Patent Application
20240384967
The present disclosure relates generally to firearm accessories. In particular, bullet loading tips for muzzleloading firearms are described.
Muzzleloading firearms, also known as muzzleloaders, are firearms where a bullet is loaded into a barrel through a muzzle (the front opening) of the firearm rather than through a rear chamber of a firearm. First, a powder charge is poured down the barrel through the muzzle. Next, a ball starter is used to initially push a patch and bullet into the barrel through the muzzle. A short rod of the ball starter is then used to push the patch and bullet a short ways down the barrel. Finally, a longer ramrod is used to push the bullet into a seated position at the rear of the barrel with the powder charge disposed between rear of the barrel and the patch and bullet.
Conventional ball starters and ramrods are prone to damaging the bullet when pushing the bullet in the barrel. Hard contact interfaces between the ball starter or ramrod and the bullet often deform the bullet and degrade its flight characteristics. Degraded flight characteristics cause aim accuracy to suffer.
Some conventional ball starters and ramrods have tips intended to reduce damage to a bullet. However, these conventional tips are typically made from brass and present an undesirably hard contact surface with the bullet. The hard surface of conventional brass tips makes them unsatisfactorily prone to damaging bullets.
It would be desirable to have a bullet loading tip for ball starters and ramrods with a soft contact surface to avoid damaging bullets. Ideally, the bullet loading tip would be configured to be conveniently attached and removed from ball starters and ramrods. It would be advantageous if the bullet loading tip had a contact surface profile that complemented an exterior surface profile of a bullet to spread contact force over a larger area of the bullet and thus reduce contact pressure.
Thus, there exists a need for bullet loading tips that improve upon and advance the design of known bullet loading tips. Examples of new and useful bullet loading tips relevant to the needs existing in the field are discussed below.
The present disclosure is directed to bullet loading tips for muzzleloading firearms. The bullet loading tips include a stem, a platform, and a cushion. The platform is coupled to the stem. The cushion is coupled to the platform. The stem, the platform, and the cushion are complementarily configured with a barrel of the muzzleloading firearm to insert into the barrel with the cushion abutting a bullet disposed in the barrel. The bullet loading tip is configured to press the bullet down the barrel to a seated position at the end of the barrel when the bullet loading tip is urged down the barrel. The bullet loading tip is configured to apply pressure to the bullet in the seated position without deforming the bullet.
The disclosed bullet loading tips will become better understood through review of the following detailed description in conjunction with the figures. The detailed description and figures provide merely examples of the various inventions described herein. Those skilled in the art will understand that the disclosed examples may be varied, modified, and altered without departing from the scope of the inventions described herein. Many variations are contemplated for different applications and design considerations; however, for the sake of brevity, each and every contemplated variation is not individually described in the following detailed description.
Throughout the following detailed description, examples of various bullet loading tips are provided. Related features in the examples may be identical, similar, or dissimilar in different examples. For the sake of brevity, related features will not be redundantly explained in each example. Instead, the use of related feature names will cue the reader that the feature with a related feature name may be similar to the related feature in an example explained previously. Features specific to a given example will be described in that particular example. The reader should understand that a given feature need not be the same or similar to the specific portrayal of a related feature in any given figure or example.
The following definitions apply herein, unless otherwise indicated.
“Substantially” means to be more-or-less conforming to the particular dimension, range, shape, concept, or other aspect modified by the term, such that a feature or component need not conform exactly. For example, a “substantially cylindrical” object means that the object resembles a cylinder, but may have one or more deviations from a true cylinder.
“Comprising,” “including,” and “having” (and conjugations thereof) are used interchangeably to mean including but not necessarily limited to, and are open-ended terms not intended to exclude additional elements or method steps not expressly recited.
Terms such as “first”, “second”, and “third” are used to distinguish or identify various members of a group, or the like, and are not intended to denote a serial, chronological, or numerical limitation.
“Coupled” means connected, either permanently or releasably, whether directly or indirectly through intervening components.
With reference to the figures, bullet loading tips for muzzleloading firearms will now be described. The bullet loading tips discussed herein function to urge and seat bullets down barrels of muzzleloading firearms without deforming the bullets.
The reader will appreciate from the figures and description below that the presently disclosed bullet loading tips address many of the shortcomings of conventional bullet loading tips. For example, the novel bullet loading tips enable conventional ball starters and ramrods to be adapted to avoid damaging a bullet when pushing the bullet in a barrel. The novel bullet loading tips do not present hard contact interfaces with the bullet to facilitate pressing on the bullet without damaging the bullet.
As a result of avoiding bullet deformation and damage, the novel bullet loading tips avoid degrading the flight characteristics of bullets. By maintaining the flight characteristics of the bullets, the novel bullet loading tips maintain expected aim accuracy of the bullets.
Unlike conventional bullet loading tips typically made from brass, the novel bullet loading tips do not present an undesirably hard contact surface to the bullet. Instead, the novel bullet loading tips have a soft material that does not damage bullets like often occurs with brass tips.
Desirably, the novel bullet loading tip for ball starters and ramrods have a soft contact surface to avoid damaging bullets. The novel bullet loading tips are configured to be conveniently attached and removed from ball starters and ramrods. Advantageously, the novel bullet loading tips have a contact surface profile that complements an exterior surface profile of a bullet to spread contact force over a larger area of the bullet and thus reduce contact pressure.
Ancillary features relevant to the bullet loading tips described herein will first be described to provide context and to aid discussing the bullet loading tips.
The bullet loading tips described herein are used with firearms. In particular, the bullet loading tips are used with muzzleloading firearms to urge bullets down the barrel of the firearm.
Firearm 170 depicted in
The bullet loading tips can be used to load bullets into firearms of various sizes, shapes, styles, and types. The readers should understand that the bullet loading tips described herein may be used to load bullets into any currently known or later developed type of muzzleloading firearm beyond firearm 170 depicted in
Further, the bullet loading tips may be used with bullets of different sizes, shapes, styles, and types than bullet 172 depicted in
The bullet loading tips described in this document may be selectively mounted to ramrods. As shown in
As shown in
The size and shape of the ramrod may differ from the example ramrod 180 shown in
The bullet loading tips described in this document may be selectively mounted to ball starters as well. A ball starter, such as ball starter 190 depicted in
With reference to
With reference to
Bullet loading tip 100 includes a stem 101, a platform 102, and a cushion 103. In some examples, the bullet loading tip does not include one or more features included in bullet loading tip 100. In other examples, the bullet loading tip includes additional or alternative features. The components of bullet loading tip 100 are described in the sections below.
With reference to
The size and shape of the bullet loading tip may vary in different applications. For example, the size of the bullet loading tip may be selected to correspond with the inner diameter of a barrel. Larger bullet loading tips may be used with larger barrel firearms and vice versa.
Similarly, the shape of the bullet loading tip may complement the shape of a barrel interior. Most barrels are round, but some have regular polygon shapes, such as an octagon. In examples where the barrel is an octagon, the shape of the bullet loading tip may be an octagon as well. The bullet loading tip may be round, a regular polygon, or an irregular shape as appropriate for a given firearm design.
Stem 101 functions to couple bullet loading tip 100 to a ramrod or to a ball starter. In the example shown in
As apparent from
As shown in
Platform 102 functions to support cushion 103. Platform 102 supports cushion 103 in a position to engage bullet 172 inside barrel 171.
As shown in
As depicted in
As shown in
With reference to
As shown in
Cushion 103 functions to engage bullet 172 inside barrel 171. In particular, cushion 103 softly engages bullet 172 to avoid damaging bullet 172 as bullet 172 is urged down barrel 171 by ramrod 180 or ball starter 190 coupled to bullet loading tip 100.
As shown in
Cushion 103 is configured to redistribute a portion of the compressive force exerted by bullet loading tip 100 on bullet 172 when bullet loading tip 100 and ramrod 180 or ball starter 190 presses on bullet 172 in barrel 171. Cushion 103 redistributing a portion of the compressive force avoids damaging or deforming bullet 172. Cushion 103 includes different features to enable redistributing compressive force on bullet 172.
One force redistributing aspect of cushion 103 is a cushion body 130 formed from a material softer than bullet 172. The comparatively soft material of cushion body 130 absorbs and redirects some of the compressive force. In the present example, cushion body 130 is composed of neoprene. However, other relatively soft materials may be used to form the cushion body as well.
The shape of cushion 103 is another force redistributing feature. As shown in
As apparent in
As shown in
With reference to
Turning attention to
One distinction between bullet loading tip 200 and bullet loading tip 100 is how platform 202 is configured. As shown in
Another distinction between bullet loading tip 200 and bullet loading tip 100 is how cushion 203 is configured. As apparent from a comparison of
The disclosure above encompasses multiple distinct inventions with independent utility. While each of these inventions has been disclosed in a particular form, the specific embodiments disclosed and illustrated above are not to be considered in a limiting sense as numerous variations are possible. The subject matter of the inventions includes all novel and non-obvious combinations and subcombinations of the various elements, features, functions and/or properties disclosed above and inherent to those skilled in the art pertaining to such inventions. Where the disclosure or subsequently filed claims recite “a” element, “a first” element, or any such equivalent term, the disclosure or claims should be understood to incorporate one or more such elements, neither requiring nor excluding two or more such elements.
Applicant(s) reserves the right to submit claims directed to combinations and subcombinations of the disclosed inventions that are believed to be novel and non-obvious. Inventions embodied in other combinations and subcombinations of features, functions, elements and/or properties may be claimed through amendment of those claims or presentation of new claims in the present application or in a related application. Such amended or new claims, whether they are directed to the same invention or a different invention and whether they are different, broader, narrower or equal in scope to the original claims, are to be considered within the subject matter of the inventions described herein.
