Cartridge casing catcher with reduced firearm ejection port flash and noise

Abstract

A catcher, in combination with a firearm having an ejection port, for receiving and retaining expended magnetically attracted shell casings through the ejection port as the firearm is discharged. The catcher includes a hollow housing having a plurality of rigid walls, and retainers. One of the walls has an opening in communication with the ejection port when the catcher is mounted to the firearm for receiving the shell casings. A seal is attached to the housing at the opening and surrounding the opening and provides controlled release of pressurized ejection port gas from inside the housing as the firearm is discharged such that noise and flash as a result of escape of the pressurized ejection port gas is reduced or eliminated.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 11 / 345,683, filed Jan. 30, 2006, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 10 / 946,248, filed Sep. 21, 2004, now issued as U.S. Pat. No. 7,043,863, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 10 / 674,599, filed Oct. 1, 2003, now issued as U.S. Pat. No. 6,836,991.GOVERNMENT INTEREST[0002]The invention described here may be made, used and licensed by and for the U.S. Government for governmental purposes without paying royalty to me.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0003]1. Field of the Invention[0004]The present invention generally relates to a cartridge casing catcher with reduced firearm ejection port flash and noise.[0005]2. Background Art[0006]Cartridge casing catchers are mounted adjacent the ejection port of a firearm to catch the spent cartridge casings as the casings are ejected after a round is fired. The spent cartridge casings are ...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

"The present invention provides an improved cartridge casing catcher for firearms that reduces firearm ejection port flash and noise. The catcher includes a housing with a plurality of rigid walls, a seal, and retainers. The catcher has at least one deflector with a front face and a rear face, and the rear face has an aperture that acts as an acoustic tuner structure to reduce noise. The catcher also has controlled release of pressure from the ejection port as the firearm is discharged. The retainers are mounted at the rear face of the deflectors and are capable of retaining the shell casings. The acoustic tuner structure can be a quarter wave tuner, a Quincke tuner, or a Helmholtz tuner. The magnetic material used for the deflectors can be magnetic strips or embedded into the rear face of the deflectors. The sealing lips have a triangular shape or a half-round shape with a flat base, and they are spaced apart to provide controlled release of pressure. The technical effects of the invention include reducing firearm ejection port flash and noise, preventing jamming caused by spent cartridges, and improving firearm mechanics."

Problems solved by technology

Conventional spent cartridge casing catchers such as shown in the Kratzer '333 patent can have a deficiency in that spent cartridges are ejected with a significant force and tend to bounce inside the collection chamber and in some instances, the spent cartridge can bounce back into the firearm ejection port causing the firearm to jam.

Such a jam is highly undesirable when the firearm user is involved in a critical mission situation.

In any event, clearing jammed firearms is typically a time consuming, annoying, and potentially hazardous task.

Conventional spent cartridge casing catchers such as shown in the Kratzer '333 patent also have a deficiency in that such spent cartridge casing catchers are only effective when the firearm is operated in a normal (typical) design position (i.e., with the weapon trigger grip in a substantially vertical position, and the weapon ejection port in a substantially horizontal position).

That is, such conventional approaches only catch and hold spent cartridge casings when gravitational forces cause the spent cartridge casings to drop or move to a location in the catcher that is generally away from the firearm ejection port.

As such, when the user operates the firearm in an orientation that is not the orientation for which the spent cartridge casing catcher was designed (typically a normal firearm operation position), the spent cartridge casings are typically not properly captured and held and can readily cause the firearm to jam in many orientations of the firearm.

However, the firearm user can not always fire the weapon from a position from which the conventional spent cartridge casing catcher was designed to operate, and firearm jams can result.

Conventional spent cartridge casing catchers such as shown in the Kratzer '333 patent may have additional deficiencies in that the spent cartridges tend to rattle in the catcher collection chamber and thus cause additional undesirable noise.

However, significant noise and flash (i.e., blast) are generated and expelled at the breech and out of the ejection port of the firearm, especially for open-bolt (or blowback) firearms, and from a closed breech weapon, especially from a so-called gas impingement operating firearm such as AR15 rifles, M4 carbines, and M16 assault rifles to an extent which can be unacceptable for clandestine operations.

For example, well suppressed weapons such as the Heckler & Koch Model HK MP5SD, while having very low muzzle report, still produce noise and flash from the ejection port which presents a blast that may be significant and unacceptable in some situations (e.g., when minimal noise is desired, when minimal visible presence such as flash is desired, and the like).

Suppressed gas impingement and gas piston operating firearms such as suppressed M4, AR15, M16 assault rifles, and the like still produce noise and flash from the ejection port also.

In particular and especially when the firearm is operated in very rapid fire semi-automatic mode or in full-automatic mode, ejection port gas that is fluidly transmitted into the cartridge casing catcher may build up excessive pressure within the cartridge casing catcher such that flash and noise may escape past the interface of the cartridge casing catcher and the firearm receiver (i.e., so-called blow by).

The ejection port flash and noise that escapes past the interface and into the surrounding atmosphere may be undesirable in critical situations where absolute minimal audible noise and visible flash are desired by the user (generally a Soldier in a location near hostile forces).

However, when such an apparatus is implemented in connection with suppressor equipped firearms that are operated as indicated above, the container can become filled with pressurized gases that may be blown by and escape.

Further, the firearm operating mechanism (e.g., bolt and carrier actuation), especially in the case of semi-automatic and full-automatic firearms, generates noise that can compromise the location of the firearm user.

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