1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to firearms and, more particularly, pertains to a minimum exposure weapon which allows the user to stabilize and fire the weapon from a covered position with minimal exposure to enemy fire.
2. Description of Prior Art
The use of firearms is known in the prior art. More specifically, firearms heretofore devised and utilized are known to consist basically of familiar, expected and obvious structural configurations, notwithstanding the myriad of designs encompassed by the crowded prior art which have been developed for the fulfillment of countless objectives and requirements.
Known prior art includes U.S. Pat. Nos. Des. 324,557; 6,637,141 B1; 6,598,329 B1; 6,517,133 B2; 6,397,507 B1; 6,070,355; 5,675,112; 4,878,305; 4,827,652; 4,677,781; 3,369,316; 2,826,848; 2,771,697; and 1,386,247.
The inventive device substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art and in doing so provides a weapon primarily developed for the purpose of allowing a user to support the weapon in the conventional stance (utilizing both hands and a shoulder to brace the weapon) while having a minimal exposure to enemy fire.
In view of the foregoing disadvantages inherent in the known types of firearms now present in the prior art, the present invention provides for increased weapon stability while allowing the user to fire from behind structures with a minimum of exposure to incoming fire.
The minimum exposure weapon consists of a pre-existing weapon upon which is retrofitted by replacing the rear stock and buffer tube with the improved stock and buffer tube. The improved stock is a collapsible stock and has the ability to pivot to the left or to the right. A front stabilizer is mounted to the forward hand guard and its purpose is to pivot out and make contact with the corner of a wall while allowing the barrel to protrude adjacent to the wall.
For example, to shoot from behind the left corner of a wall, the rear stock would be pivoted left and locked into position and the front stabilizer would be pivoted left and locked into position. A horizontal compact periscope would then be mounted from the left into a mount on the upper receiver and locked into position.
At this point, the shooter would use a conventional standing stance, gripping the rifle with his left hand on the forward handgrip, right hand on the trigger pistol grip, and pivoted stock butt against right shoulder. The shooter can lean his upper body weight against the stock and the weapon is effectively pinned between his shoulder and the wall. The weapon is supported and steadied. Mounted on the distal end of the front stabilizer is a shock absorber gripper, and as the weapon is fired the weapon recoils through the stock and into the shooter's right shoulder, but because the shooter is leaning into the stock, the amount of travel of the weapon is greatly reduced. The shock absorber gripper helps to prevent any hammering or excessive forces being applied to the weapon or to the shooter's right shoulder after the primary recoil. In other words, the shock absorber gripper cushions the contact between the gun and the wall, and also applies a friction point between the gun and the wall to stabilize and hold the weapon.
The horizontal compact periscope is used to allow the shooter to visually align the upper receiver mounted sight with the far sight mounted on the barrel during target acquisition while the shooter is hidden behind the wall.
The rear stock assembly is unique because it is not mounted to the buffer tube, but is mounted to a stock adaptor, which in turn is mounted to the lower receiver of the weapon. The stock assembly contains a stock extension, a rectangular bar, in which the stock interfaces. The stock extension contains a number of detents on which the slider pin can lock in; this gives the stock its collapsible function. The stock adaptor also contains a locking pin which, when released, allows the stock extension to rotate about the pivot pin which attaches it to the stock adaptor. The same locking pin will interface with the detent holes in the stock extension which locks the pivot position of the stock assembly to either neutral, left or to the right.
The front stabilizer is mounted to the bottom picatinny style rail on the forward hand guard utilizing the front stabilizer mount. The mount contains a locking pin which will lock the front stabilizer in the neutral position or will, when unlocked, allow it to rotate to the left or to the right.
The horizontal compact periscope has picatinny styled accessory mounts which allow it to be mounted bilaterally (left or right) into the upper receiver transverse sighting mount. The transverse sighting mount contains a locking pin to lock the horizontal compact periscope in position.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a weapon which can be carried and used as a conventional weapon and when necessary this weapon can be rapidly converted real time to support firing from behind a comer of a building or object.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a sighting system which is strictly passive in nature (requiring no electronics or power sources, i.e., rechargeable batteries) in order to assure the reliability of a system which may be exposed to various environments and extreme variation of combat conditions over prolonged periods of time that the user may be in the field.
Turning now to the drawings, the minimum exposure weapon embodying the present invention is indicated generally by the reference numeral 10 in FIG. 1. This zero exposure weapon 10 is in the conventional mode in FIG. 1. In the conventional mode, the stock 14 is in the collapsed position on stock extension 16 and is captured in this position by the lock pin 18. the stock extension 16 is in line with respect to the stock adaptor 20 and locked in place with the lock pin 36. The stock adaptor 20 is mounted to the lower receiver 30, utilizing the additional threaded area on the buffer tube 22 and the locking nut 24. The transverse sight mount 26 is mounted to picatinny rail on the upper receiver 28.
Further examination of
The minimum exposure weapon is comprised of an existing weapon with its stock and buffer tube removed. The buffer tube is replaced with a buffer tube 22 which has been manufactured with an additional length of threads which will act as a bolt, and with the accompanying locknut 24 the stock 14, stock extension 16 and stock adaptor 20 are mounted to the receiver. The front stabilization group (38, 40, and 32) is attached to the front hand guard. Finally, the transverse sight mount 26 is connected to the upper receiver 28.
Reference FIG. 2. When the shooter determines he needs cover or protection from possible enemy fire, the zero exposure weapon 10 in
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