Stackable Magazine Cores with Dual-Use Follower for Bolt Hold Open
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Solution Overview
Problem
Traditional ammunition magazines are limited in styling and capacity, and they lack efficient mechanisms for maintaining the bolt in an open position after the last cartridge is fired, which complicates reloading.
Innovation Solution
The development of stackable high and low capacity ammunition cores with an outer assembleable skin for enhanced capacity and styling options, combined with a dual-use follower that maintains the action assembly bolt in an open position using a bolt hold open action assembly, even after the last cartridge is fired, until the magazine is removed.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If traditional fixed-capacity magazines are used, then the magazine structure is simple, but the capacity and styling are limited
Solution Approach 1:
The magazine is divided into separate functional components: removable follower assemblies with different capacity cores (30, 31) that can be independently exchanged. This segmentation allows users to swap between low-capacity and high-capacity cores while keeping the outer skin intact, achieving capacity versatility without redesigning the entire magazine structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The follower assembly (30, 31) with the capacity core is nested within the outer magazine skin (20). The follower fits inside the skin, and the entire assembly can be removed and replaced as a unit. This nested structure allows the inner core to be changed while maintaining the external appearance and basic structure of the magazine.
2Productivity
If traditional magazines without bolt hold open mechanism are used, then the magazine structure is simple, but reloading efficiency is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The follower assembly includes a bolt hold open feature that automatically engages with the bolt (14) when the magazine is inserted, preliminarily establishing the bolt in an open position. This preliminary action prepares the firearm for rapid reloading by ensuring the chamber is clear and the action is ready to receive a new round immediately upon magazine insertion.
Solution Approach 2:
The follower assembly automatically performs the bolt hold open function through its own structural features (such as the upwardly extending portion engaging the bolt), without requiring separate manual operation or additional complex mechanisms. The follower serves both its primary function of pushing cartridges and the secondary function of controlling the bolt position.
3Ease of operation
If dual-use follower with bolt hold open is implemented, then reloading efficiency is improved, but the follower structure becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The follower assembly (30, 31) is designed with multi-functionality: it serves as both the cartridge-pushing follower and the bolt hold open mechanism. The upwardly extending portion of the follower directly engages the bolt to hold it open, combining two functions into a single component without requiring separate mechanisms, thereby improving ease of operation while minimizing added complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
A combination magazine and outer skin for a firearm including a magazine core adapted to releasably engage a firearm in communication with an action assembly associated with the firearm. Multiple cores are stackable end-to-end to define a continuous interior, with an end cap engaging an open bottom of a lowermost core. A design indicia exhibits an interior recess and is assembled around the stacked cores. A dual use follower is in use with an uppermost located magazine and maintains the assembly bolt in an open position and following the last cartridge being fired until such time as the magazine is removed. In the further variant, with a BHOA installed in place, the follower activates the BHOA and the bolt to remain in the retracted/open position, following magazine removal.