Rifle bolt assemblies

• US 4,358,986 A
• Filed: 09/02/1980
• Issued: 11/16/1982
• Est. Priority Date: 09/11/1979
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Leader Propulsion Systems Pty Limited
• Original Assignee: Leader Propulsion Systems Pty Limited
• Inventors: Giorgio, Charles
• Primary Examiner(s): Bentley, Stephen C.
• Application Number:
  US06/183,163
• Time in Patent Office: 805 Days
• Field of Search: 89/1 K, 89/185, 89/199
• US Class Current: 89/142
• 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 19/46 Arrangements for the selection of automatic or semi-automatic fire
• CPC Class Codes: F41A 3/26 semi-automatically or automatically operated, e.g. having a slidable bolt-carrier and a rotatable bolt
• CPC Class Codes: F41A 3/64 Mounting of breech-blocks; Accessories for breech-blocks or breech-block mountings
• CPC Class Codes: F41C 7/00 Shoulder-fired smallarms, e.g. rifles, carbines, shotguns specially adapted for underwater use F41C9/06

Abstract

A rifle having a body comprised of hingedly interconnected lower and upper receivers, a trigger and hammer assembly mounted in the lower receiver, a barrel extending from one end of the upper receiver, an integrated bolt assembly removably mounted in the upper receiver, the bolt assembly comprising a bolt carrier slidably mounted on two action rods joined at corresponding first ends by an action plate, the action rods being releasably supported at corresponding ends in the rifle body, a bolt slidably mounted in the bolt carrier, a firing pin slidably mounted in the bolt, compression springs between the action plate and the bolt carrier and retaining means on the action rods to retain the bolt carrier on the action rods and retain the members of the bolt assembly integrated so the bolt assembly can be removed from the upper receiver as a complete unit.

Claims

1. A rifle comprising a lower receiver and an elongated tubular upper receiver in operative overlying relationship;

a barrel assembly mounted in and projecting from a first end of the upper receiver;

a trigger and hammer assembly mounted in the lower receiver;

an opening in the upper receiver to allow a firing pin striking hammer of the hammer assembly to project into the upper receiver;

a bolt assembly comprising a bolt carrier, two parallel action rods demountably supported longitudinally in the upper receiver in a plane parallel to the plane occupied by the axis of the bore of the barrel assembly, bearing means in the bolt carrier slidably engaging the action rods, a bolt slidably and part rotatably mounted in the bolt carrier and projecting from one end thereof with the axis of sliding movement aligned with the axis of the bore of the barrel assembly and with a head lockable in a recess in said barrel assembly, a firing pin assembly axially slidably mounted in the bolt and projecting from the other end of the bolt carrier, an action plate interconnecting the ends of the action rods adjacent said other end of the bolt carrier, compression springs on the action rods interposed between said other end of the bolt carrier and the action plate;

characterised by retaining means on one action rod located between said one end of the bolt carrier and the other end of said one action rod to retain the bolt carrier on the action rods and thereby integrate the bolt carrier and the action rods enabling that integrated assembly to be removed as a complete unit from the rifle, releasable catch means to lock the upper and lower receivers in operative overlying relationship, said catch means including a lug on said action plate and a recess in the lower receiver urged into engagement by the compression springs on the action rods, said action rods being supported in the upper receiver by said catch means and by support means in the barrel assembly engaged by said other ends of said action rods, said support means including a manually operable cocking rod slidably housed in a bearing in the barrel assembly, an axial bearing in a first end of the cocking rod to slidably receive said other action rod, a cocking handle on the cocking rod and biasing means to bias the cocking rod in a direction away from the bolt carrier.

2. A rifle as claimed in claim 1 in which the trigger and hammer assembly includes a trigger pivotally mounted in the lower receiver and spring biassed in a first direction, the hammer being mounted in the lower receiver and spring biassed in a direction opposite to the first direction, an upper lug on the hammer;

a hammer cocking cam face on the bolt carrier;

a sear plate pivotally housed in the lower receiver and spring biased in said first direction and including an upper face and a lower face and an arm;

variable cam means in the lower receiver engageable by the sear plate arm to position the sear plate in an operative or an inoperative position for automatic or single shot rifle operation respectively;

a removable slide slidably located between the undersurface of the bolt carrier and an inner surface of the upper receiver, a first operating face on the slide engageable by striker means on the bolt carrier as the bolt carrier nears the ends of a movement towards the barrel assembly, a second operating face on the slide engaged by the upper face of the sear plate;

the positioning of the components being such that on a rearward movement of the bolt carrier away from the barrel assembly in automatic operation of the rifle the striker means moves away from the slide first operating face thereby allowing the sear plate biasing spring to move the slide in the same direction through engagement of the sear plate upper face with the slide second operating face and allowing engagement of the hammer top lug with the sear lower face as the hammer cocking cam face of the bolt carrier rotates the hammer against its spring bias;

movement of the bolt carrier in the opposite direction resulting in said striker means engaging the slide first operating face to move the slide towards the barrel assembly and rotate the sear plate against the bias of its spring to disengage the sear lower face from the hammer upper lug allowing the hammer to rotate and strike the firing pin in the bolt assembly.

3. A rifle as claimed in claim 2 wherein, the bolt carrier underface includes a cam track to cock the hammer.

4. A rifle as claimed in claim 2 wherein, the slide is a generally rectangular ring and said first operating face comprises spaced upstanding lug means at one narrow end of the slide and said second operating face is a tongue in the plane of the slide and projecting inwardly into the open central portion of the slide from the other narrow end of the slide, and wherein the striker means is two pegs one to either side of the cam track to engage the slide lugs.

5. A rifle as claimed in claim 4 including, a downturned travel limiting hooked lug at said other end of the slide to engage over the other end of the lowermost face of the upper receiver.

6. A rifle as claimed in claim 1 wherein the bolt head has three lobes, said recess in the barrel assembly includes three lugs separated by three gaps through which the bolt lobes can pass and the degree of rotation of the bolt is such as to lock said three lobes behind said three lugs.

7. A rifle as claimed in claim 1 wherein the bolt is rotated by interengaged cam and peg means on the bolt and the bolt carrier and said cam includes a ramped portion to rotate the bolt and a straight portion parallel to the axial movement of the bolt to provide axial movement of the bolt carrier relative to the bolt prior to the rotation of the bolt in an unlocking movement of the bolt head in the recess of the barrel assembly.