Locking mechanism used in self-reloading firearms and straight-pull repeating rifles
The bolt drops down into receiver recess and locks on bolt closing.M1895 Lee Navy with an open bolt, demonstrating its vertical locking surface on its bottom in front of the handle
Tilting bolt action is a type of locking mechanism often used in self-loading firearms and, rarely, instraight-pullrepeating rifles. Essentially, the design consists of a moving bolt driven by some mechanism, most often a piston with gas pressure from the gas port behind the muzzle. The bolt drops down into receiver recess and locks on bolt closing. Tilting the bolt up and down locks-unlocks in the breech. This tilting allows gas pressure in the barrel from firing the gun to lower to safe levels before the cartridge case is ejected.
For handgun design, the tilting barrel as used in theBrowning, is a similar operating mechanism. The tilting bolt has lost favor in contemporary firearm design ofrifle caliber to locking systems such as therotating bolt due to reasons such as complexity in manufacture and expense in resources, increased wearing of the surfaces acted on, higher demands on thereceiver due to transfer of locking stresses to it (e. g., it can't be made from aluminium or stamped sheet steel) & better potential accuracy of rotating bolt. Yet it is widespread in vintage firearms listed below.[1][2][3][4]
