Interestingly, the video shows a hammer fired and a striker fired mechanism and also deals with extraction and ejection mechanisms, as well as loading new ammunition from a box magazine.
Happy viewing.
Showing posts with label Box magazine. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Box magazine. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 5, 2015
How do Firing Mechanisms Work - III
In our last couple of posts, we saw a couple of examples of semi-automatic, full automatic and three round burst mechanisms. The first video was prepared by the US Army to train soldiers. As it turns out, the Army had actually prepared a set of videos. The first in the series showed an example of a bolt-action firearm in action. We will study that video in today's post:
Interestingly, the video shows a hammer fired and a striker fired mechanism and also deals with extraction and ejection mechanisms, as well as loading new ammunition from a box magazine.
Happy viewing.
Interestingly, the video shows a hammer fired and a striker fired mechanism and also deals with extraction and ejection mechanisms, as well as loading new ammunition from a box magazine.
Happy viewing.
Sunday, May 31, 2015
Carrying Magazines "Jungle Style"
In today's post, we will study a method of configuring weapon magazines, which is popularly called "Jungle Style". We will see what this is all about.
In the above image, we see a Polish soldier carrying an AKMS assault rifle. Notice that at the bottom of the rifle, there appears to be multiple magazines, which are held together by using some green tape. This is what carrying magazines "jungle style" is all about.
The reason for the name is that the practice of taping multiple magazines together originated with US forces in the Pacific campaign and fighting in the jungles. US soldiers who were armed with the M3 Grease gun and the Thompson Submachine gun (a.k.a Tommy gun) in the jungles of Asia, needed a way to quickly change magazines, especially since early Thompson submachine guns only came with 20-round magazines.
Some genius figured out that if multiple magazines were attached together with some sticky tape or rubber bands or clamps, the result is much easier and faster to change, as the new magazine is already attached to the old one. Since this technique was extensively used when fighting in thick jungles, this idea of taping magazines together began to be called "jungle-style" and the name stuck.
In the beginning, many soldiers improvised by tying two or more magazines together with rope, duct tape, rubber bands etc. So many American soldiers attached magazines together for their M1 carbines that the US military took notice and introduced the "T3-A1 Magazine Holder", which was a metal clamp that could hold two 30-round M1 magazines together, without any tape.
Later on, some companies (e.g. SIG, Heckler & Koch etc.) began to manufacture magazines with built in studs, so that multiple magazines could be stacked without using rubber bands or tape.
In the above image, we see a box magazine designed for the SIG 550 rifle. Note that the magazine has two protruding studs on the outside of the magazine. The other size of the magazine has two U-shaped slots to accept the studs. This design allows multiple magazines to be stacked side-by-side, without using any tape, twine, rubber bands or clamps.
Carrying magazines "jungle style" certainly helps speed up the reloading process, as the loaded magazines are attached to each other and can be easily swapped out.
On the other hand, they have a few disadvantages as well. For one, they alter the balance of a weapon. There is also an increased risk of weapon stoppages because while one magazine is inserted into the weapon, the other magazine lips are open and exposed to dirt and dust.
Polish Soldier armed with an AKMS rifle. Click on the image to enlarge. Public domain image.
In the above image, we see a Polish soldier carrying an AKMS assault rifle. Notice that at the bottom of the rifle, there appears to be multiple magazines, which are held together by using some green tape. This is what carrying magazines "jungle style" is all about.
The reason for the name is that the practice of taping multiple magazines together originated with US forces in the Pacific campaign and fighting in the jungles. US soldiers who were armed with the M3 Grease gun and the Thompson Submachine gun (a.k.a Tommy gun) in the jungles of Asia, needed a way to quickly change magazines, especially since early Thompson submachine guns only came with 20-round magazines.
Some genius figured out that if multiple magazines were attached together with some sticky tape or rubber bands or clamps, the result is much easier and faster to change, as the new magazine is already attached to the old one. Since this technique was extensively used when fighting in thick jungles, this idea of taping magazines together began to be called "jungle-style" and the name stuck.
In the beginning, many soldiers improvised by tying two or more magazines together with rope, duct tape, rubber bands etc. So many American soldiers attached magazines together for their M1 carbines that the US military took notice and introduced the "T3-A1 Magazine Holder", which was a metal clamp that could hold two 30-round M1 magazines together, without any tape.
Later on, some companies (e.g. SIG, Heckler & Koch etc.) began to manufacture magazines with built in studs, so that multiple magazines could be stacked without using rubber bands or tape.
A SIG 550 magazine. Click on the image to enlarge.
Image licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 France license by Rama
In the above image, we see a box magazine designed for the SIG 550 rifle. Note that the magazine has two protruding studs on the outside of the magazine. The other size of the magazine has two U-shaped slots to accept the studs. This design allows multiple magazines to be stacked side-by-side, without using any tape, twine, rubber bands or clamps.
Carrying magazines "jungle style" certainly helps speed up the reloading process, as the loaded magazines are attached to each other and can be easily swapped out.
On the other hand, they have a few disadvantages as well. For one, they alter the balance of a weapon. There is also an increased risk of weapon stoppages because while one magazine is inserted into the weapon, the other magazine lips are open and exposed to dirt and dust.
Sunday, June 1, 2014
Box Magazines
In our last post, we studied tubular magazines. In today's post, we will study a type of magazine that is commonly seen in modern firearms, the box magazine.
In the latter part of the 1800s, bullets became more and more pointed (spitzer type bullets) because of better efficiency and accuracy over longer ranges. However, storing cartridges using pointed bullets in a tubular magazine wasn't a very good idea, for reasons we already studied in the previous post. The box magazine was invented to allow safe storage of cartridges of this type. Instead of storing the cartridges nose to tail (like a tubular magazine does), a box magazine stores the cartridges parallel to each other. A spring at the closed end of the magazine pushes the cartridges outwards.
There are two types of box magazine: the internal (or fixed) magazine and the detachable magazine.
Internal magazines are generally seen on bolt-action rifles and usually hold about 5 to 10 cartridges. They can be filled by hand, or more quickly by using clips, such as stripper clips or en-bloc clips to shove in multiple cartridges at a time. An internal magazine is not easily removable from the firearm.
The above image shows a Lee-Enfield Mark III rifle. Note the internal magazine in front of the trigger. This rifle is loaded by opening the bolt on top of the rifle and pushing cartridges into the magazine. The magazine holds up to 10 cartridges. The cartridges can be fed in one at a time by hand, or by using a stripper clip containing 5 cartridges and pushing them into the magazine simultaneously. The video below shows how this is done.
Detachable magazines are designed to be attached and removed from the firearm and can be loaded separately. This allows the user to carry multiple magazines that are pre-loaded with cartridges and quickly switch between them as needed. Detachable magazines are generally loaded at the bottom of the firearm (e.g. most modern pistols, submachine guns, semi and fully automatic rifles etc.), but there are a few famous exceptions. For instance, the Sten and Sterling submachine guns have their magazines attaching to the side of the firearm, and the Bren gun and Madsen machine gun have magazines that attach on the top. Detachable magazines may be straight or curved, depending on how many cartridges they hold and the type of cartridge.
The video below shows how to interchange detachable magazines on a pistol.
The invention of the box magazine is generally credited to two Scottish born Canadian brothers, James Paris Lee and John Lee. In 1878, they invented a rifle, whose box magazine design was used by the Lee-Metford and later, the Lee-Enfield rifles.
The above image shows the first Lee rifle prototype. The box magazine is visible under the stock, just ahead of the trigger guard. The magazine that this rifle uses is an internal magazine.
Box magazines store their cartridges in columns, either one above the other (single column a.k.a single stack magazine) or in a zigzag manner (double column a.k.a double stack magazine or even quadruple column a.k.a casket magazine). The images below show the different styles of magazines.
In the above illustrations, notice that each magazine has a spring and a follower piece at the bottom of each magazine. The spring and follower keep the cartridges pushed towards the top of the magazine, where they may be picked up by the firearm's action.
Box magazines can be made of either metal or plastic. In some firearms, the plastic magazines are made of a transparent material, which allows the user to easily see how many cartridges are left in the magazine.
Box magazines are loaded by hand, or more quickly by devices such as stripper clips, en-bloc clips, speed loaders etc. We already studied stripper clips and en-bloc clips two posts ago. In the images below, we see two other speed loading devices designed for M-16 magazines:
People who use pistols may be familiar with a device called a "thumb saver", which is sometimes used to load magazines. Basically, a box magazine is usually pretty easy to load by hand, except for when the magazine is almost full. The last couple of cartridges are usually very hard to push in manually and thumb savers reduce the effort required to do this (and prevent sore fingers and thumbs!).
Box magazines have a number of advantages over tubular magazines:
Because of these numerous advantages, box magazines are the most common type of magazine used by modern pistols, submachine guns and rifles today.
In the latter part of the 1800s, bullets became more and more pointed (spitzer type bullets) because of better efficiency and accuracy over longer ranges. However, storing cartridges using pointed bullets in a tubular magazine wasn't a very good idea, for reasons we already studied in the previous post. The box magazine was invented to allow safe storage of cartridges of this type. Instead of storing the cartridges nose to tail (like a tubular magazine does), a box magazine stores the cartridges parallel to each other. A spring at the closed end of the magazine pushes the cartridges outwards.
There are two types of box magazine: the internal (or fixed) magazine and the detachable magazine.
Internal magazines are generally seen on bolt-action rifles and usually hold about 5 to 10 cartridges. They can be filled by hand, or more quickly by using clips, such as stripper clips or en-bloc clips to shove in multiple cartridges at a time. An internal magazine is not easily removable from the firearm.
A Lee-Enfield No. 1 Mark III rifle. Notice the internal magazine in front of the trigger. Click on the image to enlarge. Public domain image.
The above image shows a Lee-Enfield Mark III rifle. Note the internal magazine in front of the trigger. This rifle is loaded by opening the bolt on top of the rifle and pushing cartridges into the magazine. The magazine holds up to 10 cartridges. The cartridges can be fed in one at a time by hand, or by using a stripper clip containing 5 cartridges and pushing them into the magazine simultaneously. The video below shows how this is done.
Detachable magazines are designed to be attached and removed from the firearm and can be loaded separately. This allows the user to carry multiple magazines that are pre-loaded with cartridges and quickly switch between them as needed. Detachable magazines are generally loaded at the bottom of the firearm (e.g. most modern pistols, submachine guns, semi and fully automatic rifles etc.), but there are a few famous exceptions. For instance, the Sten and Sterling submachine guns have their magazines attaching to the side of the firearm, and the Bren gun and Madsen machine gun have magazines that attach on the top. Detachable magazines may be straight or curved, depending on how many cartridges they hold and the type of cartridge.
Two detachable box magazines. Left is a 20 round magazine made by Colt, right is a 30 round "High Reliablility" magazine made by Heckler & Koch.
Click on the image to enlarge.
Image licensed under GNU Free Documentation License v 1.2 or later, by user Raygun on wikipedia.
The video below shows how to interchange detachable magazines on a pistol.
The invention of the box magazine is generally credited to two Scottish born Canadian brothers, James Paris Lee and John Lee. In 1878, they invented a rifle, whose box magazine design was used by the Lee-Metford and later, the Lee-Enfield rifles.
The original Lee Rifle prototype. Click on the image to enlarge. Public domain image.
The above image shows the first Lee rifle prototype. The box magazine is visible under the stock, just ahead of the trigger guard. The magazine that this rifle uses is an internal magazine.
Box magazines store their cartridges in columns, either one above the other (single column a.k.a single stack magazine) or in a zigzag manner (double column a.k.a double stack magazine or even quadruple column a.k.a casket magazine). The images below show the different styles of magazines.
A single column (single stack) magazine. Click on the image to enlarge.
Image licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License from Martin Meise at Wikipedia.
A double column (double stack) magazine. Click on the image to enlarge.
Image licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License from Martin Meise at Wikipedia.
A quadruple stack (casket) magazine for a Spectre M4 submachine gun. Click on the image to enlarge.
Image licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 License from Evers at Wikipedia
In the above illustrations, notice that each magazine has a spring and a follower piece at the bottom of each magazine. The spring and follower keep the cartridges pushed towards the top of the magazine, where they may be picked up by the firearm's action.
Box magazines can be made of either metal or plastic. In some firearms, the plastic magazines are made of a transparent material, which allows the user to easily see how many cartridges are left in the magazine.
Box magazines are loaded by hand, or more quickly by devices such as stripper clips, en-bloc clips, speed loaders etc. We already studied stripper clips and en-bloc clips two posts ago. In the images below, we see two other speed loading devices designed for M-16 magazines:
A bench loader and a strip loader for M16 magazines. Click on the images to enlarge.
Images are in the public domain.
People who use pistols may be familiar with a device called a "thumb saver", which is sometimes used to load magazines. Basically, a box magazine is usually pretty easy to load by hand, except for when the magazine is almost full. The last couple of cartridges are usually very hard to push in manually and thumb savers reduce the effort required to do this (and prevent sore fingers and thumbs!).
Box magazines have a number of advantages over tubular magazines:
- They can safely hold cartridges that have spitzer-type (pointed) bullets, which tubular magazines cannot do.
- They can hold a fairly large number of cartridges, compared to tubular magazines. 30 round magazines are very common for rifles, for instance.
- If they are made of plastic, they can be made transparent (this isn't always done, but is transparent on some models) so that the user can see how many cartridges are left in the magazine. Since tubular magazines are generally enclosed by the stock of the firearm, the user cannot see how many cartridges are left in a tubular magazine.
- The user can preload a bunch of magazines in advance and can quickly switch between them (at least, for detachable box magazines).
- It is easier and faster to load or unload a box magazine than a tubular magazine.
Because of these numerous advantages, box magazines are the most common type of magazine used by modern pistols, submachine guns and rifles today.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
