Biggles Wrote:I'm pretty sure that the P11 and P40 both have locked breeches. Go to their web site to see a schematic.
They have what they
CALL a locked breech, but a locked breech it ain't. Quasi-locked breech is the best I will give it, and only because it's the same as semi-blow-back -- two ways of saying the same thing.
To be absolutely precise, a true locked breech pistol is one where the action remains in position (locked) throughout the entire firing process, like a single-shot, or break action pistol. The Thompson Center Contender is a good example of this. In rifles, lever action, bolt action, falling block, and rolling block, are examples of manually operated locked breech actions, as are side-by-side, over/under, and pump action shotguns. The M-1 Garand, M-1 Carbine, M-14, M-16/AR-15, and such, are examples of gas operated locked breech actions. The Desert Eagle is a good example of gas operated locked breech action in a pistol. Revolvers are also examples of locked-breech action.
The Kel-Tec is an example of a quasi-locked breech, as the slide and barrel start moving back in a unit the instant the cartridge is fired, and start to seperate after the slide has moved back an eighth of an inch or so, whereupon the barrel drops, stops its rearward motion, and the slide continues the extraction/ejection process. It is not a true locked breech design because the barrel/slide combination are in motion while the bullet is still in the barrel.
Kel-Tec calls it a locked breech for purposes of ... I can't find the word ... I'm looking for the word ... I've found the word ... MARKETING!
Hope this helps.
Ken V.