semiautomatic pistol

semiautomatic pistol, handgun that utilizes either recoil or blowback to discharge the empty cartridge, reload, and cock the piece after each shot. The semiautomatic pistol dates from the very late 19th century, when developments in ammunition made possible cartridges and bullets that would feed or cycle smoothly through an autoloading mechanism.

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There are few pistols that are fully automatic—that is, capable of cycling and discharging a magazine of cartridges with a single squeeze of the trigger. Though often termed “automatic,” the common semiautomatic pistol fires only one shot at each pull of the trigger. Unlike semiautomatic rifles and shotguns, semiautomatic pistols are virtually never operated by combustion gases. Rather, they most often employ the blowback mode of operation in which the breechblock or bolt is locked in firing position but is free to be thrust backward by the same burst of energy that propels the bullet forward. The rearward thrust ejects the spent cartridge from the chamber, while storing energy in a spring which in turn projects the bolt assembly forward and injects a fresh cartridge into the chamber.

In the recoil method of operation, the breechblock is locked to the barrel at the moment of firing. Thus, when the recoil of the gun forces the barrel rearward, the breechblock moves with it. As soon as the pressure of gases in the barrel has diminished to a safe level, the breechblock is unlocked from the barrel and continues moving backward while the barrel stops its movement. The rearward motion ejects the spent cartridge and loads a spring which pushes the breechblock assembly forward again, thereby loading, cocking, and locking the piece to fire again.

Semiautomatic pistols are valued because they can hold more ammunition in their magazines than revolvers can in their cylinders and because of their superior rapidity of fire. Except for target guns, however, their accuracy is significantly less than that of revolvers in practiced hands. Also, it is not possible to tell at a glance whether a semiautomatic pistol is loaded, as is possible with a revolver. Semiautomatic pistols are chambered in sizes ordinarily ranging from .22 to .45 calibre and their metric equivalents.