Falling block action
Encyclopedia
A falling-block action (also known as a sliding-block action) is a single-shot
Single-shot
Single-shot firearms are firearms that hold only a single round of ammunition, and must be reloaded after each shot. The history of firearms began with single-shot designs, and many centuries passed before multi-shot designs became commonplace...
firearm action
Firearm action
In firearms terminology, an action is the physical mechanism that manipulates cartridges and/or seals the breech. The term is also used to describe the method in which cartridges are loaded, locked, and extracted from the mechanism. Actions are generally categorized by the type of mechanism used...
in which a solid metal breechblock
Breechblock
A breechblock is the part of the firearm action that closes the breech of a weapon at the moment of firing....
slides vertically in grooves
Groove (machining)
In manufacturing or mechanical engineering a groove is a long and narrow indentation built into a material, generally for the purpose of allowing another material or part to move within the groove and be guided by it. Examples include:...
cut into the breech of the weapon and actuated by a lever
Lever
In physics, a lever is a rigid object that is used with an appropriate fulcrum or pivot point to either multiply the mechanical force that can be applied to another object or resistance force , or multiply the distance and speed at which the opposite end of the rigid object travels.This leverage...
.
When in the top position, it is locked and resists the force of recoil
Recoil
Recoil is the backward momentum of a gun when it is discharged. In technical terms, the recoil caused by the gun exactly balances the forward momentum of the projectile and exhaust gasses, according to Newton's third law...
while sealing the chamber. In the lower position, it leaves the chamber open to be loaded by a cartridge from the rear. After loading, the lever returns the block to the top position to lock the breech in place to seal the chamber. It is a very strong action; when the breech is closed, the receiver essentially becomes a single piece of steel (as opposed to other actions which rely on lugs to lock the breech). This type of action is used in heavy artillery as well as small arms.
Rifles using this action include the M1870 Belgian Comblain, M1872 Mylonas
Mylonas rifle
The Mylonas Rifle, usually referred as the M1872 Greek Mylonas is a Greek-designed falling block black powder rifle. It was designed and developed in 1872 by Greek Artillery Major Efstathios Mylonas , while working in the Athens technical facility of the Greek Military Material Authority...
, Sharps rifle
Sharps Rifle
Sharps rifles were those of a series begun with a design by Christian Sharps. Sharps rifles were renowned for long range and high accuracy in their day.-History:Sharps's initial rifle was patented September 17, 1848 and manufactured by A. S...
, Farquharson rifle
Farquharson rifle
The Farquharson Rifle is a single shot hammerless falling block action rifle designed and patented by John Farquharson, of Daldhu, Scotland in 1872. George Gibbs, a gun maker in Bristol, became a co-owner of the Farquharson patent in 1875 and was the sole maker of Farquharson rifles until the...
, 1890 Stevens
Stevens Arms
Stevens Arms was an American firearms manufacturer founded by Joshua Stevens in 1864. The company introduced the .22 Long Rifle round and made a number of rifle, shotgun, and target pistol designs before being bought by Savage Arms in 1920. After 1920, Stevens made training rifles and machineguns...
, Sharps-Borchardt Model 1878
Sharps-Borchardt Model 1878
The Sharps-Borchardt Model 1878 is a single shot hammerless falling block action rifle designed by Hugo Borchardt and made by the Sharps Rifle Manufacturing Company. It closely resembles older Sharps Rifles but has a firing mechanism that uses a hammerless striker rather than a hammer and firing...
, Winchester Model 1885, Browning M78 and Ruger No. 1
Ruger No. 1
The Ruger No. 1 is a single shot rifle, with Farquharson-style internal hammer falling block action, manufactured by Sturm, Ruger. It was introduced in 1967. An underlever lowers the block allowing loading and cocks the rifle. A falling block action is an inherently strong design, and the Ruger...
. Falling-block action military rifles were common in the 19th century. They were replaced for military use by the faster bolt action rifles, which could reload from a magazine.
As well as artillery falling-block action rifles are still manufactured and used for hunting
Hunting
Hunting is the practice of pursuing any living thing, usually wildlife, for food, recreation, or trade. In present-day use, the term refers to lawful hunting, as distinguished from poaching, which is the killing, trapping or capture of the hunted species contrary to applicable law...
and target shooting and industrial shotguns (8ga) for shooting clinkers in boilers.
The falling-block action is closely related to the Martini-Henry
Martini-Henry
The Martini-Henry was a breech-loading single-shot lever-actuated rifle adopted by the British, combining an action worked on by Friedrich von Martini , with the rifled barrel designed by Scotsman Alexander Henry...
rifle, the Peabody action
Peabody action
The Peabody action was an early form of breechloading firearm action, where the heavy breechblock tilted downwards across a bolt mounted in the rear of the breechblock, operated by a lever under the rifle. The Peabody action most often used an external hammer to fire the cartridge.The Peabody...
(similar to, but not identical with, that of the Martini-Henry
Martini-Henry
The Martini-Henry was a breech-loading single-shot lever-actuated rifle adopted by the British, combining an action worked on by Friedrich von Martini , with the rifled barrel designed by Scotsman Alexander Henry...
), the Ballard action, and the Krag-Petersson
Krag-Petersson
The Krag-Petersson rifle was the first repeating rifle adopted by the armed forces of Norway and one of the first repeating arms used anywhere in the world. Developed by Ole Herman Johannes Krag, the action of the Krag-Petersson was uniquely actuated by an oversized hammer...
(uniquely, a repeater), which use a pivoting rather than a sliding block.
See also
- Bolt action
- Lever-actionLever-actionLever-action is a type of firearm action which uses a lever located around the trigger guard area, to load fresh cartridges into the chamber of the barrel when the lever is worked. Most lever-action firearms are rifles, but lever-action shotguns and a few pistols have also been made...
- Pump-actionPump-actionA pump-action rifle or shotgun is one in which the handgrip can be pumped back and forth in order to eject a spent round of ammunition and to chamber a fresh one. It is much faster than a bolt-action and somewhat faster than a lever-action, as it does not require the trigger hand to be removed from...
- Break-action
- Rolling blockRolling blockA rolling block is a form of firearm action where the sealing of the breech is done with a specially shaped breechblock able to rotate on a pin. The breechblock is shaped like a section of a circle....
- Semi-automatic rifleSemi-automatic rifleA semi-automatic rifle is a type of rifle that fires a single bullet each time the trigger is pulled, automatically ejects the spent cartridge, chambers a fresh cartridge from its magazine, and is immediately ready to fire another shot...