[fish2xs]

....at least for the uneducated, like me.

So I've been reading statements on these forums like:

"probably the best of the blowback style pistols"

and

"the desert eagle is one of the few gas-operated handguns ever produced"

OK - what do 'blowback' and 'gas-operated' mean? I assume my sig 226 is neither since
I've never heard it described as such.

thanks!

[BigG]

You need to understand that there are two basic types of autoloading actions: Locked breech and blow back.

Blowback means the breech is unlocked and depends on staying closed by virtue of the weight of the breechblock and the recoil spring vs. the bullet weight/velocity.

locked breech has the breech mechanically locked until the bullet leaves the barrel. It can be subdivided into four basic categories:
[list=1]
Long recoil
Short recoil
Inertia locked
Gas operated
[/list=1]

So endeth the lesson.

[Mike Irwin]

Gas operated means that there is a hole in the barrel that taps off a small amount of the expanding powder gas and uses it to operate the gun's action.