View Single Post
Unread 08-22-2002, 09:25 AM   #8
unspellable
User
 
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Iowa
Posts: 768
Thanks: 0
Thanked 19 Times in 11 Posts
Post

First, the rim of the cartridge must rise up past the area of the firing pin, the firing pin must be held back so as not to to block it.

Second, the cartridge will be fully centered in the breechblock face before the breech block reaches battery, although by this time the sear has picked up the striker. However, what if the sear is broken and doesn't work? Then the toggle link extension controls the speed at which the striker is allowed to come to rest, possibly preventing a slam fire.

Allowing the breech block to drop on a chambered round will be hard on the extractor in a Luger too. It is not meant to ride up over the rim from the rear as a practice, although it will do so on the odd occasion.

1911's sometimes toss out cases with teardrop shaped firing pin indentations because the barrel began to drop before the firing pin is out of the way. This is generally regarded as a fault in the pistol that requires correction. In the Luger, getting the firing pin out of the way is a positive action on the part of the toggle extension rather han relying on a rebound spring.

On the other hand, since the breech block and barrel remain in line, it would not drag the firing pin over the case head on extraction in any case. There are blowback pistols that actually uses the firing pin as the ejector.

And yes, we are trying to reverse engineer the pistol and read the minds of the people who developed it a hundred years ago. And also, for every hard and fast rule, there is a firearm somewhere that violates it. As in, :There ain't no such thing as an automatic revolver." except that Webley made 'em.
unspellable is offline   Reply With Quote