Tactical firearm having heat shielding properties and improved gas energized cartridge feeding

Abstract

A tactical firearm has an upper receiver defining a handguard mounting surface oriented in substantially normal relation with the bore of a rifle barrel and defining handguard mounting flanges that project radially from the upper receiver. A handguard is provided with like radiating handguard mounting flanges and is releasably secured to the upper receiver by fasteners. A barrel extends through the handguard and is secured by a barrel retainer to the upper receiver in a manner achieving clearance and thermal isolation of the handguard from the barrel and barrel retainer.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0001]1. Field of the Invention[0002]The present invention relates generally to firearms and more particularly to semi or full automatic tactical firearms such as rifles. More particularly, the present invention concerns a tactical rifle that may be provided with semiautomatic and full automatic cartridge loading, firing and ejecting capability and is designed specifically for use of a relatively heavy bulleted cartridge such as the .308 which has a bullet diameter of 7.62 mm. The present invention also concerns a tactical firearm having heat shielding properties to minimize the transfer of heat from the barrel to the handguard such as during sustained rapid fire activities. Even more specifically the high accuracy tactical firearm of the present invention is designed with a continuous mounting rail having a desired angle of taper or cant to receive pivot actuated locking mounts of the type that is set forth in U.S. Pat. No. 7,272,904 of Mark C. LaRue and ...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

This patent describes a new tactical firearm that has a handguard that is thermally isolated from the barrel and nut of the firearm, which prevents the handguard from getting too hot during rapid fire. The firearm also allows the barrel to move freely within the handguard and remains protected from heat. The patent also describes a mechanism for efficient guiding of the bolt carrier and bolt during their movement, preventing misalignment or tilting. Overall, this design allows for better use of the firearm by personnel.

Problems solved by technology

The handguard car rapidly become heated to the extent that it can burn and cause pain or injury to the bare hands and arms of a firearm user.

While 6 mm bullets are known to be quite accurate at short and medium ranges, such as up to 300 meters for example, they are not typically considered particularly desirable for precision long range shooting.

At greater distances, such as distances of 600 to 1000 meters or more the trajectory of smaller diameter bullets tends to become adversely affected by lateral wind conditions and wind resistance to a greater extent as compared with larger diameter heavier bullets.

During the rapid fire use of virtually all firearms combustion of the propellant of cartridges causes the development of considerable heat which causes heating of the barrel, especially in the region of the firing chamber and causes heating of the receiver to some extent.

If the firearm is provided with a heat conducting handguard, which is typical of tactical firearms, the handguard can become heated to the extent that it can be painful to touch or hold it with the hands of the user.

Excessive heat buildup of the barrel of typical tactical firearms during rapid fire conditions is directly transferred through the barrel nut to the handguard and causes excessive heating of the handguard.

At times, especially during conditions of rapid fire, the rear portion of the bolt can become misaligned or tilted with respect to the opening of the buffer receptacle during its rearward movement.

This misalignment or tilting of the bolt mechanism can retard bolt movement and / or cause failure of the cartridge case extractor of the bolt mechanism to properly extract a spent cartridge case from the firing chamber and eject it from the ejector opening of the receiver of the firearm.

When this undesired condition occurs the spent cartridge case, being improperly extracted and ejected, can become jammed or otherwise interfere with bolt movement as the bolt is subsequently moved forwardly by the force of the buffer spring.

This condition will cause failure of the bolt mechanism to properly feed a fresh cartridge from the magazine of the firearm and can require time consuming manual adjustment of the cartridge feeding mechanism of the firearm to restore it to proper operating condition.

Most importantly, this cartridge extracting, ejecting and feeding can jeopardize the safety of personnel if it should occur during tactical conditions.

The accuracy of the rifle can be adversely affected if the receiver / handguard connection results in a somewhat flexible assembly.

Since a handguard is typically mounted to the receiver be means of a handguard retainer nut and nut locking mechanism, it is not practical to mount sighting devices on the rail of the handguard since the handguard is typically a free floating device and its position can vary with respect to the receiver and barrel of the firearm.

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