Feeding Ramp

A feed ramp is a basic feature of many breech loading cartridge

firearm A firearm is any type of gun designed to be readily carried and used by an individual. The term is legally defined further in different countries (see Legal definitions). The first firearms originated in 10th-century China, when bamboo tubes ...

designs. It is a tightly machined and polished piece of metal which guides a cartridge from the top of the

magazine A magazine is a periodical publication, generally published on a regular schedule (often weekly or monthly), containing a variety of content. They are generally financed by advertising, purchase price, prepaid subscriptions, or by a combinatio ...

into the firing chamber of the

barrel A barrel or cask is a hollow cylindrical container with a bulging center, longer than it is wide. They are traditionally made of wooden staves and bound by wooden or metal hoops. The word vat is often used for large containers for liquids, ...

. The feed ramp may be part of the magazine ( AR-7), part of the receiver or frame (

Mauser C96 The Mauser C96 (''Construktion 96'') is a semi-automatic pistol that was originally produced by German arms manufacturer Mauser from 1896 to 1937. Unlicensed copies of the gun were also manufactured in Spain and China in the first half of the 2 ...

), or part of the barrel ( H&K USP). Some firearms, like the FN Five-seven, have a beveled chamber instead of a feed ramp. The feed ramp is a critical part of

semi-automatic firearm A semi-automatic firearm, also called a self-loading or autoloading firearm (fully automatic and selective fire firearms are also variations on self-loading firearms), is a repeating firearm whose action mechanism ''automatically'' loads a follow ...

s and

automatic firearm An automatic firearm is an auto-loading firearm that continuously chambers and fires rounds when the trigger mechanism is actuated. The action of an automatic firearm is capable of harvesting the excess energy released from a previous discharg ...

s. When the pistol is fired and the spent case is ejected, the feed ramp functions to direct a fresh cartridge from the magazine into firing position; that is, the fresh cartridge slides along the feed ramp into battery. The need for the cartridge to slide both forwards and upwards along the feed ramp and into the barrel is the primary design consideration that makes the ogive the preferred shape for all modern automatic pistol rounds (a

hollow point bullet Hollow may refer to: Natural phenomena *Hollow, a low, wooded area, such as a copse *Hollow (landform), a small vee-shaped, riverine type of valley *Tree hollow, a void in a branch or trunk, which may provide habitat for animals Places * Sleepy ...

is a truncated ogive), as there are many other shapes that are stable in ballistic flight. A rough surface or the presence of debris on the feed ramp can knock cartridges off-center, inducing a jam. Polishing a feed ramp is among the tasks commonly performed by gunsmiths. Firearm components {{gun-stub