>>70579>But what is powering the mechanism in handguns?They're recoil operated.
Same amount of recoil hitting the gun in your hand, then hitting your hand, is applied forward to the bullet. That's right - movies are wrong, getting shot doesn't send you flying back. Ever.
Most recoil operated guns using large rounds have too much energy, or there's too much pressure, and pieces would break. There's a few ways around that, too - H&K G3/CETME, M2 .50 cal browning machine gun are examples.
Handguns use the recoil energy to push the slide back. Basically, there's a hammer that hits the firing pin, or a firing pin on a spring. The firing pin hits the primer, which creates fire. The fire goes through a little hole or two to reach the powder and ignite it. Powder burns, it doesn't explode, and when it burns, it produces gas. Lots of it. That gas pushes forward on the bullet, which obviously means the bullet is pushing back with equal force - recoil, to operate the slide - as it is the only thing holding all the pressure into the closed bolt face and chamber.
Most pistols use the 1911 style tilt lock, so the barrel is locked into the slide for the shot and the first little bit of travel. As the slide comes back, the barrel drops down, releasing from the slide, and tilting the front of the barrel up/back of the barrel down.
Some pistols use roller-lock, or no lock. I have a CZ-52 that's roller locked - very odd system. The Desert Eagle is gas operated, rotating-bolt locked, like an M-16. The PPK has no lock - just spring tension and inertia of the slide holding round in chamber.
The German Luger? recoil operated, but weird as hell. The barrel moves back when the bolt moves back. There's a bendable arm - two pieces - that you'd pull on the center of the break to rack the pistol. Pretty crazy.
