I’m not super familiar with firearms and usually only see them in video games. I notice that pistols and sub machine guns use something called blowback to load the next round from the magazine. My understanding is that the recoil of the round pushes the bolt back and ejects the bullet. This works for pistols and submachine guns like a Glock or MP40.
For rifles though, they have to be gas operated or put in a separate tube so that the gas can go backwards to push the bolt back. Why is this the case? Why can’t rifles like the M16 or AK47 simply use blowback and let the recoil of the gun push the bolt back and load the new round?
In: 26
Rifles and powerful pistols have a similar problem. If a powerful charge ignites and pushes he case backwards fast enough, some of the blast will come out the ejection port.
Also, not only is it dangerous to have some of the blast come out near your face, you also want all of the blast applying it’s force to the bullet, instead of wasting some of it out the ejection port.
You must “delay” the unlocking of the bolt. There are many ways to accomplish this.
A simple blowback pistol is very affordable to make, but once you scale it up to a more powerful cartridge, you begin having problems, and you must switch to a design that delays the unlocking of the bolt, but…still “soon enough” that a tiny amount of pressure remains in the barrel to still push the case and bolt backwards.
It is a delicate balance in the design.
Latest Answers