U.S. patent number 3,850,076 [Application Number 05/250,006] was granted by the patent office on 1974-11-26 for firearm apparatus.
Invention is credited to Maxwell G. Atchisson.
United States Patent |
3,850,076 |
Atchisson |
November 26, 1974 |
FIREARM APPARATUS
Abstract
Firearm apparatus embodied in a semi-automatic, blowback
operated rifle. The firearm includes a receiver made of two plates
spaced apart to receive a bolt mechanism including a bolt mounted
for reciprocal motion within a channel-shaped member; the operating
spring for the bolt assembly is received in a slot within the bolt
and is retained in place by the channel-shaped member. A unitary
firing pin/extractor carried by the bolt functions as a firing pin
and also provides multiple extractor functions. A simplified firing
mechanism includes a hammer positioned to the rear of a cartridge
magazine and operatively connected by a three-finger sear bar to a
trigger mounted in front of the magazine. A safety mechanism is
provided in conjunction with the trigger guard. Numerous components
of this firearm apparatus provide multiple functions contributing
to the economy and efficiency of the present firearm apparatus.
Inventors: |
Atchisson; Maxwell G.
(Marietta, GA) |
Family
ID: |
22945913 |
Appl.
No.: |
05/250,006 |
Filed: |
May 3, 1972 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
89/196; 89/199;
42/16 |
Current CPC
Class: |
F41C
7/00 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
F41C
7/00 (20060101); F41c 007/00 () |
Field of
Search: |
;89/194,195,196,197,199
;42/16,75L |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Bentley; Stephen C.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Jones, Thomas & Askew
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A bolt assembly for a firearm comprising:
a bolt housing defining an interior channel to receive a bolt
member for reciprocal sliding movement therein;
a bolt member received in said channel;
means within said channel maintaining said bolt member in spaced
apart relation with said channel;
at least one bolt member retaining means operatively interconnected
between said bolt housing and said bolt member to define a
predetermined extent of reciprocal sliding movement of said bolt
member relative to said bolt housing;
a resilient member received within said interior channel of said
bolt housing and operatively positioned to bias said bolt member in
a first direction of said sliding movement;
said bolt housing including a pair of generally elongate wall
members which are spaced apart to define said interior channel;
said means within said channel including means disposed within said
interior channel in confronting relation on said wall members to
define confronting spaced apart surfaces along which said bolt
member moves for said sliding movement; and
said bolt member having spaced apart surfaces positioned for
sliding contact with said spaced apart surfaces defined by said
means disposed on said wall members.
2. The bolt assembly as in claim 1, further comprising:
an elongate aperture formed in said channel member; and
a cocking handle attached to said bolt member and disposed to
extend outwardly of said elongate aperture in said channel member
to permit said bolt member to be moved in a second direction of
said sliding movement in opposition to the bias of said resilient
member.
3. The bolt assembly as in claim 1, wherein:
said bolt member includes a cartridge movement portion;
firing pin means having a cartridge firing position and carried on
said cartridge movement portion to be selectively movable to a
first position whereat said cartridge firing portion is extended to
cartridge engaging position and to a second position whereat said
cartridge firing portion is withdrawn from said cartridge engaging
position.
4. The bolt assembly as in claim 3, wherein:
said cartridge movement portion includes a downwardly extending
portion of said bolt member and having a front face of vertical
dimension at least as large as the rim diameter of a cartridge
intended for use with said bolt assembly;
the vertical dimension of said front face being defined by a
projection disposed on said bolt member above and extending a
spaced distance in front of said front face.
5. A bolt assembly for a firearm, comprising:
a bolt housing defining an interior channel to receive a bolt
member for reciprocal sliding movement therein;
a bolt member received in said channel;
at least one bolt member retaining means operatively interconnected
between said bolt housing and said bolt member to define a
predetermined extent of reciprocal sliding movement of said bolt
member relative to said bolt housing;
a resilient member received within said interior channel of said
bolt housing and operatively positioned to bias said bolt member in
a first direction of said reciprocal movement;
said one bolt member retaining means including a first elongate
slot in said bolt member, one end of said first elongate slot
defining a movement stop of said first direction of reciprocal
movement; and
a first stop member disposed in fixed relation with said bolt
housing and extending in sliding fit in said first elongate slot,
said one end of said elongate slot and said stop member being
located relative to each other so that such movement stop of said
bolt member in the first direction relative to said bolt housing is
defined by contact of said first stop member and said one end of
said first elongate slot.
6. The bolt assembly as in claim 5, wherein:
the other end of said first elongate slot defines the movement stop
of said bolt member in the second direction relative to said bolt
housing.
7. The bolt assembly as in claim 6, further comprising:
a second elongate slot in said bolt member;
a second stop member disposed in fixed relation with said bolt
housing and extending in sliding fit in said second elongate
aperture; and
said resilient member being disposed within said second elongate
slot to exert bias between an end of said second elongate slot and
said second stop member, so that said bolt member is biased in said
first direction relative to said bolt housing.
8. The bolt assembly as in claim 7, wherein:
said first elongate slot is of certain width in said bolt
member;
said first stop member is received in said first slot and has a
width relative to said certain width of said first slot to permit
substantially only sliding movement of said slot relative to said
first stop member;
said second elongate slot is of certain width in said bolt member
to permit substantially only sliding movement in a first plane of
said resilient member received within; and
said interior channel of said bolt housing has a channel width
adjacent the path of reciprocal sliding movement of said second
slot to permit substantially only sliding movement of said
resilient member.
9. The bolt assembly as in claim 8, further comprising:
spacing means disposed on said bolt housing within said interior
channel thereof to define a bolt member passageway of width less
than said channel width;
said resilient member being retained by said channel width for
substantially only vertical movement in a second plane transverse
to said first plane.
10. A bolt assembly for a firearm, comprising:
a bolt housing including a pair of side walls which are spaced
apart to define a bolt receiving channel having length and having
certain width;
a bolt member disposed in said channel for reciprocal movement in a
direction along the length of said channel, the dimension of said
bolt member in width being less than said channel width;
spacing means interpositioned between said bolt member and said
side walls to position said bolt member for said reciprocal
movement along said channel without contact between said side walls
and said bolt member, said spacing means comprising at least one
spacing member mounted on one of said pair of side walls in
confronting sliding contact with a first location along said bolt
member; and
at least one spacing member mounted on the other of said pair of
side walls in confronting sliding contact with a second location
along said bolt member.
11. A bolt assembly for a firearm, comprising:
a bolt housing including a pair of side walls which are spaced
apart to define a bolt receiving channel having length and having
certain width;
a bolt member disposed in said channel for reciprocal movement in a
direction along the length of said channel, the dimension of said
bolt member in width being less than said channel width;
spacing means interpositioned between said bolt member and said
side walls to position said bolt member for said reciprocal
movement along said channel without contact between said side walls
and said bolt member;
an elongate slot formed in said bolt member in alignment with the
direction of said reciprocal movement;
a pin member extending from said bolt housing and received in said
elongate slot, said slot being slidably movable with respect to
said pin member; and
at least one end of said slot being located on said bolt assembly
in certain relation relative to said pin member to define a
predetermined extent of said reciprocal movement in a selected
direction of bolt movement.
12. The bolt assembly as in claim 11, wherein said spacing means
comprises:
a first spacing member surrounding said pin member between one of
said pair of side walls and a confronting first location of sliding
contact on said bolt member; and
a second spacing member surrounding said pin member between the
other of said pair of side walls and a confronting second location
of sliding contact on said bolt member.
13. The bolt assembly as in claim 11, wherein said elongate slot is
a first elongate slot and said pin member is a first pin member;
and further comprising:
a second elongate slot formed in said bolt member in alignment with
said direction of reciprocal movement; and
a second pin member extending from said bolt housing and received
in said second elongate slot, said second slot being slidably
movable with respect to said second pin member.
14. The bolt assembly as in claim 13, further comprising:
a compression coil spring received in one of said slots between the
corresponding pin member and an end of said one slot;
the coil diameter of said spring being sufficiently greater than
said width dimension of said bolt member so that a portion of said
spring coils extend outward of said one slot to make loosely
sliding contact with said side walls of said bolt housing, so that
said spring is retained within said one slot by said side
walls.
15. The bolt assembly as in claim 13, wherein said spacing means
comprises:
a first pair of spacing members surrounding said first pin member
and respectively positioned between said pair of side walls and
said bolt member; and
a second pair of spacing members surrounding said second pin member
and respectively positioned between said pairs of side walls and
said bolt member;
said first and second pair of spacing members being in sliding
contact with said bolt member.
16. A bolt assembly for a firearm, comprising:
a bolt housing including a pair of side walls which are spaced
apart to define a bolt receiving channel having length and having
certain width;
a bolt member disposed in said channel for reciprocal movement in a
direction along the length of said channel, the dimension of said
bolt member in width being less than said channel width;
spacing means interpositioned between said bolt member and said
side walls to position said bolt member for said reciprocal
movement along said channel without contact between said side walls
and said bolt member;
said side walls comprising parallel plane surfaces spaced apart
from each other said certain width to define said bolt receiving
channel;
said bolt member having a pair of parallel plane sides each of
which is in confronting spaced apart relation with a corresponding
one of said plane surfaces of said side walls; and
said spacing means are in sliding contact with said parallel sides
of said bolt member to permit said reciprocal movement of said bolt
member while maintaining said bolt member out of contact with said
side wall.
Description
The present invention relates in general to firearm apparatus and
in particular to a firearm having improved overall design and
incorporating a number of improved subassemblies and
components.
While the prior art of firearms includes examples of autoloading
and semi-automatic firearms too numerous for specific mention,
these firearms generally employ operating mechanisms including a
substantial number of moving parts which have close tolerances and
which, therefore, are expensive to manufacture. The mechanical
complexity of such firearms inevitably results in a weapon in which
the desired capability of semi-automatic or autoloading operation
is obtained at the cost of increased weight, difficulty of cleaning
and maintenance, and increased likelihood of malfunctioning,
undesirable features of a firearm whether intended for use as a
sporting arm or a combat weapon.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide
improved firearm apparatus.
It is another object of the present invention to provide improved
autoloading firearm apparatus.
It is another object of the present invention to provide improved
semi-automatic firearm apparatus.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide
improved bolt assembly apparatus for use in a firearm.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide
improved firing pin and cartridge extractor apparatus for use with
a firearm.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide improved
firing mechanism for use with a firearm.
It is another object of the present invention to provide safety
apparatus for use with a firearm.
It is another object of the present invention to provide sight
apparatus for use with a firearm.
Other objects and many of the attendant advantages of the present
invention will become apparent from the following description of a
disclosed embodiment of the invention, including the following
drawings, in which:
FIG. 1 shows a partially sectioned elevation view of a rifle
according to a disclosed embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 2 shows a plan view of the rifle shown in FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 shows an exploded view of the receiver assembly of the
disclosed embodiment;
FIG. 4 shows an exploded view of the bolt assembly contained in the
receiver assembly of FIG. 3;
FIG. 5 is a partial section view showing details of the firing
mechanism, the safety, and other features of the disclosed
embodiment;
FIG. 6 is a section view taken along line 6--6 of FIG. 1 and
illustrating an interconnection between the halves of the stock
according to the present embodiment;
FIG. 7 is a section view showing an alternative to the stock
interconnection of FIG. 6 and including a loop for attaching a
sling;
FIG. 8 is a section view taken along line 8--8 of FIG. 3, showing
the internal arrangement of the bolt assembly;
FIG. 9 is a plan view showing a disclosed embodiment of the firing
pin/extractor of the present invention;
FIG. 10 shows an exploded view of the rear sight according to the
disclosed embodiment of the present invention; and
FIG. 11 shows a partial view of the front sight according to the
disclosed embodiment of the present invention.
Stated in general terms, the firearm of the present invention
includes an operating mechanism designed to be fabricated
substantially or completely from stamped components which require
only a minimal amount of precision machining operations. A receiver
assembly is provided including a pair of parallel, spaced-apart
plates within which is positioned the bolt assembly, which includes
a bolt housing defining a channel for reciprocal movement of a bolt
member disposed therein. A combination firing pin/extractor
disposed on the bolt provides multiple functions associated with
the firing of a round and subsequent extraction of the cartridge
casing. Ejection of the cartridge is provided by an extension of a
member forming the rear wall of the magazine housing. A firing
mechanism is provided including a sear bar having separate fingers
for trigger contact, hammer release, and hammer engagement to
prevent hammer-followthrough action, and includes a safety
actuating member mounted within the trigger guard. The trigger
guard also forms part of the magazine housing and the cartridge
loading ramp. A rear sight is provided including an adjustment
feature, and a front fixed sight is provided to be capable of
permanent adjustment.
Stated more particularly and with reference taken to the Figures,
the disclosed embodiment of the present invention as particularly
seen in FIGS. 1 and 2 includes a rifle indicated generally at 15
and of the type known as a carbine. The rifle 15 includes a stock
16 advantageously formed of two halves 17 and 18 which envelope
most of the receiver and the barrel, as pointed out below. The
halves 17 and 18 of the stock may be molded from a suitable plastic
material having the desired resistance to physical stress and the
like. The two halves of the stock 16 may be secured together at two
or more locations, one of which is shown in FIG. 1 and is detailed
in FIG. 6, including a pair of bosses 19 and 20 extending to
provide the proper spacing between the two halves of the stock. A
suitable fastening member such as the bolt 21 extends through
aligned openings in the bosses 19 and 20. The opening through the
boss 20 has a threaded portion 22 for engagement with the threaded
portion 23 of the bolt 21, and has an unthreaded remainder portion
24 of sufficient diameter to permit free passage of the bolt
threaded portion 23. The opening 25 extending through the boss 19
is threaded along a portion of its length. The presence of the
unthreaded portion 24 enables the stock halves 17 and 18 to be
separated by unscrewing the threaded portion 23 of the bolt from
the corresponding threaded portion 22, thereby enabling the bolt to
be removed from the threaded portion 22 of the opening while
selectively retaining the bolt 21 in captivity on the stock half
18.
Although only a single stock connecting location is shown on the
drawings, it will be understood that at least one other such
connection is provided preferably at a location adjacent the front
end 28 of the stock. If it is desired to equip the rifle 15 with a
sling, the necessary sling connection may advantageously be
provided as shown in FIG. 7, by removing each bolt 21 and
substituting a swivel connector including a sling loop 29 mounted
in a bushing 30 retained against the stock by a bolt 31 which
differs from the bolt 21 primarily in the provision of an elongated
shank 32. In this way, a rifle according to the present invention
can be normally furnished to all users having the stock
interconnection as shown in FIG. 6, and can be rapidly and
inexpensively converted to receive a sling without required
drilling and with only a conventional screwdriver.
Returning to FIG. 1, the rifle 15 includes a receiver section shown
generally at 34 and including a bolt member 35 positioned therein.
The bolt member 35, which includes a cocking member 36 extending
outwardly of the receiver section and the stock 16, is mounted for
reciprocal movement by a first member such as the dowel pin 37
extending through a first slot 38 in the bolt member, and by a
second member such as a second dowel pin 40 extending through a
bolt bushing 39 slidably received within a second slot 41 of the
bolt member. The bolt member 35 is normally maintained in the
fully-forward position by an operating spring such as the
compression coil spring 42 disposed in the second slot 41 to
interact between the bolt bushing 39 and end of the slot.
The bolt member 35 includes a cartridge moving member 46 which
extends downwardly from the remainder of the bolt member and on
which is positioned the firing pin/extractor 47. The construction
and operation of the cartridge moving portion 46 and the firing
pin/extractor 47 is discussed in detail below.
The rifle 15 includes a rifle barrel 48 having a
cartridge-receiving chamber 49 positioned immediately adjacent the
front face 50 of the cartridge moving member 46.
It is particularly apparent in FIGS. 1 and 5 that the front face 50
includes a portion defining a surface 51 which is spaced forward a
predetermined distance relative to the front face 50. The normal
position of the bolt member 35 in the full-forward position defined
by engagement of the dowel pin 37 with the back end of the first
slot 38, under the influence of the spring 42, is selected with
reference to the positioning of the barrel 48 to provide a small
amount of clearance at 53 between the surface 51 and the chamber
end 52 of the barrel. It will be understood by those skilled in the
art that the head spacing clearance 53 defined between the front
face 50 of the cartridge moving member 46 and the chamber end 52 of
the barrel must be suited to the rim of the particular cartridge
for which the rifle is chambered. It will be seen that the
disclosed embodiment of the present invention is chambered and
otherwise designed for the .22 caliber rimfire cartridge.
The exploded view of FIG. 3 shows in detail the receiver section
34, which includes a pair of spaced-apart receiver plates 55 and 56
which may be identical in configuration and which may be
advantageously manufactured by a suitable stamping operation. The
desired spacing between the receiver plates 55 and 56 is maintained
by spacing elements 57 and 58, by the trigger guard 59, and by the
barrel 48; the spacing elements 57 and 58 are depicted as having
tab-and-slot interconnection between the two receiver plates, and
it will be understood that this interconnection may be supplemented
or provided by permanent fastening techniques such as welding,
riveting, or the like. The chamber end of the rifle barrel 48,
which may be secured between the receiver plates 55 and 56 by
rivets 60a, 60b, 60c, and 60d, also functions to maintain the
spacing between the receiver plates. The receiver plates 55 and 56
protrude upwardly from the stock 16 to form the ears 61 and 62, and
the spacing element 58 positioned between the ears also functions
as a base for the rear sight, as set forth below.
BOLT ASSEMBLY
Positioned between the receiver plates 55 and 56 is the bolt
assembly indicated generally at 65 in FIG. 3 and shown separately
in exploded view in FIG. 4. The bolt assembly 65 includes the bolt
member 35 disposed within a bolt housing 66 which at least
partially surrounds three sides of the bolt, as shown in FIG. 8,
and which may be fabricated by appropriate operations including
stamping and bending. Each of the first and second dowel pins 37
and 40 extend from the respective slots of the bolt member and
through corresponding pairs of openings 67 and 78 formed in the
spaced-apart parallel walls 69 and 70 of the bolt housing. Each of
the openings 67 and 68 is preferably dimensioned relative to the
diameters of the corresponding dowel pins 37 and 40 to permit the
dowel pins to provide a snug, noninterference fit, so that the
dowel pins can be removed from the bolt assembly without requiring
tools. As mentioned previously, the dowel pin 37 and the
corresponding first slot 38 in the bolt member defines the maximum
forward travel of the bolt member, and so the location in the bolt
housing 66 of the opening pair 67 should be precisely defined with
respect to the location of the rifle barrel.
The pairs of openings 67 and 68 in the bolt housing are provided on
the interiors of the walls 69 and 70 with corresponding pairs of
spacing elements which surround such openings. The spacing members
surrounding the opening 67 are shown at 71a and 71b in FIG. 8, and
these spacing members may be provided by suitable expedients such
as welding separate washer-like spacers in place, by dimpling the
metal of the side wall 69 and 70, or the like. It can be seen from
FIG. 8 that the areas of the spacing members, including 71a and
71b, provide the only frictional contact with the bolt member 35.
The cocking member 36 extends upwardly through a slot 72 provided
in the upper wall of the bolt housing 66.
The operating spring 42 is captured in the slot 41 between the bolt
bushing 39 and the end wall 73 of the slot. The diameter of the
spring 42, in the disclosed embodiment, is somewhat larger than the
thickness of the bolt member 35, so that the sides of the spring 42
make a loose sliding contact along approximately line areas of the
interiors of the bolt housing side walls 69 and 70 during
reciprocation of the bolt member. At the same time, reciprocation
of the bolt member causes sliding contact of the operating spring
42 along another pair of approximately line contact areas where the
individual coils of the operating spring contact the bottom wall 74
and the top wall 75 of the slot 41. As a consequence, the movement
of the operating spring 42 in compression and expansion during
reciprocation of the bolt member is frictionally impeded only along
the aforementioned four line contact surfaces. This reduction in
the frictional force acting against both the operating spring 42
and the bolt member 35 results in a firearm having an operating
action which is significantly faster than provided, for example, by
actions in which the bolt slides along machined ways or in which
the operating spring is substantially enclosed within a tube or
other member causing frictional contact around the periphery of the
individual spring coils.
Referring again to the exploded view of FIG. 4, it will be seen
that each of the dowel pins 37 and 40 is sufficiently long to
extend out of the respective openings 67 and 68, and through the
respective openings 77a, 77b and 78a, 78b to be retained in a pair
of corresponding aligned openings (not shown) disposed in each of
the stock halves 17 and 18. The dowel pin openings formed in the
two receiver plates 55 and 56 are also dimensioned to permit a
snug, non-interfering fit with the respective dowel pins, and it
will be understood that the dowel pins 37 and 40 are retained in
assembled positions by the aforementioned recesses within each of
the stock halves. Thus, the bolt assembly 65 is readily removable
from the rifle by separating the two stock halves and then simply
manually withdrawing the dowel pins 37 and 40 from the two receiver
plates, the bolt housing 66, and the bolt member 35, whereupon the
bolt assembly is freed to be removed from the spaced-apart receiver
plates.
The receiver plate 56, which is disposed on the right side of the
rifle 15, includes an opening 83 which functions as an ejection
port for spent cartridges. Since each of the receiver plates 55 and
56 can be identically configured for economy of manufacture, as
mentioned above, the receiver plate 55 in the disclosed embodiment
contains an opening 84 similar to the ejection port. While the
opening 84 is useful to provide ventilation of gases from the
chamber, it will be understood that the opening 84 is optional and
is nonessential in a firearm designed to eject cartridges in the
conventional or right-side manner.
FIRING PIN/EXTRACTOR MEMBER
The firing pin/extractor member 47 is provided by a flat stamping
having a base portion 85 and a pair of generally parallel arms 86
and 87 extending outwardly from the base member, as best shown in
FIGS. 4 and 9. The firing pin is provided for rimfire cartridges
(in the disclosed embodiment) by the projection 88 adjacent the end
of the arm 87, and it will be understood by those skilled in the
art that the firing pin 88 would be appropriately repositioned for
use in a rifle intended to receive center-fire cartridges. The arm
86 includes a right extractor lug 89 in opposition to and spaced a
distance 90 beyond the firing pin 88. The left extractor is
provided by the surface 91 which is disposed at the end of the arm
87 and which confronts the right extractor 89.
The arm 87 of the firing pin/extractor is mounted in a groove 92
contained along one side of the cartridge moving member 46, and the
base member 85 is at least partially received within a slot 93
(FIG. 3) at the rear end of the cartridge moving member. A
retaining lug 94 on the arm 86 is received in the aperture 95 of
the cartridge moving member 96 to permit a limited extent of
fore-aft movement of the firing pin/extractor member relative to
the cartridge moving member. It will be appreciated that the
relative dimensions of the retaining lug 94 and the aperture 95 are
selected so that the firing pin 88 is behind the front face 50 when
the firing pin/extractor is positioned rearwardly, and so that the
firing pin 88 extends in front of the front face 50 when the firing
pin/extractor is positioned forwardly of the cartridge moving
member 46.
When a cartridge is positioned in the chamber 49 as described
below, the head of the cartridge as shown in phantom in FIG. 9 is
positioned between the left extractor 91 and the right extractor
89; the spring action provided by the length of the arm 87 enables
the left extractor to maintain the cartridge head engaged behind
the right extractor lug 89.
A rib 96 extending downwardly from the lower edge of the cartridge
moving member 46 functions to move cartridges from a magazine to
the chamber 49, as outlined below.
FIRING MECHANISM AND SAFETY
The firing mechanism assembly of the rifle 15 is best shown in FIG.
5, and the individual components of the firing mechanism are shown
in the exploded view of FIG. 3. The firing mechanism includes the
hammer 100 mounted for rotation on a pin 101 and biased by the
spring 102 toward the position shown by the arrow in FIG. 5. The
hammer is retained in the cocked position, shown in FIG. 5, by
engagement of the sear notch 103 with the middle finger 104 of the
sear bar 105. The sear bar additionally includes a rear finger 106
and a front finger 107, with all three fingers extending
substantially transversely of the sear bar 105.
Each of the three sear bar fingers extends through a corresponding
pair of slots 108, 109, and 110 formed in the receiver plates 55
and 56, with the sear bar fingers permitted a limited amount of
fore-aft movement within such slots. The compression spring 111
acting against the middle finger 104 urges the sear bar 105 and all
three fingers toward the rear position.
The middle finger 104 of the sear bar contains a pair of
forwardly-facing notches 117 and 118 which retain the spring 111 in
place against the middle fingers; the force of the spring 111
pressing into the notches 117 and 118 also serves to retain the
sear bar 105 in the firing mechanism assembly.
The hammer 100 includes a holding surface 112 for selective
engagement with the rear finger 106, and includes first and second
camming surfaces 113 and 114 which enable the hammer to urge
forward the spring-biased sear bar fingers 104 and 106 when the
hammer is rotated in a counter-clockwise direction as explained
below. The hammer 100 additionally includes a striking surface 116
for engaging the base member 85 of the firing pin/extractor member
47, and a holding surface 115 which is positioned to engage a
noncritical surface of the middle finger 104 if the hammer is
allowed to fall while the bolt assembly 65 is removed from the
rifle.
The front finger 107 of the sear bar extends in front of the
pushing surface 120 of a trigger 121 pivotally mounted as at 122.
The trigger 121 includes a stop surface 123 which contacts a
confronting portion of the trigger guard 59 to limit the forward
motion of the trigger in response to the spring-biased rearward
motion of the front finger 107. When the trigger 121 is pulled, the
pushing surface 120 contacts the front finger 107 to move this
finger, along with the other sear bar fingers 104 and 106, forward
against the force of the spring 111. This forward movement causes
the middle finger 104 to be removed from the sear notch 103,
permitting the hammer 100 to be moved forwardly by the spring 102.
This forward movement continues until the striking surface 116
strikes the base member 85 of the firing pin, causing the firing
pin 88 to move forward and fire the round in the chamber. When the
bolt member 35 is blown backwardly by the fired round, the bolt
member moves the hammer 100 in a counter-clockwise direction until
the middle finger 104 again engages the sear notch 103. If the
pulled trigger has not been released to permit the necessary
rearward movement of the sear bar, however, the camming surface 114
of the hammer engages the rear finger 106 to move the sear bar in a
rearward direction so that the finger 106 can engage the holding
notch 112. When the trigger 121 is finally releaased, the rear
finger 106 is removed from the holding notch 112 and the hammer 100
falls forward to the position where the sear notch 103 engages the
properly positioned middle finger 104.
A safety apparatus for the disclosed rifle is provided by a safety
lever 125 which is movable around a bushing 126 rotatably disposed
on a pin 136 and loosely positioned to be biased toward one end of
a slot 127 by the compression spring 128. The safety lever 125
includes a stop notch 129, which is movable to engage and block the
bottom of the front finger 107 of the sear bar, and a stop surface
130, which is shown contacting the top of the trigger guard 59.
A safety apparatus additionally includes an actuating member 131
extending downwardly from the pivot bushing 126 through a slot 132
formed in the front of the trigger guard 59. The actuating member
131 terminates in a pair of camming surfaces 133 and 134, which
selectively contact the lower end 135 of the trigger guard slot
132.
In the operation of the safety apparatus, it will be seen that the
actuating member 131 is normally biased downwardly to place one or
the other of the camming surfaces 133 and 134 into contact with the
lower end 135 of the trigger guard slot. Assuming that the
actuating member 131 and the safety lever 125 are in the position
shown in FIG. 5, the sear finger 107 is free to be moved forwardly
by the trigger 121 to release the hammer and fire the rifle. A
rearward motion applied to the actuating member 131 causes the
camming surface 133 to ride along the lower end 135 of the trigger
guard slot, with the slot 127 being moved upwardly relative to the
bushing 126 and the pin 136. Continued rearward movement of the
actuating member 131 causes the camming surface 134 to move onto
the lower end 135, at which time the actuating member 131 flips in
toggle-action to move the stop notch 129 upwardly to engage and
block forward movement of the front finger 107. The safety
apparatus thus remains engaged, preventing further firing of the
rifle, until the actuating member 131 is again moved forwardly
against the toggle action, as by forward movement of a person's
finger inserted through the trigger guard 59.
TRIGGER GUARD AND MAGAZINE HOUSING
A housing to receive and retain the cartridge magazine 139 is
defined in part by a wall portion 140 formed as an integral
extension of the trigger guard 59. The wall portion 140 terminates
at a ramp portion 141, which is disposed forwardly to provide a
surface directing a cartridge removed from the magazine for
movement toward the chamber 49. It is thus seen that the trigger
guard 59 provides the functions of partially defining a magazine
chamber, a cartridge feed ramp, a safety apparatus retainer, and a
trigger positioning device, in addition to the conventional
trigger-surround function.
The rear wall of the magazine chamber is formed by a flat metallic
stamping 142 including a wall portion 143, a deformed portion 144
which curves rearwardly to contact the interior surface 145 of the
stock portion surrounding the magazine housing, a magazine
contacting portion 146 including a catch surface 147, and a
thumbpiece 148 which extends rearwardly from the lower end of the
stamping. The upper end of the stamping terminates in the ejector
149, which is located immediately below the cartridge moving member
46 and to one side of the cartridge feed rib 96 thereon. The
stamping 142 may be provided with plural tabs 150 which engage in a
corresponding plurality of slots 151 formed in the two receiver
plates 55 and 56.
It can be particularly seen in FIG. 5 that a magazine 139 having a
notch 152 on its rear side is retained in place by resilient
movement of the catch surface 147 into the magazine notch.
OPERATION
Considering the operation of the firearm as described, it is
assumed that a cartridge-containing magazine 139 is fully inserted
into the magazine housing and that the chamber 49 is presently
empty. When the bolt member 35 is moved back by manual movement of
the cocking member 36, the cartridge feed rib 96 becomes positioned
behind the first cartridge in the magazine, and this rearward
movement also moves the hammer 100 to the cocked position shown in
FIG. 5. When the cocking member 36 is released, the bolt member is
moved forward by the operating spring 42 and the feed rib 96 strips
the top cartridge from the magazine to move this cartridge along
the ramp 141 and into the chamber 49. During this forward movement
of cartridge, the right and left extractors 89 and 91 become
engaged with the rim of the cartridge. The firearm is now in
condition for firing.
The firing mechanism operates as described above to strike the
surface 116 of the hammer against the firing pin/extractor member,
moving this member forward on the cartridge moving member 46 to the
extent permitted by the free play of the retaining lug 94 within
the aperture 95.
The resulting forward movement of the firing pin 88 discharges the
round, and the bolt member 35 is moved backwardly. The spent
cartridge is withdrawn from the chamber 49 by the backward movement
of the extractors 89 and 91, the resilient action of the left
extractor 91 maintaining the cartridge rim in engagement behind the
right extractor lug 89. This backward movement of the spent
cartridge continues until the underside of the cartridge is forced
against the ejector 149, as seen in FIGS. 5 and 8, whereupon the
cartridge is dislodged from the extractors and ejected out of the
ejection port 83 in the receiver plate 56. The rearward movement of
the bolt member 35 continues until the hammer 100 is again cocked
and the front end of the slot 38 contacts the dowel pin 37,
whereupon the operating spring 42 forces the bolt member forward
and the loading cycle repeats.
FRONT AND REAR SIGHTS
The rear sight of the type providing a "click" elevation adjustment
is provided, according to the present invention, as another
function of the receiver plate spacing element 58. The forward
portion of the spacing element 58, shown in detail in FIG. 10,
provides a ramp 156 disposed on a slope relative to the boresight
of the rifle barrel 48, and an opening 157 is formed in the ramp.
The actual rear sighting element, in the disclosed embodiment, is
provided by the peep sight opening 158 mounted to extend upward
from the sight slide 159. The sight slide 159 contains a plurality
of contiguous overlapped openings 160, and the sight slide is
attached to the ramp 156 with a fastener 161 having a conical
surface 162. The shank of the fastener 161 passes freely through
the openings 160 and the opening 157 in the ramp 156, and is
retained with the conical surface 162 drawn into one of the
openings 160 by the resilient force of a fastening member such as
the retaining ring 163 having the shape of a conic section.
Movement of the sight slide 159 in either direction along the ramp
156 provides a number of click elevation adjustments for the sight
opening 158 as the conical surface 162 moves between the adjacent
ones of the openings 160. A rear sight is thus provided which
affords click-elevation adjustment at relatively little additional
cost and which also utilizes the spacing element 58, an integral
part of the disclosed embodiment of the invention. The upper end of
the receives plate ears 61 and 62 (FIG 2) shield and define the
region in which the sight opening 158 moves.
Considering the front sight 167 as shown in FIGS. 1, 2, and 11, the
actual visual sighting furction is provided by the end 168 of a
blade 169 which extends downwardly to a lower end 170 preferably
secured premanently as by welding or the like to the exterior of
the rifle barrel 48. The blade 169 is surrounded on the left and
right sides by a pair of protective members 171 and 172, which may
be fabricated from a single piece of metal to include a looped
portion 173 disposed around and secured to the rifle barrel 48.
Each of the protective members 171 and 172 terminates in a
protective ear 174 and 175, respectively, with these ears being
spaced apart from the sight end 168 to define and protect this
sight.
The protective members 171 and 172 include adjustment openings, one
of which is shown at 176, through which the blade 169 can be
contacted with a suitable tool to be bent. It is contemplated that
the front sight 167, once initially installed during the
manufacture of the rifle, would be sighted-in by bending the blade
169 as necessary to achieve the proper horizontal location for the
sight end 168. The protective members 171 and 172, including the
ears 174 and 175, protect and substantially surround the blade 169
to protect this blade from becoming easily damaged or otherwise
misaligned from any physical contact with the blade. Even if damage
occurs in some manner, the blade 169 can again be bent to sight-in
the rifle.
Although the foregoing disclosure of an embodiment of the present
invention sets forth a complete firearm having numerous operating
assemblies and features, it will be apparent to those skilled in
the art that many of these features can be applied separately to
firearms of different overall design without detracting from the
operation and the advantages afforded by each particular assembly.
For example, it will be understood that a firearm could be provided
having a bolt assembly according to the present invention, without
requiring a firing mechanism as disclosed herein. Similarly, a
safety apparatus according to the present invention could be
provided for many different types of firearms.
The overall firearm design of the present invention permits
extensive use of components which can be manufactured by relatively
inexpensive techniques such as stamping, bending, and the like, and
which require little or no precision machining, apart from portions
such as the bolt member and the dowel pins as aforementioned. A
firearm thus can be provided according to the present invention
which is inexpensive and light of weight, and which additionally
provides a low-friction action which is rapid, dependable, and
easily broken down for cleaning or other purposes. in the disclosed
embodiment of the invention, for example, the complete action
consists of four basic moving parts: the bolt member, the hammer,
the sear bar, and the trigger.
Moreover, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that only
a preferred embodiment of the present invention is disclosed, and
that numerous modifications and alterations may be made therein
without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as
defined in the claims.
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