BACKGROUND OF INVENTION
The current state of the art of shooting is this: A shooter will select a specific rifle for use in a particular scenario, such as target shooting competition, hunting, etc. Then the shooter will buy different types of ammunition to test with the rifle to discover which type of ammunition will promote the best accuracy. The term ammunition is meant to include the projectile which is the bullet fired down range, and the shell which contains the propellant. Usually when the shooter finds a satisfactory type of ammunition that performs well in his or her rifle, the shooter will seek to improve the accuracy by testing different lots of the same type of ammunition.
Ammunition used for competitive shooting usually includes information regarding the expected exit velocity of the projectile for a specific lot written on a box of ammunition, or a written on a manufacturer=s website. Different lots of ammunition with the same projectile can vary the exit velocity by 10-50 feet per second because of slight differences in the propellant that was loaded during the production of that specific lot. The individual rifle selected by the shooter may shoot more accurately under certain environmental conditions with an exit velocity of 1030 feet per second, but may shoot less accurately under the same environmental conditions using an exit velocity of the same projectile at 1050 feet per second. The incremental accuracy improvement may be small, maybe only 1/10th of an inch smaller for shot groupings (referring to the closeness of target strikes by the projectiles) at 100 yards, but that can easily be the difference between 1st and 5th place in a competition.
Additionally, when environmental factors change, such as air temperature or density, altitude, etc., the most accurate exit velocity for a particular rifle, may no longer be 1030 feet per second or 1060 feet per second, instead, it might change by 10-50 feet per second. In the past, the way that competitive shooters would deal with the ever changing environmental conditions was to purchase and test many different lots of ammunition, with their different exit velocities, and test for best accuracy under a variety of conditions, to be able to match the lot of ammunition which performed best under similar and previously tested conditions. This is the current state of the art before the present invention.
The primary objective of the present invention is to enable the shooter of a firearm to arbitrarily and precisely reduce the exit velocity of a projectile, with adjustment of a shroud or a screw or a dial. The shooter can adjust the exit velocity of the projectile to increments of one foot per second or less, within a range from less than one foot per second to hundreds of feet per second. This invention will enable the shooter to gain a significant competitive advantage of increased accuracy over another firearm which does not have the capability of adjusting the exit velocity of the projectiles.
The present invention enables shooters to avoid being captive to the requirement of purchasing, testing, and storing quantities of multiple specific lots of ammunition to possibly be used if the conditions are right, and instead be able to simply find the specific ammunition that works best in their rifle. The shooters can choose a propellant load that will cause a little faster exit velocity than the fastest load for accuracy under environmental conditions which call for the fastest load, and then they can adjust the speed control to bleed off or reduce barrel gas pressure to slow the exit velocity of the projectile down to precisely the most accurate exit speed at the moment it is needed. This allows the shooters to no longer have to source and maintain quantities of various specific lots of ammunition, and allows them to keep only one higher speed load of ammunition, which, when used in combination with this invention called ASpeed Control@ can now be used in all environmental conditions and yield the best available accuracy.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is an illustration of an embodiment showing the vents in a barrel without speed control shrouds installed over the vents. FIG. 1A shows one shape of cutout that progressively exposes or covers vents when rotated. FIG. 1B shows a different shape cutout that exposes or covers matched pairs of vents when rotated.
FIG. 2 is an illustration of an embodiment showing two different shaped cutouts in shrouds installed at different locations over the vents in the barrel, such that when the shrouds are rotated, they progressively cover or uncover the barrel vents.
FIG. 3B is a cross section view of the barrel and the shroud, where the shroud is a tube that can be tightly fitted over the top of the barrel to control the release of gas in the barrel. FIG. 3A shows the placement of adjustable screws which can be used to connect an outer shroud an inner shroud, which inner shroud is referred to as the speed control shroud, such that when a user turns the outer shroud, the speed control shroud turns at the same time.
FIG. 4 is an illustration of an embodiment of the invention showing the threaded muzzle penetrating an end vent of the outer shroud.
FIG. 5 is an illustration of an embodiment of the invention showing the vented barrel, the hatched area designates the vent is completely open and unobstructed.
FIG. 6 is an illustration of a valve with a triangular vent which acts as an adjustable valve when rotated over the barrel to cover and uncover the triangular vent, allowing the user to adjust by opening and closing the valve to the desired amount of gas to be released.
FIG. 7 is an illustration of an embodiment augmented with an adjustable valve which covers and uncovers vents, in the fully open position for the greatest amount of venting and slowest projectile exit speed.
FIG. 8 is an illustration showing an embodiment augmented with the adjustable valve which covers and uncovers vents, in the fully closed position for zero venting and the highest possible projectile exit speed.
FIG. 9B is a front or muzzle view of an embodiment of the valve showing a cylinder tightly fitted against the barrel to create a secure seal. FIG. 9A shows the protrusion on the shroud which keys into the barrel and allows the user to adjust the valve by rotating the shroud ΒΌ turn from fully closed to fully open.
FIG. 10 is an exploded side view of the shroud which is turned by a dial. FIG. 10A is a cross-section view of a portion of the barrel containing vents. FIG. 10B is an exploded view of components with a dial cylinder. FIG. 11 is a cross section view of a portion of the barrel showing release of gases.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The way the invention works is as follows: Vents, or ports [FIG. 1 #1 and #4] are holes made in a barrel [FIG. 1 #2] of a rifle [FIG. 1 #6]. The vents can be located nearer to a breech [FIG. 1 #7] or to a muzzle [FIG. 1 #8] of the barrel, or anywhere in between. Locating the vents nearer the breech enables the possibility of a larger reduction of the exit velocity of the projectile. The size and the shape of the vents in the barrel can be round, oblong, rectangular, or any other shape, and can be located in rows or columns; the point is that the vents provide a way to bleed off barrel gas pressure. A first shroud [FIG. 1A #3], which is a tightly fitting tube slipped over and affixed to the outside of the barrel, and is comprised of an outer shroud and an inner shroud. The first shroud may be used in combination with a second shroud [FIG. 1B #5]. Additional shrouds as desired, may be placed over the barrel and configured in a variety of ways. The shrouds may have different shape cutouts [FIG. 1A #9] or [FIG. 1B #7]. The shape of the cutouts provide different rates of gas pressure reduction characteristics when the shroud is rotated to progressively cover or uncover vents in the barrel, allowing the user to precisely adjust the amount of gas pressure that is released from the barrel before the projectile exits the barrel. Turning the shroud or shrouds allows precise control over the exit velocity of the projectile.
The Speed Control is a firearm having a barrel with vents, comprising at least one valve and a means for communicating with the vents, where at least one valve can be operated in such a way to smoothly and progressively open and close to release the bore pressure through the vents. The structures for the means for progressively opening and closing the vents in the barrel are described by the following embodiments. A first embodiment where a shroud over the barrel is turned clockwise or counterclockwise to open and close the vents. A second embodiment where the shroud has a cutout which progressively opens and closes the vents when the shroud is turned. A third embodiment where a dial cylinder penetrates a wall of the shroud and keys into a dial gear which meshes with the shroud, and which dial cylinder rotates on a dial axle and screws into a mount that is affixed to the barrel with grub screws, such that when the dial cylinder is turned the shroud turns to open and close the vents. An alternative embodiment which relies on the above described structures is a firearm having a barrel with vents, comprising a means for progressively and smoothly releasing gas pressure behind a bullet after the bullet is fired. Smoothly is defined as even and continuous, without discrete stopping points.
Additionally, this speed control shroud can be used in combination with a sound suppressing or sound redirecting shroud over, and/or enclosing, the barrel. This can enable the shooter to use a single ammunition supersonic load, but the shooter can now decide to open the vents a specific amount to make the projectile exit at a subsonic velocity, taking advantage of the shroud for sound suppression. Or the shooter can elect to completely close the vents, thereby eliminating any venting or velocity reduction, and allowing full supersonic velocity exit speeds. With the same ammunition, it would only require 3 twist of the shroud [FIG. 1A #3] to switch from subsonic to supersonic projectile exit speeds. This has never been done before.
The first shroud [FIG. 2 #23] is tightly fitted over the barrel [FIG. 2 #20]. The first shroud can be turned clockwise or counterclockwise to more fully expose or cover the vents [FIG. 2 #21]. Similarly, a second shroud is fitted over the barrel [FIG. 2 #26], which can also turn. Additional shrouds can also be fitted over the barrel. Turning the shroud allows the cutout [FIG. 2 #25] and [FIG. 2 #22] to uncover the vents [FIG. 2 #21 and #24] which allows the highly pressurized barrel gasses to communicate and rapidly start equalizing pressures between the barrel and a large expansion chamber while the projectile is still sealing the barrel from the time it takes for the projectile to pass and open a first vent [FIG. 2 #21] until the projectile leaves the muzzle.
In another embodiment, a cross section of the rifle barrel [FIG. 3B #34] shows the interaction between the vents [FIG. 3A #33] and [FIG. 3B #33], the cutout of the shroud [FIG. 3B #36], and a screw [FIG. 3A #32] and [FIG. 3B #32]. Alternatively, there can be two screws holding the inner shroud and outer shroud together. Installing the screw or two screws allows rotation of the inner shroud [FIG. 3A #37] along with the outer shroud [FIG. 3B #35]; they turn together because they are joined by the screw or screws. Turning the shroud moves the cutout [FIG. 3B #36] over the vents.
Placing the shroud [FIG. 4 #40] on the muzzle end of the barrel, which can be screwed in place onto threads [FIG. 4 #41] allows for installation of an additional shroud for purposes of noise reduction.
The hatched area [FIG. 5 #50] shows escaping gas pressure from the barrel [FIG. 5 #51] when the vents are all completely open and unobstructed.
A cross section shows the cutout as a triangular hole [FIG. 6 #61] which is adjustable when the shroud [FIG. 6 #60] is rotated over the barrel to cover and uncover the barrel vents. The user may turn the shroud making adjustments to open and close the cutout to the desired amount for purposes of improving accuracy.
In an embodiment with an adjustable valve [FIG. 7 #70] nearer to the muzzle end of the barrel [FIG. 7 #71], which covers and uncovers the vents, the shroud has been rotated to a fully open position for the greatest amount of venting and correspondingly the slowest projectile exit speed. Also, the closer the adjustable valve is to the breech, the larger the impact it can have on reducing exit velocity.
In another embodiment with the adjustable valve [FIG. 8 #80] at the end of the barrel [FIG. 8 #81], which covers and uncovers the vents, the shroud has been rotated to the fully closed position for zero venting and the highest possible projectile exit speed.
A front or muzzle view shows another embodiment of the adjustable valve inside the shroud [FIG. 9A #90] tightly fitted against the barrel to create a secure seal. A small protrusion tab [FIG. 9A #91] sticks out of the shroud [FIG. 9A #90] and snuggly mates with a key slot [FIG. 9A #93] in the shroud [FIG. 9A #92] allowing release of gas pressure in the amount desired by rotating the shroud. Depending on how much of the vent is covered by the adjustable valve [FIG. 9A #90] will either cause release of a greater amount of gas pressure or a lesser amount of gas pressure. To rotate the shroud 3 turn to fully open or close the vent, all that is required is that the adjustable valve inside the shroud [FIG. 9A #95] has the small protrusion tab sticking out of it [FIG. 9A #91] mated with the key slot in the barrel [FIG. 9A #93], so that when one rotates the speed control shroud, the valve rotates with it. A cross-section view looking down the barrel from the muzzle shows the location of the small protrusion tab with respect to an inner surface of the barrel [FIG. 9B #94], and an outer surface of the barrel [FIG. 9B #99]. When the rifle is fire, gasses are released inside the barrel [FIG. 9B #97] which flow through the vents [FIG. 9B #98]. Eventually, the pressure inside the rifle equalizes with the gasses following the projectile [FIG. 9B #96].
A preferred embodiment of the invention functions this way: a dial cylinder (FIG. 10B #108) penetrates a rear wall of a shroud (FIG. 10A #112) with an airtight seal. The dial cylinder (FIG. 10B #108) keys into a dial gear (FIG. 10B #109) and rotates on a dial axle (FIG. 10B #107) which penetrates the dial cylinder (FIG. 10B #108) and the dial gear (FIG. 10B #109). This assembly of dial cylinder, dial axle and dial gear then screws into a fixed mount (FIG. 10B #105) which is affixed to the rifle barrel (FIG. 10A #100) with grub screws (FIG. 10A #106) such that when the dial cylinder (FIG. 10B #108) is manually turned, the dial gear (FIG. 10B #109) meshes with a set of gear teeth (FIG. 10A #103) on the speed control shroud (FIG. 10A #102). A dial control (FIG. 10A #111) rotates the speed control shroud (FIG. 10A #102) so that the cutout shape in the speed control shroud (FIG. 10A #110) progressively covers or uncovers the barrel vents (FIG. 10A #101) thereby progressively increasing or decreasing the amount of venting of pressurized bore gasses (FIG. 10A #115) which in turn varies the speed of the projectile (FIG. 10A #113) inside the rifle barrel, called a bore (FIG. 10A #114). A fixed mount (FIG. 10A #104) holds the rotating cylinder in place so it does not slide forward or backwards on the barrel.
In a preferred embodiment, bore pressure gases (FIG. 11 #115) exit the barrel vents (FIG. 11 #116) and pressure is contained inside a gas block (FIG. 11 #200) if an adjustment screw (FIG. 11 #117) is completely closed. This is the setting for the fastest exit speed. If the shooter wishes to reduce the exit velocity of the projectile, the shooter then turns the adjustment screw (FIG. 11 #117) counter-clockwise to open the passage out of the gas block (FIG. 11 #200) which releases the bore gasses. The amount of venting is smoothly, infinitely, progressively (not in steps) adjustable from fully open, which gives the most venting and slowest exit speed, to completely closed, which gives the highest exit speed. The shooter may use a normally supersonic load of ammunition and with the valve closed, the projectile exits the muzzle at a supersonic velocity. If the shooter uses this same supersonic load of ammunition but wishes it to exit sub-sonically for improved accuracy, then the shooter may open the exit passage by turning the adjustment screw (FIG. 11 #117) counter-clockwise until the desired amount of venting is present allowing the projectile to exit at a sub-sonic velocity.
I have shown the embodiment which I now deem preferable, but it will be understood that the drawings are intended for illustrative purposes only and are not to be relied upon as limiting or defining the scope of the invention, the claims forming a part of this specification being relied upon for that purpose.
Patent Application
20240337457
