Action (firearms)
[1] Actions are technically not present on muzzleloaders, as all those are single-shot firearms with a closed off breech with the powder and projectile manually loaded from the muzzle.
As the name implies, all single-shot firearms (unless they are multi-barreled) can only hold one round of ammunition and need to be manually reloaded after every firing.
Charles H. Ballard's self-cocking tilting-block action was produced by the Marlin Firearms Company from 1875 and earned a superlative reputation among long-range "Creedmoor" target shooters.
Surviving Marlin Ballards are today highly prized by collectors, especially those mounted in the elaborate Swiss-style Schützen stocks of the day.
The hinged block used in the earliest metallic-cartridge breechloaders designed for general military issue began as conversions of muzzle-loading rifle-muskets.
The upper rear portion of the barrel was filed or milled away and replaced by a hinged breechblock, which opened upward to permit loading.
The first metallic-cartridge bolt actions in general military service were the Berdan Type II introduced by Russia in 1870, the Mauser Model 1871, and a modified Chassepot, the Gras rifle of 1874; all these were single-shots.
The eccentric screw action first seen on the M1867 Werndl–Holub and later on the Magnum Research Lone Eagle pistol, the breech closure is a rotating drum with the same axis, but offset from the bore.
A revolver is a multi-chamber (but single-barrelled) firearm that houses cartridges in a rotary cylinder which indexes each round into alignment with the bore (with the help of a forcing cone) prior to each shot.
In a straight pull bolt-action, the bolt can be cycled without rotating, hence reducing the required range of motion by the shooter from four movements to two, with the goal of increasing the rate of fire.
As of 2017 the Rifle Shooter magazine[6] listed its successor Blaser R8 as one of the three most popular straight pull bolt-action together with Merkel Helix[7] and Browning Maral.
[8] Some other notable modern straight pull bolt-action rifles are made by Chapuis,[9] Heym,[10] Lynx,[11] Rößler,[12] Strasser,[13] and Steel Action.
With the new design came a new dry-fire method; instead of the bolt being turned up slightly, the action is locked back to catch the firing pin.
In pump action firearms, a sliding grip at the fore-end beneath the barrel is manually operated by the user to eject and chamber cartridges.
The French company Verney-Carron makes and exports the Speedline hunting rifle and the Véloce shotgun, which has caused some moral concern in the mainstream media in Australia due to lobbying by the Greens and anti-gun groups such as Gun Control Australia,[17] with David Shoebridge quoting the term "semi-semi-automatic".
The Turkish manufacturer Pardus Arms also produces the 12 gauge-caliber BRS17 shotgun, which uses a bolt release button on the back of the receiver to chamber rounds before firing.
In gas-operation, a portion of high pressure gas from the cartridge being fired is tapped through a hole in the barrel and diverted to operate the action.
A fourth type, now considered obsolete and ineffective, are those systems based on the Bang rifle that utilize a muzzle cap to capture gas after the bullet has left the barrel.
