Ultimate Firepower
Chapter 57 - 57 53 There's Always Something Gained

57: Chapter 53: There’s Always Something Gained 57: Chapter 53: There’s Always Something Gained Americans play pretty wildly, especially when it comes to weaponry, where they enjoy unparalleled conditions.

Firearms aren’t banned, not to mention cold and ancient weapons, so the person Sean found is indeed a master in both cold weapons and firearms.

To call him a weapons master would not be an overstatement.

“This is Professor Gordon Fermand.

Professor Fermand served as a faculty member in the Mechanical Engineering Department at the California Institute of Technology and, after retiring, created an interesting website on cold weapons.

He has conducted deep research on ancient weapons and is also extremely skilled in shooting.

He was the state shooting competition winner in both 1998 and 2004.”

Sean was introducing him to Gao Yi, who looked at the white-bearded old man before him with utmost respect.

Actually, Gao Yi felt Sean’s introduction was somewhat understated.

What does “weapons master” mean?

The seventy-something-old man in front of them should be called…

What should he be called?

He was at a loss for words, not knowing how to describe him.

Gao Yi extended his hands and took hold of Gordon’s, saying earnestly, “Hello, it’s truly an honor to meet you.”

Gordon shook hands with Gao Yi and then smiled, “Hello, are you ready?

I can hardly wait, let’s get to testing quickly.”

Gao Yi was slightly confused because Sean hadn’t told him about what he was doing, so he didn’t know what twists and turns there had been.

Sean laughed and said, “Help me get the Warhammer down.

The test dummies are already prepared.”

Gordon laughed on the side, “When you proposed testing the impact of an Eastern Warhammer on modern Bullet-Proof Vests, I became interested.

I think this will be an intriguing experiment.”

Sean and Gordon jokingly carried over the boxes.

Gao Yi lifted the largest box and followed the two men, walking around a barn-like building to arrive at a shooting range.

Gordon’s home was in the remote suburbs of Los Angeles, in the middle of nowhere, with hills behind the house set up with many iron targets.

But for now, six dummies were placed at the range, four of them wearing Bullet-Proof Vests with helmets.

It’s the kind used specifically for impact testing—scientific-grade dummies with bones, organs, and blood circulation; their skin and muscles are translucent and look somewhat frightening.

These kinds of dummies often appear on “MythBusters” and forging competitions.

And these dummies are quite expensive.

Sean wanted to give Gao Yi a surprise, but at this point, he couldn’t keep it secret any longer.

“I’ve been discussing with Professor Fermand online for a long time.

Then, I purchased the dummies, Bullet-Proof Vests, and made hammers to test which type of hammer would cause the most damage to a human body protected by Bullet-Proof Vests.”

Sean spoke calmly, and after Gao Yi sighed inwardly, he said to Sean, “You’ve been thoughtful.”

Professor Fermand was even more eager than Gao Yi and Sean.

He put down the hammer and said, “Let’s start, beginning with the unprotected dummies.”

“No, there’s no need for that.

Let’s start with the ones wearing Bullet-Proof Vests right away.”

Without much to say, Gao Yi picked up the smallest Iron Bone hammer and struck down on a dummy’s helmet with a clang.

The helmet wasn’t damaged, and there was no obvious skull injury, but the dummy’s brain did bleed.

Gordon said, “The helmet provides good protection.

That blow would cause a concussion, but it’s not a fatal injury.”

Gao Yi put down the fancy Iron Bone hammer; indeed, it was too light, not strong enough for targets with cushioned layers inside the helmet.

He picked up the smallest tactical hammer and struck down: the same dummy now exhibited more pronounced symptoms of brain bleeding, possibly losing its ability to move, but one couldn’t be sure it was incapacitated.

This was a 2.2-kilogram tactical hammer, heavier than the Iron Bone hammer, but the all-steel handle accounted for much of the weight, so its lethality might not be much bigger than that of a wood-handled hammer.

Gao Yi switched to the No.2 Hammer, weighing 2.7 kilograms—or five pounds and four taels.

Though the overall weight had increased by only one pound, since the handle was the same, the extra weight focused on the hammerhead.

After this strike, the dummy’s helmet didn’t break, the skull was intact, but the brain immediately turned into a mess, meaning even with the helmet, this strike would be instantly fatal.

The hammer was definitely effective on the head.

Gao Yi swung it hard against a dummy’s Bullet-Proof Vest.

The vest without a ballistic insert caved in slightly, but the dummy’s chest organs were smashed to pieces.

Even a real person wearing the vest would be doomed from such a hit.

“Wow, that’s an incredible strike; the impact force of the Warhammer is indeed formidable.”

Professor Fermand exclaimed repeatedly, appearing as if he had never seen anything like it.

Gao Yi, holding the hammer, moved to the next dummy without hitting the head since the helmets were all the same, but this dummy wore a vest with a Third-Level ballistic insert.

The material of the ballistic insert varied, including ceramic and steel, but the one Sean bought was the commonly seen boron carbide insert.

And with this strike, the boron carbide insert was slightly damaged, but the dummy was almost unharmed.

Hitting the helmet would kill, hitting the arms would break them, hitting the legs would break them, but hitting the torso protected by a ballistic insert was useless.

Gao Yi switched to the largest Soft Handle Hammer, but the result was the same, unable to break through the defense.

It was the same with the Soft Handle Hammer, no matter how large the hammerhead or how much strength used, if there was a ballistic insert, the dummy would at most suffer shock, but the organs would not suffer life-threatening damage.

Without a fatal injury, it wouldn’t instantly lose the ability to move, and the ability to move meant danger.

Whether it was a Third-Level insert or a Level 4, it was the same; for those heavy-duty vests almost covering the entire torso, there wouldn’t be an issue.

But once a Long Handle Hammer was used, even the shortest 50-centimeter hammer would cause severe shock to the dummy’s internal organs, and a 60-centimeter hammer would be enough to cause fatal damage.

The hammerhead had roughly the same weight, but a difference in length of just twenty centimeters resulted in a substantial change.

Professor Fermand provided a very professional and detailed explanation.

The concept of torque and lever is simple, but Gordon conducted experiments from the perspective of validating the lethality of ancient weapons.

In contrast, Gao Yi was genuinely in search of a suitable weapon for himself, and naturally, their perspectives were quite different.

Long Handle Hammers were powerful but not easy to carry.

Gao Yi had decided his main weapon would be the No.2 Hammer from now on; as for those Soft Handle and Long Handle Hammers, they could all be set aside.

After waiting for Sean to join Gordon in striking a few more blows and almost concluding the experiment, Gao Yi finally found a moment to ask Professor Fermand, “Professor, I have a question I’d like to ask you.”

Gordon was in a good mood and smiled at Gao Yi, “What’s your question?”

“I’m very passionate about shooting and have practiced for a long time, but my shooting talent is limited.

Although I train very hard, I still see no hope of a breakthrough, so I wonder if there’s any way to use equipment to compensate for a lack of skill?”

Gao Yi’s question left Gordon stumped momentarily.

After pondering for a while, Gordon frowned and said, “Shooting relies heavily on the quality of firearms, but a shooter’s upper limit still depends on the person, not the gun.

The simplest example is that the same gun will perform differently in the hands of two different people.”

Gao Yi was somewhat helpless; even Gordon said so, it seemed there really wasn’t hope of achieving the status of a Sharpshooter through changing guns.

But then, Gordon added, “However, if you compare it longitudinally, using a customized, modified 1911 for shooting will certainly yield much better results than using a stock 1911.”

Gao Yi felt a renewed sense of confidence, “So a good gun is definitely useful?”

“Of course, but it depends on how big of a breakthrough you’re hoping for.”

“Is it possible to go from an ordinary gunman to a good gunman?”

Gordon replied without hesitation, “I don’t know your shooting level, your training intensity, or your training methods, so I can’t draw a conclusion.”

Alright, still no conclusion.

At that moment, Sean laughed and said, “He hasn’t been into shooting for long, so maybe he’ll improve in the future.

He’s urgently looking for a gun that suits him, one that can accompany him for life.”

Gordon nodded and then suddenly asked Gao Yi, “Are you Chinese?”

“Yes.”

Gordon seemed to reminisce, “I had a student, a Chinese exchange student, who designed a new type of muzzle brake that impressed me—a novel, beautiful muzzle brake that effectively reduced recoil while maintaining good flash suppression, designed for small rifles.”

Gao Yi didn’t understand why Gordon suddenly brought up his student; curiously, he asked, “What happened next?”

Gordon smiled, “He once asked me the same question you did.

He was concerned if an ordinary person could become a sniper.

He was gifted in firearms design, and after graduating, he went to Texas with friends to establish a firearms design and manufacturing workshop.

It seems to be doing well.

I think since you both have similar needs and doubts, perhaps you could ask him.”

Gao Yi got excited, blurting out immediately, “That’s great, do you have his contact information?”

Gordon shrugged, “His name is Li Jie.

I can give you his email, and then you can ask him your questions.

Maybe he can give you a satisfactory answer.”

Gao Yi immediately looked at Sean.

This Li Jie was in Texas, which was quite far away.

If he went to see Li Jie, it would delay his trip to Europe, so Sean seemed somewhat worried.

Gao Yi softened his heart and said, “Let’s just ask for now, just a question.

If we need to do anything, we can discuss it after I return from Europe.”

Sean was reassured and quickly said, “Right, we’ll contact him as soon as we’re back.

Actually, you can also go to Texas to meet him.

We’re not short on a day or two.”

Today was quite fruitful, and Gao Yi was entirely satisfied.

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