Talk:Magazine (firearms)/Archives/2009/November

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Reloading and "Locking Slide"

I think that I know a little about guns, but I have never known what it is called when the slide of the gun locks back when it is out of ammo. What is that called? Isn't the process of returning that slide that there is a lever on the gun that will make the slide retract? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 84.229.9.206 (talk) 22:38, 5 April 2007 (UTC).

Locking the slide to the rear is normally done by a small protrusion on the magazine follower (the piece in the magazine on top of the spring that pushes on the cartridges). This protrusion engages a small lever on the frame/receiver and locks it to the rear. Most of these locking devices can also be engaged manually. It is usually called a slide lock or bolt catch. Not all semi-automatic firearms have this feature.--SEWalk (talk) 18:31, 6 November 2009 (UTC)