LogFAQs > #888844715

helIy posted...

Zeus posted...

That's overlooking that there are semi-auto handuns.

pretty much every single pistol is semi-auto.

there's the rare revolver that's a single shot, but those are few and far between.

i actually own one!

semi-automatic just means that, when you cock it and pull the trigger it uses the recoil to re-cock itself.

No revolvers are semi-automatic. Even the double action modern revolvers are not considered semi-automatic.

You are correct, though, the semi-automatic means energy is used from the last discharge to re-cock the hammer, and it extracts, ejects, and loads the next available cartridge in the chamber with the same movement.

There is a rare exception where a double-action only pistol (DAO) does not cock the hammer back after each shot (because it does not have a single-action trigger position with the hammer) which is still considered semi-automatic because of the extract/eject/feed mechanism, but those are pretty rare as well.