Comments by "" (@neutronalchemist3241) on "Shooting a VG1-5 (Gustloffwerke) Rifle" video.

In reality much of the difference you see in respect to the STG 44 is given by the high bore axis of the Volkssturmgewehr and not by the action itself.
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@thomaszhang3101 To call this, and the Steyr GB for that matter, "gas delayed" is a far stretch. In reality, in those guns, the gas does nothing to delay the opening of the action. The bullet leaves the barrel well before enough pressure builds up into the piston to delay the opening. The piston only acts as a pneumatic brake, to slow down the slide and prevent it slamming into the receiver too harshly (that would enhance the felt recoil and reduce the life of the weapon).
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@vthegoose In case of the P7 the gas is taken directly in front of the combustion chamber, and the gas piston is smaller, so the gas can really have a role in delaying the opening of the action. Hovever is revealing that the system, despite being quite simple, is not used by any rifle-cartridge action. Even in case of the P7 the action is mostly a pure blowback, with the piston mostly acting as a pneumatic brake, to slow down the slide and prevent it slamming into the receiver too harshly
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Precisely. the Steyr GB pistol works the same way. They use gas as a recoil buffer.
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