Within one of several arms factories that the von Zehntners own, a group of engineers were working together to come up with a functional prototype for one of several designs which Bruno had given them.
His first drafts were crude and needed much work to perfect if they were to ever be adopted into service. But they were detailed, and accurate enough to create a functional prototype off of. Even if the weapons platforms operated via means that were well beyond the current era.
The first of the three small arms that were chosen to be manufactured into a crude prototype was the easiest of the three to manufacture. Which was the Gewehr 43 auto-loading rifle. The weapon would undergo a new destination in this alternate timeline when it was adopted.
But at the moment, the engineers and machinists had come up with a semi-functional prototype, which they designated the “Gerat 01.” After much argument between the engineers and machinists, the lead designer at the arms factory was highly critical of Bruno’s design. Citing concerns that many engineers of the era had when it came to the practicality of auto-loaded firearms.
The man had a smug attitude as he expressed this very sentiment to Bruno’s oldest brother, a man by the name of Franz von Zehntner, who was also the head of the von Zehtnner arms corporation after his father retired to pursue a career in politics.
“My Lord, Franz. Although I don’t doubt the intelligence of your youngest brother. I must assure you that I have been working on the development of smalls arms and artillery alike for over forty years of my life. And I am telling you, this design is severely flawed with its approach.
If we drill a port into the barrel to tap gas from in order to propel the piston, it will cause unnecessary erosion to the barrel itself. The service life of such a design is too limited to be properly adopted as a military rifle. This is a mere novelty, not a service weapon. Why must we perform such an exercise of futility?”
Franz however trusted Bruno and his superior intelligence. Even if the design proved to be faulty, the experience gained from this venture could be used to further develop a more practical auto-loading rifle in the future. And because of this, he dismissed the lead engineer’s concerns.
“Just humor me Fritz. I am well aware of your expertise, but this design intrigues me no less, and I will see this prototype properly seen through to its ultimate end. Whether that is as a replacement for the Gewehr 98, or simply a means of experimentation for future designs.”
While Bruno had given a general blueprint of the rifle and its overall design to his family, the reality was that there were more that were required to make a functional rifle. Such as the composition of steel, and the heat treatment of various components which were critical to the functionality, reliability, and durability of a service rifle.
And Bruno honestly did not know exactly what type of steel and heat treating the Germans had used in his previous life for their Gewehr 43 rifles. He had made educated estimations based upon his understanding of engineering, metallurgy, and material science. But to say that his estimations were perfect without substantial trials would be arrogant beyond belief.
Bruno was not the only one who thought this way. Everyone working on the project knew that these things would need to be tinkered with over a span of years to reach a state of perfection. And it was with this in mind that the machinists finished off the last parts required for the prototype rifle before assembling them together into something semifunctional.
They had not necessarily built a fully functional rifle. Rather, they merely constructed a prototype receiver with barrel assembly, bolt carrier group, gas piston, and a functional trigger assembly.
It had been nearly two months already since Bruno first gave the designs to his father, and finally a prototype had been completed for what would supposedly one day become the Reich’s primary service rifle.
After making sure that everything was properly assembled together, and that there were no glaring issues with fitment or functionality, the machinists took the barreled receiver assembly towards the test firing range. Where they attached a string to the trigger and inserted a single round in the chamber.
After all, they had not yet fully manufactured a magazine for the rifle to make use of. This was, after all their first prototype. With a round properly seated into the chamber, the test firing team stretched the string back behind a safety barricade, where they made it abundantly clear to everyone nearby that they were going live with the rifle’s first test.
“Clear the area! Firing in three…. Two… one!”
*Bang*
The first round fired successfully without any components breaking, exploding, or being otherwise dislodged from proper fit and function. The short stroke gas piston functioned as intended, flowing back into the receiver, and tapping the bolt mechanism, which fell rearwards, unlocking the bolt and ejecting the spent casing before hitting the back of the receiver where it was forced back forward.
Had there been another round seated in the magazine, it would have properly stripped it out of the magazine and chambered it where the rifle could have potentially been fired a second time. But since there was no such feature at this time, the result of successful firing and extracting itself was considered a massive success.
Several engineers and machinists broke out into cheers as they stepped forward to the boss of their company and proudly proclaimed a success.
“My Lord! The first test firing has been a success! This design truly shows promise!”
Fritz, the lead engineer, was scowling. He suspected the rifle would function as proclaimed, after all the design seemed to lead to such a conclusion. But he still believed drilling a hole in the barrel for a gas port would cause long-term durability problems, and because of that he was quick to make this sentiment known to all who were present to hear it.
“I never said it wouldn’t function. But how long can that barrel hold up until it erodes into a useless tube of steel?”
Franz had naturally taken note of the lead engineer’s concerns, and gave an order to the test crew.
“I want you to continue testing this prototype until it fails. After that, determine the cause of failure, and see if the second prototype can be redesigned around these points!”
The engineering team and machinists responsible for this project were far more hopeful that this weapon would succeed than their team leader. And because of that, they were quick to accept this challenge with much enthusiasm.
“Yes, my Lord!”
Franz then turned to Fritz and made it clear that they had other projects to work on. And that his efforts were better of spent there.
“As for you, until this prototype fails, your expertise is needed elsewhere. I would suggest you begin working on our new artillery projects.”
Naturally, Fritz had no complaints of being reassigned elsewhere. He, too, felt that his expertise was wasted on such a project, one that he wholeheartedly believed was doomed to fail. And because of this, he had a bit of a smug expression on his face as he accepted this new task of his as if it were a gift.
“Thank you, my Lord. I assure you, I will do my best to make sure that these more promising projects succeed without incident!”
With this said, the prototype for the Gewehr 43 Rifle would continue its development over the course of several years. After all, there were many components and materials in the rifle that needed to be perfected before it could ever be adopted by the military and see service on the battlefield.
Yet the teething pains had begun, and soon enough, with sufficient effort and resolve on the part of the engineers these issues would disappear entirely. And from them would emerge a rifle that would prove to be a vast advantage for the German Army when the Great War finally reared its ugly head.
—
Bruno had just gotten out of the Prussian War College for the day. And was resting back home. His wife had just given birth not long ago, and was now ensuring that their newborn daughter was healthy and happy.
Meanwhile, he had a liter of beer in his hand, and a stack of letters in the other. The mail had come today, and as he was sifting through it, Bruno noticed something peculiar. There was a letter with his family’s coat of arms emblazoned upon it.
The coat of arms of the von Zehntner family was a divided background with a sable and argent partition. On the sable side was an argent wolf with gules claws and tongue. It was standing in the rampant regardant position. On the left side, which was the argent partition, there was a gules wolfsangel.
It was said that Bruno’s grandfather had selected this as his family’s coat of arms because he himself had grown up in a family of hunters, and during his youth he had ensnared and killed a wolf with an old-fashioned wolf’s trap.
When Bruno opened the letter, he saw that it was written from his family’s arms corporation. And that there were several checks included inside, giving him a substantial sum of money, as a “consulting fee’ for the designs that Bruno had given them. Designs, which his brother had gone to the patent office with immediately after obtaining them.
The equivalent exchange with modern US Currency would be a hundred thousand dollars for every design he submitted. Making Bruno’s eyes nearly jump out of their sockets. His life had always been subsidized by his family, whose wealth was vast.
But this was basically his family’s way of properly paying him for his work. Even if it was given away freely to the family as a contribution that would one day make them untold fortunes. Bruno had received a rather substantial share without even asking it.
Heidi came into the room with their infant daughter Eva in her arms. Having heard Bruno’s breath became erratic in the other room and was quick to ask if he was alright.
“Did something happen? I heard you breathing funny just now? Do you need to see the doctor?”
Bruno’s hands were practically trembling as he struggled to come up with the words to describe what he was looking at. But in the end, he took a deep breath and a swig of his beer before looking at his wife with an excited expression on his face.
“Heidi, dear… There’s no easy way to say this, so I’m just going to come out and say it… We’re rich!”
The woman simply looked at her husband with a confused expression on her face. That is, until he properly explained what he had done and how his family had compensated him for his efforts. It was only then that a wide smile appeared on her face, where she surprised Bruno by not asking for a single penny to spend on herself or the child.
“You should save and invest that money. I mean it’s not like we are hurting for cash right now thanks to your salary, so there is no point in spending it on frivolities…”
It took Bruno a moment to realize he was in the early 20th century, and not the 21st century, meaning that people in general were far more moral and sensible than they had been in his past life.
Leaving him to believe that he was truly reborn in an era which he should have been in the first place. With a loving smile on his face, he walked over and kissed his wife on the lips before doing the same to his daughter’s forehead. After which he spoke his thoughts aloud with a warm and gentle tone within them.
“I think that is an excellent idea!”
