Tilting bolt action is a type of locking mechanism often used in self-loading firearms. Essentially, the design consists of a moving bolt driven by a piston with gas pressure from the gas port behind the muzzle. The bolt drops down into receiver recess and locks on bolt closing. Tilting the bolt up and down locks-unlocks in the breech. This tilting allows gas pressure in the barrel from firing the gun to lower to safe levels before the cartridge case is ejected. It can also be adapted for

repeating rifles A repeating rifle is a single-barreled rifle capable of repeated discharges between each ammunition reloads. This is typically achieved by having multiple cartridges stored in a magazine (within or attached to the gun) and then fed individually int ...

. For handgun design, the tilting barrel as used in the Browning, is a similar operating mechanism. The tilting bolt has lost favor in contemporary firearm design of rifle caliber to locking systems such as the

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 r ...

due to reasons such as increased wearing of the surfaces acted on, higher demands on the receiver due to transfer of locking stresses to it (e. g., it can't be made from aluminium or stamped sheet steel) & better potential accuracy of rotating bolt. Yet it is widespread in vintage firearms listed below.

Examples

FN Model 1949 The Fabrique Nationale Model 1949 (often referred to as the FN-49, SAFN, or AFN (automatic rifle version) is an autoloading battle rifle designed by Belgian small arms designer Dieudonné Saive in 1947. It was adopted by the militaries of Argen ...

semi-automatic rifle A semi-automatic rifle is an autoloading rifle that fires a single cartridge with each pull of the trigger, and uses part of the fired cartridge's energy to eject the case and load another cartridge into the chamber. For comparison, a bolt-act ...

FN FAL The FAL (a French acronym for (English: "Light Automatic Rifle")), is a battle rifle designed in Belgium by Dieudonné Saive and manufactured by FN Herstal (simply known as FN). During the Cold War the FAL was adopted by many countries of th ...

, select-fire battle rifle * SKS, semi-automatic carbine *

SVT-40 The SVT-40 (Samozaryadnaya Vintovka Tokareva, Obrazets 1940 goda, "Tokarev self-loading rifle, model of 1940", Russian: Самозарядная винтовка Токарева, образец 1940 года, often nicknamed "'' Sveta''") is a S ...

, semi-automatic rifle * Kbsp wz. 1938M, prototype semi-automatic rifle *

AS-44 The Sudayev AS-44 (Avtomat Sudayeva, ''Автома́т Суда́ева'') was an early Soviet automatic rifle that was designed in 1944 by Alexey Sudayev. It was produced in limited numbers and tested during 1945, but its development ended in 19 ...

, prototype select-fire assault rifle *

ZH-29 The ZH-29 was a semi-automatic rifle developed in Czechoslovakia during the late 1920s, and used by the Chinese National Revolutionary Army. Overview The ZH-29 is a gas-operated service rifle with a tilting-bolt locking system similar to that whi ...

, semi-automatic rifle * vz. 52 rifle, semi-automatic rifle *

MAS-49 The MAS-49 is a French semi-automatic rifle that replaced various bolt-action rifles as the French service rifle that was produced from 1949. It was designed and manufactured by the government-owned MAS arms factory.Huon, Jean; ''Proud Promise— ...

, semi-automatic rifle *

PTRS-41 The PTRS-41 or Simonov anti-tank rifle (russian: ПротивоТанковое Ружьё Симонова) is a World War II-era semi-automatic anti-tank rifle firing the 14.5×114mm cartridge. Design The PTRS-41 was produced and used by the ...

, semi-automatic anti-tank rifle *

StG 44 The StG 44 (abbreviation of Sturmgewehr 44, "assault rifle 44") is a German assault rifle developed during World War II by Hugo Schmeisser. It is also known by its early designations as the MP 43 and MP 44 (''Maschinenpistole 43'' and ''44''). ...

MKb 42(H) The Maschinenkarabiner 42(H) or MKb 42(H) (machine carbine Model 1942 (Haenel)) was an early German assault rifle firing an intermediate round of World War II. Designed in 1940-41 by Hugo Schmeisser working for ''C. G. Haenel Waffen und Fahrr ...

, select-fire assault rifle *

Ag m/42 A&G, AG, Ag or ag may refer to Businesses and organizations * A&G Railroad (former reporting mark AG) * Action Group (Nigeria), a political party during the Nigerian First Republic * Aktiengesellschaft, a German type of corporation * Assemblie ...

, semi-automatic rifle *

ZB vz. 26 The ZB vz. 26 was a Czechoslovak light machine gun developed in the 1920s, which went on to enter service with several countries. It saw its major use during World War II, and spawned the related ZB vz. 27, vz. 30, and vz. 33. The ZB vz. 26 influe ...

, light machine gun *

Bren light machine gun The Bren gun was a series of light machine guns (LMG) made by Britain in the 1930s and used in various roles until 1992. While best known for its role as the British and Commonwealth forces' primary infantry LMG in World War II, it was also use ...

, light machine gun * Uk vz. 59, general purpose machine gun *

M50 Reising The .45 Reising submachine gun was manufactured by Harrington & Richardson (H&R) Arms Company in Worcester, Massachusetts, USA, and was designed and patented by Eugene Reising in 1940. The three versions of the weapon were the Model 50, the fold ...

, submachine gun; uniquely tilts upwards to lock and uses

Delayed Blowback Blowback is a system of operation for self-loading firearms that obtains energy from the motion of the cartridge case as it is pushed to the rear by expanding gas created by the ignition of the propellant charge. Several blowback systems exist wit ...

for action. *

LS-26 The ''Lahti-Saloranta M/26'' (alternatively ''LS/26'') is a light machine gun which was designed by Aimo Lahti and Arvo Saloranta in 1926. The weapon was able to fire in both full automatic and semi-automatic modes. Both 20-round box and 75-rou ...

, light machine gun; uniquely uses

for action. *SK-46, prototype semi-automatic rifle *SIG Model U, prototype semi-automatic rifle *CZ-38, prototype semi-automatic rifle

References

{{reflist Firearm actions

Examples

See also

References