Patent Grant
8069600
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/971,706, entitled “Takedown Rifle,” filed on 9 Jan. 2008, is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety (the “Takedown Rifle Application”).
Conventional firearms are configured to chamber and fire a specific cartridge. If the user wishes to fire a different cartridge, the user must obtain a different firearm that is chambered to handle the cartridge. Unfortunately, it is rarely practical to obtain large numbers of firearms of varying calibers. Instead, most people carefully evaluate what the firearm will be used for and select the cartridge that best meets the majority of the user's needs. For example, someone who uses the firearm primarily for African game is likely to choose a magnum caliber, while someone who uses the firearm primarily for varmint hunting is more likely to choose a lighter, faster, standard caliber.
It should be noted that the term “caliber” can have a variety of different meanings. For example, the caliber may refer to: (1) the approximate size of the bullets fired through a firearm (e.g., .17 caliber bullets; the actual diameter of .17 caliber bullets is 0.177 inches), (2) the approximate size of the inside diameter of the barrel of the firearm (e.g., a .30 caliber rifle; the actual inside diameter of the barrel of a .30 caliber rifle is 0.308 inches), or (3) the specific cartridge that the firearm is configured to chamber (e.g., .300 Winchester Magnum). For example, a rifle that is configured to fire 30-06 cartridges may be appropriately referred to as simply a .30 caliber rifle because that is the approximate size in inches of the bullets (the actual size of the bullets is 0.308 inches) and the inside diameter of the barrel. However the same rifle may also be appropriately referred to as being a 30-06 caliber rifle since that is the specific cartridge that the rifle is chambered for.
Some conventional firearms are capable of firing more than one caliber of cartridges. For example, most .357 magnums are also capable of firing .38 special cartridges. The primary difference between the two cartridges is that the .38 special is significantly shorter. Otherwise, the diameter of the bullets and the outside diameter of the rims of the two cartridges are the same. Most firearms that can fire multiple cartridges involve situations such as this where the cartridges are very similar or identical in size, particularly the outside diameter of the bullet and the rim of the cartridge case (e.g., a .22 long rifle caliber firearm can usually fire .22 shorts and .22 longs).
It would be desirable to provide a firearm that is capable of firing a much wider variety of cartridges. Such a firearm may eliminate or reduce the perceived need to buy multiple firearms depending on how the firearm is intended to be used.
A bolt and associated firearms that incorporate the bolt are described herein. The bolt may allow the firearms to fire and cycle cartridges that have cases with different outside diameters. This allows the user to purchase a single firearm that can be used for multiple purposes such as varmint hunting and big game hunting.
In one embodiment, a firearm comprises a bolt that may include an extractor and an ejector. The extractor may be configured to engage a rim of a cartridge. The ejector may be configured to bias a base of the cartridge away from the bolt. The extractor may also be configured to move outward in a direction that is perpendicular to a lengthwise axis of the bolt to accommodate cartridges having different outside rim diameters. In another embodiment, a rifle comprises a bolt that may be configured to chamber, extract, and eject cartridge cases having different outside rim diameters. In another embodiment, a bolt for a firearm may comprise a bolt head configured to contact a base of a cartridge in order to chamber the cartridge, an extractor configured to engage a rim of the cartridge, and an ejector configured to bias the base of the cartridge away from the bolt head. The extractor may be configured to move outward from the center of the bolt to accommodate cartridges having different outside rim diameters.
The foregoing and other features, utilities, and advantages of the subject matter described herein will be apparent from the following more particular description of certain embodiments as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
A bolt for a firearm may be provided to allow the firearm to chamber, fire, extract, and/or eject a variety of cartridges of different sizes. It should be appreciated at the outset that the configuration of the various components may be altered in any suitable way to obtain additional embodiments. For example, the firearm shown in
In one embodiment, the firearm 100 may be a takedown rifle such as the one described in the Takedown Rifle Application referenced above. A takedown rifle is a rifle that is designed to be easily separated into two halves or parts to make it easy to transport, clean, store, or otherwise handle the rifle 100. A lever mechanism 123 may be used to selectively couple and decouple the two halves together. In one embodiment, the barrel 102 of the firearm 100 is interchangeable with other barrels of different calibers. This allows the user to change the caliber of the firearm 100 quickly and easily in response to the circumstances and needs at the time. In one embodiment, the firearm 100 may be changed between any of the following calibers: 22-250 Rem., 243 Win., 7 mm-08 Rem., 308 Win., 358 Win., 270 Win., 30-06 spfld., 7 mm Rem. Mag, 300 Win Mag., 300 WSM (Win. Short Magnum), 270 WSM, 7 mm WSM, 450 Marlin, 325 WSM. Each of these calibers corresponds to a standard rim diameter.
The firearm 100 includes a bolt assembly 116 that is operated with a lever 118 to eject a spent cartridge and load the chamber with a fresh cartridge. The bolt assembly 116 includes a bolt 120 that is configured to chamber, extract, and/or eject any of a variety of cartridges having a variety of standard rim diameters. As is well known in the art, standard rim diameters may have small standard dimensional deviations due to the manufacturing process. In one embodiment, the bolt 120 may be configured to chamber, extract, and/or eject cartridge cases that have different outside rim diameters. The outside rim diameters of the cartridges may be any diameter for any known rifle caliber. In one embodiment, the bolt 120 may be configured to accommodate cartridges where the outside diameter of the rim is 0.473 inches (12.01 mm) to 0.532 inches (13.51 mm). In another embodiment, the bolt 120 may be configured to accommodate cartridges where the outside diameter of the rime is 0.378 inches (9.60 mm) to 0.804 inches (20.42 mm). It should be appreciated that the diameter of the recess in a bolt head 126 will be slightly larger than the diameter of the largest rim that the bolt head 126 is designed to accommodate. This is done to eliminate any potential for the rim of a cartridge to get jammed in the recess of the bolt head 126.
The bolt 120 includes an extractor 122 and an ejector 124 positioned on the bolt head 126. The extractor 122 is positioned to engage the rim of the cartridge to pull it rearward out of the chamber. The ejector 124 is biased with the biasing member or spring 128 to push the base of the cartridge away from the bolt head 126 and out of an ejection port in the receiver of the firearm 100. The ejector 124 includes a first face 130 that the base of cartridges having a first diameter press against when the cartridges are in the chamber. The ejector also has a second face 131 against which cartridges of a second diameter are pressed when the cartridges are in the chamber. In one embodiment, the ejector 124 has a stepped shape (surfaces 130 and 131) that provides greater biasing force to larger cartridges and less biasing force to smaller cartridges. Further, a wall 133 maintains cartridges of a smaller diameter in a fixed position relative to the bolt 120.
The extractor 122 is biased toward the center of the bolt head 126 (i.e., in a direction that is perpendicular to the lengthwise axis of the bolt 120) by a biasing member 132. As shown in
Reference is made in the following to a number of illustrative embodiments of the subject matter described herein. The following embodiments illustrate only a few selected embodiments that may include the various features, characteristics, and advantages of the subject matter as presently described. Accordingly, the following embodiments should not be considered as being comprehensive of all of the possible embodiments. Also, features and characteristics of one embodiment may and should be interpreted to equally apply to other embodiments or be used in combination with any number of other features from the various embodiments to provide further additional embodiments, which may describe subject matter having a scope that varies (e.g., broader, etc.) from the particular embodiments explained below. Accordingly, any combination of any of the subject matter described herein is contemplated.
According to one embodiment, a firearm comprises: a bolt including an extractor that is configured to engage a rim of a cartridge and an ejector that is configured to bias a base of the cartridge away from the bolt; wherein the extractor is configured to move outward to accommodate cartridge cases having different outside diameters. The bolt may be capable of extracting and ejecting cartridge cases that have an outside diameter of 0.378 inches (9.60 mm) to 0.804 inches (20.42 mm). The bolt may be capable of extracting and ejecting cartridge cases that have an outside diameter of 0.473 inches (12.01 rum) to 0.532 inches (13.51 mm). The ejector may include a face that is positioned to contact the base of the cartridge, wherein the face of the ejector has a stepped shape. The extractor may be biased inward toward a center of a bolt head. The firearm may comprise a spring that is used to bias the ejector outward from the bolt.
According to another embodiment, a rifle comprises: a bolt that is configured to chamber, extract, and eject cartridge cases having different outside diameters. The bolt may be capable of chambering, extracting and ejecting cartridge cases that have an outside diameter of 0.378 inches (9.60 mm) to 0.804 inches (20.42 mm). The bolt may be capable of chambering, extracting and ejecting cartridge cases that have an outside diameter of 0.473 inches (12.01 mm) to 0.532 inches (13.51 mm). The bolt may be a rotary bolt. The bolt may include an extractor that is movable outward to allow the extractor to engage the rims of the cartridge cases having different outside diameters. The bolt may include an ejector that is configured to bias the bases of the cartridge cases away from a bolt head.
According to another embodiment, a firearm comprises: a bolt head configured to contact a base of a cartridge in order to chamber the cartridge; an extractor configured to engage a rim of the cartridge; and an ejector configured to bias the base of the cartridge away from the bolt head; wherein the extractor is configured to move outward to accommodate cartridge cases having different outside diameters. The extractor may be configured to accommodate cartridge cases having outside diameters of 0.378 inches (9.60 mm) to 0.804 inches (20.42 mm). The extractor may be configured to accommodate cartridge cases having outside diameters of 0.473 inches (12.01 mm) to 0.532 inches (13.51 mm). The bolt may be a rotary bolt. The ejector may have a face that biases the base of the cartridge away from the bolt head, wherein the face has a stepped shape. The extractor may be biased toward the center of the bolt head.
As used herein, spatial or directional terms, such as “let” “right,” “front,” “back,” and the like, relate to the subject matter as it is shown in the drawing FIGS. However, it is to be understood that the subject matter described herein may assume various alternative orientations and, accordingly, such terms are not to be considered as limiting. Furthermore, as used herein (i.e., in the claims and the specification), articles such as “the,” “a,” and “an” can connote the singular or plural. Also, as used herein, the word “or” when used without a preceding “either” (or other similar language indicating that “or” is unequivocally meant to be exclusive—e.g., only one of x or y, etc.) shall be interpreted to be inclusive (e.g., “x or y” means one or both x or y). Likewise, as used herein, the term “and/or” shall also be interpreted to be inclusive (e.g., “x and/or y” means one or both x or y). In situations where “and/or” or “or” are used as a conjunction for a group of three or more items, the group should be interpreted to include one item alone, all of the items together, or any combination or number of the items. Moreover, terms used in the specification and claims such as have, having, include, and including should be construed to be synonymous with the terms comprise and comprising.
Unless otherwise indicated, all numbers or expressions, such as those expressing dimensions, physical characteristics, etc. used in the specification (other than the claims) are understood as modified in all instances by the term “approximately.” At the very least, and not as an attempt to limit the application of the doctrine of equivalents to the claims, each numerical parameter recited in the specification or claims which is modified by the term “approximately” should at least be construed in light of the number of recited significant digits and by applying ordinary rounding techniques. Moreover, all ranges disclosed herein are to be understood to encompass and provide support for claims that recite any and all subranges or any and all individual values subsumed therein. For example, a stated range of 1 to 10 should be considered to include and provide support for claims that recite any and all subranges or individual values that are between and/or inclusive of the minimum value of 1 and the maximum value of 10; that is, all subranges beginning with a minimum value of 1 or more and ending with a maximum value of 10 or less (e.g., 5.5 to 10, 2.34 to 3.56, and so forth) or any values from 1 to 10 (e.g., 3, 5.8, 9.9994, and so forth).
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