2 Nov 21

 
“Fail-Safe machines can be truly tested only once:
 
The single time they’re actually used!”
 
Eugene Burdick
 
Fail-safe
 
Most guns feature some kind of “fail-safe” design that prevents broken parts of the gun from flying back at the shooter in the event of a catastrophic rupture (usually caused by a bore obstruction) as the weapon is fired.
 
This is the reason most autoloading pistols dissemble by taking the slide off the front of the frame, rather than the rear.
 
This is also the reason for the extra “safety lug” on rear of the bolt on Mauser bolt-action system. It is not a “head-spacing” lug as are the ones at the front of the bolt. It is there just to catch the bolt when the front lugs fail (shear off), thus preventing the bolt from shooting back into the shooter’s face.
 
Most modern military rifles are also designed so that errant gas from unintended gas leakage (ruptured case within the chamber) is actually captured, channeled, and vented in such a way as to minimize injury to the shooter.
 
Most of the foregoing is not something the average consumer is even aware of, but it is ruminated constantly by design engineers.
 
/John