Dear AH friends,
Seeing a recently started thread on pump rifles, and having read many threads on lever rifles, one topic always comes up, when adding big calibers into the mix: "Lever or pump action rifles do no have a strong enough action, for the .375 and up calibers".
I've always wondered about why this would be? Imagine any straight pull rifle, for example the venerable Blaser R8. What would be the difference in operating the bolt with a lever or pump slide, instead of the side attached bolt "lever". As far as I can tell, no part of the strength of the bolt mating and locking into the barrel, is coming from how the bolt is being operated. It comes from the locking lugs in one form or the other.
Perhaps someone can explain to my simple mind, why no one ever built something like this? The R8 and many other straight pull rifles have more than proven to be strong enough to be used with up to .50 calibers (.500 Jeffery). What if the bolt assembly would move forward and back, not due to a "lever" attached to the side, but rather operated like a levergun, or a pump action of sorts?
This is mostly an academic question (the answer being that there is not much demand for such) but it still begs the question why no one technically could do this.
Looking forward to your input!
V.
Seeing a recently started thread on pump rifles, and having read many threads on lever rifles, one topic always comes up, when adding big calibers into the mix: "Lever or pump action rifles do no have a strong enough action, for the .375 and up calibers".
I've always wondered about why this would be? Imagine any straight pull rifle, for example the venerable Blaser R8. What would be the difference in operating the bolt with a lever or pump slide, instead of the side attached bolt "lever". As far as I can tell, no part of the strength of the bolt mating and locking into the barrel, is coming from how the bolt is being operated. It comes from the locking lugs in one form or the other.
Perhaps someone can explain to my simple mind, why no one ever built something like this? The R8 and many other straight pull rifles have more than proven to be strong enough to be used with up to .50 calibers (.500 Jeffery). What if the bolt assembly would move forward and back, not due to a "lever" attached to the side, but rather operated like a levergun, or a pump action of sorts?
This is mostly an academic question (the answer being that there is not much demand for such) but it still begs the question why no one technically could do this.
Looking forward to your input!
V.
