GB2365101A

GB2365101A - Barrel for a blank firing replica firearm

Info

Publication number: GB2365101A
Application number: GB0017581A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Frederick Terry White
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2000-07-19
Filing date: 2000-07-19
Publication date: 2002-02-13
Also published as: GB0017581D0

Abstract

A barrel 10 for a replica firearm adapted for the shooting of blank cartridges is of hard or hardened metal and hollow over part of its axial length. The barrel 10 is provided with vented restricter means 1, 2, 3 which are permissive of the discharge of gas along the barrel 10 without allowing the passage of a projectile along the barrel. At or adjacent the muzzle 11 of the barrel there are provided vented restricter means 1, 2 whose vents comprise portions 18, 20 which are out of register when viewed axially of the barrel.

Description

<Desc/Clms Page number 1> BARREL FOR A BLANK-FIRING REPLICA FIREARM This invention relates to a barrel for a blank firing replica firearm and it includes a replica firearm equipped with such a barrel. Such replica fire arm may be a rifle or other long-barrelled firearm or a hand gun.

A popular leisure activity consists, in essence, of recreating and re-enacting at least some of the aspects of the times when the western territories of the United States of America were being opened up and developed. Broadly speaking those times were from about 1835 - 1880 and during these years many hand guns and rifles were invented and developed and manufactured by such manufacturers as the Patent Arms Manufacturing Company, Smith & Wesson, and Remington. The weapons produced by these manufacturers have become almost household names and include the Colt .45 revolver, the Starr .44 revolver, the Collier percussion revolving carbine, the Winchester rifle in its various forms, and the Sharps breech loading carbine. Replicas of such firearms are an essential part of the equipment of any person who wishes to re-enact events taking place in the "wild west" in the I 91h Century. There are events at which "quick draw" competitions are held and at which mock gun fights between people dressed in the style of the wild west are staged. Such replica firearms are also of interest to those making films of those times or indeed of later times in which weapons may be used.

It is plainly desirable, and may be a requirement of law, that film companies should use replica firearms rather than real firearms in order to avoid the possibility of accidents.

Thus there is also a demand for blank firing replicas of more modern weapons including more modern rifles and automatic and auto-loading (semi-automatic) weapons.

There have been proposals to use a solid barrel having side vent holes just forwards of the chamber from which combustion gases can escape after the shooting of a blank cartridge. With these realism is lost because the sideways venting of combustion gases is clearly visible.

I have for some years been manufacturing replica firearms in accordance with British Patent No.2110349. That patent describes and claims a replica firearm whose barrel is made of a hard or hardened metal and is hollow over a part of its overall axial length and which is provided with means permissive of the passage along and out of the muzzle of said barrel of gas produced by detonation of a blank cartridge by the firing mechanism of said firearm without being permissive of the passage of a projectile along said barrel.

The means for preventing the passage of a projectile along the barrel consists of perforated plugs, one located at the breech end of the barrel, and another towards the muzzle end. I have recently been advised by the Home Office that its Forensic Science Service believes that a barrel constructed in accordance with that British patent no 2110349 is in fact capable of firing projectiles and is accordingly a "firearm" as defined in the Firearms Act 1968 and accordingly, in so far as hand guns are concerned, is a prohibited weapon.

It is an object of this invention to provide a replica firearm which is not a "firearm" as defined in Section 57 (1) of the Firearms Act 1968 as

amended and which can therefore lawfully be used to satisfy the demand for replica firearms referred to above.

According to the present invention there is provided a barrel for a replica firearm adapted for the shooting of blank cartridges which barrel is of hard or hardened metal and hollow over part of its axial length and is provided with vented restricter means which are permissive of the discharge of gas along the barrel without allowing the passage of a projectile along the barrel, characterised in that at or adjacent the muzzle of the barrel there are provided vented restricter means whose vents comprise portions which are out of register when viewed axially of the barrel.

A replica fire arm in accordance with this invention, in fact a replica of a Colt .45 revolver, has been tested by the Forensic Science Service of the Home Office and has been found not to be a "firearm" as defined in the Firearms Act 1968. It may therefore be sold lawfully to satisfy the demand for replica firearms referred to above.

Said vented restricter means may be constituted by first and second restricters which are separate, as by a single integral restricter having first and second portions in which vent portions are out of register.

In preferred embodiments of the invention the muzzle end of the restricter means is shaped as a cone pointing to the muzzle. This makes it difficult to drill out the restricter means in order unlawfully to convert the replica firearm into a projectile firing weapon because a drill will tend to skid off the surface of the cone.

In preferred embodiments of the invention the distance between the muzzle end of the restricter means and the muzzle is less than the muzzle diameter, and that distance is preferably less than half the muzzle diameter. This gives little space for the packing of any solid object into the muzzle of the barrel for discharge.

In preferred embodiments of the invention in which the muzzle restricter means comprises first and second restricter portions, the distance between the breech end of the first restricter portions and the muzzle end of the second restricter portion is less than the diameter of the barrel. Again this militates against unlawful conversion of the replica firearm into a projectile firing weapon.

In some such embodiments of the invention the second restricter is axially fixed in the barrel but is free to rotate. This makes it extremely difficult to drill out the second restricter portion. Alternatively the second restricter portion may be a tight jam fit into the barrel.

It is preferred that at least the first restricter means should be a tight jam fit into the barrel.

The tightness of such a jam fit may be and preferably is such that the heat generated on forcing the restricter into the barrel is sufficient to cause local welding of that restricter to the barrel. This is a simple and convenient way of ensuring that such a restricter is extremely difficult to remove using any ordinarily available household tools.

This is also preferred that at least one of said first and second restricter portions should be held fast to the barrel by a stud or cotter,

In some preferred embodiments of the invention the first restricter portion defines a plurality of peripheral vents within the barrel and the second restricter portion has a central vent. This is a simple way of ensuring that the vents are out of register when viewed axially of the barrel and it facilitates the formation of those vents. The vents of the first restricter portion may for example be formed by cutting slots into the periphery of that restricter portion.

Holes may be drilled obliquely into an integral restricter in order to connect peripheral slots of a first restricter portion with a central vent of a second restricter portion.

In preferred embodiments of the invention the barrel comprises a third vented restricter portion located at or towards the breech end. It is desirable that the vents of the third restricter portion should be out of register with the vents of at least one other restricter portion.

It is convenient to form the third restricter portion integral with the barrel. This may conveniently be done by drilling the barrel from solid bar stock leaving the third breech end restricter portion in place and then drilling vents through that third, breech end restricter portion. The second and first restricter portions may then be fitted into the barrel, The invention extends to a replica firearm equipped with a barrel according to this invention.

Such a replica firearm is preferably chambered for a pre-determined calibre of blank cartridge and each vent at the first restricter portion preferably has a dimension which is not greater than one tenth of that calibre.

A preferred embodiment of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying diagrammatic drawings in which: Figure I is a cross section of a barrel for a replica fire arm in accordance with the invention, and Figures 2 and 3 are respectively cross sectional views along the lines 11-11 and III-III of Figure 1.

In the drawings, a barrel 10 for a replica firearm has a muzzle end 11 and a breech end 12 and a bore 13. The breech end of the barrel is provided with a screw thread 14 for fitting to a receiver or frame of the replica firearm, The barrel is provided with first, second, and third restricter portions, respectively indicated at 1, 2 and 3.

The bore of the barrel 13 is drilled out to a depth such as to leave the third restricter portion 3 at the breech end 12 whereafter vent holes 31 are drilled in the third, breech end restricter portion 3. That breech end restricter portion is thus integral with the barrel 10.

The bore 13 of the barrel is provided with a step 15 which forms a shoulder against which the second restricter portion 2 abuts after it has been driven in. This second restricter portion may be held in position by a pin 21 driven through the barrel and the restricter portion.

The first restricter portion is also retained in position as a jam fit and by a pin 17 driven through the barrel and into that first restricter. The hole for the pin 17 is blind so that the pin cannot be driven out.

Before the first restricter portion I is inserted into the barrel, slots 18 are cut in its periphery so that they will form axially extending passages after the first restricter has been driven into the barrel 10. If the first and second restricter portions 1, 2 are integral, those slots 18 can communicate with constricted bore 20 of the second restricter portion 2 via oblique holes 16. The muzzle end face 19 of the first restricter portion 1 takes the form of a cone.

It will be seen that the slots 18 which define vents at the first restricter portion I are out of register with the constricted bore 20 of the second restricter portion 2. They are also out of register with vent holes 31 in the third restricter portion 3.

In an alternative embodiment of the second restricter portion 2 when that is separate from the first restricter portion, the pin 21 engages a groove in that restricter portion and the restricter portion is a tight rotatable fit within the barrel. In a further variant that second restricter portion 2 is secured axially within the barrel by a circlip (not shown) at its muzzle end.

The depth to which the slots 18 are cut in the first restricter portion is preferably less than one tenth of the nominal calibre of the replica firearm to which the barrel is fitted.

Claims

CLAIMS 1. A barrel for a replica firearm adapted for the shooting of blank cartridges which barrel is of hard or hardened metal and hollow over part of its axial length and is provided with vented restricter means which are permissive of the discharge of gas along the barrel without allowing the passage of a projectile along the barrel, characterised in that at or adjacent the muzzle of the barrel there are provided vented restricter means whose vents comprise portions which are out of register when viewed axially of the barrel.
2. A barrel according to claim 1, wherein the muzzle end of the restricter means is shaped as a cone pointing to the muzzle.
3. A barrel according to claim I or 2, wherein the distance between the muzzle end of the restricter means and the muzzle is less than the muzzle diameter.
4. A barrel according to any of claims 1 to 3, wherein said vented restricter means are constituted by a single integral restricter having first and second portions in which vent portions are out of register.
5. A barrel according to any of claims 1 to 3, wherein said vented restricter means are constituted by first and second restricters which are separate.
6. A barrel according to claim 5, wherein the distance between the breech end of the first restricter portion and the muzzle end of the second restricter portion is less than the diameter of the barrel.

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7. A barrel according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein at least the first restricter means is a tight jam fit into the barrel.
8. A barrel according to claim 7, wherein the tightness of such a jam fit is such that the heat generated on forcing the restricter into the barrel is sufficient to cause local welding of that restricter to the barrel.
9. A barrel according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein at least one of said first and second restricter portions is held fast to the barrel by a stud or cotter.
10. A barrel according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the first restricter portion defines a plurality of peripheral vents within the barrel and the second restricter portion has a central vent.
11. A barrel according to claim 10, wherein holes are drilled obliquely into an integral restricter in order to connect peripheral slots of a first restricter portion with a central vent of a second restricter portion.
12. A barrel according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the barrel comprises a third vented restricter portion located at or towards the breech end.
13. A barrel according to claim 12, wherein the third restricter portion is formed integral with the barrel.
14. A barrel for a replica firearm substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

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15. A replica firearm equipped with a barrel according to any one of the preceding claims.
16. A replica firearm according to claim 15, which is chambered for a pre-determined calibre of blank cartridge and in which each vent at the first restricter portion has a cross-sectional dimension which is not greater than one tenth of that calibre.