ALL ABOUT GUNS DICTIONARY-U
Underlever -- A lever found on the underside of a firearm that opens the action. Underlevers are normally associated with falling-block single shot rifles and break-open double-barrelled shotguns but they have been used on a wide variety of firearms, -- June 10, 2014
U.S. Naval Special Operations Weapon (SOW) -- Experimental, gas operated, selective-fire, 12 gauge shotgun developed in 1970 by Carroll D. Childers at the U.S. Naval Surface Weapons Center, Dahlgren, VA. According to The World's Fighting Shotguns, vol. IV, pgs 407-414 by Thomas F. Swearingen, the SOW was originally meant to be produced in two versions. The first prototype was designed to feed rounds from a 20 round box magazine while the second prototype was intended to be a belt-fed weapon. An unusual feature of the SOW was the use of a stationary breechblock, coupled with a barrel that moved back and forth, to operate the mechanism. Only the box magazine version of the SOW prototype was made before the program was discontinued. A U.S. patent (#3.736.839) for the SOW was issued on June 5, 1973. -- January 1, 2015
Copyright January 2015 John Swikart
