Gas Operated Firearms

In previous posts I have mentioned that some of the guns I have used were gas operated. So I thought that as well as the experienced shooter, I also need to accommodate someone who might not know a thing about guns. As such I will explain how gas operation works. A gas operated firearm is one that recycles the action via a small amount of gas taken from that, that is produced when the powder in the round is ignited, so pretty much when the gun is fired. What happens, is when the gun is fired the gas forces the projectile (the bullet) out the barrel, but at a point along the barrel there is a small hole that vents gas trapped behind the bullet into a chamber, which in turn forces a piston to move back, this unlocks the action, chambers a new round and resets the action ready to be fired again. This is a process of autoloading, as apposed to manual loading, where someone must manually reset the action, such as a bolt action firearm.

M16

I devoted a post to the AK-47, which I had the chance to shoot when I was in Thailand, but what I didn't mention was that I also was able to to shoot an M16A1. Before I go into the actual shooting I will look a little at its history. The M16 takes a 5.56mm calibre round, it is gas operated ( I'll go into that later) and is made of metals and composite plastics. The M16 is currently the standard issue assault rifle used in the U.S Army and has been since 1964. Okay now to what you're here for, the rifle is reasonably light (4.0 Kg loaded) and is easy to handle, if not a little bit long, when firing single shots, the recoil was light and manageable and it didn't have the slight jolt you felt when firing the AK. When I switched to fully automatic I had a bit of experience with fully auto so I handled it much better, all round it was easier to handle in full auto then its friend the Kalashnikov, and i managed to keep most of the rounds on the cardboard cutouts body so I went back to the hotel a happy tourist.
Below, top to bottom: M16A1, M16A2, M4, M16A4

AK-47

When I was in the country of Thailand. I had the opportunity to shoot an AK-47, and believe me I jumped at it. Shooting an automatic weapon for the first time is an experience you will never forget. I remember giving it a few test shots just to see how the recoil was, but the 7.62x39mm round is shorter than a .308 round with a projectile of the same diameter, so it was quite mild, so I thought this will be easy. I was wrong. As soon as I held down the trigger I almost immediately was thrown off target by the muzzle jump, and proceeded to quickly let go of the trigger, then looked to see the range master laughing his head off. Just a little embarrassing. Now with some experience, I tried again, and am happy to report I handled it much better then on my first go. I actually managed to pull together a reasonable group of 4 or 5 rounds on the targets chest. The fact that I managed to hit it was good enough, this is coming from someone who has been shooting since he was 6. Again just a little embarrassing. Seriously, It was very fun to shoot and I recommend trying it if you ever have the chance.