US2383998A

US2383998A - Magazine for firearms

Info

Publication number: US2383998A
Application number: US497447A
Authority: US
Inventors: Vesely Josef
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1942-08-14
Filing date: 1943-08-05
Publication date: 1945-09-04
Anticipated expiration: 1962-09-04
Also published as: GB573434A

Description

Sept. 4, 1945. J. vEsELY 2,333,998,

MAGAZ INE FOR FIREARMS Filed Aug. 5, 1943 l2 Sheets-Sheet l By l.

Allorney sept. 4, '1945. Jf VESELY 2,383,998

MAGAZINE FOR FIREARMS Filed Aug. 5, 1943 2 Sheets-,Sheet 2 Inventor L4 A ttorney Patented Sept. 4, 1945 UNITED STATES MAGAZINE FOR FIREARMS Josef Vesel/,l London, England Application August s, 194s, serial No. 497,447

' In Great Britain August 14, 1942 4 Claims.

The present invention relates to magazines for rearms, and more particularly to magazines for automatic weapons such as, for example, submachine guns wherein two or more channels or compartments are provided in the magazine one behind the other in the longitudinal direction of 'the cartridges for the reception of two or more groups of cartridges, one group being arranged .in each channel or compartment, and the cartridges being adapted to be fed from the magazine into the gun in thedirectionof their axes under. the action of a reciprocating feed member, for example,y the breech block of the gun.

`'The invention may be applied to magazines-'of this kind whether they are of the box or 'drum or other type and irrespective of whether the magazine is arrangedunder, above, or at the side of the breech of the gun; also the magazine according to the linvention is suitable for vuse with any type of ammunition.

to magazines such as are described inv thecspecifica-tion of my coepending patent application, Serial No. 427,957 of January 23, 1942ir Such a magazine briefly and broadly speaking comprises an elongated box-like casing of rectangular crosssection having two compartments (although there could be more than two) arrangedone behind the other and each adapted to. receive a group or pile of cartridges, each group or pile consisting either of a single column of. cartridges'or of two side by sidecolumns of cartridges1 the cartridges of one column in the latter case alternating position or being laterally offset with those of the. other column oi the same group. In such la magazine the. front compartment of the casing is. provided at its breech end. and in its front wall withI a cartridge discharge mouth or openingthrough which cartridges are fed axially (in the direction of their own axes) intothe gun. The magazinev casing. is partially open at its breech chamber end, i. e. the end disposed in the body of the gun, and the cartridges of each pile or group are fed along the length. of :the magazine (more or less perpendicular tothe axis of the breech chamber) to. the breech end thereof by spring urged feeders arranged in the. ksaid compartments, and the arrangementr is such that a reciprocating cartridge feeding memberi. e.. g. the breech block of they gun, feeds all the can tridges-r one at a time, fromlthe forward group in the magazine before feeding those in the rearwardcompartment or compartments of the magaa zine, means `(for instance those; described in the specification,` of my said application Seriat No.

427,957) being provided to `depress upper cartridges in this or these rearward compartments to enable thebreech block to slide over them and through the breech end of the magazine casing to feed the cartridges of the front group axially into the` gun. In the said magazine the breech i .29 However, the invention is especiallyapplicabl'e end of the magazine casing is provided with incurved longitudinal guide lips to prevent the cartridge leaving the casing. in a direction ltransverse t0 their axes under the pressure of the feeders and to guide the cartridgesto the mouth of the magazine as they are fed axiall'yvforwards by the reciprocating feed member. In the case of a magazine in which each group of cartridges contains two columns as above mentioned, the cartridge discharge mouth of. the magazine may be offset from the longitudinal central plane of the magazine casing and the latter may be provided with guide surfaces to urge the cartridges of that column of cartridges. in each compartment, which isnot in alignment with .the discharge mouth of the magazine,. laterally into position into alignment with the discharge mouth. l

`With magazines of the form described in the last paragraph, and which wilt for the purposev of brevity, hereinafter be spoken of as boxmagazines of the kind referred to, it has been found that jamming of the cartridges sometimes occurs when feeding fromA the front compartment of the magazine. Investigation of this failure has shown that as a result of the friction between the reciprocating feed member, i.. e. the recoiling breech block, where that is the reciprocating feed member of the gun, and the uppermost cartridge (over which the breech block slides on recoiling) inthe front compartment of the magazine, the said uppermost front cartridge is liable to `be pulled back'wards or even tilted thus causing jamming of the-gun.

An object of this invention .is to overcome this drawback of the earlier magazines and at the same time to provide improved means for guiding the cartridges from the rearward compartment or compartments of the magazine in their axial movement to the front compartment and the gun barrel. A further object of the invention is to provide an improved and more eicient magazme. v

yAcording 'to the invention there is. provided a magazine for firearms of the kindy adapted to contain lat least two groups of cartridges arranged one behind the other in the longitudinal direction of the cartridges and for discharge therefrom one at a time in an axial direction by a reciprocating feed member on the rearm,

the groups of cartridges being discharged in succession commencing with the front group, wherein means are provided for supporting and retaining the leading cartridge against backward axial movement in the magazine under the action of the reciprocating feed member of the firearm during its return stroke,

In a magazine having only two compartments arranged one behind the other such cartridge supporting or retaining means would be provided for preventing the leading cartridge or cartridges of the front compartment from moving backwardly, but where more than two compartments are provided one behind the other said cartridge supporting or retaining means would be provided for all compartments except the rearmost one.

Preferably the said supporting or retaining means comprise a stop member adapted to abut the base or bases of the cartridge or cartridges uppermost in the magazine compartment directly in front of such stop member.

According to a further feature of the invention the said cartridge supporting or retaining means.

also preferably include or serve as means for assisting in guiding, along their discharge paths and over the feeder or feeders of a preceding compartment or compartments, cartridges being fed forwardly from a compartment to the rear of the front compartment of the magazine.

The said supporting or retaining means are preferably movable transversely of the axes of the cartridges (i. e., their direction of feed) in a plane passing through the bases of the upper cartridges of the two or more columns in front of, the retaining or supporting means, and such plane being parallel to the axes of the said cartridges. Making the said supporting or retaining means movable in this way permits the ready dit-:charge of a cartridge from a rearward compartment to and over the feeder of the compartment or compartments in front thereof.

'I'he said cartridge supporting or retaining means may conveniently comprise a sto-p adapted to engage the bases of the cartridge or cartridges in front of the stop, 'such stop being movable transversely of the axis or axesof said cartridges (i. e. transversely of the length of the magazine) and transversely of the direction of movement of the spring urged cartridge feeders of the magazine.

which it is attached or with which it is made integrally, and such stem or blade may be secured at the other end to, or be made integrally with, the cartridge magazine preferably near the breech end thereof. To prevent any undesirable deilection of the stop in the direction of the length of the magazine (i. e., in the direction of movement of the said feeders) interengaging means may be provided on the magazine wall and the stop, such interengaging means leaving the stop free to make the required movement in the lateral or transverse direction. The interengage ing means may, for example, comprise a rib or flange on a wall or partition portion of the magazine casing which engages in a groove or over a flange provided upon the stop, or the arrangement may be vice versa, so that whilst the stop is permitted to move crosswise with respect to the cartridges it is unableto move in any other direction.

Where the cartridges are arranged and emerge from the magazine compartmentin two or more substantially side by side columns the transversev The said stop may, for example, be carried at one end of a spring stem or blade to Width of the said transversely movable stop should be such as t0 ensure that the stop will positively engage the bases of both the right and the left-hand cartridges in the compartment of the magazine in front of the stop and the stop should be elastically mounted so as to be capable of being laterally deflected by a cartridge to the rear of it during the passage of this cartridge from one compartment of the magazine to the next compartment in front of it. Moreover, whether each compartment has a single or double column group of cartridges, the stop should yieldingly press the leading cartridge of a rear compartment being fed forwardly against the guiding surface of the magazine, thus securing correct feed of the cartridge. The stop should preferably also be suitably shaped at the side which comes into contact with the longiv tudinal surfaces of the cartridges so as properly to engage such cartridges.

In order that the invention may be thoroughly understood and readily be carried into practice drawings are appended hereto and illu-strate one embodiment of the invention and a modification of that embodiment, by way of example, and in these drawings:

Figure 1 is a fragmentary view showing, in partial vertical cross-section, a magazine constructed in accordance with this invention attached t0 the body of a submachine gun;

Figure 2 is a plan vie-w of the magazine according to the invention, this magazine being shown as having its rear and front compartments fully loaded with cartridges;

`Figure 3 is a view similar to Figure 2 showing the front compartment of the magazine completely exhausted and a cartridge being fed forwardly from the rear magazine; I

Figure 4 is a View similar to Figure 3 but shows a cartridge still further advanced in its forward movement;

Figure 5 is a rear elevation of the upper part of the magazine;

Figure 6 is a front elevation of the upper part of the magazine;

Figure 7 is a side elevation of the upper portion of the magazine;

Figure 8 is a plan view of a modified form of the magazine constructed in accordance lwith the invention.

Referring to Figures l to 6 of the drawings it will be seen that the magazine is a box-magazine of the kind referred to consisting of an elongated casing I formed of sheet metal and of rectangular shape in cross-section. The front and rear transverse walls 2 and 3 of this casing are parallel, and centrally between them the casing has a partition wall 4 which is parallel to the front and rear walls 2 and 3 and divides the magazine casing into two compartments, a front compartment 5 and a rear compartment 6 of similar form.

The bottom of the magazine is closed by a removable slide-on cover plate I retained releasably in position by means of a protuberance 8 on a plate 9 and engaging in a hole ID in the cover plate '1. The plate 9 is acted upon by a feed spring II in the rear compartment 6 andv this spring carries, at its upper end, a cartridge feeder I2 of approximately inverted U-shape.

In the front compartment 5 of the magazine casing is arranged a further feed spring I3, similar to the feed spring I I, which bears, at its lower end, upon the cover plate 'I and, at its upper'end, carries a further cartridge feeder I4 of hollow form but having its upper .surface shaped to provide cartridge guiding surfaces. As will Vbe seen from the drawings, and particularly from Figures' 1 and 6, the top surface of the feeder .i4 is steppedV so as to have two surfaces I and I6 at'diierent levels, the. surface I5 being., higher than the surface I6 and thev two surfaces being joined -by an inclined surface II. The rear ends of the surfaces I5 and l'incline or curve down. wardly as shown at I8 and I9 (Figure l) and the surface I5 is rounded off at its front end as show at 20. (Figure 1). f

At its upper or breech chamber end 2| the magazine casing I is open'and its front wall 2 is prow vided, at the breech chamber end, With-a cartridge discharge opening 22 through which cartridges may be fed in the direction of their axes on to a, cartridge guide 23 which leads the cartridge into the barrel of the gun.

At the open end 2| of the magazine casing the latter is provided, on its

longitudinal side walls

22 and 25 with inturned guide lips. Thus, as is clearly seen from the drawings, the longitudinal `side wall 25 of the magazine is provided, at the upper end of the front compartment 5, with an at V28 and, like the lip 26, out away atf29, /The cutting away at 2S of: the lips 26 and 2l is to facilitate the discharge of thecartridgesfrom the magazine and the gap 28 in the lip. 21 isl to provide for the operation Iof mechanism hereinbefore referred to for maintaining the cartridges in the rear compartment 6 depressed during thefeeding of the cartridges in the front compartment of the gun. Y

.The rear .portion of the. longitudinalside wall 25 of the magazine casing I is` also provided with an inwardly curved portion 30 commencing some little distance down the wall as is clearly seen, for example,V in Figures 2 to 4, 5 and '7. Forming the wall in this way provides, on the interior of the magazine, a guide surface for urging cartridges towards the opposite wall 24 of the magazine as the cartridges move towards the upper end thereof. Forming the wall 25 with the incurvedl portion as above described also provides the magazine with a 'small approximately right-angled triangular-shaped transverse partition or web 3.1 and this partition has a flange 32 parallel to the top edge of the magazine and extending from 'the central partition i a short distance rearwardly.

The central partition 4 of the magazine casing terminates short of the lupper end .of the latter and is provided, as clearly seen in Figure 6, with a semi-circular recess33 which extends from the longitudinal side wall 24 of the magazine casing approximately half way across the partition. This recess is to facilitate the passage of cartridges from the rear compartment 6 of the magazine to the front compartment 5.

-The magazine illustrated in Figures 1 to 6 of the drawings is intended to receive, in each of its

compartments

5 and 5, a group or pile of cartridges, each group or pile consisting of two co1- umns of cartridges arranged with the cartridges of one column slightly staggered and alternating with the cartridges of the other column. Thus, as the cartridges are fed upwards towards the breech chamber end of the magazine casing, in the case of the lfront compartment the cartridges are successively fed, by the co-operation of the cartridges, the feeder le and the

lips

26 and 21,

into the position which the cartridge marked 34 is shown in Figure 2 ofthe drawings'. This-is therefore vthe leading. cartridge in the magazine and to one side of it and; slightly below is disposed the second cartridgea in the magazine. When the magazine is fulLvas shownin Fig. 2, other cartridges are arranged directly'belowthe cartridscs 34 and 35 `andthe rear compartment "is fully of cartridges..l i

In the embodiment of the invention yillustrated in the drawings reliance is placed on the..action of the reciprocating breech block (not shown) of the. gun 36 for feeding the cartridges into. the barrel 31 and it will be understood clearly from Figure 1 that itis necessary, whilst the cartridges of the front compartment 5 are being discharged, to retain the cartridges in the rear compartment B depressed below the level of the breech block so that these cartridges do not interferewith the action of thevbreech block, upon the cartridgesin thefront. compartment 5. This may be effected,

' forexample, as previously explained hereinl by f any'of the means described in my copending TLS.

axis on to the. guide member 23 by,which itisy deflected upwardly into the barrel`3'I. `'Whenthe cartridge 34 has .left ythe magazine a new car,- tridge, such as 35, takes the uppermostplacein the magazine compartment but on the other side, i. e. if the cartridge 34 has beenon the left hand side of thec'ompartment (asshown inFig. 2) the nextluppermost cartridge such as 351will lie on the right hand side, so that the position shown in Fig. `2 will be restored .symmetrically yto the longitudinal axis of the compartment. .On the return movement of the. breech block, however, there is a, tendency for the breech b1ock,'due to frictional engagement with the cartridge. in the position of cartridge 34, to cause thiscartridge .to slide backwardlyin an axial direction from vthe frontcompartment 5 of the magazine towards the rear compartment E. and this, as. previously explained, is` liable to jam thegun or interfere with its proper functioning. The frictional engage'- ment of the cartridge, suoli-as` 34, with theother cartridge, such as 35, also tends to cause the latter cartridge to move out of its proper position and in a .rearward direction, should the cartridge 3.4 be free to` move rearwardly under theaction of the recoi-ling` breech. block. 'Ihereforeto' obviate these dangers a stop. 38 -is providedand comprises a flat piece of metal constituting a heel of approximately right-angled triangular form 39.v which is formedintegrally with aspring stem 49, having itsA rear end encircled and gripped by a cylindrically-,turned-overportion 4I of the. longitudinal side wall 25 of the magazine casing, clearly seen in end view in Figures 5 and 6. The spring stem 40 lies longitudinally along the upper edge of the inwardly curved portion 30 of the side wall 25 of the magazine casing, and thespring stem is incapable of movement in the direction either of the axial feed of the cartridges or of

side walls

24 and 25 ofthe magazine casing and is, when there is more than one cartridge in the front compartment 5, adapted' to engage behind the bases of both the right and the left-hand upper cartridges in the front compartment of the magazine as is clearly shown in Figure 2 of the drawings. As explained above the cartridge 35 lies a little below the cartridge 34. The stop 38 thus supports the bases of' the

cartridges

34 and 35 or `the base of the cartridge 34 alone when it is the last cartridge in the front compartment 5, and prevents these cartridges or this cartridge from being moved backwardly in an axial directionv during the recoil of the breech block.

The-inner edge 42 of theA stop 38 is preferably contoured so as to more or less match the shape of the noses of the cartridges being used in the magazine, so that as a rear cartridgeV 43 moves Yfrom the position shown in Figure 2 (after the complete discharge of cartridges from the front compartment 5 has been effected) the resilient stop engages rst against the nose of the cartridge and then along its longitudinal surface as shown in Figure 3 to assist in guiding the cartridge in its axial movement and to maintain it in contact with the guide lip 21 of the magazine casing, and as the stop 38 is arranged to move transversely of the magazinel in a plane passing through the longitudinal axis of the uppermost cartridges in the magazine, the action of the stop is to urge a cartridge, such as 43, horizontally acrossthe magazine` At the same time, however, thek yielding characterof the stop 38 ensures that the stop will not impede the movement of the cartridge from the rear to the front compartment of the magazine.

To ensure that the stop 38 may not move in any direction other than transversely across the magazine, and particularly to ensure that it may not be moved in the direction of the length of the magazine, means are provided positively to constrain the stop to its transverse line of movement, such means comprising a groove or channel 44 provided on the underside of the heel part 39 of the stop for the reception of the forward edge 'portion' of the flange 32 previously referred to which serves to lguide the stop 38 in its movement and to constrain it to movement only in a direction transverseto the length of the magazine.

In the embodiment of the magazine shown in Figure 8 the arrangement is the same as that alreadydescribed with the exception that the magazine is narrowerl from side to side than the magazine shown in Figures 1 to 6, as this magazine is intended to contain, in its front and rear compartments, only a single column of cartridges instead of a double column as shown in the other iigures. Since the parts are all the same in form as those already described the same references have been used on this figure as in the other iigures.

It should, of course, be understood that, although certain embodiments of the invention have beendescribed in some detail above for the purpose of illustrating how the invention may be carried into practice, the invention is not restricted to the particular form of the magazine and stop means above described, since the form of the magazine and the stop may be modied without departing from the scope of the invention as hereinafter claimed.

I claim:

1. A cartridge magazine for rearms comprising an elongated rectangular box-like casing containing two compartments arranged one behind the other in the axial direction of the cartridges and each constructed to receive a group of cartridges piled upon one another in their companment, each compartment being open at the breech end of the magazine and having guide lip means to retain the cartridges against discharge from the magazine transversely of their axes and to guide the Vcartridges axially in their passage, under the action of a reciprocating feed member of the rearm moving parallel to the axes of said cartridges, to a discharge mouth provided at the front and breech end of the magazine, feeding means to urge said cartridges towards the breech end of the magazine, stop means arranged behind the iront compartment of the magazine and at the breech end of the latter, a resilient-stem having its rear end secured to said magazine at a distance rearwardly from said front compartment and extending forwardly adjacent one sideof the uppermost cartridge in said rear compartment and substantially in a transverse plane containing the axis of said uppermost cartridge, and a heel portion on the front end of said resilient stem including an abutment face normally located directly behind the rear end of the uppermost cartridge in said iront compartment t0 prevent any backward movement of such cartridge, and means to prevent said stop means from carrying out any movements except in said transverse plane.

2. A magazine for firearms according to claim 1, wherein the said resilient stem is anchored to the magazine by a portion of the wall thereof encircling the stem.

3. A cartridge magazine, as claimed in claim l, in which said heel portion of said stop means is provided with a cam surface to eiect a temporary transverse displacement of said stop means when a cartridge is vadvanced from said rear compartment to said front compartment.

4. vA cartridge magazine, as claimed in claim 1, in which said means to prevent said stop means from carrying out any movements except in said transverse plane includes a transverse flange on said magazine extending partially across the latter, said transverse flange engaging a transverse groove provided in said heel portion of said stop means to guide the latter positively for movements in said plane.

JOSEF vEsELY.