U.S. patent number 3,736,686 [Application Number 05/153,349] was granted by the patent office on 1973-06-05 for automatic hand firearm with interchangeable magazine.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Heckler & Koch GmbH. Invention is credited to Dieter Ketterer, Tilo Moller.
United States Patent |
3,736,686 |
Moller , et al. |
June 5, 1973 |
AUTOMATIC HAND FIREARM WITH INTERCHANGEABLE MAGAZINE
Abstract
An automatic firearm is provided with a magazine support
structure which is fixed to the firearm and which includes magazine
engaging lips located in the firearm in the conventional position,
and a cartridge feeder member which is displaceable in the support
structure by a feeder spring disposed at the free end of the
support structure. The support structure has a lateral opening for
inserting therein a magazine containing cartridges. Means are
provided for releasably closing the opening. A flat tubular
magazine is disclosed which is open at both ends, one of which is
adapted to be engaged and secured by the magazine lips, the other
one is arranged to be entered by the feeder member for delivering
the cartridges to the breech. The magazine may be used as a
packaging container for the cartridges.
Inventors: |
Moller; Tilo (7238 Oberndorf,
DT), Ketterer; Dieter (7238 Oberndorf,
DT) |
Assignee: |
Heckler & Koch GmbH
(Oberndorf (Neckar), DT)
|
Family
ID: |
5774387 |
Appl.
No.: |
05/153,349 |
Filed: |
June 15, 1971 |
Foreign Application Priority Data
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Jun 19, 1970 [DT] |
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P 20 30 228.7 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
42/6; 42/50 |
Current CPC
Class: |
F41A
9/67 (20130101); F41A 9/83 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
F41A
9/67 (20060101); F41A 9/00 (20060101); F41A
9/83 (20060101); F41c 025/00 (); F41c 025/02 () |
Field of
Search: |
;42/6,50,87,88 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Foreign Patent Documents
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404,877 |
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Jan 1934 |
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GB |
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111,381 |
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Aug 1925 |
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CH |
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647,847 |
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Jul 1937 |
|
DD |
|
Primary Examiner: Borchelt; Benjamin A.
Assistant Examiner: Jordan; C. T.
Claims
What we claim is:
1. An automatic hand firearm having a magazine support structure
fixed thereto and projecting therefrom, said support structure
being in the form of a magazine duct comprising magazine lips
located at the upper firearm end of said support structure, a
feeder spring means disposed at the lower opposite end of said
support structure, a cartridge feeder member displaceable in said
support structure by said feeder spring means, and an opening in
said support structure intermediate said ends thereof for receiving
therein an interchangeable magazine for accommodating cartridges,
said magazines having two open ends, one of said ends being adapted
to be engaged by said magazine lips, and the other one of said ends
being arranged to be entered by said feeder member, and a hollow
end member being disposed in the lower end of the magazine duct and
having the walls thereof flush with the walls of an inserted
magazine.
2. A hand firearm according to claim 1, wherein a cable projects
out of the lower end of the magazine duct and is attached to the
feeder member.
3. A hand firearm according to claim 2, wherein the magazine duct
is provided with a bottom member on which the feeder spring
constructed as a helical compression spring is supported and the
cable extends through an opening in the bottom member.
4. A hand firearm according to claim 2, wherein the magazine duct
is surrounded by a sleeve which is telescopically displaceable
thereon.
5. A hand firearm according to 4, wherein the cable attached to the
feeder member is attached to the lower end of the sleeve which is
closed by a cover.
6. An automatic hand firearm according to claim 1, wherein the
interchangeable magazine is of substantially uniform cross-section
and hollow construction to provide a space for accommodating
cartridges, said magazine also serving as a packaging container for
said cartridges.
7. A magazine according to claim 6, wherein a resilient rail which
has depressions arranged to suit cartridges inserted therein, is
disposed on the inside of at least one side wall of the hollow
body.
8. An automatic hand firearm having a magazine support structure
fixed thereto and projecting therefrom, said support structure
being in the form of a magazine duct comprising magazine lips
located at the upper firearm end of said support structure, a
feeder spring means disposed at the lower opposite end of said
support structure, a cartridge feeder member displaceable in said
support structure by said feeder spring means, and an opening in
said support structure intermediate said ends thereof for receiving
therein an interchangeable magazine for accommodating cartridges,
said magazine having two open ends, one of said ends being adapted
to be engaged by said magazine lips, and the other one of said ends
being arranged to be entered by said feeder member, and the
magazine duct being surrounded by a sleeve which is telescopically
displaceable thereon.
9. An automatic hand firearm having a magazine support structure
fixed thereto and projecting therefrom, said support structure
being in the form of a magazine duct comprising magazine lips
located at the upper firearm end of said support structure, a
feeder spring means disposed at the lower opposite end of said
support structure, a cartridge feeder member displaceable in said
support structure by said feeder spring means, and an opening in
said support structure intermediate said ends thereof for receiving
therein an interchangeable magazine for accommodating cartridges,
said magazine having two open ends, one of said ends being adapted
to be engaged by said magazine lips, and the other one of said ends
being arranged to be entered by said feeder member, a sleeve
surrounding the magazine duct and being displaceable thereon, the
sleeve being closed at the lower end thereof by cover means, and a
cable projecting out of the lower end of the magazine duct, the
cable being attached to the feeder member and the lower end of the
sleeve.
10. A hand firearm according to claim 9, wherein the sleeve is
detainable on the duct in the rest position in which it covers the
opening provided in the duct for inserting the magazine, and
additionally also in a position in which it uncovers this
opening.
11. A hand firearm according to claim 10, wherein a spring loaded
pawl is mounted on a wall of the sleeve, a lip of the pawl
extending through this wall and engaging into detent grooves which
are disposed on the facing wall of the magazine duct.
12. A hand firearm according to claim 11, wherein a rail is
disposed on the facing wall of the magazine duct and is provided
with interruptions serving as detent grooves.
13. A hand firearm according to claim 11, wherein the spring loaded
pawl is mounted on the wall forming the forward side of the
sleeve.
14. A hand firearm according to claim 10, wherein a further
detainable position for the sleeve is provided in which the upper
edge of the sleeve has a spacing of at least one finger width from
one of the abutment faces for this edge and the edge of the opening
for inserting the magazine.
15. An automatic hand firearm having an interchangeable magazine,
characterized in that magazine lips as well as a feeder member and
a feeder spring are component parts of the firearm and the
interchangeable magazine is in the form of a longitudinally
extending hollow body which is open at both ends and encloses a
space serving for accommodating cartridges, and which is adapted to
form directly the packaging container of the cartridges, one end of
the magazine being disposed adjacent to the magazine lips and the
other end being engaged by the feeder member, and a resilient rail
having depressions arranged to suit cartridges inserted in the
magazine is disposed on the inside of at least one side wall of the
hollow body.
16. A magazine according to claim 15, wherein the resilient rail
consists of a synthetic resin strip inserted into an undercut
groove of the side wall, and wherein spring means is disposed
between the bottom of the groove and the back side of the
strip.
17. A magazine according to claim 15, adapted to receive a double
row cartridge arrangement and provided on two side walls thereof
with oppositely disposed resilient rails.
18. A magazine according to claim 15, wherein the magazine is
slightly curved of a substantially constant cross section.
Description
This invention relates to an automatic hand firearm, in particular
an automatic rifle with an interchangeable magazine.
Automatic hand firearms have a high firing rate so that provisions
must be made for a sufficiently large store of cartridges and a
fast feed of the stored cartridges, if the advantage of an
automatic hand firearm is to be fully exploited. Therefore,
removable or interchangeable magazines have become important for
automatic hand firearms, in particular magazines of the flat
tubular kind. The latter are casings consisting generally of sheet
metal which are provided at one end with magazine lips and which
comprise in their interior a spring loaded feeder member which
urges cartridges disposed in the casing in the direction towards
the magazine lips against which the respective foremost cartridge
comes to rest. Recesses for these magazines are provided in the
hand firearms, in particular a duct into which the upper end of the
magazine having the magazine lips can be inserted and detained by
means of a latch. During firing, the breech of the firearm presses
individual cartridges successively out of the magazine, in the
direction of the magazine lips, while the feeder member pushes the
column of cartridges located in the magazine forward in such manner
that the respective uppermost cartridge rests against the magazine
lips and is ready to be inserted into the barrel of the firearm by
means of the breech.
These known magazines admittedly attain their object of providing a
sufficient number of cartridges and of feeding them sufficiently
fast to the firearm in a perfect manner, however they have the
disadvantage that the cartridges must be individually inserted into
these magazines by hand and in a laborious manner so that the
loading of the magazines requires considerable time; for this
reason ammunition required for an operation must be carried by a
marksman in the form of full magazines. However, the quantity of
ammunition which a marksman can thus carry with him is considerably
determined also by the not insignificant weight of such magazines.
Furthermore, it is also expensive when a large number of magazines
must be available for each marksman. Neither the weight nor the
cost of such magazines can be reduced below certain limits because
a magazine must have high stability in order that it can reliably
attain its object under very rough operational conditions in the
field. Nevertheless it happens again and again that magazines and
particularly their lips are deformed by a knock or a shock, for
example by a fall or when dropped, and cannot then function any
more in a perfect manner. Such deformation can have particularly
severe consequences if it remains unnoticed by the marksman until
it leads to loading interruptions caused either by the cartridges
not being delivered perfectly or, however, not being held properly
in the path of the breech.
Admittedly it is also known from repeating rifles to provide in the
firearms themselves magazines with built-in feeder member and with
magazine lips; however, these arrangements have the disadvantage
that for loading the cartridges must then be inserted into the
magazines more or less individually, under certain circumstances
with the use of cartridge belts. In proportion to the time in which
the cartridges contained in the magazine can be fired, the time
required for this loading operation is far too long as that it
could still be regarded in keeping with the character of an
automatic hand firearm.
The invention is based on the object of avoiding the disadvantages
of automatic hand firearms, which are caused by the use of
removable or interchangeable magazines.
This object is attained according to the invention in that
magazines lips as well as a feeder member and a feeder spring are
component parts of a firearm and that an interchangeable magazine
consists of a hollow body which encloses a space serving for
receiving cartridges, the hollow body preferably forming the
packaging container of the cartridges, one end of the hollow body
being adjacent to the magazine lips and the other end thereof being
engaged by the feeder member.
In the hand firearm according to the invention those component
parts of the magazines used heretofore, namely the magazine lips
and the feeder arrangement, are thus located on the rifle itself,
whereas the intervening section of the conventional magazines which
consists only of the hollow body containing the cartridges, is now
constructed in the interchangeable manner. The particular advantage
of this construction consists in that the magazine, which,
according to the invention, now comprises only the hollow body
serving for accommodating the cartridges, is so simple to construct
and therefore so economical to produce that the marksman need not
preserve it but can throw it away after the cartridges have been
spent. Also the cartridges may be packed directly in such
interchangeable magazines, so that the marksman need no longer
occupy himself with the insertion of cartridges into a magazine.
Since these magazines are not subjected to high stresses and need
not be used more than once, they can be produced in a very light
manner, so that the weight of these magazines does not noticeably
increase the load carried by the marksman. A further advantage
consists in that sensitive parts of the conventional magazines, in
particular the magazine lips, are now disposed at a protected
location in the firearm itself, so that loading interruptions by
damaged magazines cannot occur any more and also the expenses are
avoided which arose heretofore in connection with the replacement
of damaged magazines.
The proposal of the invention referred to above of arranging the
magazine lips as well as the feeder device of the firearm and of
limiting the interchangeable magazine to a hollow body which is
open at both ends and which encloses the space serving to
accommodate the cartridges, can be made use of independently of
whether the firearm is arranged to receive a tubular magazine or a
drum magazine. In each case, care must be taken that one end of the
magazine constructed in accordance with the invention can be
attached to the magazine lips and that then the feeder member can
be inserted under pressure into the opposite end of the magazine.
When a tubular magazine is used it could be envisaged e.g. to
provide on the firearm a magazine duct a lower end part of which is
removable or pivotal to permit insertion of the magazine after the
feeder device has been displaced into this lower end part.
In a preferred embodiment of the invention, a magazine support
structure or duct accordingly provided on the firearm comprises at
the upper end the magazine lips and encloses the feeder member and
the feeder spring, but in this case the one side wall has an
opening for inserting the magazine. This construction of the hand
firearm according to the invention has not only the advantage that
the magazine duct forms a perfect guide for the feeder member and a
satisfactory holder for the magazine, but also removable or pivotal
parts are avoided which could make handling of the firearm
difficult. Also a cable which projects from the lower end of the
magazine duct and is attached to the feeder member is sufficient in
this case for pulling the feeder member into the lower part of the
magazine duct to effect a change of the magazine, the feeder member
then being located below the lower end of a magazine inserted into
the magazine duct. Although other spring arrangements, e.g. with
the use of roll springs, can also be envisaged, such constructional
form of the invention is particularly simplified if the magazine
duct is provided with a bottom member on which the feeder spring
which is in the form of a helical compression spring is supported
and the cable extends through a bore in the bottom member.
Furthermore, A hollow end member may be located in the lower end of
the magazine duct the walls of which end member are flush with the
walls of an inserted magazine. This end member may simply be a
section of a magazine which is inserted into the lower part of the
magazine duct and is fixed therein. The particular advantage of the
use of such end member resides in the fact that a perfectly
stepless transition is present from the lower section of the
magazine duct to the interior of an inserted magazine which
transition ensures that the feeder member enters perfectly into the
magazine and cannot be detained by a projecting section of the
magazine.
If it is desirable that the opening provided in a side wall of the
magazine duct for interchanging the magazine is to be closed in
order that entry of dirt or moisture into this opening as well as
disturbances in consequence of a displacement of the magazine are
prevented or at least greatly impeded, the magazine duct may be
surrounded by a sleeve which is telescopically displaceable
thereon. In its rest position this sleeve covers the opening in the
magazine duct and to permit interchange of the magazine, the sleeve
can be withdrawn from the duct to such extent that the opening is
released. In this embodiment of the invention a particular
advantage is obtained when the cable attached to the feeder member
is also attached to the lower end of the sleeve which is preferably
closed by a bottom member, because upon withdrawal of the sleeve
from the magazine duct not only the opening serving for
interchanging the magazine is then released, but also at the same
time the feeder member is pulled into the section of the magazine
duct which is downwardly adjacent to the opening. If the sleeve is
additionally arranged to be detained on the duct in a position in
which it releases this opening, the opening in the magazine duct
can be released and the feeder member can be displaced and held in
a position in which an interchange of the magazine is possible, by
a single manipulation namely by withdrawing the sleeve. After
removing and discarding an empty magazine and inserting a new full
magazine, a further manipulation is sufficient for releasing the
detent and moving the sleeve back into its starting position in
which it covers the opening in the magazine duct and releases the
feeder member again.
In order to effect this detention of the sleeve a spring loaded
pawl may be mounted in a simple manner on a wall of the sleeve,
e.g. on the wall forming the forward narrow side, a lip of this
pawl penetrating through this wall and engaging in detent grooves
which are disposed on the adjacent wall of the magazine duct. In
order that these detent grooves have sufficient stability for
securely holding the sleeve loaded by the feeder spring, a rail may
be provided on the wall of the magazine duct which has
interruptions serving as detent grooves.
In this embodiment of the invention preferably a further detent
position for the sleeve is additionally provided in which the upper
edge of the sleeve has a spacing of at least one finger width from
abutment faces for this edge and/or the edge of the opening for
inserting the magazine. This additional detent position ensures
that if the sleeve slips accidentally out of the hand of the
marksman during opening or closing, he cannot receive injuries
owing to the fact that the fingers of his other hand enter between
the forward edge of the closing sleeve and stationary firearm parts
disposed opposite this edge.
The invention extends also to a magazine for a hand firearm of the
kind referred to above. In a simple form such magazine may consist
of a hollow body preferably serving directly as a packaging
container which is cylindrical or slightly curved in its
longitudinal direction and which has substantially uniform cross
section, that is to say it may correspond in its middle section to
the tubular magazines used heretofore. Since, however, in the
magazine according to the invention, or also in the packaging
container according to the invention, neither magazine lips are
provided at the one end, nor a bottom member is present at the
other end and, under certain circumstances, covers or other
closures possibly provided must be removed prior to the insertion
of the magazine or the packaging container into the firearm, a
resilient rail with depressions suitable for the inserted
cartridges is disposed, in a preferred embodiment of the invention,
on the inside of at least one side wall of the hollow body. Such
rail affords sufficient support to the cartridges in order to
retain them in the hollow body during the manipulation of the
magazine. Nevertheless the feeder member pushes the cartridges
reliably through the hollow body in a perfect manner. The resilient
rail may advantageously consist of a synthetic resin strip inserted
into an undercut groove of the side wall, and a resilient element
may then be disposed between the bottom of the groove and the rear
side of the strip. This spring element may be e.g. a simple strip
of foam material; however, in view of long storage ability and
constancy of the spring characteristic over a wide temperature
range, use of a blade spring is preferred.
When the magazine according to the invention is constructed for a
double row arrangement of cartridges it is suitably provided with
resilient rails on its two side walls.
Further features and constructional details of the invention may be
seen from the following description in which the invention is
described and explained in detail in relation to the constructional
examples illustrated in the accompanying drawings. The features
which may be seen from the description and the drawings may be used
in other embodiments of the invention individually by themselves or
severally in any combination. There are shown in:
FIG. 1 is the side view of a rifle according to the invention,
FIG. 2 illustrates a section along the line II -- II through the
rifle according to FIG. 1, on an enlarged scale,
FIG. 3 illustrates the section of the rifle according to FIG. 1
comprising the magazine arrangement, partly in side view and partly
section along the line III -- III in FIG. 2,
FIG. 4 illustrates the arrangement according to FIG. 3 after
removal of the magazine,
FIG. 5 illustrates a section along the line V -- V through the
arrangement according to FIG. 3,
FIG. 6 is a side view of a magazine intended for the rifle
according to FIG. 1, and
FIG. 7 illustrates the magazine according to FIG. 6, partly in
longitudinal section and partly in the view in the direction of the
arrow VII.
An automatic rifle illustrated in FIG. 1 as a constructional
example comprises a firearm casing 1, a barrel 2 which is
surrounded along part of its length by a hand protector 3, a grip
member 4 which closes the firearm casing downwardly, a magazine
arrangement 5 disposed forwardly of the grip member 4, and a
shoulder support 6 which closes the firearm casing 1 and the grip
member 4 backwardly.
As may be seen from FIGS. 2 to 5, a magazine arrangement 5
comprises a magazine support structure or duct 11 which consists in
the present example of a box open on one wide side and which is
rigidly connected to the firearm casing 1, e.g. by welding. At the
upper end of the duct 11 there are provided magazine lips 12 which
are also rigidly connected to the duct 11 and to the firearm casing
1, e.g. again by welding. This duct 11 has a bottom 13, and a
hollow end member 14 is inserted into the lower part of the duct
and has in cross-section approximately the same internal dimensions
as a magazine 15 to be inserted into the duct. Within this end
member 14 a feeder spring 16 of conventional construction is
supported on the bottom 13 of the duct and tends to press a feeder
member 17 disposed in the duct 11 in the direction towards the
magazine lips 12. The cross-section of the duct 11 is matched to
the cross-section of the magazine 15 and the existing side wall 18
of the duct is consequently provided in the region of its center
with a longitudinal rib 19 which rests against a corresponding
longitudinal rib 20 of the magazine 15. Each of the two side walls
of the magazine 15 is provided with such longitudinal rib 20.
The duct 11 is surrounded on its whole length by a sleeve 21 the
cross-section of which is adjusted to the cross-section of the duct
11 and the magazine 15 and moreover has the same curvature in the
longitudinal direction as the magazine 15 and the duct 11, so that
the sleeve 21 is telescopically displaceable on the duct 11. The
sleeve 21 consists of a hollow sheet metal body which is closed at
its lower end by a slide cover 22. Similarly to the magazine 15 and
the duct 11 the sleeve is provided with a longitudinal rib 23 on
the major part of its length. On both sides of these longitudinal
ribs 23 there are located transverse ribs 24 which serve for
stiffening the sleeve as well for improving its grip.
A pawl 26 is pivotally mounted near the upper end of the sleeve 21
on the outside of a wall 25 thereof which, considered in the
direction of firing, forms the forward narrow side of the sleeve.
This pawl supports on its downwardly directed arm a lip 27 which
extends through an opening 28 in the wall 25 of the sleeve. The
pawl 26 is loaded by a spring 29 which tends to press the lip 27
into the opening 28.
The wall 25 of the sleeve 21 provided with the pawl 26 is disposed
at a certain spacing from the adjacent wall 30 of the duct 11. A
longitudinal rail 31 is provided on the outside of this wall 30 and
has interruptions 32 and 33 which serve as detent grooves for the
lip 27 of the pawl 26. Moreover an end face 34 at the lower end of
the longitudinal rail 31 serves as abutment face for the pawl
26.
A cable 35 is attached to the feeder member 17 and extends through
the windings of the feeder spring 16 to the bottom 13 of the duct
11 and further through an opening 36 in this bottom and through a
slot 37 in the slide cover 22 of the sleeve 21. The end of the
cable 35 which projects from the slide cover 22 of the sleeve 21 is
provided with a head 38 which is supported on the outside of the
slide cover 22. As may be seen from FIG. 4 the cable 35 is
tensioned when the feeder member 17 is in its uppermost position,
when the magazine is absent or empty, whereas the cable lies
loosely within the compressed feeder spring 16 when the feeder
member 17 is in its lower position as illustrated in FIG. 3. The
cable 35 as indicated by broken lines in FIG. 3 may alternatively
hang freely out of the slide cover 22 and indicate by the length of
its section 35' which hangs out of the slide cover to which extent
the magazine is filled.
The magazine 15 consists of a hollow body of synthetic resin which
is open at its two ends and which can be produced e.g. by moulding,
but alternatively also by extrusion, in large lengths and can then
be cut to a desired length. The cross-sectional dimensions of the
magazine 15 are so selected that it accommodates cartridges 41 in
two mutually offset rows. A rib or rail 42 projecting inwardly from
the forward narrow side of the magazine 15 serves for guiding the
points of the cartridges, whereas rib or rails 43 projecting
inwardly from the side walls provide guidance of the cartridges in
the region of the forward ends of the cartridge casings.
Furthermore, the magazine 15 is provided in the region of the
outwardly projecting longitudinal ribs 20 with resilient rails on
the insides of its side walls which are rails formed by strips 44
of synthetic resin. These synthetic resin strips are provided on
their side adjacent to the magazine wall with laterally projecting
edges by which they engage into undercut portions of a groove 45
disposed on the inside of the magazine wall in the region of each
longitudinal rib 20. Between the bottom of these grooves 45 and the
synthetic resin strips 44 there is always disposed a blade spring
46 which presses the associated synthetic resin strip 44 in the
direction towards the magazine interior. The faces of the synthetic
resin strips adjacent to the magazine interior are provided with
depressions 47 into which engage the cartridges 41 in the manner
clear from FIGS. 5 and 7.
In the region of the narrow walls recesses 48 and projections 49
are provided on the end faces of the magazine 15 and are arranged
to co-operate with corresponding projections and recesses on the
under edge of the magazine lips 12 in order that the magazine 15 is
afforded an accurately defined position in the duct 11.
The magazine 15 is a synthetic resin component which can be
produced very economically; it is used by the ammunition
manufacturer as packaging container and is delivered filled with
cartridges 41. The resilient rails formed by the synthetic resin
strips 44 are provided with the depressions 47 hold the cartridges
contained in the magazine 15 in a secure manner, so that the
magazine can be manipulated without the cartridges contained
therein being able to fall out. The spring support of the synthetic
resin strips 44, however, ensures that the synthetic resin strips
are pressed outwardly to permit the cartridges to be advanced by
means of the feeder member under the effect of the force exerted by
the feeder spring and do not impede a step by step advance of the
cartridges.
For inserting the magazine 15 serving as packaging container, or
also of the packaging container serving as magazine, into the duct
11 the sleeve 21 is withdrawn from the duct 11 after release of the
pawl 26, until the pawl 26 engages by its lip 27 under the end face
34 at the lower end of the longitudinal rail 31. During withdrawal
of the sleeve 21 from the duct 11 the feeder member 17 is also
displaced from the upper position illustrated in FIG. 4 by means of
the tensioned cable 35. When the sleeve 21 is located in its
lowermost position in which the pawl 26 engages behind the end face
34 of the end of the rail 31, the sleeve 21 uncovers the lateral
opening in the duct 11 as far as the upper edge of the member 14
and the feeder member 17 is pulled into the interior of the end
member 14. Without difficulty an emptied magazine 15 can then be
removed and a full magazine substituted therefor. After release of
the pawl 26 the sleeve 21 is then returned into its starting
position in which it is detained by the pawl 26 engaging into the
upper interruption 32 of rail 31.
By this operation the spacing between the feeder member 17 and the
slide cover 22 of the sleeve 21 is reduced and the cable 35 lies
loosely in the interior of the feeder spring 16 as illustrated in
FIG. 3. Thus, the feeder member 17 is then free to be pressed by
the feeder spring 16 against the lowermost cartridge located in the
magazine 15 and to press the cartridges as required in the
direction to the magazine lips 12 when the firearm is actuated.
During the withdrawal of the sleeve 21 from the duct 11 when the
magazine has been emptied as well as during the return of the
sleeve 21 after removal of the magazine the force of the feeder
spring 16 acts upon the sleeve 21 by way of the cable 35. The
feeder spring 16 tends then to pull the sleeve suddenly over the
duct, when it is released in the open position. In order that the
marksman cannot suffer injuries by the suddenly closing sleeve
owing to careless handling of the sleeve or however when his hand
slips off the sleeve, an intermediate interruption 33 is provided
in the longitudinal rail 31 into which the lip 27 of the pawl 26
drops when the sleeve closes suddenly. In this manner, it is
ensured that the sleeve is automatically intercepted when its edge
still has a spacing from the firearm casing which is greater than
one finger width, so that even with careless handling of the
firearm a finger cannot be clamped between the edge of the sleeve
and the firearm casing.
It is clear from the above description that owing to the invention
automatic hand firearms with interchangeable magazines, have been
afforded a construction which makes it possible to produce
magazines in the form of inexpensive disposable component parts
which can serve directly as packaging containers for the
cartridges, without the use of such magazines leading to
difficulties. On the contrary, in the constructional example
described one hand and a single manipulation are sufficient for
removing the feeder member from the magazine which is open at both
ends, and for uncovering an opening for interchanging the magazine.
The removed magazine can then be thrown away and a full magazine
substituted therefor. By means of one further manipulation the duct
in the rifle is then closed again and the firearm ready for
firing.
Another possible embodiment of the invention may consist in that
e.g. the magazine duct is divided in a cross-sectional plane and
the parts of the magazine duct are separable one from the other in
this plane after, by means of a suitable device, e.g. again a
cable, the feeder member has been moved into the lower section of
the magazine duct. Also it is not absolutely necessary that a more
or less closed duct is provided for the magazine, but guide and/or
tensioning members are sufficient which hold the magazine between
them.
* * * * *