Читать книгу The Gun Digest Book of .22 Rimfire. Rifles·Pistols·Ammunition онлайн

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In terms of the number of units sold, the most popular type of action for rimfire rifles is that known as the semiautomatic, self-loading, or auto-loading type. The bolt is held in the forward position by a strong spring known as the recoil spring. When the rifle is fired, the impulse transferred from the cartridge head to the bolt forces the bolt to the rear, which cocks the action. As the bolt is pushed forward by the recoil spring, it takes with it a cartridge from the magazine, which can be of either the vertical box, rotary, or tubular type. A rifle that operates this way is often called an “automatic”, but this term strictly applies to a rifle type that fires the next shot simply by holding the trigger back. With the self-loading or semiautomatic rifle, loading is automatically accomplished after each shot, but the trigger must be released and pulled for each shot.

Each type of action has some advantages and disadvantages. The bolt-action is the slowest to operate because the shooter’s hand must be removed from the grip, the handle grasped, the bolt turned and pulled back, then pushed forward and closed. With the pump and lever-actions, only a back and forth motion is required. With the autoloader, the trigger must be released and then pulled for the next shot. However, bolt-action rifles are generally more accurate, and as a result most accurate sporting and target rifles have that type action. Some target rifles are extremely accurate autoloaders. Today, the boltaction and semiautomatic rifles are by far the most popular rimfires and there is an extensive selection of rifles of each type. Before making a selection, handle rifles having different types of actions and evaluate them in terms of your anticipated use. You may be surprised to find how far down the list of criteria that rate of fire ranks in terms of importance. If you want a rifle that is a real tack driver, you will probably select a bolt-action or one of the target autoloaders that are becoming more popular.