How Does it Work: Operating vs Locking Systems
Forgotten Weapons
•
2m 51s
To properly understand how firearms work, one must first recognize the difference between two fundamental mechanical systems in them. One is the locking system, and the other is the operating system. The locking system is what keeps the breech end of the gun sealed when firing (examples include tilting bolts, rotating bolts, flapper locking, roller locking, and others). The operating system is what allows the gun to unlock once pressure is at a safe level after firing (examples include long and short gas pistons, long and short recoil, and others). Blowback firearms are somewhat of an exception to this, as they use a single mechanical system to both lock and unlock (inertia of the moving parts).
Up Next in Forgotten Weapons
-
How Does it Work: Long Stroke Gas Piston
The long stroke gas piston system was in its heyday about 50 years ago, and was popular in both rifles and machine guns. The principle is that the gas piston is fixed to the bolt carrier, and both cycle rearward for the full length of the cartridge upon firing. The system was used in such disting...
-
How Does it Work: Long Recoil
Long recoil operation is one of the most mechanically interesting of the main firearm operating systems. When the gun fires, the recoil energy generated forces the barrel to move rearward, and the bolt remains locked into the barrel until the two reach the full length of travel (the length of the...
-
How Does It Work: Direct Gas Impingement
Direct gas impingement is an operating system that has been used only in a few production guns (all of them rifles). It is extremely simple, although perhaps not well suited to adjustability. It is also not the operating system of the AR series of rifles - we will cover those in a separate video ...
