Chapter 47: Distant Water Cannot Quench a Near Fire

After seeing off Qin Han, Qin Jun returned to his workshop to continue making the flashlight.

The trickiest parts of this gadget were the bulb holder, the socket, followed by the glass lens, and the reflector cup.

With these components ready, assembling the entire flashlight presented no further difficulty for Qin Jun.

He had made preparations well in advance; the main components of the flashlight were already completed.

The main body was rolled out from sheet iron, and the screw threads were carved by hand.

Once both the internal and external threads were finished, they could be screwed together directly.

As for the internal wiring, this required the blasting cap wires that his older sister and the others had scavenged.

A flashlight was, after all, simply a small closed circuit—about as basic as an electrical circuit could get.

Making this device actually made the switch the most difficult part to construct.

Yet even this posed no challenge to Qin Jun. What was a switch, after all, but a mechanism to break and close a circuit?

By cutting the wire in the middle and attaching a sliding iron piece on top, the problem was solved.

Pushing the switch forward connected the iron piece to the wires, completing the circuit and causing the flashlight to emit light.

Pulling the switch back broke the circuit, naturally extinguishing the bulb.

The device was truly this simple to build, without a single genuine difficulty.

In fact, because it was handcrafted, combined with Qin Jun's meticulous workmanship, the finished product possessed an even better texture and looked much more refined.

The only difference was that the flashlight casing was not tin-plated, so it lacked the silvery-white appearance of factory-made flashlights.

Instead, the gunmetal-black iron, after being polished and buffed, retained a unique metallic texture and luster, radiating a distinctive beauty of its own.

After testing it a few times and confirming that the bulb lit up properly, he picked up the pneumatic rifle lying nearby and mounted the flashlight directly onto the guide rail on top.

Qin Jun had originally prepared the flashlight for a D-size battery, but the ones he used this time were AA batteries, which were completely incompatible. He was merely running a quick test for now.

For optimal performance, he would need to go to the commune to purchase a D-size battery.

And since such items seemed to require ration coupons, Qin Jun would have to ask Qin Zheng for help if he wanted to buy one.

Therefore, the two AA batteries gifted by Qin Xia also constituted a significant favor.

Shaking his head, he put away the scattered bits and pieces, loaded a magazine, inserted it into the rifle, and prepared to head outside for a test fire.

Dusk was fast approaching, so he wouldn't have time for many shots.

"Although the rifling in this barrel is a bit shallow and the grooves aren't numerous, the accuracy should still improve somewhat!"

Clutching the rifle, he stepped out of the workshop and immediately pressed down on the barrel to pressurize the gun.

Afterward, Qin Jun held the rifle and continuously practiced aiming.

Using his specially crafted bullets on stationary targets was far too wasteful.

Consequently, Qin Jun still preferred to hunt live targets.

At this time in the countryside, the one thing never in short supply was birds such as sparrows, turtledoves, and magpies.

Take sparrows, for instance; they were not yet protected wildlife back then, but rather classified as one of the "Four Pests," a harmful bird species whose culling was actively encouraged by the state.

Qin Jun only needed to pause briefly to scan his surroundings before spotting a multitude of them.

On the eaves of the roofs, in the trees, and along the walls, sparrows fluttered about in abundance.

As nightfall drew near, these feathered thieves were returning to roost for the night.

Qin Jun selected a sparrow perched on a wall, aimed quickly, and decisively pulled the trigger.

With a soft *thwip*, the sparrow more than a dozen meters away plummeted to the ground in response.

However, it had fallen on the other side of the wall.

Stepping out of his yard and walking over to the wall, Qin Jun found the little creature with its head blown apart.

Picking it up for closer inspection, he saw that the bullet had pierced right through the sparrow's head, continuing onward into the unknown.

It seemed the firepower had indeed increased significantly. At a range of fifteen to sixteen meters at the very least, both the accuracy and the lethality surpassed his first firearm.

There was no helping this, as Qin Jun had lengthened both the barrel and the chamber for this rifle.

With a larger chamber, the internal pressure chamber was extended, increasing the pressure generated during pressurization.

Higher pressure naturally meant greater firepower!

Furthermore, lengthening the barrel ensured that even without the aid of a suppressor, the fired bullets would exhibit enhanced stability and precision.

On top of all that, this time he had even cut rifling inside the barrel.

Although the rifling grooves were not very deep and numbered only four, their mere presence exerted a stabilizing effect on the bullets.

Qin Jun was thoroughly satisfied with this sniper-type pneumatic rifle.

At the very least, he was far more pleased with it than the first one.

At that moment, he actually found himself looking forward to his second older brother's return; he wondered what his reaction would be upon seeing this second rifle!

Regrettably, this gun still fell somewhat short of its name, for how could a sniper-type pneumatic rifle lack a scope?

At long distances, the role of a sharpshooting scope remained vital.

Pocketing the unfortunate sparrow, Qin Jun continued his test firing.

Since the goal of the test firing was not simply to bag game, the targets he chose grew progressively more distant.

Circling the village, whenever he encountered a flock of sparrows, Qin Jun would approach and fire a shot.

Starting from fourteen or fifteen meters, he gradually moved out to twenty, thirty, and forty meters.

Qin Jun discovered that within thirty meters, the accuracy was at its highest.

Once the distance exceeded thirty meters, however, the accuracy began to drop.

Naturally, a lack of intrinsic accuracy could be compensated for by adjusting for deviation through experience and correcting the trajectory to improve the hit rate—which was precisely how sharpshooters were forged.

"My craftsmanship is not half bad; this has already met the design standards."

After firing a dozen shots, he had gauged the rifle's performance, estimating its maximum effective range to be around one hundred meters.

To be precise, the precise shooting range was roughly thirty-five meters, while the maximum striking distance was a little over one hundred meters.

By contrast, the prototype rifle upon which this design was based boasted an effective range of ninety-one meters. It seemed a vast gap still existed.

The rifle he had built now could only achieve those figures at its absolute maximum range!

This was undoubtedly due to insufficient air pressure, which resulted in inadequate power!

The greater the distance, the lower the probability of hitting the target, which also fueled his urgent desire to acquire a scope.

"Telescopes shouldn't be too scarce in this era, and they're usually high-magnification military-grade ones. I just wonder who might have one!"

Qin Jun wrung his brains, yet his memory banks failed to recall who among the locals possessed a telescope at the present time.

He did know that once Sino-Soviet trade commenced, various pieces of military equipment could be easily obtained from the northern neighbors, including a large quantity of military telescopes.

Yet that wouldn't happen until the late nineteen-eighties; distant water could not quench a near thirst.

With no bullets left in the magazine, Qin Jun had no choice but to wrap up for the day and head home.

As he walked, he inspected his harvest. He now had a dozen sparrows tied around his waist.

Counting carefully, there were only eleven, whereas a single magazine held twenty-two rounds.

Though he was only test-firing, such a hit rate was truly dismal.

While Qin Jun's innate marksmanship talent was merely average, he had originally been forged into a sharpshooter by consuming countless rounds of ammunition.

He had not expected that upon testing his skills anew, his hit rate would turn out to be so low.

Shaking his head repeatedly, Qin Jun returned home.

"Oh? Third Brother, is that a gun you've got?"

No sooner had Qin Jun stepped across the courtyard threshold than Qin Mao bounded over toward him.

Qin Jun cast a glance at Qin Mao. In their household, aside from his eldest sister-in-law and his several young nieces and nephews, this kid was the most pleasing to look at.

His skin was somewhat fair, complemented by an oval face, double eyelids, and thick eyebrows, giving him a cheerful appearance.

Especially amidst a sea of bony figures and withered forest branches, a pre-teen boy like him stood out all the more.

"Don't touch it. You're already eleven, practically a grown-up; why are you still so flighty?"

Seeing that Qin Mao was about to grab the rifle, Qin Jun gave a reverse backhand slap right against the boy's head.

As the old saying went, beating your younger brother was something best done early.

It wasn't that he couldn't beat him later in life, but rather that he would need to spare the lad some dignity then.

At around ten years of age, when kids were completely shameless, they were fair game for a thrashing!

Feeling the texture of the spot he had just struck while watching his younger brother wear a wronged expression, Qin Jun inwardly concluded that the tactile feedback was still quite decent!

"Stop fussing with it, or you'll get another beating!"

With that, Qin Jun shoved the string of sparrows directly into Qin Mao's hands.

Sure enough, the boy who had just looked aggrieved and on the verge of tears instantly began to glow with excitement upon discovering a bundle of meat.

"How should we cook these? Let's roast them, shall we?"

"Mom is too stingy with cooking oil; she definitely won't let us stir-fry them."

"Stewing them doesn't taste good either. Roasting is much better!"

The moment he took the sparrows, Qin Mao's mouth started chattering incessantly.

Still, his suggestion was quite sound, an area where even Qin Jun fell somewhat short.

If he had roasted that rabbit he caught initially instead, he surely wouldn't have ended up eating it to the point of nausea.

By now, he understood that for many types of wild game, lacking sufficient seasonings yet wishing to consume them quickly left fire-roasting as the single best option.

Whether it was wild hare, sparrows, or fish, roasting them kept the gamey odor to a minimum.

"You know how to prepare them, right? Hurry up and get them cleaned, or Dad might take them out to sell for money the moment he gets back!"

Qin Jun knew his father all too well, so he began prompting Qin Mao.

Although they had eaten stir-fried pork intestines at noon, it wouldn't interfere with him enjoying roast sparrows by evening!

Qin Jun felt a twinge of sentiment; the kiln project he had started was actually cutting into his evening drinking sessions.

Since he wasn't helping out the villagers with their labor, nobody invited him over for drinks and meat anymore.

Though the meal at the kiln provided some compensation, he still felt he was losing out!