In firearms terminology, an action is the functional mechanism of a breech-loading firearm that handles the ammunition cartridges, or the method by which that mechanism works. Actions are technically not present on muzzleloaders, as all those are single-shot firearms with a closed off breech with the powder and projectile manually loaded from the muzzle. Instead, the muzzleloader ignition mechanism is referred to as the lock.
The Colt AR-15 is a lightweight, magazine-fed, gas-operated semi-automatic rifle. It is a semi-automatic version of the M16 rifle sold for the civilian and law enforcement markets in the United States. The AR in AR-15 stands for "ArmaLite Rifle", after the company that developed it in the 1950s. Colt's Manufacturing Company currently owns the AR-15 trademark for its line of semi-automatic AR-15 rifles.
The Steyr AUG is an Austrian bullpup assault rifle chambered for the 5.56×45mm NATO intermediate cartridge, designed in the 1960s by Steyr-Daimler-Puch, and now manufactured by Steyr Arms GmbH & Co KG.
The M4 carbine is a 5.56×45mm NATO, select-fire, gas-operated, magazine-fed assault rifle and carbine developed in the United States during the 1980s. It is a shortened version of the M16A2 assault rifle.
The SKS is a semi-automatic rifle designed by Soviet small arms designer Sergei Gavrilovich Simonov in 1945.
The Hakim Rifle is a gas operated semi-automatic rifle. It was originally designed by Sweden and produced as the Ag m/42 for the Swedish Army. The tooling and design were later sold to Egypt, and the Hakim was produced there during the 1950s and early 1960s. It was replaced in the mid-1960s by the Maadi AK-47 but was stored in military reserve arsenals. In more recent years, it has been observed in use by some Egyptian police units. Around 70,000 were made.
The Mini-14 is a lightweight semi-automatic rifle manufactured by Sturm, Ruger & Co. Introduced in 1973, the design was outwardly based on the M14 rifle and is, in appearance, a scaled-down version chambered in 5.56×45mm NATO, though with its own gas system design.
The Heckler & Koch G3 is a select-fire battle rifle chambered in 7.62×51mm NATO developed in the 1950s by the German firearms manufacturer Heckler & Koch, in collaboration with the Spanish state-owned firearms manufacturer CETME. The G3 was the service rifle of the German Bundeswehr until it was replaced by the Heckler & Koch G36 in the 1990s, and was adopted into service with numerous other countries.
The Type 56 is a Chinese 7.62×39mm automatic rifle, a licensed derivative of the Soviet-designed AK-47.
The FN F2000 is a 5.56×45mm NATO bullpup rifle, designed by FN Herstal in Belgium. Its compact bullpup design includes a telescopic sight, a non-adjustable fixed notch and front blade secondary sight. The weapon has fully ambidextrous controls, allowed by a unique ejection system, ejecting spent cartridge casings forward and to the right side of the weapon, through a tube running above the barrel. The F2000 made its debut in March 2001 at the IDEX defence exhibition held in Abu Dhabi, in the United Arab Emirates.
The FNSCAR is a family of gas-operated short-stroke gas piston automatic rifles developed by Belgian manufacturer FN Herstal (FN) in 2004. It is constructed with modularity for the United States Special Operations Command (SOCOM) to satisfy the requirements of the SCAR competition. This family of rifles consists of two main types. The SCAR-L, for "light", is chambered in 5.56×45mm NATO and the SCAR-H, for "heavy", is chambered in 7.62×51mm NATO. Both types are available in Close Quarters Combat (CQC), Standard (STD), and Long Barrel (LB) variants.
The Type 81 is a Chinese-designed selective-fire, gas-operated 7.62×39mm assault rifle based on Kalashnikov and SKS actions adopted by the People's Liberation Army (PLA) and has been in service since the mid-1980s. It was designed as a replacement to both the Type 56 assault rifle, as well as the Type 63 assault rifle, mostly being a further development and design improvement over the Type 63. Later, the Type 81 would be used under the designation Type 87 as testing for the PLA's new 5.8x42mm firearms, namely the QBZ-95.
The RK 95 TP, officially 7.62 RK 95 TP and commercially known as the M95, is a 7.62×39mm Finnish assault rifle adopted in relatively small numbers by the Finnish Defence Forces in the 1990s.
The T65 is a rifle developed and manufactured by the Combined Logistics Command of the Republic of China Armed Forces in Taiwan. Originally patterned after the Armalite AR-18 that has a short-stroke gas system, the prototype unveiled in 1975 showed a rifle that is heavily influenced by the AR-15 family of rifles, albeit with modified iron sights, a reshaped stock, and redesigned handguards. The designated number '65' refers to the Year 65 of Republic of China (1976), the year the rifle's design was finalized.
The SG 550 is an assault rifle manufactured by SIG Sauer AG in Switzerland. "SG" is an abbreviation for Sturmgewehr. The rifle is based on the earlier 5.56×45mm NATO SIG SG 540.
The FN FNC is a 5.56×45mm NATO assault rifle developed by the Belgian arms manufacturer FN Herstal and introduced in the late 1970s.
The Beretta ARX160 is an Italian modular assault rifle manufactured by Beretta. Developed for the Italian Armed Forces as part of the Soldato Futuro program, the ARX160 was launched in 2008 as a commercial weapon system independent from the Soldato Futuro ensemble, complete with a companion single-shot 40×46mm NATO low-velocity grenade launcher, called the GLX160, which can be mounted underneath the rifle or used with an ad hoc stock system as a stand-alone weapon.
The Automatgevär m/42 is a Swedish semi-automatic rifle which saw limited use by the Swedish Army from 1942 until the 1960s.
The Adaptive Combat Rifle (ACR) is a modular assault rifle formerly designed by Magpul Industries of Austin, Texas, and known initially as the Masada.
Tilting bolt action is a type of locking mechanism often used in self-loading firearms and, rarely, in straight-pull repeating rifles. Essentially, the design consists of a moving bolt driven by some mechanism, most often a piston with gas pressure from the gas port behind the muzzle. The bolt drops down into receiver recess and locks on bolt closing. Tilting the bolt up and down locks-unlocks in the breech. This tilting allows gas pressure in the barrel from firing the gun to lower to safe levels before the cartridge case is ejected.
