Griz: very interesting. Browning wasn't tapping the exhaust gasses at all, he was tapping the gas *ahead* of the bullet! That would push the "flapper" open, which cycles the action. Amazing! I would NOT want to try that with a handgun but with a rifle, yeah, I can see how you might have enough gas volume to make it work. Browning's setup would have worked with black powder or smokeless, so...huh...I wonder if he had access to smokeless by 1892? Must have...he was a major figure connected with Winchester by then...
I'm primarily tapping exaust gasses, I think. So was Mondragon in Mexico, at least in lab specimens by 1892, so he was in some ways well ahead of Browning! His designs were influencial on the Garand later so...I have a lot of respect for Mondragon. And Browning too of course! But it appears Browning turned away from gas-powered operation and went to recoil-operated, which is great for handguns but not so good on rifles.
1892 is into the smokeless era if we're talking about rifles. The French Lebel of 1886 was the first rifle made for smokeless powder. Smokeless for handguns was delayed a few years but around 1895 Colt re-did the SAA to be smokeless-compatible.
Huh.
Come to think, I may be using some "front of the bullet" air as well as combustion gas. It hardly matters - I don't have any timing issues to deal with. All I care about is the empty getting shucked, I don't particularly care when in the firing cycle it happens, just so long as it does before I cock it again. I'd need access to high-speed photography to know what's really going on...
I'm primarily tapping exaust gasses, I think. So was Mondragon in Mexico, at least in lab specimens by 1892, so he was in some ways well ahead of Browning! His designs were influencial on the Garand later so...I have a lot of respect for Mondragon. And Browning too of course! But it appears Browning turned away from gas-powered operation and went to recoil-operated, which is great for handguns but not so good on rifles.
1892 is into the smokeless era if we're talking about rifles. The French Lebel of 1886 was the first rifle made for smokeless powder. Smokeless for handguns was delayed a few years but around 1895 Colt re-did the SAA to be smokeless-compatible.
Huh.
Come to think, I may be using some "front of the bullet" air as well as combustion gas. It hardly matters - I don't have any timing issues to deal with. All I care about is the empty getting shucked, I don't particularly care when in the firing cycle it happens, just so long as it does before I cock it again. I'd need access to high-speed photography to know what's really going on...
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