Gun barrel made of titanium and titanium-based alloys

Abstract

A gun barrel, including both smooth and profiled barrels, for all types of firearms, made of titanium or a titanium-based alloy.

Description

[0001] The present invention relates to a gun barrel made from a blank, wherein the blank consists of a bar metal. The term gun barrel also includes cannon barrels. The invention is applicable to all types of firearms, e.g., hand-operated, semi-automatic, or automatic small firearms, cannons, shotguns, etc. However, it was primarily developed for rifle barrels. State of the art and problems

[0002] Common weapon barrels, such as those for rifles, shotguns, automatic or semi-automatic rifles and pistols, etc., are usually manufactured from a blank consisting of a rolled or forged bar material made of steel or composite material.

[0003] An important aspect in the manufacture of gun barrels is strength, especially when the gun is fired. Therefore, the gun barrel must have sufficient wall thickness to withstand the tensile stresses that occur when a given load is fired. The required wall thickness results in a heavy weapon, which is correspondingly expensive and / or difficult to handle or quickly fatigued. The barrel can be hardened through heat treatment to increase the tensile strength of the material and thus reduce the minimum wall thickness. Hardened barrels often have lower accuracy. "Smooth shooting" with minor defects is not possible and at higher temperatures, such as those that occur after many shots in a short period of time, distortion can occur more easily, which impairs accuracy.

[0004] Therefore, a compromise must always be found between the weight of the rifle barrel and the accuracy of the weapon. Until now, the barrel thickness was sometimes chosen to increase weight and thus minimize recoil, especially with larger-caliber hunting rifles. By installing special recoil absorbers in the rifle stock or silencers, which can also significantly reduce the recoil caused by the rocket effect, the focus can be placed on weight savings without compromising comfort when firing. Description of the invention

[0005] Until now, gun barrels were either manufactured from thick-walled steel, which was very cost-effective but heavy, or from composite materials, which were very costly but lightweight. The invention relates to the production of gun barrels from titanium and its alloys. Titanium and titanium alloys have similar, and in some cases even higher, strength than the steel used previously, but their density is only 56%.

[0006] Example: A typical hunting rifle barrel weighs approximately 1 kg. This barrel weighs only approximately 560 g if made of titanium. The total weight of a current hunting rifle is approximately 3 kg. Accordingly, the invention reduces the overall weight of the hunting rifle by approximately 15%. Subjectively, however, the rifle will still feel significantly lighter, as the leverage effect is significantly reduced by the lighter barrel.

[0007] Since it is clear that the trend is towards ever lighter rifles (plastic stock, thumbhole stock, metal parts preferably made of aluminum or titanium), this titanium rifle barrel is a clear development.

[0008] New processing techniques and good market availability of the raw material allow the barrels to be manufactured cost-effectively and thus economically.

Claims

[1] A gun barrel, including both smooth and profiled barrels, for any type of firearm made of titanium or a titanium-based alloy.