The bolt is the part that feeds the cartridge into the chamber. It houses the firing pin and ejector, and the extractor is attached to the exterior (usually with a pin, so as to allow the extractor to grip the rim of the cartridge case).
It is an integral part of a firearm's operation; without the bolt (or an equivalent), it cannot fire.
Bolt designs[]
Telescoping bolt[]
A telescoping bolt is a bolt that wraps around the breech end of the barrel. This bolt design is often used to reduce overall weapon length without sacrificing barrel length or bolt weight.
Turn bolt[]
A turn bolt refers to a firearm component that where the whole bolt without using a bolt carrier turns to lock/unlock. This is mostly used to describe manually operated bolt action firearms, but also on some automatic firearms.
Rotating bolt[]
A rotating bolt is a bolt that locks into a barrel extension via use of lugs and using a bolt carrier. There is always a slot milled out for a cam pin in the bolt carrier in order to facilitate the rotating of the bolt itself as it locks into the barrel extension.