A bottom metal is a

firearm A firearm is any type of gun designed to be readily carried and used by an individual. The term is legally defined further in different countries (see Legal definitions). The first firearms originated in 10th-century China, when bamboo tubes ...

component typically made of

metal A metal (from ancient Greek, Greek μέταλλον ''métallon'', "mine, quarry, metal") is a material that, when freshly prepared, polished, or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electrical resistivity and conductivity, e ...

lic material (such as

aluminium alloy An aluminium alloy (or aluminum alloy; see spelling differences) is an alloy in which aluminium (Al) is the predominant metal. The typical alloying elements are copper, magnesium, manganese, silicon, tin, nickel and zinc. There are two pr ...

steel Steel is an alloy made up of iron with added carbon to improve its strength and fracture resistance compared to other forms of iron. Many other elements may be present or added. Stainless steels that are corrosion- and oxidation-resistan ...

), that serves as the floor of the

action Action may refer to: * Action (narrative), a literary mode * Action fiction, a type of genre fiction * Action game, a genre of video game Film * Action film, a genre of film * ''Action'' (1921 film), a film by John Ford * ''Action'' (1980 fil ...

and also helps to clamp the receiver onto the

stock In finance, stock (also capital stock) consists of all the shares by which ownership of a corporation or company is divided.Longman Business English Dictionary: "stock - ''especially AmE'' one of the shares into which ownership of a compan ...

. The bottom metal also frequently incorporates the

trigger guard A trigger guard is a protective loop surrounding the trigger of a firearm designed to prevent unwanted contact with the trigger, which may cause an accidental discharge. Other devices that use a trigger-like actuator mechanism, such as inhaler ...

, for instance on the

Mauser 98 The Gewehr 98 (abbreviated G98, Gew 98, or M98) is a German bolt-action rifle made by Mauser, firing cartridges from a five-round internal clip-loaded magazine. It was the German service rifle from 1898 to 1935, when it was replaced by the K ...

and

M1 Garand The M1 Garand or M1 rifleOfficially designated as U.S. rifle, caliber .30, M1, later simply called Rifle, Caliber .30, M1, also called US Rifle, Cal. .30, M1 is a semi-automatic rifle that was the service rifle of the U.S Army during World W ...

, although a trigger guard by itself is ''not'' considered a bottom metal. In

repeating firearm A repeating firearm or repeater is any firearm (either a handgun or long gun) that is capable of being fired repeatedly before having to manually reload new ammunition into the weapon. Unlike single-shot firearms, which can only hold and fir ...

s with internal magazines, the bottom metal serves as the magazine floorplate and contains the

spring Spring(s) may refer to: Common uses * Spring (season), a season of the year * Spring (device), a mechanical device that stores energy * Spring (hydrology), a natural source of water * Spring (mathematics), a geometric surface in the shape of a h ...

and follower, either as a fixed solid piece or can be opened like a

hinge A hinge is a mechanical bearing that connects two solid objects, typically allowing only a limited angle of rotation between them. Two objects connected by an ideal hinge rotate relative to each other about a fixed axis of rotation: all other ...

d door. Bottom metals designed to accept detachable magazines are called detachable bottom metals (DBM), and contains a rectangular reception slot called the ''magazine well'', with a

latch A latch or catch (called sneck in Northern England and Scotland) is a type of mechanical fastener that joins two (or more) objects or surfaces while allowing for their regular separation. A latch typically engages another piece of hardware on t ...

mechanism that securely holds the inserted magazine in place.

Single-shot Single-shot firearms are firearms that hold only a single round of ammunition, and must be reloaded manually after every shot. The history of firearms began with single-shot designs, then multi-barreled designs appeared, and eventually many cent ...

firearms (e.g. SIG Sauer 200 STR) typically do not have bottom metals, and modern firearms with metallic chassis (e.g.

SIG Sauer CROSS The SIG Sauer CROSS is a light-weight bolt-action rifle manufactured by SIG Sauer's North American branch headquartered in Newington, New Hampshire in the United States, as a "precision hunting rifle" designed to "meet the demands of both precisi ...

) do not have separate bottom metals as its function is already integrated into the chassis. Aftermarket bottom metals are available commercially for various models of modern firearms. It is not uncommon to see a firearm with internal magazine (e.g. a

Remington 700 The Remington Model 700 is a series of bolt-action centerfire rifles manufactured by Remington Arms since 1962. It is a development of the Remington 721 and 722 series of rifles, which were introduced in 1948. The M24 and M40 military sniper ...

rifle) being modified to accept various models of detachable box magazines (e.g. an AICS magazine), simply by replacing the factory bottom metal with an aftermarket one.

References

{{Firearms Firearm components

See also

References