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This month in G&A Magazine

  • S&W Compact 1911
  • M1A1 Carbine
  • .300 Savage

My G & A

HOW-TO

How Autos Operate

Unlike a revolver, when you pull the trigger on an auto, the action’s just beginning. Here’s what happens.

Virtually every modern centerfire auto pistol, no matter what make or caliber, utilizes the basic short-recoil operating system developed by John Browning for the Model 1911.

Nearly every 9mm or larger semiauto, regardless of make or model, operates by a descendent or variation of the short-recoil mechanism developed by John Browning for the M1911. Smaller centerfires and rimfires generally employ a direct blowback action (although some also utilize recoil-operated mechanisms). In a blowback mechanism, energy produced by the cartridge simply pushes directly back against the mass of the slide/bolt, propelling it rearward against a compressing spring to extract the ...

How Autos Operate

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