an arguement for the open bolt

[SlartyBartFast]

Who says that on a closed-bolt gun that the bolt HAS to stay open if the trigger is held back?

As long as the bolt feeds a ball and closes the breech, stops, and then the valve opens, it's still closed bolt. You could set up an electro-cocker to have an open breech before a trigger is pulled, then close the breech, and then finally open the valve. It's still closed bolt, with as much breech open time as you want like a Spyder.

Umm, isn't that what I said?

But, NO you don't get as much breech open time as your want like an open bolt. In open bolt, you always have the MAXIMUM open time. In closed bolt, the open time is dependant on the trigger or timing that is set best for maximum firing rate or for most reliable feed rate (or somewhere in between).