Magazine and breechblock latching means for firearms

Nov. 28, 1944.

V. A. BROWNING

2,363,772

MAGAZINE AND BREECH BLOCK LATCHING MEANS FOR FIREARMS

Original Filed July 9, 1941

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Patented Nov. 28, 1944

2,363,772

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE

2,363,772 v

MAGAZINE AND BREECHBLOCK LATCHING

MEANS FOR FIREARMS

Vai A. Browning, Ogden, Utah, assignor to J. M.

&amp; M. S. Browning Company, Ogden, Utah, a corporation of Utah

Original application July 9, 1941, Serial No.

401,602. Divided and this application December 31, 1942, Serial No. 470,845

Claims.

This invention relates generally to firearms and has particular application in a firearm wherein the breech block on each of its forward movements to closed position is employed to feed a cartridge from a magazine to the firing chamber. The present invention has more particular reference to means for latching the cartridge magazine in place and for latching the breech block in its open or retracted position.

The present application is a divisional of my application Serial No. 401,602 filed July 9, 1941, and entitled “Repeating firearms.”

The aim of the invention is to provide an im-. proved latching arrangement for releasably securing the cartridge magazine in position and for automatically latching the breech block in its retracted position after the last cartridge is' fired or manually latching the breech block in its retracted position at will.

More particularly, the aim of the invention is to provide, a latching arrangement of this sort which is very simple in arrangement, which is economical in construction and application, which is effective in its automatic operation, and which may be conveniently and quickly operated manually.

Other objects will be in part obvious and in part pointed out more in detail hereinafter.

The invention accordingly consists in the features of construction, combination of elements and arrangement of parts which will be exemplified in the construction hereinafter set forth and the scope of the application of which will be indicated in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawing:

Figure 1 is a side elevational view of so much of a firearm as is necessary to illustrate one application of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig. 1 but on a larger scale and with parts in section along a vertical plane taken centrally through the receiver;

Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view through the receiver and shows the magazine latch in front elevation, this view being taken substantially on line 3—3 of Fig. 2 looking rearwardly in the direction of the arrows, the magazine and the wooden holder 16 being omitted;

Fig. 4 is a detail view showing a portion of the magazine in horizontal section, the rear end of; the follower in top elevation, and a portion of the stop-open latch in broken lines; and

Fig. 5 is a view showing the forward end of the trigger plate in perspective.

Referring more in detail to the drawing, I (CI. 42—18) have shown, for illustrative purposes, the present invention incorporated in. a firearm constructed in accordance with the disclosure of my said application Serial No. 401,602, it being 5 understood that this disclosure is by way of exemplification only. In this drawing, A denotes generally a receiver which is in the form of a cylindrical tube; B, a barrel secured in suitable manner to the forward end of the receiver; C, 10 a breech block comprising a recoil mass mounted for reciprocation within the receiver; D, a cartridge magazine of the usual construction; and E, a trigger plate located within the receiver and supporting, at its forward end, the maga15 zine latch 10 and the stop-open latch 11 to which the present invention particularly relates. The letter F designates a firing pin slidably mounted in a central or axial bore 13 in the breech block. The letter G designates the trigger of 20 the trigger mechanism which controls the firing of the firearm, the trigger mechanism not being shown in detail as the particular construction thereof forms no part of the present invention. It is, of course, understood that there 25 will be located behind the recoil mass which includes the breech block C, a recoil spring for absorbing the shock incident to the rearward movement of the recoil mass when the gun is fired and for then moving the recoil mass for30 wardly to its closed position, and also that there will be a spring behind the firing pin for urging the same forwardly when it is released from cocked position, these springs not being shown in the drawing as they form no part of the pres35 ent invention.

As stated, the receiver A is preferably in the form of a cylindrical tube to the forward end of- which the rear end of the barrel B is secured in the usual manner. The receiver, adjacent its 40 forward end and on its under side, is longitudinally slotted, as at 14, to provide a loading opening which accommodates the upper end of the replaceable magazine D. Secured to the forward end of the receiver, as by means of a screw 45 15, is a wooden holder 16 of generally U-shape in cross section, so as to receive the magazine. Secured to the holder, as by means of a screw 17, is. a rectangular shaped band or guide 18 into which the magazine is adapted to be slipped to 69 the position shown in Fig. 2. The receiver, adjacent its forward end and on its right hand side, has an ejection opening 19 through which a spent case is thrown upon recoil of the breech block in the usual manner. The trigger plate 65 e is in the form of a parti-cylindrical member

2,363,772 with its under side conforming to, and seating snugly against, the interior periphery of the receiver rearwardly of the loading opening. This p’ate may be secured in place by a screw 28. The upper surface of the plate to opposite sides of the center line thereof is flat and smooth so as to provide lands 21 which' slidably support the breech block C during the recoil and forward movements {hereof. The trigger plate, at its forward end, is slotted, as at 22, so as to accommodate the latches 10 and 11. The breech block C comprises a parti-cylindrical member slidably fitting within the receiver above the trigger plate. The under side of the breech block is longitudinally grooved, as at 23, to each side of its center line thereof and has laterally, beyond these grooves, flat surfaces 24 which slidably engage the lands 21. Th,e under wall of the bore 13 is longitudinally slotted, as at 25, so as to accommodate an ejector 30 which may be of the usual construction and which is carried by the forward end of the trigger plate between the pivoted ends of the latches 10 and 11. Mounted on the forward end of the breech block is an extractor 31 for withdrawing the spent case from the firing chamber of the barrel upon recoil of the breech block when the gun is fired. This extractor may be of the ordinary kind, the same being diagrammatically shown in the drawing.

The magazine latch and the stop-open latch will now be described. The magazine, as is usual, has a box or body portion 35 within which is a follower spring 36 bearing at its upper end against a follower 37 (see Fig. 2). The follower at its rear end, has a rearward extension 38 which extends into a slot in the filler piece 38 secured to the wall of the magazine box (see Fig. 4). The magazine latch 10 and the stop-open latch 11 are pivoted at their upper ends on a pin 40 carried by the forward end of the trigger plate and bridging the slot 22 thereof. This pin also supports the ejector 30 which is interposed between the upper ends of the two latches 10 and 11. The rear end of the ejector is engaged with· the trigger plate as at 41 and with a stop pin 42 so that it is maintained against turning.

The magazine latch has, at its lower end, a hook 45 which is adapted to engage a shoulder 46 provided in the rear wall of the magazine body whereby to hold the magazine in place. Extending rearwardly from the lower end of the magazine latch is a finger piece 47 whereby the latch may be manually withdrawn from magazine holding position. The stop-open latch is mounted for swinging movement with, and also for up and down movement relative to, the magazine latch. To these ends, the stop-open latch, adjacent its upper end, has an elongated slot which receives the pivot pin 40, and the stopopen latch intermediate its ends carries a screw provided with a reduced end which engages in an elongated vertical slot 50 in the magazine latch. The stop-open latch' has at its upper end a forwardly extending arm 52, the under surface of which is adapted to be engaged by the rearward extension 38 of the follower when the last cartridge in the magazine has been removed therefrom. This arm, at its upper side, has a rearwardly facing stop or shoulder 53 located beneath the surface 23' which constitutes the upper wall of the left hand groove 23 in the breech block. When the stop-open latch is in its operative holding position, the forward end of the breech block engages this stop 53, The stop-open latch II at its lower end has a finger piece 55. The magazine latch is forced into the latching position shown in Fig. 2 by a strong helical spring 57 and a plunger 58 positioned in a bore in the forward end of the trigger plate.

When the magazine with cartridges therein is inserted in, the firearm, the cartridges are held by the filler piece 39 far enough forward so as not to interfere with the stop-open latch. However, after the last cartridge in the magazine has been fed by the advancing breech block to the firing chamber, the rearward extension 38 of the follower 37 engages the under side of the arm 52 of the stop-open latch so that the follower spring 36 urges the stop- 53 against the surface 23' of the breech block. Upon firing of the last cartridge, the breech block will recoil and the follower spring 36 will raise the stop-open latch 11 so as to position the stop 53 thereof in front of the forward end of the breech block. As the breech block strikes the stop-open latch, the latter swings slightly on its pivot and as the magazine latch is connected to the stop open latch by the screw 49, the latter latch swings rearwardly out of engagement with the magazine. Thus, after the last cartridge is fired, the breech block is automatically stopped in its open position and the empty magazine is automatically released from the firearm. It will be noted that when the breech block thus strikes the stop 53 of the stopopen latch, the comparatively stiff helical spring 57 is compressed and thus the stopping of the forward movement of the breech block is cushioned. To reload the firearm, a full magazine is placed in position and the stop-open latch is manually moved downwardly whereupon the breech block moves forwardly taking the uppermost cartridge out of the magazine and moving it into the firing chamber ready for firing.

If it is desired to manually move the breech block to retracted position and lock the same in that position for the purpose of cleaning or examining the inside of the receiver or for any other reason, this may be done by manually retracting the breech block by means of a handle 60 and then manually raising the stop-open latch. The handle 60 projects from the right hand side of the breech block, as shown in Fig. 3. It will be observed that the magazine latch and stop-open latch are relatively simple in construction and the parts maybe economically manufactured and assembled. Each of the latches comprises but one part. These two parts are pivoted on the same pin and are so connected that cushioning of the force of the recoil mass when stopped in open position is effected through the magazine latch bearing against the plunger 53 behind which is the spring 57.

As many changes could be made in the above construction and many apparently widely different embodiments of this invention could be made without departing from the scope thereof, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawing shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

It is also to be understood that the language used in the following claims is intended to cover all of the generic and specific features of the invention herein described and all statements of the scope of the invention which, as a matter of language, might be said to fall therebetween.