US2903809A

US2903809A - Cartridge magazine of aluminum or magnesium

Info

Publication number: US2903809A
Application number: US566836A
Authority: US
Inventors: Eugene M Stoner
Original assignee: Fairchild Engine and Airplane Corp
Current assignee: Fairchild Engine and Airplane Corp
Priority date: 1956-02-21
Filing date: 1956-02-21
Publication date: 1959-09-15
Anticipated expiration: 1976-09-15

Description

Sept. 15, 1959 E. M. STONER CARTRIDGE MAGAZINE OF ALUMINUM OR MAGNESIUM Filed Feb. 21, 1956 INVENTOR Ezgaw 171 522w ATTORNEY United S taes l atent ice c'hilcl Engine & Airplane Corporation, Hagerstown, Md.

Application February 21, 1956, Serial No. 566,836 6 Claims. 01. 42-50) This invention relates to improvements in cartridge magazines. v

In the past, cartridge magazines for small-arms, rifles, including automatic and semi-automatic, shot gun's, submachine guns, and in general any type of arms-requiring a magazine which can be manually inserted, have been manufactured from steel. The steel magazine provides a durable structure which will take great abuse under adverse conditions. One of the disadvantages of the steel type magazine is the weight. Steel magazines are heavy and seriously add to the Weight that the coinbat soldier or the hunter must carry. This weight limits the amount of ammunition that a person can carry. Another disadvantage of the steel magazine is the cost of manufacturing the same. Steel is an expensive commodity and it is costly to discard magazines after use though it is frequency necessary in combat.

Lighter metals such as aluminum or magnesium may have been tested in the manufacture of magazines, but, heretofore, magazines of these metals made in the fashion of a conventional steel magazine, tended to distort or rupture under rough treatment or under shock of firing.- In a weapon such as the high powered rifle of the M1 Garand or Johnson type, the recoil and shock due to firing caused the cartridges within the magazine to bang back and forth resulting in a mutilation of the aluminum or magnesium type magazine.

Aluminum and magnesium sheetmetals not only are lighter than similar grade steel sheeting but also are less expensive and much more durable under weather conditions than steel tending to resist corrosion under the severest conditions. Prior to this'invention, no satisfactory magazine of light metal was ever manufactured which would stand up under combat conditions.

It is an object of this invention to provide a magazine manufactured of a light metal such as magnesium or aluminum. 1

Still a further object of this invention it to provide a magizine which is durable under combat conditions.

It is another object of this invention to provide a magazine which is inexpensive to manufacture.

. Still another object of this invention is to provide a magazine which is light in weight.

Another object of this invention is to increase the amount of ammunition which a soldier or a hunter can carry.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a magazine which is so inexpensive that the magazine may be readily discarded without any great cost involved in replacement. I

Yet another object of this invention is to provide a magazine which is readily assembled and which is simple and economical to manufacture also to eliminate the need for stripper clips, and thus provision for stripper clip loading in the weapon.

These and other objects of this invention and advantages will be apparent from the following description and claims.

Patented Sept. 15, 1959 In the aceompanying drawings which illustrate by way of example various embodiments of this invention:

Fig. 1 is a top plan view of the magazine;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the magazine;

Fig. 3 is a bottom plan view of the magazine;

Fig. 4 is a side elevation of the rear of the magazine;

Fig. 5 is a side elevation of the front of the magazine; and,

'Fig. 6 is a sectional view of the magazine in elevation taken along the lines 6-6 of Fig. l look ing in the direction of the arrows in Fig. 1.

The magazine shown in Figs. 1 through 6 comprises a casing 110 of a light sheet metal such as magnesiurnor aluminum. The casing 10 may be; formed from a single piece of tubular aluminum or magnesium or similar light metal stock or may be formed from a sheet or sheets of aluminum metal and the like the edges of which are welded together in a single seam. The use of tubular stock eliminates seams and strengthens the magazine. The casing 10 has a front wall "11 and a rear wall 12 as shown best in Figs. 4 and 5. 'The rear wall 12 has a projecting portion 13 which is slotted as at 14 to provide means for engaging locking mechanisms (not shown) which hold the clip securely in the gun (not shown). Element 15 is a slot to provide means to hold the action open at the time of the last cartridge being fired. The relieved portions 14 and 15 are well known in the art and do not form any part of this invention.

It is to be noted that front Wall 11 is shorter than rear wall 12. Side walls 20 taper from front to rear 3 at the bottom portion thereof in order to allow for the .shock and abuse.

difference in size of the cartridges from front to rear.

Side walls :20 atthe top have large curving fingers 21 and small curving fingers 22 which serve as retaining and guide means for the cartridges C as shown in Fig.1

Side walls 20 have large fingers portions 23 and smaller finger portions 24 bent over at the bottom of the casing 10 which serve and guide a bottom cover plate 25.

A spring 30 one end of which rests against cover plate 25 urges a cartridge follower 31 against the cartridges C. The spring 30 and follower 31 are conventional and do not form a part of this invention. Removal of the cover plate 25, permits withdrawal of spring '30 an cartridge follower 31. r

The front face 11 has a steel or similar type metal re: inforcing strip 39 riveted as at 40 to the inside ofthe front face 11. This steel reinforcing strip has a base portion 41 curved as at 42. The curved portion 42 is provided with a locking lug or finger 43 which is adapted to project through a slot 44 in the bottom plate 25.

The end 41 of the strip39 is free and is under spring tension so that the finger 43 normally seats in the slot 44 of'the cover plate25. A hole 45 is provided in the cover plate 25 through which the end of a cartridge or a small pointed instrument can be insertedin order to shift the end 41 upwardly to disengage the finger 43 from the slot 44. This releases the cover plate 25 and permits the same to be withdrawn.

The strip 39 is an important feature of this invention because it prevents the points of the cartridges C from denting or rupturing the front wall 11 of the cartridge case during firing operation. The shock is absorbed by this strip 39 and wear is, therefore, eliminated on the forward wall 11. It is to be noted that the strip 39 with the end 41 has a dual function since it serves not only as reinforcing strip but also as a locking member in order hold the cover plate 25 in position.

The side walls 20 are constructed and formed in a manner so as to prevent buckling and distortion under It is to be noted that the side walls 20 are provided with a series of corrugations 50 running laterally across the side walls 20. A series of

corrugations

51, 52 and 53 run lengthwise of the side walls 20 and intersect the corrugations 50 at substantially right angles to produce a squared or wafiied effect. It is to be further noted that

corrugations

51 and 53 extend to the bottom of the side walls 20 to afford guides in the side walls 20 which support the cover plate 25 thereby permitting a sliding action of the cover plate 25 between the

fingers

23 and 24 and the

corrugations

51 and 53. It is desirable or preferable that the vertical ribs 51 to '53 inclusive be deeper in order to form unobstructed guides for the cartridges C.

corrugations 53 in the side walls 20 further act as guides for the slug or bullet portion of the cartridges C. The particular location of the corrugation 53 in the side walls 20 is conventional and well known in the art.

The arrangement of the corrugations 50with the

corrugations

51, 52 and 53 structurally strengthens the cartridge casing 20. Without this waflled effect the sides of the cartridge magazine would buckle under shock and abuse and would not stand up under the conditions necessary for combat equipment.

The cartridge magazine as shown in these drawings has been'tested under the severest conditions and has been found to stand up with the best steel cartridge magazines available.

The cartridge magazine of this invention is extremely light and permits a soldier to carry considerably more ammunition than he could heretofore carry because of the weight of the steel cartridge magazine. In addition to this, the cartridge magazines made of aluminum are inexpensive and can be manufactured without the great cost and expense of steel cartridge magazines since, in addition to the cost of aluminum and magnesium, alurninum or magnesium may be shaped, stamped or rolled, with less expensive equipment than that used to tool steel.

It will be understood that this invention is capable of further modification, and this specification is intended to cover any variations, uses, or adaptations of the inventionfollowing, in general, the principles of the invention and including such departur w from the present disclosure as come within known or customary practice in the art to which the invention pertains, and as may be applied to the essential features hereinbefore set forth and as fall within the scope of the invention or the limits of the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention What I claim is:

1. A cartridge magazine comprising front, rear, and side walls, said side walls having a series of spaced intersecting horizontal and vertical corrugations which reinforce and strengthen said side walls and prevent distortion and buckling of said magazine, said front wall being reinforced on the inside by a steel strip secured thereto, said steel strip having a rearwardly projecting base portion, said magazine having a bottom cover plate, guide means formed in the side walls of said magazine for slideably receiving said cover plate, and means cooperating with said base portion of said steel strip for locking said cover plate in assembled position.

2. A cartridge magazine as in claim 1 in which said guide means comprises the bottom edges of at least two of said vertical corrugations, and cooperating overlapping fingers connected to said side walls.

3. A cartridge magazine comprising front, rear, and side walls, said side walls having reinforcing corrugations running lengthwise and crosswise and forming a waffle-like pattern, a bottom cover plate supported on top and bottom by guide means, said guide means forming a portion of said side walls, said front wall having a steel reinforcing strip secured to the inside thereof, said reinforcing strip having a rearwardly extending spring-like extension provided with a locking lug, said base cover plate having a slot for receipt of said locking lug and having a hole whereby said spring portion may be raised to withdraw said lug from said slot thereby permitting removal of said cover plate to permit disassembly of said cartridge magazine.

4. A cartridge magazine of aluminum comprising front, rear, and side walls, a reinforcing strip secured in abutting relation to' the inside of said front wall, said reinforcing strip being of a harder material than the material of the remainder of said magazine, said side walls formed with a plurality of intersecting horizontal and vertical corrugations disposed and extending in waffied grid arrangement over substantially the entire area of said side walls and wherein said vertical corrugations are deeper than said horizontal corrugations to provide unobstructed guides for cartridges contained in said magazine.

5. A cartridge magazine comprising front, rear, and

" side walls, a'reinforcing strip secured in abutting relation to the inside of said front wall, said reinforcing strip having a rearwardly projecting base portion, said magazine having a bottom cover plate, guide means formed in the side walls of said magazine for slidably receiving said cover plate, and means cooperating with said base portion of said reinforcing strip for locking said cover plate in assembled position.

6. A cartridge magazine of magnesium comprising front, rear, and side walls, a reinforcing strip secured in abutting relation to the inside of said front wall, said reinforcing strip being of a harder material than the material of the remainder of said magazine, said side walls formed with a plurality of intersecting horizontal and vertical corrugations disposed and extending in waffled grid arrangement over substantially the entire area of said side walls and wherein said vertical corrugations are deeper than said horizontal corrugations to provide unobstructed guides for cartridges contained in said magazine.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 295,563 Lee et al. Mar. 25, 1884 505,363 Krag et al. Sept. 19, 1893 999,387 Mauser Aug. 1, 1911 1,158,981 Carl Nov. 2, 1915 1,407,633 Burton Feb. 21, 1922' 2,121,792 Garand June 28,. 1938 2,377,661 Baker et al. .Tune 5, 1945 2,712,705 Amant July 12, 1955 Roper etal. Oct. 9, 1956