Modern handguns have more or less converged on short recoil operating systems. That occupies the operating system of the vast majority of pistols. There are some direct blowback guns produced, but short recoil seems to rule the roost. Yet, every so often someone tries a little system called gas-delayed blowback.
Gas-delayed blowback guns don’t use a locked breech, but rather some form of piston to keep the action closed until the barrel leaves the bore and the pressure drops to safe levels. It seems like there is a bit of a running theme that every decade or so someone needs to release a gas-delayed blowback pistol.
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Notable examples include the famed HK P7, the Steyr GB, the Walther CCP, the Heritage Stealth, and of course the Laugo Alien. These guns often get a little attention for the gas-delayed blowback system, but never seem to become extremely popular.
My big question is why? What do these guns offer a short-recoil design? Why don’t they succeed? Well, let’s explore the gas-delayed design.
Benefits of a Gas-Delayed System
Gas-delayed blowback guns have a few benefits worth noting.
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First, because they are using a piston to keep the breech closed, you can have a very lightweight slide. A lighter slide means less reciprocating weight, which creates less recoil than a blowback-operated gun.
Compared to a short-recoil gun, the slide tends to stay closed slightly longer, and it accelerates more gradually, again creating less recoil. It’s a smoother, less abrupt impact.
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Next, these guns have fixed barrels. A fixed, unmoving barrel would be mechanically more accurate than a moving barrel. Straight blowback guns also often have fixed barrels and can claim the same accuracy benefit.
Gas-delayed blowback guns do have the ability to offer a very easy-to-rack gun. The gun doesn’t need a stiff recoil spring, so guns like the Walther CCP offer a slide that doesn’t take much force to operate.
Downsides Of These Guns
Of course, gas-delayed pistols have some downsides. The most notable being heat. The gas is bled off to the chamber beneath the barrel to press on the piston. This makes the dust cover area get quite warm quite fast. After 30 rounds fired rapidly, it becomes uncomfortable to hold. Not a huge deal for self-defense, but for training or competing it can be a literal pain.
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From a manufacturer standpoint, it doesn’t seem to scale as well to larger calibers. When HK made a .40 S&W version of the P7, it became a massive, chunky pistol. With 9mm being the accepted standard these days, it doesn’t seem to be that big of a problem.
So Why Is Gas Delayed So Rare?
The heat build-up is definitely a reason. People want a gun they can shoot comfortably. Serious shooters don’t want to deal with the heat of a gas-delayed gun. Non-serious shooters don’t care that much about a gun’s operating system.
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Besides heat, all the benefits of a gas system are only a minor improvement at most. Sure, they might be a hair more accurate, but it’s so minor it’s not likely to be noticed by most shooters. Plus, a lot more goes into making a gun accurate than a fixed barrel.
The slightly lighter recoil can be true, but again, more goes into felt recoil than an operating system. Size, weight, and recoil spring design all affect a gun’s recoil impulse. Compared to a short-recoil design, the difference is minimal.
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Some of these guns are easy to rack, but short-recoil handguns are also easy to rack, like the Shield EZ series.
Ultimately, the gas-delayed design doesn’t offer any significant benefits over short recoil, but has the significant downside of getting real toasty. It becomes a bit of a why question, and unless someone can do something truly fascinating with the concept, it will likely remain a somewhat uncommon operating system.
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