Automatic or semi-automatic rifle

• US 20070033851A1
• Filed: 02/09/2006
• Published: 02/15/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 06/16/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Colt's Manufacturing IP Holding Company LLC
• Original Assignee: Colt Defense LLC (Colt Defense Holding LLC)
• Inventors: Robbins, Laurance, Hochstrate, Paul, Daigle, Arthur
• Granted Patent: US 8,051,595 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 42/75.10
• CPC Class Codes: F41A 11/00 Assembly or disassembly features; Modular concepts; Articulated or collapsible guns F41A3/64, F41A19/10 - F41A19/15, F41A21/48, F41A25/26 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: F41A 11/02 Modular concepts, e.g. weapon-family concepts
• CPC Class Codes: F41A 13/12 Systems for cooling the outer surface of the barrel F41A13/10, F41A21/24 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: F41A 15/00 Cartridge extractors, i.e. devices for pulling cartridges or cartridge cases at least partially out of the cartridge chamber; Cartridge ejectors, i.e. devices for throwing the extracted cartridges or cartridge cases free of the gun F41A9/54, F41C9/08 take precedence; Means for removing duds or misfires in rocket throwers F41F3/058
• CPC Class Codes: F41A 21/482 using continuous threads on the barrel
• CPC Class Codes: F41A 3/66 Breech housings or frames; Receivers
• CPC Class Codes: F41A 35/02 Dust- or weather-protection caps or covers protecting-caps for trigger guards F41A17/54
• CPC Class Codes: F41A 5/18 gas-operated
• CPC Class Codes: F41A 5/26 Arrangements or systems for bleeding the gas from the barrel F41A5/20 - F41A5/24 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: F41A 5/28 Adjustable systems
• CPC Class Codes: F41C 23/16 Forestocks; Handgrips; Hand guards pump-action guns F41C7/02
• CPC Class Codes: F41C 27/00 Accessories; Details or attachments not otherwise provided for
• CPC Class Codes: F41G 1/00 Sighting devices for indirect laying of fire F41G3/16; bombsights F41G3/24 ; structurally associated with laser telemeters F41G3/065; mounting tubular or beam shaped aiming devices on firearms F41G11/001
• CPC Class Codes: F41G 1/02 Foresights
• CPC Class Codes: F41G 11/003 Mountings with a dove tail element, e.g. "Picatinny rail systems"

Abstract

A rifle having a receiver with an integral hand guard and a barrel. The barrel is connected to the receiver. The hand guard extends over and surrounds the barrel. A removable hand guard is attached to the receiver by an attachment that stably holds the removable hand guard to the receiver. The attachment is arranged for allowing detachment and removal of the removable hand guard from the receiver without removal of fasteners.

Claims

1. An automatic or semi-automatic rifle comprising:

a receiver having an integral hand guard;

a barrel connected to the receiver, wherein the hand guard extends over and surrounds the barrel; and

a removable hand guard removably attached to the receiver by an attachment that stably holds the removable hand guard to the receiver, wherein the attachment is arranged for allowing detachment and removal of the removable hand guard from the receiver without removal of fasteners.

2. The rifle of claim 1, wherein the receiver with the integral hand guard is of unitary construction.

3. The rifle of claim 1, wherein the integral hand guard is an upper hand guard located over the barrel, and wherein the removable hand guard is a lower hand guard that mates with the upper hand guard to enclose the barrel.

4. The rifle of claim 3, wherein the integral hand guard has vents for allowing cooling air to pass there through.

5. The rifle of claim 1, further comprising a heat shield mounted within the hand guard section.

6. The rifle of claim 1, wherein the integral hand guard section has at least one accessory device mounting rail located in at least one of a three, twelve and nine o'"'"'clock positions, and the removable hand guard has at least another accessory device mounting rail located at a six o'"'"'clock position.

7. The rifle of claim 1, wherein the removable hand guard is selectable from a number of different interchangeable removable hand guards, each having a different predetermined characteristic.

8. The rifle of claim 1, wherein the receiver comprises a support ring encircling the barrel and having an attachment for an accessory device, and wherein the removable hand guard is located between a lower portion of the receiver and the support ring.

9. The rifle of claim 1, wherein the removable hand guard comprises two radially spaced heat shields.

10. The rifle of claim 1, wherein the removable hand guard is removably connected to the receiver with a latching mechanism.

11. The rifle of claim 6, wherein the accessory device mounting rails are MIL-STD 1913 rails.

12. The rifle of claim 1, wherein the barrel has a centering feature, and the firearm further comprises a barrel nut having a mating centering feature;

wherein, the barrel is secured to the receiver with the barrel nut, and wherein the barrel nut secures and centers the barrel in the upper receiver by mating the mating centering feature with the centering feature.

13. The rifle of claim 1 wherein the receiver further comprises:

a lug, the lug having a slot therein; and

an ejection port cover;

wherein, the ejection port cover is rotatably connected to the upper receiver by a pin located within the slot.

14. A semi-automatic or automatic rifle comprising:

a receiver having an integral hand guard portion;

a barrel removably connected to the receiver, the hand guard portion extending over and surrounding the barrel;

a removable accessory device mounting rail removably connected to the receiver and having another hand guard portion mateable with the integral hand guard portion of the receiver; and

a quick release lock mounted to at least one of the removable mounting rail or the receiver for locking the removable mounting rail to the receiver.

15. The rifle of claim 14, wherein the quick release lock has a movable locking member movable between locked and unlocked positions, wherein when in the locked position the locking member locks the removable mounting rail in an installed position to the receiver, and when the locking member is in the unlocked position, the mounting rail is unlocked and freely movable relative to the receiver.

16. The rifle of claim 15, wherein the locking member is spring loaded, the spring loading biasing the locking member to the locked position.

17. The rifle of claim 15, wherein the locking member moves automatically to the locked position when the removable mounting rail is located in the installed position.

18. The rifle of claim 15, wherein the quick release lock has a lever pivotally mounted to the removable mounting rail for actuating the locking member.

19. The rifle of claim 18, wherein the quick release lock is included in the removable mounting rail, and wherein the removable mounting rail has an opening for accessing and operating the lever.

20. The rifle of claim 15, wherein the locking member has an engagement portion protruding from the removable mounting rail and engaging a recess in the receiver.

21. The rifle of claim 15, wherein the locking member has a cam surface thereon cooperating with the receiver for camming the locking member.

23. The rifle of claim 14, wherein the receiver with the integral hand guard portion is of unitary construction.

49. The rifle of claim 15 wherein the extractor lock surface comprises a pin pressed into the barrel extension.

24. A semi-automatic or automatic rifle comprising:

a receiver having a receiver frame of unitary construction with an integral hand guard section;

a barrel removably connected to the receiver frame, wherein the integral hand guard section extends over and generally surrounds the barrel; and

a removable hand guard section removably connected to the receiver, the removable hand guard section having a lock locking the removable hand guard section to the receiver frame, the lock having a movable latching member movable between engaged and disengaged positions, wherein movement of the latching member to the engaged position substantially simultaneously locks and stably holds the removable hand guard section to the receiver, and upon movement of the latching member to the disengaged position the removable hand guard section is unlocked and movable relative to the receiver frame, and wherein the lock is arranged so that movement of the latching member between engaged and disengaged positions is effected by no more than a single user action.

25. The rifle of claim 24, wherein the latching member is spring loaded.

26. The rifle of claim 24, wherein the receiver frame and the removable hand guard section have interlocking guides and guideways guiding sliding movement of the removable hand guard section relative to the receiver to an installed position.

27. The rifle of claim 26, wherein the guideways guide relative movement between the removable hand guard section and receiver frame in two directions angled relative to each other.

28. The rifle of claim 26, wherein the latching member moves automatically to the engaged position when the removable hand guard section is moved into the installed position.

29. The rifle of claim 28, wherein the latching member has a cam surface that engages a cooperating surface on the receiver to cam the latching member away from the engaged position when the removable hand guard section is moved toward the installed position.

30. The rifle of claim 28, wherein the latching member engages a detent in the receiver frame, and the lock has a lever movably mounted to the removable hand guard section that moves the latching member away from the engagement in the detent.

31. The rifle of claim 26, wherein the movement of the latching member to and from its engagement position is in a direction angled relative to a guide direction defined by the guideways in which the removable hand guard section is moved in and out of the installed position.

32. The rifle of claim 24, wherein the lock is located at a rear end of the removable hand guard section.

33. The rifle of claim 24, wherein the lock is located at a front end of the removable hand guard section.

34. The rifle of claim 24, wherein the lock has an actuation member for user actuation of the latching member, the actuation member being pivotally mounted to the removable hand guard section so that rotation of the actuation member relative to the removable hand guard section causes the latching member to move between engaged and disengaged positions.

35. The rifle of claim 24, wherein the latching member is a pin movably mounted in the removable hand guard section and having a protruding portion, protruding in a first direction from the removable hand guard section, that engages with the receiver frame, and wherein the pin is moved to the engaged position in a second direction angled relative to the first direction.

36. The rifle of claim 24, wherein the lock comprises a wedge adapted to be positioned against the receiver for wedging the removable hand guard section against the receiver, and wherein the latching member is a pin that extends between the wedge and removable hand guard section when the latching member is in the engaged position.

37. A semi-automatic or automatic rifle comprising:

a receiver having a receiver frame of unitary construction with an integral hand guard section;

a barrel removably connected to the receiver frame, wherein the integral hand guard section extends over and generally surrounds the barrel; and

a barrel nut connected to the barrel for removably attaching the barrel to the receiver, wherein the barrel nut has barrel engagement surfaces disposed to engage and hold the barrel to the receiver.

38. A retrofit-able hand guard for an firearm automatic or semi-automatic rifle having an upper receiver, a lower receiver and a barrel, the retrofit-able hand guard comprising:

a hand guard section removably connected to the upper receiver, the hand guard section having at least one peripheral device mounting rail located thereon;

a removable hand guard section removably attached to the hand guard section, the removable hand guard section having at least another peripheral device mounting rail thereon; and

a quick release lock mounted to at least one of the hand guard sections or the removable hand guard section for locking the removable hand guard section to the hand guard section.

39. The hand guard of claim 38, further comprising a heat shield mounted within the hand guard section.

40. The hand guard of claim 38, wherein the hand guard section has venting holes for cooling air to pass there through.

41. The hand guard of claim 38, wherein the hand guard section has peripheral device mounting rails located at three, twelve and nine o'"'"'clock positions respectively with respect to a centerline of the barrel.

42. The hand guard of claim 41, wherein the at least one peripheral device mounting rail of the removable hand guard section is located at a six o'"'"'clock position.

43. The hand guard of claim 38, wherein the removable hand guard section is selectable from a number of different interchangeable removable hand guard section each having a different predetermined characteristic.

44. The hand guard of claim 38, wherein the hand guard section comprises a clamp for removably clamping the hand guard to the upper receiver or the barrel.

45. An automatic or semi-automatic rifle comprising:

a receiver with a barrel receiving bore therein; and

a barrel assembly removably mounted to the receiver, the barrel assembly comprising;

a barrel section having a bore, and a breach at one end of the barrel section;

a barrel extension removably mounted to the breach end of the barrel section; and

a barrel nut movably mounted on the barrel extension and threadably engaged to the barrel receiving bore of the receiver to mount the barrel assembly within the barrel receiving bore of the receiver.

46. The rifle of claim 45, wherein the barrel extension has a tapered section, and wherein the barrel nut has a tapered bore adapted to receive the tapered section therein.

47. The rifle of claim 45, wherein the barrel section has a cartridge chamber with a chamber surface having a first portion adapted to annularly contact and stably hold a cartridge in the chamber, and having an end most portion extending from the first portion to the breach end of the barrel section and defining an outermost rim of an entry opening of the chamber and wherein the end most portion is generally rounded in an entry direction of a cartridge into the chamber.

48. The rifle of claim 45, wherein the barrel extension has an extractor lock surface and wherein, the extractor lock surface supports a cartridge extractor under pressure loading from a cartridge.

50. An firearm automatic or semi-automatic rifle, comprising:

a receiver with a firing mechanism;

a barrel connected to the receiver; and

a gas piston operating system assembly connecting the barrel to the receiver for cycling the firing mechanism in automatic or semi-automatic operation;

wherein the gas piston operating system is removable as a unit from the barrel and receiver.

51. The rifle of claim 50, wherein the gas piston operating system assembly has a cylinder sleeve, and the barrel has a gas block with a bore adapted to removably receive the cylinder sleeve therein.

52. The rifle of claim 51, wherein the gas block has a gas passage communicating with a barrel bore, and the cylinder sleeve has a gas inlet port, and wherein the gas block and cylinder sleeve are indexed with respect to each other so that when the cylinder sleeve is installed in the gas block, the gas passage and gas inlet port are communicably connected.

53. The rifle of claim 51, wherein the gas piston operating system assembly has a piston and rod assembly comprising a piston, an operating rod and return spring attached to each other to form an integral unit so that the piston and rod assembly is removably mated to the cylinder sleeve as a unit.

54. The rifle of claim 53, wherein the firing mechanism has a bolt carriage assembly with a impingement surface engaged by the operating rod.

55. The rifle of claim 52, wherein the cylinder sleeve is removably coupled to the gas block with a lock pin, wherein the lock pin defines a camming surface camming the cylinder sleeve to seal the gas inlet port to the gas passage in the gas block.

56. The rifle of claim 53, wherein the cylinder sleeve has outer slots, the slots being adapted to form a labyrinth seal between cylinder sleeve and bore in the gas block and facilitate removal of the cylinder sleeve from the gas block.

57. The rifle of claim 51, wherein the cylinder sleeve comprises an index pin, and wherein the gas block comprises a camming surface and wherein the cylinder sleeve is positioned in gas block with the index pin engaging the camming surface, and wherein engagement between the index pin and camming surface cams the cylinder sleeve out from the gas block.

58. A folding front sight for an automatic or semi-automatic rifle, the folding sight comprising:

a support fixedly coupled to the firearm;

a movable sight pivotally coupled to the support and movable relative to the support between raised and stowed position; and

a spring loaded detent adapted to position and stably hold the movable sight in the raised position substantially without play;

59. The folding front sight of claim 58, wherein the support comprises a gas block.

60. The folding front sight of claim 58, wherein the sight is located without play by the detent relative to the support when in the raised position and in the stowed position.

61. The folding front sight of claim 58, wherein the support comprises a flat, and wherein the sight comprises a locating step, and wherein the locating step is preloaded against the flat by the detent when in the raised position.