ALL ABOUT GUNS DICTIONARY-L
Lauf -- German language term for gun barrel. -- November 2, 2014
Loaded chamber indicator -- A device normally found on autoloading handguns that provides a visual or tactile indicator of a chambered cartridge. -- October 2, 2016
Lock time -- The time span, usually measured in milliseconds, between the moment when the sear releases the striker, firing pin or hammer and the moment the primer is struck. -- April 9, 2014
Loewe, Ludwig (b. Nov. 27, 1837 - d. Sept. 11, 1886) -- German industrialist and founder of Ludwig Loewe & Co., A.G. As documented by Ludwig Olson in Mauser Bolt Rifles, pg. 19, Loewe’s firm got its start as a machine tool manufacturer and in January 1870 began making sewing machines. The company also made .44 caliber Smith & Wesson revolvers for the Russian government in the 1870s and made machinery for Mauser’s Oberndorf factory. Ludwig Loewe & Co., A.G. acquired several gun, ammunition and powder manufacturers during its existence, including all of Mauser and over half of Fabrique Nationale d’Armes de Guerre (aka FN). On November 7, 1896 Ludwig Loewe & Co., A.G. was renamed Deutsche Waffen und Munitionsfabriken A.G. (aka DWM). -- November 5, 2014
Long recoil -- Firearm mechanism that relies upon the recoil energy created by a discharged round to operate. A long recoil firearm fires from a closed breech and has a bolt that travels backward, locked to the barrel, for the length of the entire cartridge. When the bolt and barrel reach the end of their rearward travel, a spring pushes the barrel forward while the bolt stays locked to the rear. Once the barrel returns to battery and the fired round is ejected, the bolt is unlocked and is pushed forward by another spring, feeding a round into the chamber. A detailed description of the long recoil system can be found in The Machine Gun, vol. IV, Part X, pgs 66-87 by George M. Chinn, Lieutenant Colonel, USMCR. Long recoil systems are most commonly utilized in large-caliber firearms, normally 20mm or larger, but one of the most common examples of a long recoil firearm is the John Browning designed Browning Auto-5 semiautomatic shotgun (original version) and its near-clone, the Remington Model 11. The Franchi 48 AL semiautomatic shotgun is currently the only mass-produced, long recoil shotgun available in the United States. -- May 2, 2016
Copyright October 2016 John Swikart
