Muzzle Loading Rifle Breech Plug Design
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing muzzle loading firearms have unsafe breech plug designs that can lead to accidents during 'hang fires,' require excessive effort to remove and replace, and do not fully support shotgun style primers, making unloading and maintenance inefficient and risky.
Innovation Solution
A muzzle loading firearm design featuring a breech plug with interrupted, multistart threads or quick detachable locking lugs, and an extractor system that fully supports the primer, allowing for safe and efficient loading, unloading, and maintenance by providing a secure, easy-to-remove breech plug mechanism.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a finely threaded breech plug is used to secure the plug in place, then safety against hang fires is improved, but the number of turns required to remove and replace the plug increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the thread parameter from fine pitch to coarse pitch, allowing the breech plug to be secured with sufficient safety while requiring far fewer turns (approximately 5-7 turns) for installation and removal. This parameter modification resolves the contradiction by maintaining reliability while significantly reducing the time loss associated with plug changes.
2Ease of operation
If conventional removable breech plugs are used, then unloading via the breech is enabled, but the effort required for removal increases due to fouling clogging threads
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the thread engagement by providing multiple starts on the threads (e.g., 3-5 starts), which reduces the number of engaged threads and the surface area subject to fouling. This segmentation allows easier removal even when some fouling is present, reducing the force required while maintaining the ability to unload via the breech.
3Adaptability or versatility
If shotgun style primers are used with existing breech plugs, then primer compatibility is improved, but primer support is insufficient due to extractor lip spacing
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts or removes the extractor lip that created the spacing problem in conventional designs. By eliminating this intermediate element, the primer flange can directly contact and be fully supported by the breech plug's rear face, maintaining shotgun style primer compatibility while ensuring reliable primer support throughout the firing process.
Data Source
AI summary
A muzzle loading firearm has a barrel with a bore on a bore axis, and has a muzzle end and a breech end. A frame is connected to the barrel, and has a breech face. The frame moves between an open position in which the breech face is away from the breech end of the barrel, and a closed position in which the breech face abuts the breech end of the barrel. A breech plug is removably attached to the barrel, and is connected to the barrel by way of interrupted, or multistart threads, or locking lugs. The breech plug may have a rear face that abuts the breech face when the frame is closed, so that a primer contained in a primer pocket in the rear of the breech plug is fully supported on all sides.