US3405471A - Firearm having disconnectable sections - Google Patents

Description

Oct. l5, 1968 J. KoucKY E'r Ax.

FIREARM HAVING DISCONNECTABLE SECTIONS 2 Sheets-Sheet l Filed May 23, Y 1967 INVENTORS: Josef KOUC KY Fromhsek KOUCKY MM2 (9. /uw

fheir Ahorney Oct. 15, 1968 J. KOUCKY ET Al- FIREARM HAVING DISCONNECTABLE SECTIONS Filed May 25, 1967 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORJ: Josef KOUCKY Franlsek KOUCKY United States Patent O 3,405,471 FIREARM HAVING DISCONNECTABLE SECTIONS Josef Koucky and Frantisek Koucky, Prague, Czechoslovakia, assignors to Zavody Jana Svermy, narodni podnik, Brno, Czechoslovakia, a corporation Filed May 23, 1967, Ser. No. 640,699 Claims priority, application Czechoslovakia, May 24, 1966, 3,486/66 3 Claims. (Cl. 42-75) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A firearm which has a forward barrel and receiver section and a -rear trigger and stock section which are capable of being removably connected to each other. The forward barrel and receiver section has a rear receiver housing in which a breech bolt assembly is movably located. A side wall of the receiver housing is formed with an opening which is aligned with a recess which is formed in a side surface of the breech bolt assembly, and a catch lever is rockably supported by an exterior side surface of the receiver housing and has a catch projection which extends through the opening in the side wall of the receiver housing into the recess of the breech -bolt assembly to maintain the latter assembled with the receiver when the sections of the firearm are disconnected from each other. A spring urges the lever to turn in a direction which displaces its catch lug into the recess of the breech bolt assembly, and the rockable lever has, when the sections are disconnected, an elongated arm extending angularly from an exterior side surface of the receiver housing. The operator can at anytime press this elongated arm of the lever to displace the catch lug out of the recess of the breech bolt assembly so that the breech bolt assembly can be disassembled from the receiver housing whenever desired. The trigger and stock assembly has a forward trigger portion which when it is assembled with the barrel and receiver section engages the lever and displaces it in opposition t the spring to a position where its catch lug is situated out of the recess of the breech bolt assembly so that the latter is free to move with respect to the receiver housing in which it is located.

Background of the invention The present invention relates to firearms.

the like used for hunting and sporting purposes and especially to firearms of this type which are composed of sections which can be connected to and disconnected from each other. Thus, by disconnecting the sections of the firearm from each other, they can be conveniently carried about in a suitable bag or the like, and customarily the firearm will have a pair of sections which can be removably connected to each other. One of these sections is the barrel and receiver section, this section having a rear receiver housing at the rear end of the barrel accommodating in its interior a movable breech bolt assembly. The other section is a trigger and stock section having at its forward end the trigger mechanism and at its rear end the rifle stock which extends rearwardly from the trigger mechanism.

With firearms of this type, when the above sections thereof are separated from each other, the breech bolt mechanism in the receiver housing simply rests loosely in the latter and can easily fall out. This breech bolt mechanism is retained in the receiver housing by the trigger mechanism when the sections of the firearm are connected to each other. Moreover, when the sections of Patented Oct. 15, 1968 TCC the firearm are separated from each other and carried in a suitable holster or the like, the breech bolt mechanism is not fixed and can easily move about, striking against the receiver housing and creating noise within the holster, with the result that it does not infrequently happen that the recoil spring stops operating properly on the breech bolt mechanism.

Summary of the invention It is a primary object of the present invention to provide a structure which will avoid the above drawbacks.

In particular, it is an object of the present invention to provide a firearm having removable sections of the above type while at the same time capable of reliably maintaining the breech bolt mechanism connected with the receiver housing in a manner preventing movement of the breech bolt mechanism with respect to the receiver housing when the sections of the firearm are disconnected from each other.

Furthermore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a construction which will enable the breech bolt mechanism to be removed from the receiver housing when the operator so desires, after the sections of the firearm are separated from each other.

At the same time, it is an object of the present invention to provide a construction which, when the sections of the firearm are reassembled, will reliably place the breech bolt mechanism in a condition where it is free to move and operate properly within the receiver housing.

Also, it is an object of the present invention to provide a construction which is exceedingly simple and inexpensive while at the same time capable of reliably achieving the above objects.

Thus, the advantages of the structure of the invention resides in the simplicity of its construction, the arrangement being such that unless the operator is aware of it, the breech bolt mechanism is automatically prevented from falling out of the receiver housing. At the same time, if necessary, it is possible by a simple manipulation to release the breech bolt mechanism for movement out of the receiver housing.

Thus, in accordance with the present invention the firearm has a forward barrel and receiver section and a rear trigger and stock section which are removably connected to each other, and the forward barrel and receiver section has at its rear end a receiver housing in which a breech bolt mechanism is freely movable, This receiver housing has a side wall formed with an opening passing therethrough and a side surface of the breech bolt mechanism is formed with a recess aligned with the opening in the side wall of the receiver housing. This side wall of the receiver housing rockably carries at its exterior a catch lever having a catch lug which extends through the opening in the side wall of the receiver housing so that this lug can extend into the recess of the breech bolt mechanism to lock the latter in the receiver housing when the sections of the firearm are separated from each other. A spring coacts with the lever to urge the catch lug thereof into the recess of the breech bolt mechanism but the trigger portion of the rear trigger and stock section has a forward part which engages the catch lever to displace it in opposition to the spring to a location where the catch lug is situated outwardly beyond the recess of the breech bolt mechanism, so that when the sections of the firearm are connected to each other the breech bolt mechanism is free to move within the receiver housing. Thus, when the sections are disconnected from each other the catch lever will reliably hold the breech bolt mechanism in the receiver housing, and when the parts are in this position the catch lever has an elongated arm projecting angularly from an exterior surface of the receiver housing and capable of being pushed by the operator so that the operator can manually turn the catch lever in opposition t the spring to a location where the catch lug is out of the recess of the breech bolt mechanism enabling the latter to be disassembled from the receiver housing whenever desired.

Brief description of the drawings The invention is illustrated by way of example lin connection with the accompanying drawings which form part of this application and in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic fragmentary side elevation showing the sections of a firearm connected to each other and also showing the structure of the invention as it appears from the exterior of the firearm;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary schematic side elevation of the breech bolt mechanism by itself;

FIG. 3 is a longitudinal fragmentary sectional plan view showing the structure of the invention in the position it takes when the sections of the firearm are connected to each other;

FIG. 4 shows the position which the parts of FIG. 3 take when the sections of the firearm are disconnected from each other; and

FIG. 5 is a schematic transverse section taken along line 5 5 of FIG. 1 and showing how the catch mechanism of the invention is assembled with the remainder of the components.

Description of preferred embodiments Referring now to the drawings, FIG. 1 shows the rear portion of the barrel and receiver section and the front portion of the trigger and stock section of a rifle which may have these sections removably connected to each other by way of a bolt or fastening screw 15. The forward barrel and receiver section has a rear receiver housing 2 (FIG. 5) which carries at one of its sides the catch lever 1 which forms part of the structure of the invention, This catch lever 1 is situated at a side of the breech bolt mechanism 3 opposite a guide rib 4 which forms part of the trigger mechanism 5, as indicated in FIG. 5. The mechanism of the invention includes a spring means 6 in the form of an elongated leaf spring fixed by a screw 7 to an exterior side surface of the receiver housing 2, and this leaf spring 6 has its right free end portion, as viewed in FIGS. l, 3, and 4, a notch or slot extending inwardly from the right end of the leaf spring and receiving a horizontal rib portion 9 of the catch lever 1. Thus, the spring 6 has a pair of free arms between which the rib 9 is located and, these arms press against the lever 1 s0 as to urge it to its locking position shown in FIG. 4.

The catch lever 1 is in the form of a two-armed lever, having one elongated arm 8 which is adapted to be er1- gaged 4by the operator and having at its other arm the rib 9 and the catch lug 10 which extends through an opening 12 which is formed in a side wall of the receiver housing 2. This opening 12 is aligned with a recess 13 which is formed in a side Surface of the breech bolt mechanism 3, and when the breech bolt mechanism 3 is in rest position, the breech bolt mechanism 3 being at its forward end position at this time, the recess 13 of the breech bolt mechanism is aligned with the opening 12 so that the catch lug is also aligned with the recess 13. The forward trigger portion 5 of the rear trigger and stock section has a front end portion provided with an edge 14 which coacts with the lever 1 in a manner described below. The catch lug 10 carries an extension 11 which is directly engaged by the forward portion 14 of the trigger mechanism 5.

When it is desired to separate the firearm into its separate sections, the connecting screw 15 is removed, and now the above sections can be separated from each other. The displacement of the trigger mechanism 5 with its guide ribs 4 rearwardly out of the guide ways formed for the ribs 4 in the inner side surfaces of the receiver housing 2, displaces the edge portion 14 of the trigger mechanism 5 rearwardly along the extension 11 of the lug 10 so that when the portion 14 of the trigger mechanism is situated to the rear of the extension 11 the spring 6 can turn the lever'l from the position thereof shown in FIG. 3 into the position thereof shown in FIG. 4. It will be noted that this lever 1 is simply rockably supported by the exterior side surface of the receiver housing 2 in a suitable exterior recess thereof, this lever 1 being provided between its ends with a relatively sharp shoulder or edge which rockably engages the exterior Side of the receiver housing 2, as indicated in FIG. 3. Thus, when the parts or sections of the firearm are disassembled the spring `6 can turn the lever 1 into the position thereof shown in FIG. 4 where the catch lug 10 is situated within the recess 13, thus reliably holding the breech bolt mechanism 3 assembled with the receiver housing 2. At this time the breech bolt mechanism 3 can neither move within or fall out of the receiver housing 2.

When the sections of the firearm are again assembled the ribs 4 of the trigger mechanism 5 are received in the guide grooves at the interior: of the receiver housing 2, and as the trigger mechanism 5 is shifted forwardly its front end portion 14 engages the extension 11 to turn the lug 10 out of the recess 13, the entire lever 1 then being displaced back to the position shown in FIG. 3 in opposition to the force of the spring 6. Now the breech bolt mechanism 3 is free to move within the receiver housing 2 and the operative condition of the rifle is restored. Of course, once the rear section has been shifted forwardly to its operative position with respect to the front section, the fastening screw 15 is returned to its fastening position holding the parts together. Now the rifle is again ready for operation and the breech bolt mechanism 3 can easily move within the receiver 2.

In the event that the parts have been disassembled as described above and it is desired to remove the breech bolt mechanism 3 from the receiver housing 2, then it is only necessary for the operator to press the arm 8 from its position shown in FIG. 4 toward the exterior side surface of the receiver housing 2, so that now the operator can manually hold the lever 1 in the position thereof shown in FIG. 3, and thus the catch lug 10 together with its extension 11 will again be displaced out of the recess 13 enabling the breech `bolt mechanism 3 at this time to be disassembled from the receiver housing 2. Of course, the parts can be reassembled by the reverse of these operations.

It is thus apparent that with this exceedingly simple and inexpensive construction the breech bolt mechanism will be reliably retained within the receiver housing even when the sections of the rie are disassembled from each other, while at the same time when the sections are disassembled the operator can at any time remove and replace the breech bolt mechanism 3.

What is claimed is:

1. In a firearm having a forward barrel and receiver section and a rear trigger and stock section removably connected to each other so that said sections can be separated from each other, said forward barrel and receiver section having a rear receiver housing carrying a breech bolt `mechanism in its interior, and said receiver housing having an outer side wall formed with an opening passing therethrough and said breech bolt mechanism having a side surface portion formed with a recess aligned with said opening in said side wall of said receiver housing, said receiver housing pivotally carrying at its exterior a catch lever which has a catch lug extending into said opening in said side wall of said receiver housing and which is adapted to pass through said opening into said recess of said breech bolt mechanism for retaining the latter connected with said receiver housing of said barrel and receiver section when the latter is separated from said trigger and stock section, spring means acting on said lever lo urge said catch lug thereof into said recess of said breech bolt mechanism, and said trigger and stock section having a forward portion of its trigger assembly engaging said lever to maintain the catch portion thereof out of said recess of said breech bolt mechanism when said trigger and stock section is connected with said barrel and receiver section, so that when the latter two sections are connected to each other said breech bolt mechanism is free to move in said receiver housing, said spring means automatically displacing said catch lug of said lever into said recess of said breech bolt mechanism when the sections are disconnected from each other, so as to maintain said breech bolt mechanism connected with said receiver housing when said sections are dissassembled from each other.

2. The combination of claim 1 and wherein said lever has a manually engageable portion enabling said lever to be turned in oppositionV to said spring means when said sections are disconnected from each other to a position displacing said catch lug out of said recess of said breech bolt mechanism so that the latter can be disassembled from said receiver housing when desired.

3. The combination of claim 2 and wherein said catch lever is in the form of an elongated member rockably engaging an exterior side surface of said receiver housing and having a catch projection extending through said opening of said receiver housing and aligned with said recess of said breech bolt mechanism to form said catch lug, said spring means being in the form of a leaf spring carried by said receiver housing at its exterior and engaging said rockable lever to urge said catch lug thereof inwardly toward said recess of said breech bolt mechanism, said lever when positioned with its catch lug in said recess, having distant from said leaf spring an elongated manually engageable portion projecting angularly from an exterior side surface of said receiver housing so that the operator can press said elongated portion to turn said lug out of said recess, in opposition to said leaf spring when it is desired to remove said breechb'olt mechanism when the sections are disconnected from each other.

No references cited.

BENJAMIN A. BORCHELT, Primary Examiner.

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