The Peabody action was an early form of breechloading firearm action, where the heavy breechblock tilted downwards across a bolt mounted in the rear of the breechblock, operated by a lever under the rifle. The Peabody action most often used an external hammer to fire the cartridge.
Peabody rifle from the collection of Armémuseum, the Swedish Army Museum. This rifle took part in the 1866 Norwegian-Swedish rifle trials.
Peabody action
Peabody rifle, model 1867, cal .41 (10.4 mm) Swiss. On display at Musée Militaire Vaudois, 1110 Morges, Switzerland.
In firearms terminology, an action is the functional mechanism of a breech-loading firearm that handles the ammunition cartridges, or the method by which that mechanism works. Actions are technically not present on muzzleloaders, as all those are single-shot firearms with a closed off breech with the powder and projectile manually loaded from the muzzle. Instead, the muzzleloader ignition mechanism is referred to as the lock.
A view of the break-action of a typical double-barreled shotgun, with the action open and the extractor visible. The opening lever and the safety catch are clearly visible.
Smith and Wesson M&P revolver
Barreled action for bolt-action rifle
U.S. M1895 Lee Navy straight-pull rifle