18 Dec 05
Man-card revoked. The lower tube is a magazine ( not the type you read but a storage area for ammunition).
PS: a man card is something you receive when you do something brave and it makes all other men look up to you. (not in this case) It is revoked when you ask questions of this of a standard that questions the average intellect of the male species.
😠
18 Dec 05
3 edits
Originally posted by PhlabibitStick to what you know Phlab.
Both are best viewed from the side, or the business end.
P-
In the post black-powder early revolvers the under lever was neccesary to eject the spent brass, as the cylinder was rotated manually, chamber by chamber. Re-loading was the same painful process, rotating the cylinder until the chamber presented ( left or right of the firing block ), insert the cartridge, rotate to the next chamber etc, etc.
Colt later developed the drop-out cylinder whereas the cylinder swung out of the frame, and all cylinders could be ejected simultaneously(sp) with the new off-set under lever.
Reloading was also expedentially quicker because the empty chambers were all presented at the same time. As a direct result of Colt's development law enforcement officers today now enjoy the benefits of the "speed clip" when reloading in combat situations.
Of course the under lever had a different function in the black powder days. Simply, it was a ram rod, to seat the powder, ram the wad and then push the bullet , usually a lead projectile , hard down in the cylinder, which was then rotated to present the next chamber in which the process was repeated. The best example of this is the Colt Peacemaker. They were notouriously inaccurate and the ability to reload quicker than your adversary was often the difference between life and death.
skeeter