Firearm that can fire multiple times between reloads
Schematic of manually operated firearms
Arepeating rifle is a single-barreled rifle capable of repeated discharges between eachammunition reload. This is typically achieved by having multiplecartridges stored in amagazine (within or attached to therifle) and then fed individually into thechamber by a reciprocatingbolt, via either a manual or automaticaction mechanism, while the act of chambering the round typically also recocks thehammer/striker for the following shot. In common usage, the term "repeating rifle" most often refers specifically to manual repeating rifles (e.g.lever-action,pump-action,bolt-action, etc.), as opposed toself-loading rifles, which use therecoil,gas, orblowback of the previous shot to cycle the action and load the next round, even though allself-loading firearms are technically a subcategory ofrepeating firearms.
Fafting rifle: In 1774 a rifle was invented by a Norwegian colonel by the name of Fafting capable of firing 18 to 20 shots a minute and being used as an ordinary rifle by taking off a spring-loaded container attached to the gun's lock. It was also stated that the inventor was working on a gun capable of firing up to 30 times in a minute on more or less the same principles.[3]
1789 French rifle: In 1791 it was mentioned in a book published in France that there existed since at least 1789 a rifle that held 5 or 6 shots and was capable of being reloaded three times in a minute for a total of 15 or 18 shots a minute. A rifle similar in type to this was also stated to be kept at theHôtel de la Guerre.[4]
Church and Bartemy/Bartholomew gun: A repeating rifle designed by the Americans William Church and Chrostus Bartemy or Bartholomew in 1813 with three separate magazines for containing up to 42 charges of ammunition and capable of firing 25 shots a minute. It could be reloaded in one minute.[5][6]
Thomson rifle: A flintlock repeating rifle patented in 1814, using multiple breeches to obtain repeating fire.[7]
Leroy rifle: In 1815 (sometimes incorrectly dated as 1825) a French inventor called Julien Leroy patented a flintlock and percussion revolving rifle with a mechanically indexed cylinder and a priming magazine.[8]
Lepage guns: In 1819 a French gunsmith called Lepage invented and presented at the French industrial exposition of that year percussion 2-shot and 4-shot turn-over rifles.[9][10] In 1823 he exhibited a volley rifle that fired seven rifled barrels simultaneously as well as a turningcarbine.[11][12] In 1827, the same inventor exhibited at another French industrial exposition eleven percussion and one flintlock firearms which included a 4-shot revolving rifle, a 'double rifle' with a cylinder with five charges and a 'single rifle' and a pair of pistols also with a cylinder with five charges.[13]
Pirmet-Baucheron revolving rifle: In 1822 a French gunsmith called Pirmet-Baucheron presented a revolving rifle with 7 shots and a single lock.[14][15]
Hewson magazine gun: In 1824 an English gunsmith called W. P. Hewson advertised, amongst other firearms and one air gun, a magazine gun.[16]
Jobard rifle: a turret rifle with 14 shots patented in Belgium in 1826 and presented to the government in 1835.[17][18]
Silas Day magazine gun: A percussion revolving rifle to which was attached a loose-powder-and-ball magazine patented in the US in 1837.[19]
Bailey, Ripley and Smith magazine rifle: In 1838 the Americans Lebbeus Bailey, John B. Ripley and William B. Smith patented a percussion repeating rifle with a gravity-operated tubular magazine which could hold up to 15 re-useable steel cartridge-chambers.[20]
Eaton rifle: In 1838 a percussion rifle invented in America by James Eaton was described as being capable of holding 24 rounds in a rotating magazine and discharging them all in four minutes for a rate of fire of 6 rounds per minute.[21]
Kratsch rifle: In 1839 it was reported that a mechanic called Kratsch fromBayreuth had invented a rifle capable of firing 30 times in a minute and being reloaded in one minute.[22]
Devisme guns: In 1844 a French gunsmith known as Devisme presented a variety of repeating firearms for the French Industrial Exposition of 1844 including an 18 shot pistol with no visible hammer or lock, a 6 shot pistol, a rifle with 6 shots and a 'revolving thunder' and a four shot 'double acting' rifle.[23]
Jennings magazine rifle: in 1847Walter Hunt patented in Britain a repeating rifle he called "the Volitional Repeater". He would patent it again in the United States in 1849. This rifle featured a tubular magazine beneath the barrel and a lever mechanism to raise cartridges into the chamber. Unable to finance the building of the rifle, Hunt sold the rights toGeorge Arrowsmith who in turn had an employee,Lewis Jennings, improve the lever mechanism.Courtland Palmer placed the first order for the "Jennings Magazine rifle" for his hardware store:Robbins & Lawrence. The rifle did not sell well as the ammunition was a hollow based bullet containing gunpowder. Most of the guns were later converted to single shot rifles. Two employees working at Robbins & Lawrence:Horace Smith andDaniel B. Wesson improved the design and sold it as the "Smith-Jennings Repeating Rifle".[24] At first they used a slightly modified Flobert cartridge, patented in 1853, but later they would switch to a modifiedRocket Ball type of ammunition altered so as to function as a self-contained centerfire cartridge.[24][25]
Cass repeating belt gun: A percussion repeating rifle patented in 1848 in the US using a chain or belt in the stock which carried paper cartridges to the breech of the gun.[26]
Buchel cartridge magazine gun: The first tubular cartridge magazine gun to be patented in the United States in February 1849.[27]
Perry 'faucet-breech' gun: A hinged or tilting breech repeating rifle patented in the US in December 1849 by Alonzo Perry using paper cartridges contained in several gravity-operated tubular magazines in the stock and a separate magazine for fulminate pills which were used for ignition.[28]
Porter self-loading gun: In February 1851 a loose-powder-and-ball percussion magazine gun invented by a Parry W. Porter, better known for the turret rifle he invented and to which the magazine for his loose-powder-and-ball gun was to be attached, was reported on in American newspapers and later in the same year a patent was procured by the inventor.[29][30]
Needham self-loading carbine: A self-loading carbine demonstrated in June 1851 at the Great Exhibition by Joseph Needham.[31]
Dixon self-loading and self-priming gun: A repeating gun demonstrated by a C. S. Dixon which won a silver award at the Annual Fair of the American Institute in October 1851.[32]
1854 Lindner revolving rifle: In 1854 the German Edward Lindner patented in the United States and Britain a repeating rifle which used a revolving cylinder to elevate the cartridges, which were paper and could be either self-contained needlefire cartridges or use external percussion caps for ignition, to the breech from a tubular magazine located under the barrel.[33][34]
Colette gravity pistol: A repeatingsaloon gun premiered at the1855 World's Fair. Despite popularly being known as the Colette gravity pistol, its original inventor was actually a Belgian called Jean Nicolas Herman.[35][36]
Leroux magazine gun: At theExposition Universelle (1855) in France a French gunsmith called Leroux demonstrated a repeating carbine with a magazine for 36 Flobert cartridges and which featured a novel cartridge extractor.[37]
While some earlylong guns were made using therevolver mechanism popular in handguns, these did not have longevity. Even though the revolver mechanism was fine for pistols, it posed a problem with long guns: without special sealing details, the cylinder produces a gas discharge close to the face when the weapon is fired from the shoulder, as was the common approach with rifles.
Although most falling-blocks were single-shot actions, some early repeaters used this design, notably the NorwegianKrag–Petersson and the U. S.Spencer rifle. The former loaded from a Henry-style underbarrel magazine; the latter fed from a tubular magazine in the buttstock.
In a classic lever-action firearm of the Henry-Winchester type, rounds are individually loaded into a tubular magazine parallel to and below the barrel. A short bolt is held in place with an over center toggle action. Once closed, the over center action prevents opening solely by the force on the bolt when the weapon is fired. This toggle action is operated by a hand grip that forms part of thetrigger guard. When operated, a spring in the tubular magazine pushes a fresh round into position. Returning the operating lever to the home position chambers the round and closes the breach. Aninterlock prevents firing unless the toggle is fully closed. The famousModel 1873 Winchester is exemplary of this type. Later lever-action designs, such as Marlin leverguns and those designed for Winchester byJohn Browning, use one or two vertical locking blocks instead of a toggle-link. There also exist lever-action rifles that feed from a box magazine, which allows them to use pointedbullets.
A one-off example of Lever action reloading on automatic firearms is theM1895 Colt–Browning machine gun. This weapon had a swinging lever beneath its barrel that was actuated by a gas bleed in the barrel, unlocking the breech to reload. This unique operation gave the nickname "potato digger" as the lever swung each time the weapon fired.
With a pump-action firearm, the action is operated by a movable fore-end that the shooter moves backwards and forwards to eject a spent round, and extract and chamber a fresh round of ammunition. Pump-actions are usually associated with shotguns, but one example of a pump-action rifle is theRemington Model 7600 series. Rifles with pump action are also called slide-action. This style of rifle is still popular with some local law enforcement branches as a rifle that is easy to train officers who are already familiar with the pump shotgun.
The bolt is a mechanism that is operated by hand to extract a fired cartridge, move a fresh round into the chamber and reset the firing pin, readying the weapon to fire again. The bolt closes the breech end of the barrel and contains thefiring pin. The bolt is held in place with a lever that fits into a notch. Moving this lever out of the notch will release the restraint on the bolt, allowing it to be drawn back. Anextractor removes the spent cartridge, which is then ejected through the lever slot. A spring at the bottom of themagazine pushes up the reserve rounds, positioning the topmost between the bolt and the chamber at the base of thebarrel. Pushing the bolt lever forward chambers this round and pushing the lever into the notch locks the bolt and enables thetrigger mechanism. The complete cycle action also resets the firing pin. TheMauser rifle of the late 19th and early 20th centuries is the most famous of the bolt-action types,[citation needed] with most similar weapons derived from this pioneering design, such as theM1903 Springfield and theKarabiner 98 Kurz rifle (abbreviated often as Kar98k or simply K98). The RussianMosin–Nagant rifle, the BritishLee–Enfield, and the NorwegianKrag–Jørgensen are examples of bolt-action designs.
In blowback operation, the bolt is not actually locked at the moment of firing. To prevent violent recoil, in most firearms using this mechanism the opening of the bolt is delayed in some way. In many small arms, the round is fired while the bolt is still travelling forward, and the bolt does not open until this forward momentum is overcome. Other methods involve delaying the opening until two rollers have been forced back into recesses in the receiver in which the bolt is carried. Simple blowback action is simple and inexpensive to manufacture, but is limited in the power it can handle, so it is seen on small caliber weapons such asmachine pistols andsubmachine guns.Lever-delayed blowback, as seen in for example the FrenchFAMASassault rifle, can also handle more powerful cartridges but is more complicated and expensive to manufacture.
In a recoil-operated firearm, the breech is locked, and the barrel recoils as part of the firing cycle. In long-recoil actions, such as theBrowning Auto-5 shotgun, the barrel and breechblock remain locked for the full recoil travel, and separate on the return; in short-recoil actions, typical of most semiautomatic handguns (e.g. theColt M1911), the barrel recoils only a short distance before decoupling from the breechblock.
In a gas-operated mechanism, a portion of the gases propelling the bullet from the barrel are extracted and used to operate a piston. The motion of this piston in turn unlocks and operates the bolt, which performs extraction of the spent cartridge and via spring action readies the next round. Almost all modern military rifles use mechanisms of this type.
