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Why?
What is the advantage of a pistol with a slide design vs that with a bolt design? I have never seen a pistol with a bolt design similar to that of a semi-auto rifle. Is there a reason that a bolt design would not work?
Sorry, it is just a random thing I have been thinking, and I was wondering if anyone knew.
A bolt requires a larger external structure to hold the bolt in place during action. A slide is the external structure, therefore the size of the weapon can be kept to a minimum. A semi-auto firearm requires either a gas or recoil collection mechanism to power the eject/reload action, with pistol-sized weapons a bolt action takes up too much real estate.
Bolts, like any externally protusive feature, have a tendency to catch and just generally be very ignorant little guys.
It was to a lesser extent the reason that many a fellow designed curved bolt handles for the rifle of his nation (Though the French, like the bolt, remained ignorant in this regard). Of course, even for beautiful, accurate and unblemished rifles such as the Mosin-Nagant in her various models, a straight bolt handle is hardly an issue in civilian use, but if one were to place such a contraption in the action of a pistol, well...
It would be like implementing a three foot diameter cast iron flywheel in the engine bay of your Corolla I suppose, just so everyone knew it was there.
This is not to imply to pistoliers are pansies, nor that those who drive Corollas are similarly impotent.
The slide on a semi-auto pistol is a form of bolt. In manually operated firearms the bolt is held fixed by locking lugs during firing, forcing all the expanding gas forward. In a semi-auto firearm the bolt cycles back and forth between shots propelled by recoil or expanding gas or the recoil spring.