This factor of safety is further increased by the tension of the recoil spring and mainspring, both of which oppose the rearward movement of the slide.
The U.S. army uses the pistol as the standard side arm. All officers and enlisted men in the cavalry, field artillery, tank corps, signal corps and machine-gun companies, and most of the officers and non-commissioned officers in other branches are armed with it.
In the shortage of pistols incident to the World War, Colt and Smith & Wesson revolvers of the same calibre, chambered for the same rimless cartridges, were used. The use of the rimless cartridge in the revolver was accomplished by providing semicircular loading clips which hold three cartridges by lugs which fit in the cannelure of the cartridge. The ejection is accomplished by this means. The clips make the loading much faster.
The Colt automatic pistol is also made in -22-in., -25-in., -32-in., 38o-in., and -38-in. calibre military models.
BROWN/HG /HJTVM/mC P/STOL.
F/G. 2.
_ Browning Automatic Pistol. The new model Browning automatic pistol (fig. 2) made by the Fabrique Nationale, Belgium, is repre- sentative of modern automatic pistols of pocket size. This pistol is made in 7-65-mm. (-32) and 9-mm. (-380) calibres. A military model of 9-mm. calibre is also made which is used by the Belgian army. The pistol shown is of the " blow back " type, the barrel (17) being jocked to the frame (18), the slide (19) being free to recoil. On pull- ing the trigger (20) and pressing in the grip safety (21), the sear (22) revolves on its axis and releases the firing-pin (23), which actuated by the coiled firing-pin spring (24), moves forward and fires the cart- ridge. The inertia of the "slide assisted by the recoil spring (25) delays the rearward motion of the slide until the bullet passes through the barrel. The slide then recoils, compresses the recoil spring and the firing-pin spring and ejects the empty cartridge case. When the notch in the under side of the firing-pin passes over the sear nose, the latter actuated by the sear spring (26) rises and holds the firing-pin in a cocked position. When the effect of the recoil is overcome, the slide moves forward in the usual manner feeding a loaded cartridge in the chamber. The magazine (27) is released by the catch (28), and when the magazine is taken out the magazine safety (29) locks the sear and prevents discharge.
Webley Automatic Pistol. The Webley, the only automatic pistol manufactured in Great Britain, is made in -25, -32, -380, -38 and -455 calibres (fig. 3). The latter size, which fires a 22O-grain bullet, has been adopted by the British navy. The action is unique in that a flat recoil spring (30), situated in a re- cess in the right grip and com- pressed by the recoil lever (31), absorbs the recoil and returns the slide (32) to firing position. In the larger calibres, the barrel (33) is locked to the slide at the moment of firing and these parts recoil together a short distance; the bar- rel then rises upon diagonal cam- shaped lugs which unlock the slide and permit it to travel back alone. During this rearward movement, the empty case is ejected and the hammer (34) cocked. The forward motion of the slide then feeds a cartridge from the magazine in the chamber in the usual manner. The trigger (35) is connected with the sear (not shown) by means of a trigger auxiliary lever (36) and sear tail (37). The magazine is situated in the handle and holds eight cartridges.
The -32 calibre Webley pistol is used by the London metropolitan police. A -25 calibre hammerless model has recently been brought put which has a spiral recoil spring parallel to the barrel in a recess in the slide.
WEBLE y AUTOnATIC
FIS. 3
Savage Automatic Pistol. This pistol (fig. 4), which is extensively
used in the United States, and has been adopted by the army and
navy of Portugal, is made in -32 and -380 calibres. The magazine
for the former holds ten cartridges ;
that for the latter, nine. The 1917
model differs from the previous
one in that an outside cocking lever
is added, and the shape of the grip
changed to facilitate aiming. There
is no grip safety or magazine safe-
ty on this pistol, the cocking lever
indicating whether it is in firing
position. The barrel and breech
are locked at the moment of firing
bv means of a locking lug on top
of the barrel which engages with an angular locking slot in the
bolt and makes it necessary for the barrel to rotate about one-
eighth of a turn to the right to unlock. The resistance of the bullet
to rotation in the rifling tends to twist the barrel to the left and
prevents the bolt from turning it to the right until the bullet leaves
the barrel. The momentum of the recoil then forces the bolt back,
the angular slot rotates the barrel and the rest of the cycle of opera-
tions is performed much as in the pistols already explained.
SAVAGE AUTOMATIC PISTOL.
Remington Automatic Pistol. The newest (1920) model automatic
pistol to be placed on the market is the Remington -380 calibre auto-
matic (fig. 5). In general this weapon follows the usual lines of auto-
matic pistols. The breech closure is of the positively locked recoil-
operated type. The recoil spring is held in a sleeve concentric with
the barrel, and the magazine, which holds seven cartridges, is in the
stock. The weapon has three safety devices: a grip safety, a side
safety catch which also indicates whether the weapon is cocked or
not, and a magazine safety which prevents the pistol from being
fired when the magazine is withdrawn. The recoil when a shot is
fired forces a movable breech block in the slide backward for about
fg in., and into contact with recesses in the frame, this movement
accomplishes primary extraction and transmits an initial thrust to
the slide which is free to move backward against the recoil spring.
This movement of the slide through a camming action lifts the
breech block out of engagement with the frame and carries the
breech back, cocking an internal hammer and ejecting the empty
case. The chamber is reloaded in the usual manner on the return
stroke. There are no screws in this pistol and it may be disassembled
without tools other than the firing-pin.
European Pistols. The German Parabellum (Luger) and Mauser pistols have been little changed from those described in previous editions of the E.B. The Parabellum o-mm. calibre is the stand- ard German military arm, but during the shortage, incident to the World War, they used a great variety of weapons, the principal ones being the Mauser, Bayard, Browning, Borchardt, Bergman, Pieper, Sauer and Dreyse. There were reported to be 28 different models of pistols and revolvers in use in the German army. The Parabellum is also used by the Swiss and Bulgarian armies.
A drum or " snail " magazine (fig. 6) holding 32 cartridges was applied to the Luger pistol during the war. This magazine consists of a straight section similar to the ordinary pistol magazine with a round enclosed drum at the bottom. There are two springs, one functioning as an ordinary magazine spring, and a flat drum spring resembling a clock spring which with its casing fills the drum except for space for a single row of cartridges around the_ edge. There is a lever and catch on the outside for winding this spring and a rotating feeding lever inside which fits in the cartridge space between the inner casing and drum. The magazine spring is compressed between the last cartridge and this lever, which being revolved by the drum spring pushes the magazine spring and cartridges around the drum as the pistol is fired. When the drum is empty the magazine spring func- tions in the usual manner. This style of magazine was also applied
