Chapter 36: Do you think just anyone can pull this off?

Overall, the air rifle that Qin Jun has crafted by hand offers distinct advantages for target practice and small-game hunting.

Its practical utility is particularly evident. To operate it, one simply grips the pistol-style handle or the forend, points the muzzle upward, then firmly grasps the end of the barrel and forces it downward. This action readies the rifle for firing. The ammunition used is lead pellets—not standard cartridges, as those are impossible for Qin Jun to procure.

It is a pity that this is a stripped-down version, built entirely by hand, relying on experience rather than machinery or precision measuring tools. Such a makeshift air sniper rifle certainly lacks the power of the original design, but for Qin Jun’s current needs, it is more than sufficient.

As each component was polished and finished, Qin Feng’s gaze toward Qin Jun grew increasingly perplexed. "You actually made a gun?"

When Qin Jun finally brought out the barrel to carefully refine it, Qin Feng recognized it at last. The combination of the barrel, chamber, trigger, and grip could be nothing other than a crude long gun. Having seen the barrel, there was no way Qin Feng—a recently discharged veteran—could mistake it. Yet, because it was an air rifle with unconventional specifications, he found the whole thing bizarre.

Qin Jun chuckled, "I couldn't afford to buy one, so I figured I’d try to make one myself."

Qin Feng was speechless. Does anyone who wants a gun just go and build one? There are plenty of people without money and even more who want guns, but he had never seen anyone succeed in making one from scratch.

Qin Jun, however, paid no mind to what Qin Feng thought; he was already at the assembly stage. The trickiest part was the ammunition. Without a forging press, he had to resort to casting. The pellets were small, making the casting process even more tedious, and the final results were often out of spec, requiring secondary machining. That he managed to pull it off at all was a testament to his skill. He owed much to the principles of modern modular design; by using standardized parts, he was able to assemble the rifle through trial and error.

The total length of the rifle is 1.15 meters, with the barrel alone measuring 480 millimeters. Had he possessed the proper tools, Qin Jun would have rifled the barrel; even without it, he would have preferred a longer barrel to improve accuracy. Unfortunately, that was too difficult. Managing to craft a 48-centimeter barrel was already an achievement. He had cast the barrel vertically using a ring mold, working with extreme caution for fear that casting too quickly would ruin the mold. Even so, he had to cast over a dozen before selecting one or two that were suitable. Once cast, he had to meticulously grind the inner wall until it was perfectly smooth—a feat achieved entirely through touch and experience.

The chamber was another matter; it had to withstand pressure, requiring not just hardness, but sufficient toughness. This necessitated high-quality materials, though after a few experiments, he managed to approximate something suitable. Then there was the piston, which operated on the same principle as a syringe. It had to be airtight, and while Qin Jun couldn't achieve perfection, he carefully adjusted the fit between the inner and outer components to minimize gaps.

Qin Feng stared in astonishment at this air rifle, assembled from bits and pieces. The Type 81 rifle had either not yet appeared or had certainly not been standard issue during his service. Yet, the air sniper rifle Qin Jun had created looked even more stylish than a Type 81. What veteran wouldn't be drawn to such a weapon?

"You know how to use this? No way! I know—let me test it for you! If it works, I’ll teach you how to shoot!" Before Qin Jun could even get a good look at his completed creation, Qin Feng reached out impatiently.

"I built it, of course I know how to use it!" Qin Jun pivoted, dodging his brother’s grasp.

"When did you learn to shoot?" Qin Feng asked, bewildered.

"Does it require learning? You just watch and you'll know!" Qin Jun pulled a few pellets from his pocket—the ones he had made for testing during the barrel-polishing phase.

The .177 caliber pellets were only 4.5 millimeters in diameter—less than half a centimeter. Only a projectile this small could be propelled by the manually pressurized air cylinder. Given that his makeshift version lacked the performance of a high-end original, Qin Jun could only hope the air pressure in the chamber would suffice. If the seal were inadequate, it wouldn't even be able to fire a 1.5-millimeter pellet, let alone a 4.5-millimeter one.

Stepping out of the workshop, Qin Jun tightened his grip on the air rifle, his heart pounding with nervous anticipation. "After pressurizing, I need to fire immediately. Even if the seal isn't perfect, it should manage twenty meters, right?" he muttered while scanning for a target. "Twenty meters is all I need!"

He soon spotted a turtle dove, a common wild pigeon. They might be protected animals in the future, but here and now, they were fair game. He raised the rifle, gripping the handle with one hand and supporting the barrel with the other. It felt heavy—he estimated it weighed over ten pounds, perhaps twelve. Steadying the rifle, he quickly pressed down on the barrel with his left hand, folding it downward before snapping it back into place.

Without moving his left hand from the barrel, he aimed and pulled the trigger. There was a soft *phut* sound, followed by a *clack* against the wall in the distance. The turtle dove took flight.

Qin Jun lowered the rifle and checked the wall. A piece of glass embedded there had been shattered by the pellet. He measured the distance—at most fifteen meters. The power was decent at that range.

"Is that all you've got? Give it here, let me show you how it's done!" Seeing his brother about to walk away, Qin Feng quickly recovered from his shock and grabbed him.

He had never seen a gun like this; he hadn't even heard of one. The most peculiar thing was that it used no gunpowder, just iron pellets. The mere act of folding the barrel to prime it seemed magical. Having seen this beautiful weapon actually function, Qin Feng was beyond surprised—he was stunned. He had assumed that after leaving the military, he wouldn't be touching guns anytime soon. To think his brother had built one in just a few days! He couldn't resist the urge to try it himself.

"Give it to me, I'll teach you how to shoot," Qin Feng said, his eyes burning with intensity.

Qin Jun was speechless. It had been a long time since he’d held a gun, but he knew how to shoot—he didn't need a teacher. But he couldn't explain that—that he was a man reborn, or that in forty years, he would be roaming the borderlands between India and Pakistan, where his daily routine involved testing weapons.

People there did insane things to test their guns. They would build pistols with automatic feeds that could fire in bursts, matching the power of submachine guns, or craft magazines a meter long. Imagine how many bullets a one-meter magazine could hold. With automatic feeding, all you had to do was pull the trigger, and the muzzle would spit fire like a machine gun. Some were even more deranged, equipping pistols with ammunition belts, firing continuously just to see how many rounds their homemade weapons could endure before failing.