GB573694A - Improvements in or relating to automatic firearms - Google Patents

Abstract

573,694. Automatic firearms. VESELY, J., July 23, 1943, No. 12035. [Class 119] A sub-machine gun or like automatic firearm is so made that the barrel body and butt are adapted to be quickly assembled or disassembled, without individual stripping, by means of joints of the kind comprising interengaging interrupted annular flanges. The invention is shown applied to a weapon having features described in Specifications 571,027, 573,210, 573,212, 573,213, 573,214, 573,215, 573,429 and 573,501. The body 1, carrying a magazine 5 and containing the breech-block 26 has a cylindrical sleeve 12 fitting over its rear end and secured by a removable locking pin 13, the sleeve forming part of a housing 10 in which the trigger-mechanism is mounted. An inturned flange 15, Fig. 6, formed by three lug portions 15a separated by three groove portions 15b, is provided on the rear end of the housing 10. Corresponding lugs and grooves are formed on a spigot 17 protruding from a plate 16 fixed to the forward end of the butt 3. A fastening of the bayonet-joint type is thus provided, by which the butt may be readily attached to the body by bringing the lugs on the one part into register with the grooves on the other and then rotating the butt relatively to the body. A spring-pressed catch 21 is slidable in a slot in the sleeve 12, and locks the butt to the body by engagement in a groove in the spigot 17 when the bayonet-joint connection has been made. The breech mechanism 4 is similar to that described in Specification 573,215, but is modified by the provision of a buffer plunger 25 which is slidable in a cavity in the breech-block 26 and is pressed backwardly by a spring 28. A breech-block recoil-rod 30 is pivoted at 29 to the plunger 25, and passes through a slit in the end wall of the housing 10. The outer end of the rod must be inserted through an aperture in a boss projecting from the spigot 17 on the butt, before the butt and body are connected together. When the parts are assembled, the rear end of the rod engages in a socket piece 32 which is slidable in a tube 33 under the pressure of a recoil spring 38. The rear end of the barrel 2 and the front end of the body 1 of the gun are also detachably connected by a joint consisting of a pair of interrupted annular flanges 40 extending inwardly on the body 1, and a pair of outwardly-extending interrupted matching flanges provided on a collar 42 fixed to the barrel. Locking of the barrel and body against relative rotation is effected by a spring catch 45 having a portion 46 adapted to engage in a recess in the forward end of the body 1.