US2459156A

US2459156A - Gun test range

Info

Publication number: US2459156A
Application number: US576437A
Authority: US
Inventors: Ralph M Ferguson
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1945-02-06
Filing date: 1945-02-06
Publication date: 1949-01-18
Anticipated expiration: 1966-01-18

Description

Jan. 18, 1949. R. M.-FERGUSON GUN TEST RANGE Filed Feb. 6, 1945 Patented Jan. 18, 1949 umreo P TENT? QFFICE 4 Claims.

(Granted sumler the act of Marchw3, 18-83,; as;

amended ;Ap r-il 30,1928; 370 O. G. 75,7

The invention described herein maybe manufactured 'and:used--by-or'fo'r the Government for governmental purposes without the :payment to me of any royaltythereonzw This invention relates to gun test ranges.

A purpose of the inventionisto provideameans for testing machine'gun's; cannoneaccessories' and the like byactual firing= ofthe guns:

A further purpose of theinvention is-to provide a test rangewhichis very shortin length.

Another purposeof theinvention is to provide a means of stopping *the bullets; '0I1 a short test range'with sa-fety'to the personnel and equipment employed during thetest: I

Otherpurposes "of the invention will become apparent from the following description and drawings;

A preferred embodiment 'of the invention has been illustrated in'the drawings in which Figure l is a'sectional elevation view of a device embodying the invention;

Figure 2 is an-elevational view taken along the line 2'-2 on Figure l. H

Figure 3 is a fragmentary transverse section, showing the mounting on thepipe 48$ Figure 4 is a sectional view line 4-4 ofFi'gureL, h r

Figure 5-is a horizontal section'onthe =1ine-'55 of Figure 1, but'notshowing=the'con'crete' base, and r Figure dis a plan view' taken'alon'g' the line 5-5 of Figure 1. I y r V Test firing of'automatic weapons such as machine guns andzfl'mm; automatic'cannon may be done ona iull'size range laid out over an area of land or partly over land and partly-over-water. However, this has disadvantage of'requiring large isolated"areas-"to-be reserved solely for use in range "firing; forreasons of safety; 7 p

The present invention-provides a range '1 or test firing of this type of weapon, the range beinghoused'ina relatively' 'small structurei The invention' has the advantage of being safe' to use, and of providing meansf'or' salvaging the metal in fired-bullets;-

Asseenhr the drawings; particularly "Figure-1,

the range includes a'gun'chamb'er-t and a targetchamber 2;- e I r 1 An automatic" weapon- 3, such asa machine gun or' a mm: automatic'cannon 'or the like, is

mounted on apedestal orfisupportik having a fiat:

A partition wall 1, having a heavy steel front portion 8 and a fire-proof and soundproof-back portione 9-, -within chambenqi separates the gun taken along the target block or bullet deflecting-and energy dissipating member l2; rectangularin cross-section against the fiat face" l3 ofswhichthebullets fired from theweapon 3 impinge. Theblock 1-2 is madeof battleship armor and:its dimensions may heap- -proximately 24 inches wide, 24? in'ches'isquare", and

16- inches thick. .lts fac'e' ska-makes: an angle 'of about.75 degrees with'rthe horiiontallin'e of fire and about lfildegrees with the verticalasindicated' in Figure 1, although the anglesof inclination may be greater if desired; c

It is "desirableto make: the block I2 quite thick and strong so the bullets -striking against it will not move itor' penetrate it.- Battleship" armor, l6 inchesthick, is deemed: preferable for this-use if available, although other armor-plate of'comparable characteristics-may be used. v

A truncated hollow conical member [4, has its smaller end. l 5'secured to the face"l3 of the block 22 by welding or othersuitabl means; th'e -axis of the member I l-being perpendicular-to the face l3. There is a member l7,-'forming-' the base 'of the cone. I14; the base angles-l6 'of the cone-being- 62 degrees in'the preferred embodiment of the invention: shown, the truncated cone-having an outside diameter. of five feet at the? base 1 1, and narrowing down' to two feet where it joins thetarget l2. Thebase Hand sidesof the cone may be made of armor plate, twoinch'es thick, and any joints are preferably-welded. It is see'n'th'at thetarget 5 l2, the frustro-cone l4 and'the' base l1, form a chamber unit when weldedtogether; and this unit which will be called the cone-target, is mounted on a concrete'base l 8 as shown.

A backstop-l9, formed of bales 'ofpressed steel, is placed behind'thetarget'IZL against the wall 20,

its' base 22 being supported on -and surrounded by v concrete in the concrete-'b'ase IB-as'iiIdicatedI A transversely arranged vertical bafile -"zt having a:curved-lower surface toconform to the contour of the cone, is secured-toth'lower inside surface ofthe cone l4 spaced 'a short distance rearward from the b'asefl', as inFigures land 4.

The baiiie- 23 may be made =of2inch*.thick' armoretral edges of an opening 28 formed through the base IT. This opening constitutes a bulletreceiving port, the effective clearance in which is defined by the end of the tube 25, which thus confines the path of the entering bullets to approximately two and a half inches.

The opening 28 is made large enough to serve as an inspection holefor looking into the interior of the cone-target by removing the tube and flange 21. The inclined fiange 21 which is made of two inch thick armor plate, is removably secured to the cone base I! by means of bolts 29 which are threaded into holes in the base l'l. It will be noted that the hole 28 is located a short distance above the center of the cone base ll, so that the bullets moving approximately n the axis of the tube will impinge approximately on the center of the face l3 of the target plate I2.

The tube 25 is made of steel one and one half inches thick, its inside diameter being two and one-half inches. The tube which is about 3 feet long, is about 40 inches above the floor and its axis is at the same height as the axis of the barrel of the gun being fired and as the center of the face [3 of the target l2. The flange 26 is removably secured to the wall 'I by means of bolts 29. A

disk 35 having bolt holes corresponding to those in the flange 29, is fastened over the hole 10 in the wall, the bolts 29 passing through it and nuts threaded overthe ends of the bolts thereby securing the disk 30 and the flange 26 to the wall. The disk 30 is provided with a central opening through which the gun barrel ll protrudes into the tube 25,

Holes 3| in the tube 25 permit gases and dust to escape into chamber 2, the exhaust fans 32 serving to draw the gases into the chamber. Sprinklerheads 33, connected to water pipe 34, are set to operate if the temperature of the inside of chamber 2 should become too high.

An opening 35, about one-eighth of an inch wide by 12 inches long is formed through the upper wall of the cone M at its narrowest portion by cutting or grinding away part of the cone where it touches the face l3 of the target it.

A housing 36, made of steel side walls 37 and top member 38, covers the opening 35 and forms a chamber 39 over it. A pipe 40, connected to the chamber 39 through a hole 4| in the top member 38, leads at its other end, (not shown), to .a water supply. By causing water to flow in the pipe Ml, a sheet of water will flow through the opening 35 into the interior of the cone I4 and across the face of the block l2, serving among other purposes, to cool the surface of the target face l3 and other interior surfaces, and to flush away debris.

To allow water and debris to leave the cone, an outlet opening 42 is formed through the wall of the cone M, and the opening leads to a clean out'chamber or waste bin 43 through a waste pipe or chute 44 set or formed in the concrete base 18. An inclined ramp 46 allows access to the waste bin 43 for cleaning it out. A door l'i made of steel and arranged 'for vertical movement in guides 48, serves for opening or closing the bin 43 as desired. A counterweight 49, connected to the door 41 by means of a cable 50 passing over sheaves serves to counterbalance the weightof the door 41 to facilitate its movement. A drain 6'! is provided to drain water from the bin.

The outer surfaces of the cone I4 and base A fan 52 is provided in the wall of gun chamber I to ventilate the chamber. The external walls, floor and ceiling of the two chambers I and 2 are strongly made of concrete, the construction of wall I having already been described.

In order to accommodate different size guns 3, the table top is provided with means for elevating and lowering it. 'As indicated in Figures 1 and 6, there are four vertical brackets 53 bolted to the floor by means of bolts or lug screws 54. Each bracket 53 has a vertical guide portion 55 which is L-shaped, the four guide portions being thus arranged at the four corners of the table top 5 and serving to guide it and prevent horizontal movement of the table top as it moves vertically between the guide portions.

H are coated with a suitable material. to minimize noise and vibration. I

The four legs 6 are each pivotally connected at their upper ends to lugs 55 projecting down from the tabletop 5, and are each pivotally connected at their lower ends to

couplings

51, 58, 59 and 5! which in turn are threaded onto

horizontal rods

61 and 62 which pass through holes in the brackets 53 asshown. The threaded portions of rods 5! and 62 engaging couplings 5i and 59 are provided with right hand threads, while the portions'of the

rods engaging couplings

53 and 30 have-left hand threads, Cranks 53 and (54 are attached to rods 5! and 62 as shown, and the. rods also have removable stops 65 secured to them to prevent longitudinal movement of the rods. It is thus apparent that turning the cranks 53 andfi l in one direction elevates the table top by bringing the lower portions of the, legs, 6 closer together, While turning the cranks in the opposite direction separates the legs and thus lowers the table top. p

The table top 5 is provided with upwardly projecting lugs 55 having transverse holes for fastening the gun 3 to the table top. In installing a gun for test firing, the barrel it of the gun is first inserted into the central opening in the disk 35 so it projects into the tube 25, and then the gun is secured to the top 5 of the table. It is then ready for firing.

The particular arrangement of the frusto conical:hollow cone M, has peculiar advantages in avoiding too great an angleojf incidence aide-- flected bullets and flying particles on impact with these walls, reducing velocities so that when such bodies encounter the front wall IT a minimum oi erosion occ'urs,-perm itting the relatively thin walls of the cone and the base wall I? to attain a life commensurate with that of the block 12.

It will be seen that replacement of the block bullet not balanced by the inertia of the block I2 is absorbed with an almost imperceptible degree of movement of the cone target.

Although, I have described the invention in specific termsit isto be understood that numerous changes may bemade inthesize, shape, arrangement and materialswithout departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as claimed herein.

Iclaim: :1. In a testingrange for testing rate of fire I and serviceability of gun actions, a gun support to hold a gun in a desired firing position, a bullet-proof bullet-receiving chamber having a bullet-receiving port in its front side approximately concentric with the axis of the bore of a gun in the support, a bullet deflecting body having a mass greatly in excess of that of the bullet so that a large part of the kinetic energy of the moving bullet may be readily absorbed by the bullet deflecting body, said mass being efiective at a central point of impact on the body, said body having a forward face inclined to the said axis, said chamber having side Walls united with said deflectng body and divergent forwardly, said chamber having also an eccentrically ported forward wall united with the side walls to form a closed chamber, a line central in said chamber normal to said face of the deflecting body being approximately coincident with said bore axis at said surface, said chamber having an eflluent port for collected bullets, and means to cool the face of the deflecting body.

2. The structure of claim 1 in which means is included to project a sheet of water against and across the said face of the deflector body.

3. The structure of claim 1 in which a guiding tube is fixed concentric with said axis, receiving the muzzle portion of a gun on said support, and extending to and joining said chamber coincident with said bullet receiving port, means being included to vent gun source gases.

4. As an improved article of manufacture a bullet collector for bullets fired from a weapon, comprising a chamber having a hollow frustoconical body wall, a deflector body united with the smaller end of the said Wall and having a forward face normal to the conical axis of the chamber and including the entire cross-sectional area of the small end of the frustum, said body having a mass greatly in excess of that of the bullet so that a large part of the kinetic energy of the moving bullet may be readily absorbed by the bullet deflecting body, said chamber having a forward wall united with its base throughout the circumference of the latter, a discharge port being formed adjacent the junction of the conical wall and said front wall at one side of the chamber, said front Wall having a bullet receiving port therein spaced from the conical axis of the chamber opposite the discharge port, and a bullet guiding tube fixed with the front wall surrounding said bullet receiving .port and extending on a line with the incidence of said conical axis and said forward face of the said deflector body.

RALPH M. FERGUSON.

REFERENCES CITED Name Date Decumbus July 3, 1898 Koehler Feb. 9, 1932 Gilson Aug. 29, 1944 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Great Britain Feb. 8, 1939 Number Number