Re: Blood and Iron-Chapter 463: The Domino Effect

After handling the rocket-propelled grenade launcher that would simply become known as the Panzerfaust I in this timeline, Bruno moved onto another weapon that caught his interest. Frankly speaking, the need for pistols was not as grand as it had been in his past life.

The only men who would really be wielding them at any level within the German Armed Forces would be officers like himself. But even so, he had to admit — the Mauser C96 he carried to this day as his standard sidearm was rapidly showing its age.

He loved everything about the gun: the looks, the history, the symbolic meaning. Well — everything except for its utter lack of practicality on a modern battlefield.

In his past life, Germany had been woefully behind when it came to the development of handguns. Single-stack, small-frame pistols remained the norm for German manufacturers well into the 1980s, before they finally began modernizing alongside the rest of the world. It was perhaps the one area where Germany had never been forward-thinking.

But the prototype sitting before him was something different — and yet so familiar with the small flaws that had always plagued German handguns. Still, compared to the absolute 19th-century relic Bruno still carried, or the alternative — the expensive and horrifically fragile Luger — this weapon was already on the right track.

Bruno picked up the handgun and immediately noticed the designer behind it: A man by the name of Charles Petter.

Charles was Swiss by birth, and after serving in the army of his host nation, had moved to Germany to develop weapons for Krupp, based in Essen. However, in Bruno's past life, the man had instead joined the French Foreign Legion during the Great War and gone on to gain French citizenship, where he would develop the Pistolet automatique modèle 1935A for the French Army.

Luckily for Bruno, he had known exactly who this man was — and the sheer potential he carried — and as a result ensured through some subtle maneuvering behind the scenes that Charles came to work for him before he could ever run off to fight for the French. As a result, the brilliant mind had long since become a lead engineering expert within Waffenwerke von Zehntner GmbH.

Because of this, Charles had produced the Pistolet automatique modèle 1935A much earlier than in Bruno's past life. It was a design that would go on to inspire the Swiss Sig P210 — which itself had a brief double-stack prototype that, unfortunately, due to budget constraints and politics, never saw full adoption.

When Bruno handled the weapon, he couldn't help but smile. It was, in many ways, revolutionary for the era: a perfected improvement of John Moses Browning's 1911 breechblock, featuring a far more modern concept of an enclosed, integrated hammer and fire control assembly.

Bruno looked at the man whose genius had helped birth this masterpiece and could not help but comment on it with a twinkle of pride in his eyes.

"This is a wonderful weapon. I would very much like to take this and use it instead of this museum piece on my hip…But... there are some ideas I have, if you are open to listening?"

By now, Charles knew Bruno's reputation — his prophetic insights into warfare and military technology — and was quick to offer his full attention.

"Please, speak, Your Royal Highness. If you have any ideas on how this can be improved, I am all ears!"

Bruno pointed out a few key flaws — small adjustments that, if changed, could make this handgun damn near perfect for the next hundred years of hard military and law enforcement usage.

"Honestly? Drop the steel frame. Make it an aluminum alloy — that will lighten the weight significantly. As for the trigger group, you and your team have done a marvelous job already— but there could be improvements made.

How about you adjust it in a way that makes it truly modular — so that the fire control unit can be instantly swapped between frames, barrels, and slides, whether they need to be replaced, or mission parameters demand something different?

Also, you should make the controls fully ambidextrous. You have to understand — in the field, the hands can get wounded to the point where you might need to use the weapon with your opposite side. It happens more frequently than you might expect.

So make the controls mirrored — properly textured, non-snagging, and impossible to accidentally release under stress.

You would also be wise to increase the magazine capacity. A double-stack magazine might add a slight bit of thickness and overall weight — but with proper design and the use of an aluminum alloy frame, these deficits can be mitigated while vastly increasing firepower.

Oh — and one last thing: Lose the wooden grips and instead put on some checkered Bakelite instead. Using timber on mere handle scales is such a dreadful waste of our beautiful forests, wouldn't you agree?"

The moment these words left Bruno's mouth, every man in the room who had been remotely involved with the small arms program at Waffenwerke von Zehntner GmbH damn near dropped their jaws in disbelief.

Bruno had just casually outlined concepts that could be universally applied across every future weapon platform in development.

And even beyond the pistol — his words would ignite a revolution. The current prototype of the Sturmgewehr, which was currently undergoing field testing within the Werwolf Group — would now undergo a complete and total overhaul:

Inspired by Bruno's call for steel-reinforced Bakelite components. Inspired by the call for modularity, ambidexterity, and practical future-proofing. Inspired by understanding not just how to build a weapon — but how to arm an empire.

The new vision took shape almost immediately: An HK-33 tapered profile cold hammer-forged chrome-lined barrel, fitted with an integrated front sight post and adjustable gas block — streamlined for reliability and durability completed with the addition of a birdcage-style flash hider to control muzzle signature.

Then there was the removal of the original STG-44 trigger housing, replaced with a simpler, ambidextrous Bakelite-and-steel reinforced lower receiver, featuring a drop-in modular fire control group along with a G3-style paddle magazine release — rugged, intuitive, reliable in a way that completed the picture.

Because of this total overhaul of the grip module, the magazine was able to be completely redesigned in a modern double system, one that was manufactured from bakelite composite materials and steel reinforced. Allowing for a more compact 30-round magazine that didn't interfere with the earth while firing from the prone position.

The final product included the retention of the battle-tested STG-44 operating system — simple, reliable, immortal. But was blended with forward thinking and modern design gained that would make the rifle capable of being competitive even on 21st century battlefields.

Overall, it was a vast improvement over even the legendary Sturmgewehr 44 of Bruno's past life — yet still recognizable as its heir.

And the best part? Bruno didn't even need to dictate these changes. He had said enough — by simply outlining the future of a handgun. The engineers, inspired, determined, hungry — would now run with it on their own. They had glimpsed the future. And now, they would build it.