiders. What's there to boast about! How long has it been since you last manufactured Type 56 rifles? Besides the Type 56, have you ever manufactured other rifles?"

Leader Fang frowned.

Of course, he knew that the conflict between the two was still about competing for the replication task. Qin Baoguo had shown his technical skills, and Yang Zhaojun knew he couldn't compete, so he simply chose to argue from other angles.

Factory 296 produced all kinds of firearms, while Factory 960 had only produced Type 56 rifles and had already abandoned military products, focusing on civilian production. Would there be risks if Factory 960 were to accept this task?

"Manufacturing guns is all about applying the same principles!" Qin Baoguo's temper flared up. "We hadn't manufactured airguns before, but didn't we immediately become the top in the industry? None of the factories in the country have manufactured sniper rifles before. If it's given to our factory, we can reach a new peak!"

"Hmph, what new peak? Aren't you afraid of boasting too much?" Yang Zhaojun continued to sneer. "If your factory can still manufacture other military firearms, then our Factory 296 won't compete for this replication task!"

Qin Baoguo was immediately delighted. "Engineer Yang, can your words represent your Factory 296?"

"Of course!"

Yang Zhaojun would never believe that a third-tier military factory that had already started a military-to-civilian conversion project could continue to produce other types of firearms!

"Leader Fang, our factory is currently testing a long-range sniper rifle that can hit a coin at 500 meters and a watermelon at 1000 meters," Qin Baoguo said. "We will use this rifle to demonstrate our Factory 960's technology in the field of firearms to the higher-ups."

What? Everyone was instantly shocked.