In the previous article on automation systems for hand-held firearms, we tried to get acquainted with the simplest systems that anyone can figure out without spending almost any effort. In this article, I propose to try to deal with a slightly more complex material, namely, automation systems that have a movable barrel and a rigid locking of the barrel with a bolt. I will try to do everything in a more organized manner, in a smaller volume and less tedious, in comparison with the previous article. So to speak, fewer words make more sense. Well, let's start with the automatic system with a short barrel stroke, as with the most voluminous question.
Short stroke automation systems
Many people now divide automation systems with a short barrel stroke into several completely independent ones, with which I personally fundamentally disagree, since the principle of slowing down the automatic operation is always the same, based on the short stroke of the weapon barrel. The differences lie only in the method of coupling the barrel with the breech casing, which gives some differences in the final results when firing, and also seriously affects the cost of production, and, of course, reliability, of course. In general, there are many variations, the essence is the same, let's try to walk through what is most widespread.
Short stroke automatic system with swinging cylinder
Let's start with what Browning once suggested and what you can get acquainted with in a TT pistol, that is, with a short-stroke automation system with a swinging larva. First of all, you need to figure out how the shutter casing, the upper movable part of the pistol, which is pulled and released in order for the cartridge to enter the chamber, engages with the movable barrel of the weapon. That is, how the bore is locked. And for TT, and for Colt M1911, and for at least a thousand more pistols, this moment is the same. The coupling of the barrel with the breech casing is carried out by means of tides in the upper part of the barrel, roughly speaking, protruding elements on the outer surface of the weapon barrel in the form of U-shaped teeth and the same grooves on the inner surface of the breech casing. Thus, if you combine the protrusions and grooves, then the barrel and the bolt will be connected to each other and will move together. Remember this moment.
In order to remove the spent cartridge case from the chamber and insert a new cartridge, the barrel and the bolt cover must disengage, and this is the second moment by which automation systems with a short barrel stroke can differ from each other. In our case, in order for the bolt casing and the barrel to disengage, we need to either raise the bolt casing itself, or lower the weapon barrel. Both are quite difficult to implement, leaving both the barrel and the bolt parallel to each other, but there is a simple solution for this. If the protrusions on the barrel are placed closer to the chamber, and the breech of the barrel, closer to the shooter, then you can simply lower the breech, as a result, the barrel of the weapon will skew and the protrusions on the barrel will come out of engagement with the grooves in the breech casing. It is precisely this raising and lowering of the trunk that the swinging larva is carried out.
The swinging larva itself can be of the most varied shape and design, as far as the designer's imagination is enough, but in any case, its main task remains unchanged - to lower the breech of the barrel when the shutter casing moves back. The video attached to the text clearly shows how it all works on the example of the Colt M1911, you need to pay attention to the detail that is located under the barrel, behind the recoil spring, it is difficult to make a mistake there. It all works as follows:
1. Powder gases push the bullet forward and tend to push the cartridge case back.
2. Since the sleeve is locked in the chamber by a bolt connected to the barrel, both the bolt and the barrel come into motion.
3. In the process of movement of the barrel of the weapon, the larva turns, forcing the breech of the barrel to lower, which means that the barrel begins to come out of engagement with the bolt.
4. The barrel of the weapon stops, and the breech cover continues to move backward, removing and throwing out the spent cartridge case and cocking the hammer (with a single and double action firing mechanism).
5. Having reached the extreme rear point, the shutter casing stops and begins to move forward under the action of the return spring.
6. Moving forward, the bolt cover pushes a new cartridge out of the magazine and inserts it into the chamber.
7. Leaning against the breech (rear) part of the barrel, the bolt casing pushes it forward, due to the rotating larva, the breech of the barrel rises again and the protrusions on the outer surface of the barrel engage with the cutouts on the inner surface of the bolt casing. That is, everything returned to its original position.
Separately, it should be noted that the automation system with a short barrel stroke and a larva can be used with other options for coupling the barrel and the bolt casing. For example, the method of clutching the protrusion above the chamber and the window for ejection of spent cartridges has become widespread. This greatly facilitates the procedure for manufacturing parts, and, consequently, reduces the cost of producing weapons, which affects the final price, but not always.
Automatic system with a short barrel travel and a high-tide cut-out under the chamber
Like any invention, the automation system proposed by Browning was further developed. In order to simplify production, exclude small parts from the design, as well as increase reliability, a simpler option was developed to reduce the breech of the weapon barrel to release the shutter casing from the clutch with the barrel. The swinging larva was replaced with a curly cutout in the high tide under the chamber, which interacts with a transverse pin threaded through the weapon frame, the role of which is very often played by the axis of the slide stop lever, and vice versa to reduce the number of weapon parts.
Everyone's favorite Glock can serve as an example of this disgrace, although various types of weapons may have their own minor nuances, but in general, the principle of operation is the same. Everything works in exactly the same way as in the previous automation system, with the only exception that now, when the barrel of the weapon moves back, the breech is lowered due to the fact that the figured cutout in the tide here interacts with the pin through the chamber through the usual slide. Everything happens in the following way.
1. Powder gases push the bullet forward and tend to push the cartridge case back.
2. Since the sleeve is locked in the chamber by a bolt connected to the barrel, both the bolt and the barrel come into motion.
3. In the process of movement of the barrel of the weapon, a pin enters the curly cutout, forcing the breech of the barrel to lower, which means that the barrel begins to come out of engagement with the bolt.
4. The barrel of the weapon stops, and the shutter-cover continues to move backward, extracting and throwing out the shot.
5. Having reached the extreme rear point, the shutter casing stops and begins to move forward under the action of the return spring.
6. Moving forward, the breech casing pushes a new cartridge out of the magazine and inserts it into the chamber.
7. Leaning against the breech (rear) part of the barrel, the bolt casing pushes it forward, due to the reverse interaction of the figured cut in the tide under the chamber and the pin, the breech of the barrel rises again and the protrusion above the chamber enters the window for ejection of spent cartridges.
There are also pistols in which the curly cutout is closed and the pin is constantly in it, in general, as mentioned above, there are many variations, but the essence is the same.
Short stroke automation systems with separate locking elements
As you can see, in previous automation systems, the barrel of the weapon twists when unlocked, which is naturally not the best solution for systems with very high operating speeds and heavy loads. In addition, this bias can affect the accuracy of shooting in the case of using ammunition with characteristics different from those for which the pistol was created. For example, 9x19 is only a metric designation, but in fact, behind this designation there is a huge amount of a variety of ammunition with a wide variety of characteristics, but that's not about that now.
In order to prevent the barrel from skewing when it was disengaged from the bolt cover, it was thought up to use a separate part to lock the barrel bore, the most striking example of this being the Beretta 92. In this pistol, the barrel of the weapon also has the ability to move backward, but the coupling and disengagement of the barrel and the cover is the shutter is due to a separate wedge-shaped part under the barrel, which has side protrusions. This locking wedge, if you can call it that, is stationary in its front part, its larger part with lateral protrusions can move up and down, engaging with the breech casing. It happens as follows:
1. As usual, the propellant gases push the bullet and the case in different directions.
2. Energy from the propellant gases is transferred to the sleeve, from the sleeve to the bolt, which is engaged with the barrel, since the wedge-shaped swinging part under the barrel is raised and its lateral protrusions enter the bolt casing. Accordingly, the shutter casing and the barrel begin to move backward.
3. In the process of movement of the barrel backward, the locking wedge begins to lower its rear part, its protrusions come out of engagement with the shutter casing and take place in the slots of the shutter casing guides in the frame, the barrel stops.
4. The casing-bolt continues to move, ejecting the spent cartridge case and cocking the trigger of the weapon.
5. Having reached its extreme rear point, the shutter casing begins to move in the opposite direction, as it is pushed by the return spring.
6. In the process of moving forward, the cover-bolt pushes a new cartridge out of the magazine and inserts it into the chamber.
7. Leaning against the breech of the barrel, the bolt casing pushes it forward, as a result of which the locking wedge begins to rise back in its upper part as it bumps into the guide rod of the return spring. Consequently, the locking side protrusions also engage with the shutter casing.
The second equally well-known example of such an automation system is the recently released Strike or Strizh pistol. This sample has a part moving in a vertical plane, which in the same way forces the breech-cover and the barrel to engage. The reduction of the locking part is ensured by the same curly cutout and a pin threaded through it. It is for this reason that when they talk about the Swift's unique, new automation system, I smile at all 32 teeth. And after all, people eat information about the "new" "unparalleled", do not even choke. They even manage to argue. And from the new only one part was replaced by another, leaving the principle of operation unchanged.
Automatic system with a short barrel stroke with locking when turning the barrel
This version of the automation system with a short barrel stroke is far from the most common, but since the well-known GSh-18 was made on its basis, it is impossible to pass by it. The main point this time is that the barrel has a protrusion or protrusions on its outer surface, these protrusions come into engagement with the shutter casing through grooves on its inner surface or other protrusions. In the process of moving the barrel backward, it turns and comes out of clutch with the breech casing. For clarity, you can simply take any two gears. In the case when their teeth coincide, then they can freely move relative to each other along their axes, but if they are turned so that the teeth are not correlated with each other, then one gear clings to the other. In the case of GSH-18, everything happens as follows.
1. The propellant gases push the bullet forward and set in motion the casing, transferring energy from the propellant gases through the sleeve to it. Since the shutter casing is interlocked with the barrel, the barrel is also in motion.
2. In the process of moving backward, the barrel of the weapon turns, since there is a protrusion in the breech of the barrel, which enters the oblique slot in the liner of the frame of the weapon. This is how the barrel disengages and stops.
3. The bolt continues to move backward, removing the spent cartridge case and discarding it.
4. Having reached its extreme rear point, the shutter stops and begins to move forward, under the influence of the return spring.
5. In the process of moving the bolt forward, a new cartridge is removed from the magazine and inserted into the chamber.
6. When the bolt casing rests against the breech, it begins to push it forward and due to the interaction of the protrusion in the breech of the barrel and the oblique cutout in the liner in the frame of the weapon, the barrel starts to turn back and engages with the bolt casing.
Automatic system with a short stroke of the barrel with locking by a pair of cranked levers
Since we went not only on common automation systems, but also on those that were used in well-known samples, then we cannot miss the automation system with a short barrel stroke, which at one time was proposed by Hugo Borchardt, and later used by Luger in his weapons with some changes … The main essence of this locking principle lies in the elbow connection of the levers, which freely bend to one side and stop when trying to bend from to the other. In particular, the lever system can freely bend upward, which allows the bolt to open, but the weapon frame does not allow it to bend downward. And although in this pistol it is rather a short stroke not of the barrel, but of the receiver, the basis is still the same. It works as follows.
1. Powder gases push the bullet down the barrel and try to push the sleeve.
2. Under the influence of energy, the recoil of the barrel with the receiver begins to move backward, while the rollers at the bend of the lever system roll onto the protrusions of the weapon frame, respectively, the connection passes the dead center and is able to bend upwards.
3. In the process of bending, the spent cartridge case is removed and the percussion mechanism of the weapon is cocked.
4. When the lever system is fully bent and stops, it begins to feel the action of the return spring located in the handle of the weapon and acting on the moving elements through the lever. Thanks to this effect, everything begins to move in the opposite direction.
5. The lever system, when it is straightened, pushes the bolt forward, it removes a new cartridge from the magazine and inserts it into the chamber and the weapon comes to its original state.
On this, I think, we can finish talking about automatic systems with a short barrel stroke. Rarely used systems were left "overboard", but what has been described is quite enough to understand the operation of 99% of all weapons built on this system. In the next articles there will be more, it will be more interesting.
