The "What Is This?" game

[Elmojo]

Can we get a rough size reference?

[ragecage23]

It's the roughly the size as a quarter.

[Janx101]

Magazine feed ramp thingy?  . ..... I used to know that word for real ;/

[Watcher]

Fold down sight.

[axexandru]

Hammer??

[ragecage23]

Nope nope nope

[ragecage23]

Magazine feed ramp thingy?  . ..... I used to know that word for real ;/

I think you're thinking about the follower.

[Janx101]

That's the one! Lol

[Elmojo]

Nah, the follower is attached to the bolt, and "follows" the cartridge. The feed ramp is what guides the loaded round out of the magazine into the chamber.
I figure we're got guessing right anyway, might as well learn something. lol 

[ragecage23]

No, the follower is normally a plastic piece attached to a spring inside the magazine.

[Elmojo]

That's a magazine follower, totally different thing than a bolt follower.
Mag followers are almost never metal, at least not heavy gauge like the part in the photo.
In any case, I have no clue what the mystery part is. Can we get a hint maybe?

[ragecage23]

Do you have a picture of the follower you're talking about? I'm curious now. As for another hint, it's hard giving one without giving it away. Hmmm, the mystery piece doesn't move and is a part of a handgun.

[Elmojo]

The most common follower is what everyone calls the Bolt Carrier on an AR-15 platform rifle.
Also, on an AK-type rifle, it looks like this...

[ragecage23]

Interesting. I don't own any rifles yet, so I wouldn't have known. Elmojo dropping knowledge...

[Watcher]

Elmojo, I've never heard of anything like that called a follower.  Even in the AK example, I'd still call it a bolt carrier.  It doesn't simply follow the bolt, it holds the bolt and directly influences it's manipulation by camming and such.

But potayto potahto.


I guess magazine disconnect (magazine safety, not release switch).

[Slack]

Never herd that called a follower either  (until just now of course, 1st time for everything)

It's a Locking Block?

[Elmojo]

Yeah, pretty much everyone (including the US army manual of arms for the M4 rifle) calls it a Bolt Carrier, but the "official" term, by the man who designed it, is "Bolt Follower".
You'll see the term 'bolt follower' used more often in auto shotguns, but it pretty much serves the same purpose.
Like you say, it matters not one bit in practical application, but that's kinda the point of this thread, right? lol

I'm ashamed to admit that I still have no clue what the mystery piece is.

- Appears to be stainless
- is a pistol part
- does not move
- is about the size of a quarter

wait....is it an ejector?

Edit: I see that Watcher guessed ejector, but I never saw where rage said yes or no to that...
Edit Edit: Actually, rage did say that ejector is wrong. Dang it, back to the drawing board... 

[mennobike]

I'm wondering if it's the upper trigger plate. (what I mean by that is the bit through which the trigger would descend. The trigger guard would be attached to this thing, I guess?)

[Watcher]

I think I got it.

It's a slide rail.  Steel insert for a plastic framed handgun like a glock for the slide to ride on.

[ragecage23]

Slack got it. It's a locking block. Take it away!