Flapper locking is a type of locking mechanism used in self-loading firearms. It involves a pair of flappers on the sides of the bolt that each lock into an outwards recess in the receiver as the bolt is in battery. As the bolt is forced backwards after the firing of a cartridge, the flappers recede back into the bolt, therefore unlocking and sending the bolt backwards to cycle the gun. The design was patented in 1870 by Lieutenant Friberg of the Swedish Army, but the first actual example of a firearm that used this was made by another Swedish man named Kjellman in 1907. Most use of flapper locking came from the designs of the Soviet Union's
Vasily Degtyaryov
Vasily Alekseyevich Degtyaryov (russian: Васи́лий Алексе́евич Дегтярёв; 2 January 1880, Tula – 16 January 1949, Moscow) was a Soviet and Russian engineer who specialized in weapons design. He was awarded the title ...
in the years surrounding World War II.
Examples
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Gewehr 41
The Gewehr 41 (German for: rifle 41), commonly known as the G41(W) or G41(M), denoting the manufacturer (Walther or Mauser), are two distinct and different battle rifles manufactured and used by Nazi Germany during World War II. They were large ...
(Walther)
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Gewehr 43
The Gewehr 43 or Karabiner 43 (abbreviated G43, K43, Gew 43, Kar 43) is a 7.92×57mm Mauser caliber semi-automatic rifle developed by Germany during World War II. The design was based on that of the earlier G41(W), but incorporated an improved ...
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Degtyaryov machine gun
The Degtyaryov machine gun (russian: Пулемёт Дегтярёвa Пехотный, Pulemyot Degtyaryova Pekhotny literally: "Degtyaryov's infantry machine gun") or DP-27/DP-28 is a light machine gun firing the 7.62×54mmR cartridge that was ...
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RPD machine gun
The RPD (russian: ручной пулемёт Дегтярёва, Ruchnoy Pulemyot Degtyaryova, English: Degtyaryov hand-held machine gun) is a 7.62x39mm light machine gun developed in the Soviet Union by Vasily Degtyaryov for the 7.62×39mm ...
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DShK
The DShK 1938 ( Cyrillic: ДШК, for russian: Дегтярёва-Шпагина Крупнокалиберный, Degtyaryova-Shpagina Krupnokaliberny, links=no, "Degtyaryov-Shpagin large-calibre") is a Soviet heavy machine gun with a V-shaped bu ...
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EM-2 rifle
The EM-2, also known as Rifle, No.9, Mk.1 or Janson rifle, was a British assault rifle. It was briefly adopted by British forces in 1951, but the decision was overturned very shortly thereafter by Winston Churchill's incoming government in an ...
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AVS-36
The AVS-36 (from ''Avtomaticheskaya Vintovka Simonova 1936 model''; russian: Автоматическая винтовка Симонова образца 1936 года (АВС-36)) was a Soviet automatic rifle which saw service in the early year ...
; used as secondary locking
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MG 51
The ''7.5 mm Maschinengewehr 1951'' or Mg 51 is a general-purpose machine gun manufactured by W+F of Switzerland. The weapon was introduced into Swiss service when the Swiss Army initiated a competition for a new service machine gun to r ...
*Mauser 1906/08 pistol and 1905/06 rifle
See also
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Roller locked
In firearms operating systems, the term roller locked refers to locking the bolt with Rolling-element bearing, rollers. Notable examples of firearms using this method are the MG 42 general-purpose machine gun, and the CZ 52 semi-automatic pistol. ...
(similar)
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Rotating bolt
Rotating bolt is a method of locking the breech (or rear barrel) of a firearm closed for firing. Johann Nicolaus von Dreyse developed the first rotating bolt firearm, the " Dreyse needle gun", in 1836. The Dreyse locked using the bolt handle ...
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Bolt action
Bolt-action is a type of manual firearm action that is operated by ''directly'' manipulating the bolt via a bolt handle, which is most commonly placed on the right-hand side of the weapon (as most users are right-handed).
Most bolt-actio ...
References
Firearm actions
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