Spy-x-War Showdown
Chapter 414 - 402: Shortcomings

Chapter 414: Chapter 402: Shortcomings

An expert, once he has a gun in his hand, must be able to articulate a thing or two about it.

Hefting the gun, Paul asked Alexander, "May I take it apart to have a look?"

Alexander made a welcoming gesture and laughed, "Of course, please do."

Paul disassembled the gun and, after examining each part carefully, thought for a while and said, "This gun has improvements over the first generation, but the internal structure hasn’t changed, so it’s only undergone a craftsmanship optimization?"

"Yes, the main structure hasn’t changed."

"Have the parts been hand-polished?"

Alexander gave a thumbs up with a smile, "Yes."

Paul picked up the trigger assembly, then frowned. Before he could speak, Alexander asked anxiously, "Is there a problem?"

Paul set the trigger hook aside and, after a long thought, asked, "Is the barrel cold-forged?"

Alexander made a regretful face, shook his head, and said, "No, my workshop doesn’t have the equipment for cold forging, though I’ ve wanted to purchase one, but ... it’s not an issue; the barrel’s lifespan and precision both meet top-level standards."

Cold forging is just one way to manufacture a gun barrel, not necessarily the best. Precision-forged barrels, if well-made, can have no difference in precision. However, the machinery for cold forging barrels is expensive, but subsequent processing is convenient and cost-effective, contributing to the barrel’s high precision and longer lifespan, making it one of the top-tier methods for barrel manufacturing.

After pondering for a moment, Paul looked at Alexander and said, "This gun doesn’t have many flaws. If I had to point one out, though, it would be the weight—it’s a bit heavier than other guns of the same caliber."

Alexander was a legend in his field, but he appeared quite nervous when Paul was evaluating his gun.

"When you examined the trigger assembly, you seemed to have an opinion?"

Paul shook his head and, picking up one of the pieces from the trigger assembly, said, "Nothing much—just that the person working on this part had shaky hands. This gun was made in a rush, and hasn’t been fired yet, right?"

Alexander’s eyes widened as he nodded, "Yes, this is the fifth generation. We only improved the barrel material and manufacturing process. I want to find the most optimized combination. This gun hasn’t been test-fired yet. How could you tell?"

Holding the trigger part up to Alexander, Paul said, "Look, there’s a scratch on this trigger."

Yang Yi also leaned in to see. Indeed, on the piece Paul held, there was a scratch finer than a strand of hair—a very subtle mark.

In awe, Yang Yi said, "What’s this? It’s just an almost unnoticeable scratch."

Paul shook his head, "It won’t affect the use, and you probably wouldn’t feel it. But it indicates that the person polishing this piece was either distracted, in a rush, or just not diligent enough. For a top-tier gunsmith, such a thing is simply unacceptable. Hmm, all top-tier gunsmiths have one thing in common—they never allow any defects, not even those that solely affect the appearance."

Alexander, clearly amazed, said, "You’re absolutely right, very well said. So are you a gunsmith?"

"No, I’m a shooter. I like to modify my guns and rework them, but I don’t make guns."

Alexander laughed, then pointed at the rifle and said, "Please test-fire it. Give it a try and if you can point out any flaw, any flaw at all, I’ll give you the gun!"

Paul took the gun in hand and said, "Alright, then let’s give it a test-fire."

Alexander immediately stood up and exclaimed loudly, "Let’s just test fire in this room. There’s definitely no one outside, and it’s very dark, so we won’t test accuracy for now. I just want to give you a feel of the shooting experience, okay?"

Paul cradled the rifle to the doorway, loaded the magazine, and then casually fired a shot.

After putting down the rifle, Paul closed his eyes and savored the moment for a long time before finally declaring, "No faults."

It was just the shooting feel, but the shooting feel is also very important.

Alexander asked urgently, "Absolutely no faults at all?"

Paul looked at the rifle in his hands and replied, "There’s a fault that’s not a fault."

Alexander said seriously, "Go ahead!"

Paul looked at Alexander and asked, "First, a question for you. You’re a precision shooter, not a sniper, right?"

"That’s right, I am a precision shooter, but I can also function as a sniper. However, in my combat career, I have primarily served as a precision shooter."

Paul nodded and said, "That’s the point. Precision shooters like short-stroke triggers, they like crisp triggers, but I mainly act as a sniper. I prefer a two-stage trigger. Your gun suits a precision shooter, but I don’t really like this trigger. Moreover, this trigger is too sensitive for beginners—it’s too finicky."

Paul gestured toward Yang Yi and said, "For him, this kind of trigger is not quite suitable. Besides, the accuracy, power, and range of this rifle are fully capable of being used as a sniper rifle; you have to consider the habits of snipers, not just those of precision shooters."

Alexander pondered for a moment and nodded, "You have a point!"

A so-called two-stage trigger means that the initial stage of pulling the trigger is quite light, and at the moment when it’s about to fire, you’ll feel a significant resistance that tells you a slight increase in pressure will discharge the firearm.

Yang Yi actually preferred the two-stage trigger because he fired slowly, but for Xiao Ran, he favored the very crisp trigger—one light pull to fire.

Alexander smiled wryly and said, "A fault that’s not a fault, so should I just give this rifle to you? Let me think. Well, if you provide a solution, the rifle is yours."

Paul fell into deep thought and then, appearing entranced, said, "How to solve it? Make the trigger pull a bit longer? Add a barely perceptible two-stage trigger? No, you can’t cater to both, so how should it be solved?"

Alexander also frowned and added, "Yeah, how to solve it..."

Unable to help himself, Yang Yi interjected, "Isn’t that simple? Why not make two kinds of triggers? One for precision shooters and one for snipers, isn’t that possible?"

Paul was taken aback and replied, "Two kinds of triggers? No, it’s not that simple. Adjusting a trigger takes a long time, making two types of triggers..."

Yang Yi felt he might have shown his ignorance as his voice grew much softer, "Then could you make an adjustable trigger? You know, the kind that you can fine-tune yourself, uh, or is that even more complicated?"

Paul said disparagingly, "Who would use an adjustable trigger? Only rookies and those who don’t understand guns would use that method."

Alexander chuckled, then shrugged, "But it really is the simplest solution, isn’t it? Whether it’s making two different sets of trigger assemblies or designing an adjustable trigger, at least it’s feasible and indeed the simplest. So..."

Alexander pointed the rifle and smiled at Yang Yi, "So, this rifle is yours."