Operation of Fire Arms:
1. Pump Action
A pump-action rifle or shotgun is one in which the handgrip can be pumped back and forth in order to eject a spent round of ammunition and to chamber a fresh one. It is much faster than a bolt-action and somewhat faster than a lever-action, as it does not require the trigger hand to be removed from the trigger whilst reloading. When used in rifles, this action is also commonly called a slide action.
Advantages: The cycling time of a pump-action is quite short, often less than that of some semi-automatic designs. The manual operation gives a pump-action the ability to cycle rounds of widely varying power that a gas or recoil operated firearm would fail to cycle, such as most less-than-lethal rounds. The simplicity of the pump-action relative to a semi-automatic design also leads to improved durability and lower cost. It has also been noticed that the time taken to work the action allows the operator to identify and aim on a new target, avoiding a "spray and pray" usage.
An advantage of the pump-action over the bolt-action is its ease of use by both left- and right-handed users: like lever-actions, pump-actions are frequently recommended as ambidextrous in sporting guidebooks.
Disadvantages: Like most lever-action rifles, most pump action shotguns and rifles do not use a detachable magazine. This makes for slow reloading, as the cartridges have to be inserted individually into the firearm. Some pump action shotguns and rifles, such as the Armenian Zlatoust RB-12, Italian Valtro PM5 and the American Remington 7600 series utilize detachable box magazines.
Layout: A pump-action firearm is typically fed from a tubular magazine underneath the barrel, which also serves as a guide to the movable forend. The rounds are fed in one by one through a port in the receiver, where they are pushed forward. A latch at the rear of the magazine holds the rounds in place in the magazine until they are needed. If it is desired to load the gun fully, a round may be loaded through the ejection port directly into the chamber, or cycled from the magazine, which is then topped off with another round. Pump shotguns with detachable box magazines or even drums exist, and may or may not allow the magazine to be inserted without stripping the top round.
Operating cycle: Nearly all pump-actions use a back-and-forward motion of the forend to cycle the action. The forend is connected to the bolt by one or two bars; two bars are considered more reliable because it provides symmetric forces on the bolt and pump and reduces the chances of binding. The motion of the bolt back and forth in a tubular magazine model will also operate the elevator, which lifts the shells from the level of the magazine to the level of the barrel.
After firing a round, the bolt is unlocked and the forend is free to move. The shooter pulls back on the forend to begin the operating cycle. The bolt unlocks and begins to move to the rear, which extracts and ejects the empty shell from the chamber, cocks the hammer, and begins to load the new shell. In a tubular magazine design, as the bolt moves rearwards, a single shell is released from the magazine, and is pushed backwards to come to rest on the elevator.
As the forend reaches the rear and begins to move forward, the elevator lifts up the shell, lining it up with the barrel. As the bolt moves forward, the round slides into the chamber, and the final portion of the forend's travel locks the bolt into position. A pull of the trigger will fire the next round, where the cycle begins again.
Most pump-action firearms do not have any positive indication that they are out of ammunition, so it is possible to complete a cycle and have an empty chamber. The risk of running out of ammunition unexpectedly can be minimized in a tubular magazine firearm by topping off the magazine by loading new rounds to replace the rounds that have just been fired.
On revolving cylinder firearms the operation is the same expect rather than ejecting the shell it rotates the cylinder to fire the next round rather than ejecting a spent case.
Trigger disconnectors: Modern pump shotgun designs, such as the Remington 870 and Mossberg 500, have a safety feature called a trigger disconnector, which disconnects the trigger from the sear as the bolt moves back, so that the trigger must be released and pulled again to fire the shotgun after it closes. Many early pump shotguns, such as the Winchester 1897, did not have trigger disconnectors, and would, if the trigger were held back, fire immediately upon closing. Some shooters feel this allows a higher rate of fire, and prefer models without this feature, such as the Ithaca 37 and Winchester Model 12. All shot guns that Pete sell come without trigger disconnectors.
2. Semi-Automatic:
Semi-automaticSemi-automatic refers to a firearm which uses the force of recoil or gas to eject the empty cartridge casing and load a cartridge in the firing chamber for the next shot and which allows repeat shots solely through the action of pulling the trigger. A double-action revolver also requires only a trigger pull for each round that is fired but is not considered semi-automatic since the manual action of pulling the trigger is what advances the cylinder, not energy of the preceding shot.
3. Double Action:
A double-action, also known as double action only (DAO) to prevent confusion with DA/SA designs, is similar to a DA revolver trigger mechanism; however, there is no single action function. For semi-automatic pistols with a traditional hammer (that employ only the double action function of the trigger), the hammer will return to its un cocked position after each shot. Subsequent shots require the double action trigger firing sequence. For striker-fired pistols such as the Taurus 24/7, the striker will remain in the rest position through the entire reloading cycle. This term applies mostly to semi-automatic handguns; however, the term can also apply to some revolvers such as the Smith & Wesson Centennial, the Type 26 Revolver, and the Enfield No. 2 Mk I revolvers, in which there is no external hammer spur. Glock and Kahr semi-automatic pistols are not DA (or DAO) pistols because the striker is "cocked" to an intermediate position by the operation of the slide and they cannot be re-activated by pulling the trigger a second time.
4. Single-action
A single-action (SA) trigger performs the single action of releasing the hammer or striker to discharge the firearm each time the trigger is pulled. Almost all rifles and shotguns use this type of trigger.[1] Single-action semi-automatic pistols require that the hammer be cocked before the first round can be fired, although most designs c**k the hammer as part of the loading process (e.g., the act of inserting the magazine and operating the slide mechanism to chamber the first round also cocks the hammer or striker into the ready-to-fire position).[2] Once the first round is fired, the automatic movement (recoil) of the slide cocks the hammer for each subsequent shot. The pistol, once cocked, can be fired by pulling the trigger once for each shot until the magazine is empty. The M1911 and Browning Hi-Power are single-action pistols that function in this manner. Single-action revolvers require the hammer to be cocked by hand every time the weapon is fired.
5. Fully-Automatic:
An automatic firearm is a firearm that loads another round mechanically after the first round has been fired.
The term can be used to refer to semi-automatic firearms, which fire one shot per single pull of the trigger (like the .45 "automatic"), or fully automatic firearms, which will continue to load and fire ammunition until the trigger (or other activating device) is released, the ammunition is exhausted, or the firearm is jammed.
Design: An automatic weapon fires, automatically extracts the used cartridge case from the barrel and ejects it, then loads a new case into the barrel; generally either by harnessing the recoil of the cartridge's explosion, or the diversion of propellant gases.
6. Burst Mode:
In automatic firearms, burst mode or burst fire is a firing mode enabling the shooter to fire a predetermined number of rounds, usually 2 or 3 rounds and 100+ on anti-aircraft weapons, with a single pull of the trigger. This firing mode is commonly used in submachine guns, assault rifles and carbines. Other types of firearms, such as machine pistols (e.g., the Beretta 93R) may also have a burst mode.
The burst mode is normally employed as an intermediate fire mode between semi-automatic and fully automatic, although some firearms lack a "full auto" capability and use a burst mode instead. For instance, the M16A2 (the standard-issue service rifle of the U.S. military) has, in addition to the semi-automatic mode, a 3-round burst mode, which replaced the fully automatic mode of the previous M16A1. The reason for this replacement was the massive waste of ammunition and very poor performance of soldiers who fired their rifles in fully automatic mode during the Vietnam War.
The number of rounds fired in a burst is almost universally determined by a cam mechanism that trips the trigger mechanism for each shot in the burst. Some designs will terminate the burst if the trigger is released before the burst is complete, while others will reset the cam position, so the next burst will fire a full number of rounds. Other designs, like that on the M16A2 rifle, will fire the remaining rounds in the interrupted burst and then stop.
1. Pump Action
A pump-action rifle or shotgun is one in which the handgrip can be pumped back and forth in order to eject a spent round of ammunition and to chamber a fresh one. It is much faster than a bolt-action and somewhat faster than a lever-action, as it does not require the trigger hand to be removed from the trigger whilst reloading. When used in rifles, this action is also commonly called a slide action.
Advantages: The cycling time of a pump-action is quite short, often less than that of some semi-automatic designs. The manual operation gives a pump-action the ability to cycle rounds of widely varying power that a gas or recoil operated firearm would fail to cycle, such as most less-than-lethal rounds. The simplicity of the pump-action relative to a semi-automatic design also leads to improved durability and lower cost. It has also been noticed that the time taken to work the action allows the operator to identify and aim on a new target, avoiding a "spray and pray" usage.
An advantage of the pump-action over the bolt-action is its ease of use by both left- and right-handed users: like lever-actions, pump-actions are frequently recommended as ambidextrous in sporting guidebooks.
Disadvantages: Like most lever-action rifles, most pump action shotguns and rifles do not use a detachable magazine. This makes for slow reloading, as the cartridges have to be inserted individually into the firearm. Some pump action shotguns and rifles, such as the Armenian Zlatoust RB-12, Italian Valtro PM5 and the American Remington 7600 series utilize detachable box magazines.
Layout: A pump-action firearm is typically fed from a tubular magazine underneath the barrel, which also serves as a guide to the movable forend. The rounds are fed in one by one through a port in the receiver, where they are pushed forward. A latch at the rear of the magazine holds the rounds in place in the magazine until they are needed. If it is desired to load the gun fully, a round may be loaded through the ejection port directly into the chamber, or cycled from the magazine, which is then topped off with another round. Pump shotguns with detachable box magazines or even drums exist, and may or may not allow the magazine to be inserted without stripping the top round.
Operating cycle: Nearly all pump-actions use a back-and-forward motion of the forend to cycle the action. The forend is connected to the bolt by one or two bars; two bars are considered more reliable because it provides symmetric forces on the bolt and pump and reduces the chances of binding. The motion of the bolt back and forth in a tubular magazine model will also operate the elevator, which lifts the shells from the level of the magazine to the level of the barrel.
After firing a round, the bolt is unlocked and the forend is free to move. The shooter pulls back on the forend to begin the operating cycle. The bolt unlocks and begins to move to the rear, which extracts and ejects the empty shell from the chamber, cocks the hammer, and begins to load the new shell. In a tubular magazine design, as the bolt moves rearwards, a single shell is released from the magazine, and is pushed backwards to come to rest on the elevator.
As the forend reaches the rear and begins to move forward, the elevator lifts up the shell, lining it up with the barrel. As the bolt moves forward, the round slides into the chamber, and the final portion of the forend's travel locks the bolt into position. A pull of the trigger will fire the next round, where the cycle begins again.
Most pump-action firearms do not have any positive indication that they are out of ammunition, so it is possible to complete a cycle and have an empty chamber. The risk of running out of ammunition unexpectedly can be minimized in a tubular magazine firearm by topping off the magazine by loading new rounds to replace the rounds that have just been fired.
On revolving cylinder firearms the operation is the same expect rather than ejecting the shell it rotates the cylinder to fire the next round rather than ejecting a spent case.
Trigger disconnectors: Modern pump shotgun designs, such as the Remington 870 and Mossberg 500, have a safety feature called a trigger disconnector, which disconnects the trigger from the sear as the bolt moves back, so that the trigger must be released and pulled again to fire the shotgun after it closes. Many early pump shotguns, such as the Winchester 1897, did not have trigger disconnectors, and would, if the trigger were held back, fire immediately upon closing. Some shooters feel this allows a higher rate of fire, and prefer models without this feature, such as the Ithaca 37 and Winchester Model 12. All shot guns that Pete sell come without trigger disconnectors.
2. Semi-Automatic:
Semi-automaticSemi-automatic refers to a firearm which uses the force of recoil or gas to eject the empty cartridge casing and load a cartridge in the firing chamber for the next shot and which allows repeat shots solely through the action of pulling the trigger. A double-action revolver also requires only a trigger pull for each round that is fired but is not considered semi-automatic since the manual action of pulling the trigger is what advances the cylinder, not energy of the preceding shot.
3. Double Action:
A double-action, also known as double action only (DAO) to prevent confusion with DA/SA designs, is similar to a DA revolver trigger mechanism; however, there is no single action function. For semi-automatic pistols with a traditional hammer (that employ only the double action function of the trigger), the hammer will return to its un cocked position after each shot. Subsequent shots require the double action trigger firing sequence. For striker-fired pistols such as the Taurus 24/7, the striker will remain in the rest position through the entire reloading cycle. This term applies mostly to semi-automatic handguns; however, the term can also apply to some revolvers such as the Smith & Wesson Centennial, the Type 26 Revolver, and the Enfield No. 2 Mk I revolvers, in which there is no external hammer spur. Glock and Kahr semi-automatic pistols are not DA (or DAO) pistols because the striker is "cocked" to an intermediate position by the operation of the slide and they cannot be re-activated by pulling the trigger a second time.
4. Single-action
A single-action (SA) trigger performs the single action of releasing the hammer or striker to discharge the firearm each time the trigger is pulled. Almost all rifles and shotguns use this type of trigger.[1] Single-action semi-automatic pistols require that the hammer be cocked before the first round can be fired, although most designs c**k the hammer as part of the loading process (e.g., the act of inserting the magazine and operating the slide mechanism to chamber the first round also cocks the hammer or striker into the ready-to-fire position).[2] Once the first round is fired, the automatic movement (recoil) of the slide cocks the hammer for each subsequent shot. The pistol, once cocked, can be fired by pulling the trigger once for each shot until the magazine is empty. The M1911 and Browning Hi-Power are single-action pistols that function in this manner. Single-action revolvers require the hammer to be cocked by hand every time the weapon is fired.
5. Fully-Automatic:
An automatic firearm is a firearm that loads another round mechanically after the first round has been fired.
The term can be used to refer to semi-automatic firearms, which fire one shot per single pull of the trigger (like the .45 "automatic"), or fully automatic firearms, which will continue to load and fire ammunition until the trigger (or other activating device) is released, the ammunition is exhausted, or the firearm is jammed.
Design: An automatic weapon fires, automatically extracts the used cartridge case from the barrel and ejects it, then loads a new case into the barrel; generally either by harnessing the recoil of the cartridge's explosion, or the diversion of propellant gases.
6. Burst Mode:
In automatic firearms, burst mode or burst fire is a firing mode enabling the shooter to fire a predetermined number of rounds, usually 2 or 3 rounds and 100+ on anti-aircraft weapons, with a single pull of the trigger. This firing mode is commonly used in submachine guns, assault rifles and carbines. Other types of firearms, such as machine pistols (e.g., the Beretta 93R) may also have a burst mode.
The burst mode is normally employed as an intermediate fire mode between semi-automatic and fully automatic, although some firearms lack a "full auto" capability and use a burst mode instead. For instance, the M16A2 (the standard-issue service rifle of the U.S. military) has, in addition to the semi-automatic mode, a 3-round burst mode, which replaced the fully automatic mode of the previous M16A1. The reason for this replacement was the massive waste of ammunition and very poor performance of soldiers who fired their rifles in fully automatic mode during the Vietnam War.
The number of rounds fired in a burst is almost universally determined by a cam mechanism that trips the trigger mechanism for each shot in the burst. Some designs will terminate the burst if the trigger is released before the burst is complete, while others will reset the cam position, so the next burst will fire a full number of rounds. Other designs, like that on the M16A2 rifle, will fire the remaining rounds in the interrupted burst and then stop.
