Patent Application
20090049732
The present invention relates with the firearms industry and more specifically relates to means and methods for cooling the barrels of firearms.
The endeavor of accurising firearms such as rifles dates back to over one hundred years ago. For instance, early on, the barrels of rifles were longitudinally fluted with grooves to impart a gyroscopic spin to bullets. In addition, elliptical bullets took the place of spherical projectiles as manufacturers discovered the improved aerodynamics and ballistics properties of the sharpened shapes.
And today, the confluence of all the prior art along with the studies of ballistics have revolutionized firearms technology. Nowadays, the combination of state of the art technology combined with a skilled shooter can produce seemingly impossible accuracy of unguided projectile bullets. A skilled shooter with suitable technology can hit a target over a mile away. Many of these shooters can achieve results of less than 1 MOA (minute of angle) or less (sometimes referred to as “sub-MOA”).
These skilled shooters employ extremely fastidious shooting methods such as hand loading and preparing their own projectiles. With this practice shooters carefully weigh gun powder with highly accurate scales. Many shooters are able to achieve the consistency of less than a grain of gun powder, or 1/70,000th of an ounce.
One of the most difficult obstacles in ensuring pinpoint accuracy in shooting a firearm is that the heat generated by the explosion of the gun powder creates thermal distortion of the barrel. As the temperature of the barrel increases, the metal naturally expands. For this reason, KIMBER® Mfg., Inc. (a rifle manufacturer A Federally Registered Trademark) recommends waiting three minutes after taking a shot in order to allow the barrel of the rifle to cool back down to ambient air temperature. Accordingly, many advanced shooters will take no more than 5 shots in a shot string. Typically, these shooters will allow three minutes or more between shots. Additionally, these shooters will allow for substantially more cooling time between shot strings.
Thermal distortion of the barrel of the rifle alters the consistency of the barrel of the rifle. Whereas the overarching law of accurizing firearms is “consistency”, each consecutive shot actively works against consistency.
Efforts have been made to reduce the attendant thermal distortion of the barrels of firearms. Some rifles have been equipped with heavier and thicker barrels. Some rifles have been longitudinally fluted with outside grooves to increase the surface area and heat dissipation.
Notwithstanding these efforts, there are still lingering effects of thermal distortion. For this reason, it is not uncommon for highly skilled shooters to take only three practice shots in a period of 15 to 20 minutes and allow their rifles to cool down to ambient air temperature. Naturally, this wasted time prevents skilled shooters from getting the most from their practice sessions.
One area where the inefficient practice sessions of sharp shooters becomes problematic is counter-terrorism. For instance, the firearms used by counter-terrorism personnel must be more accurate than that of standard military rifles. The reason for this is because the target is usually an aggressor's head, or other relatively small limbs. These rifles are usually heavier and constructed with superior accuracy and tighter tolerances than their standard military counterparts.
Therefore, what is clearly needed in the art is a method and system for speeding up the cooling of firearms barrels to the temperature just before a “cold-shot”. By speeding up the process of cooling, more consistency is imparted into the firing of the rifles. Moreover, a quicker cooling method and system would enable students of counter-terrorism forces to make more cold barrel shots in a given amount of time.
It is an object of the present invention to speed up the process of cooling the barrels of firearms. By bringing the temperature of the barrel to ambient air temperature, more consistency as well as predictability enables a shooter to become more accurate. By speeding up this process a shooter can make more cold barrel shots in a given amount of time.
Moreover, it is an object of the present invention to provide a method for counter-terrorism forces to acquire more practice shots in a given amount of time. By taking more shots in a practice session, a student can sharpen his or her skills exponentially quicker.
a is a frontal view of a preferred embodiment of the present invention.
b is a frontal view of a preferred embodiment of the present invention.
According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a unique system, method, and apparatus are used to cool the barrel of a rifle. The present invention is described in enabling detail below.
For the purposes of the present invention the term “cold-shot” shall refer to the first shot a shooter takes whether in a practice session, a competitive event, or in the field. The temperature of the barrel of a rifle just before a cold shot is taken, at that moment in time, provides the baseline for which consistency is predicated. By recording this temperature, one will have a good idea as to the relative thermal distortion or lack thereof of the firearm after firing a given number of shots.
For the purposes of the present invention the term “firearm” shall include rifles, guns, shotguns, pistols, “sharp-shooting” rifles, etc. Although the present invention is primarily aimed at problems which are mainly associated with rifles, it is conceivable that the present invention may be applicable in other endeavors.
For the purpose of the present invention the term “fan apparatus” shall include all devices which are used to pull or suck air as well as to inject or push air. These terms will be interchangeably used for the purposes of the present invention. For instance, the fan apparatus may incorporate either a blower or a vacuum in various embodiments.
For the purposes of the present invention the term “refrigerant” shall mean any substance, compound, or material which is used to provide a cooling means. Examples include, but are not limited to: ice, cold packs, air conditioning units, frozen liquids or solids, etc.
The fan apparatus comprises a first orifice 102 and a second orifice 103. The first orifice interfaces with the firearm by injecting or removing air or other gases to or from the barrel of the firearm.
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The conduit is a hollow elongate tube with a first end 115 and a second end 116. The first end is connected with the lid and the second end is connected with the second orifice of the fan apparatus.
In some preferred embodiments the cooling means may be ice. Alternatively, in other preferred embodiments the cooling means may be a admixture of water and ammonium nitrate fertilizer (sometimes referred to as a “cold pack”). In other preferred embodiments the cooling mean may be a refrigerator. And in other preferred embodiments the cooling means may be a refrigerant. Although these aforementioned means are mentioned, a person skilled in the art may be able to devise other fungible or suitable cooling means to be used with the present invention. For this reason, the scope of the present invention is not meant to be construed to be limiting to only these cooling means.
The crux of the present invention is to achieve maximum cold shot consistency with respect to the ambient temperature and the barrel temperature of the rifle. For this reason, the first temperature reading is taken just before the “cold shot” of the firearm. Subsequently, the temperature of the barrel is usually taken after a length of time of cooling. These temperatures will be taken until the cooling process has cooled the barrel of the firearm to the temperature just prior to the “cold shot”.
It will be apparent to the skilled artisan that there are numerous changes that may be made in embodiments described herein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. As such, the invention taught herein by specific examples is limited only by the scope of the claims that follow.
