What is a bolt action rifle? What we know about the gun used to kill Charlie Kirk

The gun recovered by officers in the assassination of Charlie Kirk was a bolt-action rifle a common hunting weapon valued for its reliability but limited to a single shot before reloading Unlike a semi-automatic the shooter must manually operate the bolt handle to cycle the weapon lifting and pulling it back moves the spent cartridge while pushing it forward chambers a new round from the magazine Lowering the bolt locks the round and seals the chamber making the rifle ready to fire again a simple durable design that has kept it popular among hunters and target shooters CHARLIE KIRK ASSASSINATION SUSPECT EVADES MANHUNT AS INVESTIGATORS RECOVER RIFLE IN WOODED AREA This process limits the rate of fire you can only take one shot at a time explained Retired Marine Lt Col Hal Kempfer in an interview with Fox News Digital Kempfer noted that with a bolt-action rifle the spent cartridge often remains in the chamber rather than being ejected meaning shooters don t leave behind shell casings or brass that investigators can use for forensics That's just one of those things where you if you've thought it through you know that you can't leave any forensic evidence for investigators to work with he revealed On Thursday personnel stated they recovered the rifle used to assassinate Kirk in the woods near the scene where investigators believe the shooter abandoned it while fleeing to evade law enforcement COMPLETE COVERAGE OF CHARLIE KIRK They're gonna be doing a lot of work on the forensics of this weapon as these firearms tend to have a history he mentioned adding that investigators will try to trace where it was sold and how it changed hands It s manageable the shooter used a straw buyer or another method to conceal their identity but that s the kind of legwork investigators will now have to do to track the shooter Kempfer explained Kempfer who served as an intelligence officer in the U S Marine Corps explained that the fatal shot was not a particularly formidable one but does take planning VIGILS HELD ACROSS US AFTER ASSASSINATION OF CHARLIE KIRK 'WE MUST HEAL' You wouldn't have to be specific expert sniper or something hunters take this shot all the time he commented adding that the distance clear weather and elevated position all worked to the shooter s advantage