US2333677A - Self-loading firearm - Google Patents

Description

Nov. 9, 1943. w. c. ROEMER SELF-LOADING FIREARM Filed May 13, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 WW W 2 /C M w a Nov. 9, 1943.

W. C. ROEMER SELF-LOADING FIREARM Filed May 13, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Nov. 9, 1943 SELF-LOADIN G FIREARM William C. Roemer, New Haven, Conn., assign: to Western Cartridge Company, New Bar en, Conn., a corporation of Delaware Application May 13, 1940, Serial No. 334,813

6 Claims.

The present invention relates to improvements in firearms, and more particularly to self-loading firearms, i. e., firearms in which a magazine is provided for the storage of cartridges and in which each discharge of the firearm actuates the mechanism to effect the ejection of the just-fired cartridge and the insertion of a fresh cartridge into the cartridge-chamber of the firearm.

In self-loading firearms of the class referred to, as heretofore constructed, means have been provided for holding the retirable breech-bolt in its retired position automatically after the discharge of the last cartridge in the firearm. This locking of the breech-bolt has been indirectly effected by latching the pivotal cartridge-carrier which normally serves to sequentially elevate or shift cartridges as they emerge from the -magazine of the firearm up into position in front of the breech-bolt for insertion into the cartridge-chamber. The latch-mechanism referred to requires that it be released in order to permit the insertion of a fresh string of cartridges into the magazine. In the prior firearms, a push button or its equivalent has been made available upon the exterior of the firearm in position to be operated by the user of the gun with one hand, while he employs the other hand to insert the cartridges. This condition of affairs is very often awkward.

One of the objects of the present invention is to provide a superior self-loading firearm in which the release or unlocking of the cartridgecarrier may be automatically effected by the mere insertion of a cartridge into the loadingopening of the firearm.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a superior self-loading firearm having means for automatically locking the breech-bolt in its retired position after the discharge of the last cartridge, and also having convenient, reliable and effective means whereby the said breech-bolt may be manually released formovement into its breech-closing position.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a superior self-loading firearm in which the cartridge-carrier is free for pivotal movement until the discharge of the last cartridge, after which the said cartridge-carrier is automatically locked in its inoperative position.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a superior self-loading firearm in which the cartridge-carrier is free for pivotal movement while the magazine of the firearm contains cartridges to thereby facilitate the removal of car tridges from the magazine.

With the above and other objects in view, as will appear to those skilled in the art from the present disclosure, this invention includes all features in the said disclosure which are novel over the prior art and which are not claimed in any separate application.

In the accompanying drawings, in which certain modes of carying out the present invention are shown forv illustrative purposes:

Fig. 1 is a view partly in vertical central-longitudinal section and partly in side elevation of the central portion of a self-loading firearm embodying the present invention, the breech-bolt being shown locked in its retired position and the magazine empty;

Fig. 2 is a view corresponding to Fig. 1 but showing the breech-bolt in its breech-closing position and a cartridge in the process of being inserted into the magazine of the firearm;

Fig. 3 is a broken view partly in vertical central-longitudinal section and partly in side elevation of the forward portion of the receiver together with a portion of the barrel and magazine, and showing a cartridge fully inserted in place in the magazine;

Fig. 4 is a broken underside view of the portions of the firearm adjacent the forward portion of the receiver and showing the carrier-latch in the position it assumes when the magazine is mpty;

Fig. 5 is a broken horizontal sectional view taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 6 is a transverse sectional view taken on the line 66 of Fig. 1;

Fig. '7 is a broken horizontal sectional view taken on the line 7-1 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 8 is a transverse sectional view taken on the line 8-8 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 9 is a perspective view of the cartridgecarrier or -elevator; and

Fig. 10 is a perspective view of the carrierlatch.

The firearm herein chosen for illustrating the present invention is of the type wherein the barrel-unit upon the discharge of the firearm, is moved rearwardly by the recoil forces generated by the discharge of a cartridge to efifect the extraction and election of the just-fired cartridge and the insertion of a fresh cartridge into the cartridge chamber of the firearm.

The firearm chosen for illustrating the present invention includes a receiver IS, a trigger-plate IS, a barrel-unit generally designated by the reference character H and a buttstock it. The re ceiver I5 has a top-wall l9 and side- walls 20 and 2| depending therefrom and providing a mechanism-receiving chamber 22 communicating with the right-hand side-face of the receiver by means of an ejection-opening 22 (Figs. 6 and 8).

The trigger-plate It may be secured to the receiver I! in any suitable manner and has its forward portion 24 located between the respective lower edges of the rear portion of the side- walls 20 and 2| of the receiver l5. Rearwardly extending from the trigger-plate I is a tubularextension 25 serving to firmly secure the buttstock II to. the said trigger-plate, which latter has depending therefrom a trigger-guard 26 enclosing the finger-piece 21 of a trigger 28 forming a usual part of the fire-control mechanism of the firearm and requiring no detailed description herein.

The forward portion 24 of the trigger-plate I6 terminates about midway the longitudinal length of the receiver |l to provide a loading-opening 2! forwardly thereof and opening downwardly from the mechanism-receiving chamber 22 between the respective lower edges of the forward portion of the side- walls 20 and 2| of the receiver ll. Opening rearwardly into the loading-opening 2! just described, is a tubular magazine 30 threadedly secured in and forwardly projecting from the forward wall of the receiver I! beneath the barrel-unit IT in substantial parallelism therewith. The tubular magazine 30 extends forwardly from the forward wall of the receiver it through a longitudinal clearance-groove 3| formed in a forestock 32 extending forwardly beneath the barre1-unit i1 and secured in place in any suitable manner and covering the tubular magazine 30. v

The tubular magazine 30 houses a cartridgefollower 33 which latter is constantly urged rearwardly by the customary helical magazine-spring 34 also housed in the tubular magazine 30. Encircling the said magazine is a relatively-heavy helical barrel-retum spring I! functioning in the usual manner to return the barrel-unit I! to its normal forward position immediately following the recoil of the said barrel-unit upon the discharge of the firearm.

The barrel-unit I'I before referred to, comprises a barrel 8! and a cylindrically-contoured barrel-extension rigidly united with the rear end of the said barrel so as to form a part thereof and projecting rearwardly therefrom into the upper portion of the mechanism-receiving chamber 22 in the receiver IS. The barrel-extension 31 of the barrel-unit H is mounted with freedom for axial reciprocation in the mechanismreceiving chamber 22 of the receiver II in the general manner of recoil-operated automatic or self-loading firearms.

The barrel-extension 31 of the barrel-unit I! has a top-wall 38 transversely curved exteriorly to slidingly fit the mechanism-receiving chamber 22 of the receiver i5, and a side-wall 32 extending downwardly from the said top-wall 38 at the left-hand side thereof and similarly transversely curved exteriorly in continuation of the curvature of the said top-wall, The top-wall SI and the side-wall 39 of the barrel-extension 31 provide a bolt-receiving chamber 40 which opens outwardly through the right-hand side face of the barrel-extension 31 in registration with the election-opening 23 in the receiver l5, when the barrel-unit I1 is in its forward position. The boltreceiving chamber 40 provided in the barrelextension 31 of the barrel-unit I1 is adapted to receive a breech-bolt 4| normally rearwardly movable with the said barrel-unit and also normally movable forwardly independently of the said barrel-unit in the chamber 22 of the receiver IS.

The breech-bolt 4| is releasably locked in its breech-closing position in the bolt-receiving chamber 40 of the barrel-unit II, as shown in Fig. 2, by a pivotal bolt-locking lever 42 by the breech-bolt 4| to which it is pivotally mounted at its forward end. The rear end of the bolt-locking lever 42 constitutes an abutment 43 adapted to engage a forwardly-facing bolt-locking abutment 44 forming the forwardly-facing rear wall of a longitudinal clearance-notch 48 provided in the under face of the top-wall a of the barrel extension 31. Adjacent its rear or free end, the bolt-locking lever 42 has pivotally secured thereto the forward end of an operatinglink 46.

The operating-link 46 above referred to extends rearwardly from the breech-bolt 4| and its boltlocking lever 42, and has its rear end in seated engagement with the concaved front face of a short spring-plunger 41. The said springplunger reciprocates in a passage 48 formed in the rear wall of the trigger-plate l'! as well as in the axially aligned tubular-extension 2! of the said trigger-plate. The said spring-plunger 41 is yieldingly urged forwardly by a helical boltreturn spring 48 housed in the tubular-extension 25, as shown in Fi 2.

. well in Fig; 2, when the breech-bolt, 4| is in its full forward or breecheclosing position within the bolt-receiving chamber 40.

Partly underlying the breech-bolt 4| 'and the barrel-extension 31 and located in the lower portion of the chamber 22 of the receiver II, is a pivotal cartridge-carrier or -elevator II. the forward portion of which normally is located in the loading-opening 28 and which serves to sequentially elevate cartridges fed from the tubular magazine 30 into position to be inserted into the firing-chamber ii of the barrel 3. by the forward return movement of the breech-bolt 4|, as will hereinafter appear. Under certain conditions the cartridge-carrier I! also serves to hold the breech-bolt 4| in its retired or recoiled position when the tubular magazine 30 of the firearm is empty, as will later be described.

The cartridge-carrier or -elevator II is provided adjacent its rear end with two trunnlons 52-52 one of which extends laterally outwardly from each of its respective opposite sides into the adjacent one of two sockets lI-Il respectively formed in the adjacent inner faces of the side- walls 20 and 2| of the receiver II, as is clearly shown in Fig. 5. To yieldingly hold the cartridge-carrier 50 in its normal or-retired position, the rear end of the said cartridge-carrier is engaged by one arm of a torsion-spring 54 mounted in a recess 55 (Fig. 5) formed in the inner face of the adjacent side-wall 2| of the receiver l5.

For the purpose of swinging the cartridgecarrier 50 in a counterclockwise direction and the carried forward end thereof upwardly to elevate cartridges fed from the tubular magazine 30 into position for engagement by the forward face of the breech-bolt 4| for effecting the insertion of a cartridge into the cartridge-chamber 5| of the barrel 8B, the said cartridge-carrier carries to the rear of its trunnions 62-52 an upwardlyextending pivotal lug 5B. The said lug 56 is pro.- vided with a downwardly-extending trunnion 56a turning in a socket 56b in the upper edge of the cartridge-carrier 50 adjacent its right-hand side as shown particularly well in Fig. 5. The said lug 56 projects upwardly into the path of movement of the breech-bolt 4| and has the rear portion of its upper edge rearwardly-and-downwardly-inclined to form an elevating-cam surface 51. The said surface 51 is adapted to be engaged by a complemental downwardly-and-rearwardly-inclined carrier-elevating cam 58 forming the rearwall of a notch 58 provided on the lower righthand side of the breech-bolt 4| about midway the length thereof and opening downwardly through the underside of the said breech-bolt. The said notch 59 receives the lug 56 which projects upwardly thereinto when the breech-bolt 4| is in its fully retired position, as shown in Fig. i.

When the breech-bolt 4| is in its fully retired position, the lug 56 of the cartridge-carrier 50 will be located in the notch 59 of the said breechbolt and the carrier-elevating cam 58 thereof is in engagement with the elevating-cam surface 51 of the lug 58 of the cartridge-carrier 50. The forward return movement of the said breech-bolt 4| into itsbreech-closing position will cause the carrier-elevating cam 58 thereof to move the rear end of the cartridge-carrier 50 downwardly to thus swing the said cartridge-carrier in a counterclockwise direction about its trunnions 52-52. The swinging movement of the cartridge-carrier 5|! as just described, will raise the forward end thereof to elevate a cartridge, all as will more clearly hereinafter appear.

The lug 56 is mounted on the cartridge-carrier 50 for lateral outward pivotal movement to enable the breech-bolt 4| to move rearwardly past the said lug 56 without swinging the said cartridge-carrier as above described. To move the lug 56 laterally out of the path of rearward movement of the breech-bolt 4|, the latter is provided adjacent the lower rear corner of its right-hand side with a vertical rearwardly-and-inwardlyinclined lug-retiring cam 60 adapted to engage the portion 6| of the inner face of the said lug 56.

The forward portion of the cartridge-carrier 50 is bifurcated to provide two arms 63 and 64 normally positioned in the loading-opening 29 of the firearm structure with their upper faces in a plane substantially in horizontal alignment with the lower boundary of the tubular magazine 30. As thus positioned, the arms 63 and 64 of the bifurcated forward portion of the cartridgecarrier 50 are in position to receive upon their upper faces cartridges fed from the tubular magazine 30. The upper face of the forward portion of the cartridge-carrier 50 including the arms. 63 and 64 is transversely curved to substantially conform to the curvature of the cartridges being handled. The curvature referred to terminates at a forwardly-facing stopshoulder 65 formed about midway the length of the said cartridgecarrier and serving to limit the rearward movement of a cartridge being fed from the tubular magazine 30. The arms 53 and 64 of the cartridge-carrier 56 also have their undersides transversely curved as at 66 to form a guideway for the insertion of cartridges from the loading-opening 26 of the firearm structure into the tubular magazine as will later appear. Normally, however, the under portions of the said arms 63 and 64 act as a barrier to the manual insertion of fresh cartridges into the magazine until retired upwardly.

For releasably locking the cartridge-carrier 50 in its normal or retired position, and hence also to lock the breech-bolt 4| in its recoiled or retired position in a manner as will hereinafter appear and as shown in Fig. 1, the forward end of the arm 68 of the cartridge-carrier 5|] is formed on its outer side-face with a laterally-projecting lug 61. The upper face of the lug 61 forms a locking-abutment 68 adapted to be engaged by a downwardly-facing latch-abutment 69 constituting the lower edge of a retirable T-shaped carrier-latch 70.

The carrier-latch I0 is mounted for pivotal movement laterally of the firearm structure in the forward left-hand portion of the loading opening 29 on a vertical pivot-pin I i The pivotpin 1! is mounted in and extends upwardly in the side-wall 20 of the receiver I5 through an inwardly-opening recess 12 formed in the inner face of the said side-wall and in which the carrier-latch 1B is located. At its lower or outer end the pivot-pin H is formed with an externally-threaded head 16 threaded into the sidewall 20 of the receiver Hi.

The T-shaped carrier-latch 10 has its Vertically-extending head 15 positioned closely adjacent the open rear end of the tubular magazine 30 and has its forward edge rearwardly-andinwardly-beveled to form a cam-surface 16 for the purpose as will hereinafter appear. The vertical head 15 of the carrier-latch Ill normally projects laterally inwardly into the loadingopening 29 and has its lower portion 11 extending downwardly through the said loading-opening to a point slightly below the lower edge of the sidewall 20 of the receiver IS. The portion 11 of the carrier-latch 10 is adapted upon occasion to be accommodated in a vertically-extending clearance-recess I8 forming in effect a, downward extension of the recess 12 before referred to.

Immediately to the rear of the vertical arm 15 of the carrier-latch 10 the latter is formed in the upper portion of its inner face with a camsurface 19 extending downwardly-and-inwardly from its upper edge and slidably engageable by the lug 61 of the cartridge-carrier 50. The camsurface 19 of the carrier-latch I0 is engaged by the lug 61 of the cartridge-carrier 50 to laterally retire the carrier-latch 10 when the forward end of the said cartridge-carriermoves downwardly from its fully-elevated position to its lower or retired position in which latter position it is shown in Fig. 1. The said lug 61, and hence the forward end of the cartridge-carrier 50, is thus permitted to pass downwardly by the said carrier-latch to position th locking-abutment 68 of the lug 61 of the cartridge-carrier 5n beneath the latching-abutment 69 of the carrier-latch III.

For the purpose of yieldingly swinging the carrier-latch Ill into position to lock the cartridgecarrier 50, the said carrier-latch is provided for wardly of its pivot-pin H with an outwardlyopening spring-socket 80 housing a helical spring 8|. One end of the spring 8| is seated against the adjacent surface of the recess I2 and the opposite end thrusts against the end-wall of the socket 88.

As will be apparent from the foregoing when the forward end of the carrier-latch I8 is swung inwardly to locate its latching-abutment 68 over the locking'abutment 88 of the cartridge carrier 58, the said carrier-latch serves to releasably prevent the counterclockwise swinging of the car.- tridge-carrier 68 and hence the raising of the arms 63 and 64 thereof, for purposes as will hereinafter appear.

For the purposes of description let it be assumed that the breech-bolt is in its breech-closing position and that the cartridge-chamber 5| of the barrel 86 contains a cartridge and that the magazine contains one or more cartridges, all as shown in Fig. 3. Under these conditions the firearm may be discharged.

Immediately following the discharge of the firearm, the barrel-unit I'I comprising the barrel 36 and the barrel-extension 31, together with the breech-bolt 4|, will be moved rearwardly by the recoil forces generated by the discharge of the Just-fired cartridge. The barrel-unit I: will be moved rearwardly against the tension of the barrel-return spring 35 while the breech-bolt 4| will be retired against the tension of the bolt return spring 49.

The rearward movement of the breech-bolt 4| will cause the lug-retiring cam 88 thereof to en gage the surface 6| of the lug 56 on the cartridgecarrier 58 to swing the said lug laterally outwardly about its trunnion 56a, thus retiring the said lug from out of the path of rearward movement of the breech-bolt 4| to permit the said breechbolt to move past the said lug into its fully retired position. The rearward movement of the breechbolt 4| past the lug 56 as just described, will, at the same time, bring the notch 59 of the said breech-bolt into registration with the lug 56, whereupon the latter is moved laterally inwardly into the notch 59 by a suitable spring (not shown). In this manner, the lug 56 of the cartridge-carrier 50 is positioned in the notch 59 of the breech-bolt 4| to have its elevating-cam surface 51 engaged by the carrier-elevating cam 68 of the said breech-bolt when the latter moves forwardly.

During the retiring of the breech-bolt 4| as above described, the tension of the bolt-return spring 49 will maintain the locked or coupled relationship of the breech-bolt 4| and the barrel-extension 31 of the barrel-unit l7, until the said barrel-unit and breech-bolt have reached substantially their fully-retired or recoiled positions whereupon the said breech-bolt becomes unlocked from the barrel-extension 31. The breech-bolt 4| is unlocked from the barrel-extension 31 by the engagement of the upper edge of the operating-link 46 with an inclined surface 82 provided in the rear wall of the receiver l5 (Figs. 1 and 2), which causes the said link to move downwardly to withdraw the lockinglever 42 from its locking engagement with the locking-abutment 44 of the barrel-extension 31.

Immediately upon the breech-bolt 4| being unlocked from the barrel-extension 31 of the barrel-unit H, the latter is moved forwardly by the barrel-return spring 35 to its full'forward position while the said breech-bolt remains in its retired position for a brief interval. The forward movement of the barrel-unit II as just described, effects the ejection of the just-fired cartridge through the ejection-opening 23 in the side-wall 2| of the receiver i5.

During the recoil or rearward movement of the barrel-unit I1 and breech-bolt, the rearmost cartridge 83 housed in the tubular magazine 38 will have been also moved rearwardly under the urge of the magazine-spring 34. It may here be noted that the column of cartridges housed in the magazine 38 is prevented from moving rearwardly until such time as the breechbolt is retired by a cartridge-stop" depending from the underside of the said breech-bolt. It will be understood that the said cartridge 83 is held in engagement with the forward face of the cartridge-stop 84 by the said magazine-spring during the rearward travel of the said breechbolt 4| until the rear end of the said cartridge engages the cartridge-stop 66 of the cartridgecarrier 58. The emergence of the cartridge 88 from the magazine as just described will have positioned the said cartridge on the upper surfaces of the arms 68 and 64 of the cartridge-carrier 58.

It may here be noted and as will be understood from the following, that the carrier-latch III is held in its retired position by the cartridge 83 while the said cartridge is in the position shown in Fig. 3 or rearwardly of such position and in the same plane, so that the cartridge-carrier 58 is free to be swung in a counterclockwise direction by the forward travel of the breech-bolt 4| as will later appear.

Upon the initiation of the forward or return movement of the breech-bolt 4| under the urge of the bolt-return spring 49, the carrier-elevating cam 58 of the said breech-bolt will engage and act upon the elevating-cam surface 51 of the lug 56 to swing the cartridge-carrier III in a counterclockwise direction as viewed in the drawings, about its trunnions 52-52 to thus raise the arms 63 and 64 thereof. The elevation of the arms 83 and 64 of the cartridge-carrier 68 will elevate the cartridge 83 carried thereby into position to be engaged by the forward face of the breechbolt 4| during the forward movement of the latter to be thus inserted by the said breechb'olt into the cartridge-chamber 5| of the barrel 36. The cartridge immediately following the curtridge 83 in the tubular magazine 88 may be retained therein by any suitable means such, for instance, as a cartridge cut-off 85. until the cartridge-carrier has been returned to its normal position.

As soon, during the forward movement of the breech-bolt 4|, as the rear face thereof passes by the lug 56 of the cartridge-carrier 68, the latter will be swung in a clockwise direction by the torsion-spring 54 to bring its forward portion into its normal or retired position. The breech-bolt 4| will thus have effected the insertion of a fresh cartridge into the cartridgechamber 5| of the barrel 36, preparatory to another cycle of operations, as just above described.

Upon the emergence of the last cartridge from the tubular magazine 38 and its elevation by the cartridge-elevator 50, the carrier-latch 18 will be freed of restraint and will, under the urge of the helical spring 8|, be moved inwardly into its cartridge-carrier latching position to interpose its latching-abutment 69 above the abutment 68 of the cartridge-carrier 68, With the tubular magazine 38 empty and the cartridgecarrier 58 locked against swinging movement as previously described, the breech-bolt 4| upon being retired into its fuliy-recoiled position will have the lug B8 of the cartridge-carrier 50 entered into the notch 58 thereof.

The breech-bolt ll will be held in its retired position, due to the inability of the said breechbolt to depress the rear end of the now locked cartridge-carrier I and hence swing the forward end of the cartridge-carrier 50 in a counterclockwise direction. The breech-bolt M will thus be securely locked in its fully-retired position (indicating to the user of the firearm that the magazine thereof is empty) until such time as a fresh cartridge is entered into the loading-opening 29 for insertion into the tubular magazine 30 of the firearm. The entry of a, cartridge will, as will hereinafter appear, retire the latching-abut ment 69 of the carrier-latch ill from the path of movement of the abutment 88 of the cartridgecarrier 50 or. if desired, the same may be accomplished by manually retiring the said carrierlatch I0. Upon the carrier-latch being retired, the breech-bolt 4lwill be free to depress the rear end of the cartridge-carrier 50 and to move forwardly into its breech-closing position, as previously described.

To charge the tubular magazine 30, a cartridge is placed in the loading-opening 29 in engagement with the under face of the forward portion of the cartridge-carrier 50 (Figs. 1 and 6). With the cartridge positioned as just described, the forward end of the said cartridge will engage the lower portion 71 of the carrier-latch 10. If slight upward pressure is now applied to the cartridge, the forward end thereof will cam the carrier-latch 'lll laterally outwardly against the tension of the spring M. The described lateral swinging movement of the carrier-latch ill will remove the latching-abutment 69 of the carrierlatch 10 from over the abutment 68 of the cartridge-carrier 50. The retirement of the latching-abutment 59 as just described, will unlock the cartridge-carrier 50 and permit the same to be swung counterclockwise about its trunnions 52--52 against the tension of the torsion-spring 54 from the position shown in Fig. 1 to that in which it is shown in Fig. 2, when upward pressure is applied to the cartridge now in process of being inserted into the magazine 30.

The [swinging of the cartridge-carrier 50 as just above described, will be caused by the cartridge being moved upwardly through the loading-opening 29 to bring the forward end of the said cartridge into substantial alignment with the open rear end of the tubular magazine 30. With the cartridge positioned as just described, forward pressure on the rear end thereof will move the said cartridge forwardly into the tubular magazine 30 against the tension of the magazinespring 34. With the cartridge positioned as shown in Fig. 2, it will be apparent that the said cartridge during the entire course of its being introduced through the loading-opening 29 and into the tubular magazine 30, will hold the carrierlatch ill inits retired position.

Upon the cartridge being inserted in place in the tubular magazine all as shown in F gs. 3 and 7, the rear end thereof will project slightly rearwardly from the said magazine into the forward portion of the loading-opening 29. With the cartridge in this position it will be in engagement with the inner surface of the vertical head of the carrier-latch 10 to maintain the said carrierlatch in its retired or unlatching position against the tension of the spring 8i. The cartridge is maintained in its partly exposed position by the magazine-spring 34 which exert a constant but yielding rearward pressure upon the said cartridge to hold the rear face thereof against the forward face of the cartridge-stop 84, of the breech-bolt It will thus be seen that the cartridge Just inserted into the tubular magazine 30 serves to hold the carrier-latch 10 in its retired position to enable the cartridge-carrier 50 to be again swung counterclockwise about its trunnions 52-52 by the next succeeding cartridge loaded into the said magazine. One or more cartridges may be thus inserted into the tubular magazine 30 by repeating the steps just above set forth. Each succeeding cartridge inserted into the magazine thus will serve to maintain the unlatched state of the cartridge-carrier to facilitate the insertion of the next succeeding cartridge.

It may here be pointed out that each succeeding cartridge following the cartridge being fed from the tubular magazine 80 onto the arms 63 and B4 of the cartridge-carrier 50 for insertion into the cartridge-chamber iii of the barrel 36 by the breech-bolt 4|, engages the cam-surface it of the carrier-latch 88 to retire and to constantly hold the said carrier-latch in its retired position until such time as the magazine is empty, as previously described.

It may here be stated that preferably prior to loading the empty magazine, a cartridge may be placed in the cartridge-chamber BI 01 the barrel 36 through the ejection-opening 23 in the side-wall 2| of the receiver l5 while the breechbolt 4| is locked in its retired position as shown in Fig. 1. Under these conditions, the breech-bolt may be released by manually retirin the carrieriatch 69.

In the event that the user of the firearm should desire to empty the cartridges from the magazine, the same may be accomplished by manually moving the forward end of the nowunlocked cartridge-carrier 50 upwardly, to thus permit the adjacent cartridge in the magazine 30 to ride out of the same beneath the said cartridge-carrier. Due to the cartridges in the magazine holding the carrier-latch It in its retired position, as before described, the cartridgecarrier 50 may be readily swung counterclockwise for emptying the magazine. Each swinging movement of the unlocked cartridge-carrier will release another cartridge from the magazine,

but when the last cartridge has fully emerged therefrom, the carrier-latch 'lll' automatically is moved. into its latching-position by the spring Bl to again lock the cartridge-carrier 50 against swinging movement. In this manner, the magazine of the firearm may be readily and emciently emptied by the simple expedient of swinging the forward end of the cartridge-carrier upwardiy.

It will be apparent from the foregoing that the cartridges contained in the magazine serve to effectively retain the carrier-latch in its retired position until such time as the said magazine is empty,'to enable the user of the firearm to readily remove the cartridges contained in the magazine whenever he should so desire without any i thought on his part to unlatching the cartridgecarrier. Furthermore, it will be readily seen that the magazine may be emptied by the operator pressing upwardly upon the forward portion of the cartridge-carrier to permit the cartridges contained in the magazine to be moved outwardly beneath the said carrier. By this method, the

eartridges may, one by one, be readily removed from the magazine. v

From the foregoing, it will be readily seen that cartridges may be inserted in place into the magazine of the firearm by the simple operation of placing a cartridge in the loading-opening of the firearm and subjecting the same to upward pressure, followed by a forward movement of the cartridge. As will be apparent, the placing of the cartridge to be inserted into the magazine in the loading-opening of the firearm structure, automatically unlatches the cartrid -carrier to permit the latter to be swung upwardly, which operation may be performed by one hand of the user of the firearm.

By means of the construction herein shown and described, the loading and unloading of the magazine is greatly facilitated while at the same time permitting the carrier-latch to function upon the emergence of the last cartridge from the magazine to lock the breech-bolt in its fully-retired position through the intermediary 01' the cartridge-carrier, as is customary in the general type of firearm herein shown and described.

While the member III has been designated as a "carrier-latch," it will be apparent that its prime function is to lock the breech-bolt in its retired position after the last cartridge has been fired.

The invention may be carried out in other specific ways than those herein set forth without departing from the spirit and essential characteristics of the invention, and the present embodiments are, therefore, to be considered in respects as illustrative and not restrictive, and all changes coming within the meaning and equivalency range of the appended claims are intended to be embraced therein.

I claim:

1. A self-loading firearm-structure having a cartridge-chamber and including in combination: a retirable breech-bolt for holding a cartridge in the cartridge-chamber of the firearm-structure; a magazine having a cartridgereceiving opening; a movable cartridge-carrier for transferring cartridges from the said magazine to the cartridge-chamber of the firearmstructure and having a portion engageable with the said breech-bolt to hold the same in its retired position when the said magazine is empty and including a magazine-blocking portion normally barring the manual insertion of a fresh cartridge into the said magazine; and a latchmember releasably engageable with the said car-' bridge-carrier to hold the same in position to restrain the said breech-bolt in its retired position, the said latch-member having a releasingportion located adjacent the outer end of the cartridge-receiving opening in the said maganine in position to normally block the insertion of a fresh cartridge thereinto and in position to be engaged and retired into releasing position by a cartridge in the manual process of being inserted into the said cartridge-receiving openins; whereby a cartridge inserted into the cartridge-receiving opening of the said magazine may be engaged with the releasing-portion of the said latch-member to retire the latter and release thesaid breech-bolt.

2. A self-loading firearm-structure having a cartridge-chamber and a loading-opening. and including in combination: a retirable breech-bolt for holding a cartridge in the cartridge-chamber of the firearm-structure; a magazine having a cartridge-receiving opening communicating with the loading-opening of the firearm-structure;

movable cartridge-carrier for transferring cartridges from the said masazine to the cartridgechamber of the firearm-structure and having a portion engageable with the said breech-bolt to hold the same in its retired position when the said magazine is empty and including a magazine-blocking portion normally barring the manual insertion of a fresh cartridge into the said magazine; and a latch-member releasably engageable with the said cartridge-carrier to hold the same in position to restrain the said breech-bolt in its retired position, the said latchmember having a releasing portion located in the loading-opening of the firearm-structure and adjacent the outer end of the cartridge-receiving opening in the said magazine in position to normally block the insertion of a fresh cartridge thereinto and in position to be engaged and retired into releasing position by a cartridge inserted into the said magazine from the loading-opening of the firearm-structure; whereby a cartridge in the manual process of being inserted through the loading-opening of the firearm-structure intoythe cartridge-receiving opening of the said magazine may be engaged with the releasing-portion of the said latch-member to retire the latter and release the said breech-bolt.

3. A self-loading firearm-structure including in combination: a frame; a barrel-unit having a cartridge-chamber; a breech-bolt movable with respect to the said barrel-unit to releasably hold a cartridge in the cartridge-chamber thereof; a tubular magazine extending in substantial parallelism with the said barrel-unit and having a cartridge-receiving opening; a movable cartridgecarrier for transferring cartridges from the said tubular magazine to the cartridge-chamber of the said barrel-unit and having a portion engageable with the said breech-bolt to hold the same in its retired position when the said tubular magazine is empty and including a magazineblocking portion normally barring the manual insertion of a fresh cartridge into the said magazine; and a latch-member associated with the said frame and releasably engageabl with the said cartridge-carrier to hold the same in position to restrain the said breech-bolt in its retired position, the said latch-member having a releasing-portion located adjacent th outer end of the cartridge-receiving opening in the said tubular magazine in position to normally block the insertion of a fresh cartridge thereinto and in position to be engaged and retired into releasing position by a cartridge inserted into the said cartridge-receiving opening; whereby a cartridge in the manual process of being inserted into the cartridge-receiving opening of the said tubular magazine may be engaged with the releasing-portion of the said latch-member to retire the same into position to release the said cartridge-carrier and hence the said breech-bolt.

4. A self-loading firearm-structure including in combination: a frame having a loading-opening; a barrel-unit having a cartridge-chamber; a breech-bolt movable with respect to the said barrel-unit to releasably hold a-cartridse in the cartridge-chamber thereof; a tubular magazine extending in substantial parallelism with the said barrel-unit and having a cartridge-receiving opening communication with the loading-opening of the said frame; a movable cartridge-carrier for transferring cartridges from the said tubular magazine to the cartridge-chamber of the said barrel-unit and having a portion engageable with a 78 the said breech-bolt to hold the same in its retired position when the said tubular magazine is empty and including a magazine-blocking portion normally barring the manual insertion of a fresh cartridge into the said magazine; and a latch-member releasably engageable with the said cartridge-carrier to hold the same in position to restrain the said breech-bolt in its retired position, the said latch-member having a releasingportion located in the loading-opening of the said frame and adjacent the cartridge-receiving opening in the said tubular magazine in position to normally block the insertion of a fresh cartridge thereinto and in position to b engaged and retired into releasing position by a cartridge inserted into the said magazine from the loadingopening of the said frame.

5. A self-loading firearm-structure including in combination: a receiver having a mechanism-receiving chamber therein and a loading-opening leading downwardly therefrom; a barrel-unit having a cartridge-chamber; a breech-bolt mov able in the mechanism-receiving chamber of the said receiver and engageable with the said barrelunit to releasably hold a cartridge in the cartridge-chamber' thereof; a tubular magazin extending in substantial parallelism beneath the said barrel-unit and having a cartridge-receiving opening communicating with the mechanismreceiving chamber in the said receiver adjacent the loading-opening therein; a pivotal cartridge carrier for transferring cartridges from th said tubular magazine to the cartridge-chamber of the said barrel-unit and pivoted intermediate its forward and rear ends within the mechanismreceiving chamber of the said receiver, the said cartridge-carrier having a portion engageable with the said breech-bolt to hold the same in its retired position; and a pivotal latch-member pivoted in the mechanism-receiving chamber of the said receiver and having a releasing-portion extending below the said cartridge-carrier and located adjacent both the cartridge-receiving opening in the said tubular magazine and the loading-opening in the said receiver in position to be engaged and retired into releasing position by a cartridge inserted into the loading opening in the said receiver; whereby a cartridge in the manual process of being introduced into the loadingopening of the said receiver for insertion into the cartridge-receiving opening of the said tubular magazine may be engaged with the releasing portion of the said pivotal latch to retire the same into position to release the said pivotal cartridgecarrier.

6. A self-loading firearm-structure including in combination: a retirable breech-bolt for holding a cartridge in the cartridge-chamber of the firearm-structure; a magazine constructed and arranged to successively supply cartridges for in troduction into the cartridge-chamber of the firearm-structure and having a cartridge-receiving opening; retirable magazine-blocking means normally barring the manual insertion of a fresh cartridge into the cartridge-receiving opening of the said magazine; and releasable locking-means releasably holding the said magazine-blocking means in position to prevent the manual insertion of cartridges into the cartridge-receiving opening of the said magazine, the said releasable locking-means including a releasing-portion located adjacent the cartridge-receiving opening in the said magazine in position to be engaged and retired into releasing position by a cartridge manually inserted into the said cartridge-receiving opening, the said releasing-portion being positioned relative to the said retirable magazineblocking means and the cartridge-receiving opening of the said magazine so that a cartridge being manually inserted into the said cartridgereceiving opening engages with the releasing-portion of the said latch-member to retire the latter before the movement of the said cartridg is blocked by the previously-locked magazine-blocking means.

WILLIAM C. ROEMER.

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