Bump firing semi-auto
NK sends the following image:
This is Hiram Maxim’s bump-firing, semi-automatic lever action. Looks like the recoil of the weapon cocks it. NK says:
This particular design was actually produced in England in 1885 and was adopted by the Turkish army who were already very happy with their standard lever-action Winchesters.
February 14th, 2007 at 4:46 pm
The most important aspect of Hiram Maxim’s genius, in my opinion, is the way he shortened the lever stroke. Compare the standard stroke on top and then his invention with the action locked and unlocked in the second and third diagrams.
February 15th, 2007 at 1:17 pm
Didn’t John Browning convert a lever gun into a machine gun?
February 15th, 2007 at 11:05 pm
Was it the Colt “potato digger”? Commenter Triticale mentioned that in the Akins Accelerator Update post of a few days ago.
February 15th, 2007 at 11:12 pm
Seriously, though, who needs a semi-auto when a lever action can be cycled with a half-inch movement? Add a screw through the trigger guard that depresses the trigger and trips the sear as soon as the action is locked (remember “The Rifleman” on tv?) and you have practically a machine gun.