How Does it Work: Stoner's AR System
Forgotten Weapons
•
3m 12s
Eugene Stoner's AR-10 and AR-15 use an operating mechanism that is often called "gas impingement," but which is actually a cleverly structured gas piston located within the bolt carrier. Gas is tapped form the barrel and moved all the way back to just behind the chamber, where it enters the bolt carrier. There the carrier and bolt act as the two parts of a sealed piston, and when the bolt carrier moves rearward the cam pin forces the bolt head to rotate and unlock. The expanding gas is then vented out through holes in the side of the bolt carrier. By locating the piston on the same axis as the barrel, the harmonics are improved and the overall weight of the gun can be reduced by using the gas piston elements as mass in the bolt carrier assembly. Contrary to the old adage "it shits where it eats," the operating gasses are not vented into the magazine or chamber, and the system has proven to be very reliable.
Up Next in Forgotten Weapons
-
HK-32 Prototype in 7.62x39mm
Among the large family of roller-delayed rifles produced by Heckler & Koch, one of the rarest and least known is the HK32. This was the select-fire shoulder rifle chambered in 7.62x39mm. These rifles appeared in H&K sales literature for a time, but were only made in very small numbers for one or ...
-
H&K's New SP5 - A Civilian Semiauto M...
The MP5 is widely regarded as the best submachine gun ever made, and it has been widely copied. But only now has H&K released a semiauto civilian version of it in pistol form. Prior to the AWB, the HK94 was available as a semiauto carbine (with a 16" barrel), but that was prohibited in 1988. H&K ...
-
H&K Mk23 SOCOM .45 Development
The H&K Mk 23 pistol was developed in the 1990s for the US Special Operations Command and US Navy. The goal was to produce an "offensive handgun" that could serve as a primary armament for a special forces operator as well as a backup arm. It was required to be no more than 12 inches long, fit a ...
