Why is a revolver bolt a bolt?

It is worse than that.

On a Smith & Wesson, the thing that stops the cylinder from rotating is, wait for it... the "cylinder stop." The S&W "bolt" is the internal bar that the thumb piece drives against the center pin to let you swing out the cylinder.

On a Ruger the cylinder is latched against rotation in the firing position by a "cylinder latch."

"Bolt" for that part is a Colt term.

Sorry, I can't help psychoanalyze the gun designers and builders.

Think of it like bolting (or latching) the door. When you bolt (or latch) the door, you are securing it in position until you wish to unsecure it. Same with a revolver cylinder or rifle bolt. Vastly different appearance and a lot of differences in other ways, but the core function is the same.

I'm guessing that, like many other things, these devices/components take their names from a variety of sources, such as convention, component function, component shape, and so forth.

And, as Jim Watson said, different companies may have different names for the same thing.

In practice, I'd say that one should become familiar with the technically correct name in accordance with the manufacturer of the firearm so that it's clearly understood by others who have the same firearm. It's also a pretty good idea to learn other names by other manufacturers so that you can discuss similarities with other people.

Just add this to your list of interesting trivia things to talk about.

Heh! Maybe we should get into the business and come up with our own names for such components! Imagine the fun we could have!

I just got done designing components for two sets of specialized tools to be used to straighten a bent copper bus bar on a large pump. These bus bars can't be replaced outside a factory setting, which means that replacing a bus bar requires replacing the whole pump.

One, also named after the engineer I worked with on this, is called the "Bend-O-Matic". The other I call the "Mangletron 5000".

I'm laughing inside, because the paperwork documenting the tooling and procedures got sent to several other agencies...including the prime contractor for the pump and NAVSEA. I'd give anything to be a fly on the wall when some of these people read "Mangletron 5000"...

I once invented a 'Pallet Plucker' for a large companys warehouse operations!

Top that!

rc

rcmodel said:

I once invented a 'Pallet Plucker' for a large companys warehouse operations!

Top that!

rc

Click to expand...

Niiiiice!

BBBBill said:

Think of it like bolting (or latching) the door. When you bolt (or latch) the door, you are securing it in position until you wish to unsecure it. Same with a revolver cylinder or rifle bolt. Vastly different appearance and a lot of differences in other ways, but the core function is the same.

Click to expand...

Thanks - that is a very good explanation. Even if you just made it up, it is quite rational and one that I will be using from now on.

Also the fact that, on early revolvers, they likely WERE bolts.

Naw!

They were hand filed screws then.

They hadn't invented bolts quite yet.
(Cept for door & garden gate bolts.)

So, we are truly lucky Colt cylinder bolts aren't called cylinder door screws by Colt, and cylinder garden gate bolts by Ruger.

Of course, S&W would have called them cylinder screw-tops out of necessity, just to be different then Colt & Ruger.

rc

Supposedly Peter Paul Mauser was inspired by the bolt on a gate, just as Sam Colt was said to have gotten his bright idea from a ratcheting hold on a ship's wheel.