US3411407A

US3411407A - Gun slide guiding devices

Info

Publication number: US3411407A
Application number: US605828A
Authority: US
Inventors: Frank A Pachmayr; Edward B Miller
Original assignee: Pachmayr Gun Works Inc
Current assignee: PACHMAYR FRANK A; PACHMAYR NANITTA G; Pachmayr Gun Works Inc
Priority date: 1966-12-29
Filing date: 1966-12-29
Publication date: 1968-11-19
Anticipated expiration: 1985-11-19

Description

NOV. 19, 1968 F. A PACHMAYR ET AL 3,411,407

I GUN SLIDE GUIDING DEVICES Filed Deo. 29, 1966 fo@ iumiha W s A s A. x k

United States Patent 3,411,407 GUN SLIDE GUIDING DEVICES Frank A. Pachmayr and Edward B. Miller, Los Angeles, Calif., assignors to Pachmayr Gun Works, Inc., Los Angeles, Calif., a corporation of California Filed Dec. 29, 1966, Ser. No. 605,828 23 Claims. (Cl. 89-196) ABSTRACT F THE DISCLOSURE A gun having a slide which is guided yfor front to rear recoiling movement relative to the receiver and barrel of the gun upon firing, and including an element adapted to displace the slide slightly relative to the receiver and in a direction transversely of the recoil axis in a relation overcoming any looseness in the guideway structure which mounts the slide for its recoiling movement.

This invention relates to improvements for increasing the accuracy of a gun of the type having `a slide which recoils relative to the main body or receiver of the gun upon firing.

In an automatic pistol or other gun having a recoiling slide, it is often very difficult to so mount the slide as to effectively confine it and guide it for only the `desired sliding movement, along a predetermined recoil axis, relative to the receiver. The intereng-aging guideways usually provided on the lreceiver and slide, for guiding the slide in its recoiling movement, lfrequently have sufficient looseness to allow slight shifting movement of the slide relative to the receiver or body of the gun transversely of the Iaxis of recoil, so that the position of the slide relative to the receiver is not precisely controlled or reliably predetermined. Consequently, inacuracies are introduced into the firing of the gun, as a result of the discussed looseness of the slide, so that the gun though aimed and -iired in exactly the same -rnanner for several rounds can not be relied upon to accurately hit the same target on these various rounds.

A major object of the present invention is to provide a device for overcoming the diioulties discussed above, by eliminating the mentioned looseness between the slide and body or receiver of the gun, so that the slide can not possibly under any circumstances move in any direction relative to the receiver or body except ialong the desired predetermined recoil axis. As will appear, this result is accomplished by the provision on the `gun of means operable to displace the slide very slightly in a direction transversely of the main front to rear axis of recoil, to thereby overcome looseness which may initially be present in that transverse direction. Desirably, the device functions to urge the slide both upwardly and laterally relative to the receiver, to thus take up 4both vertical and horizontal looseness in the slide mounting. Further, the device may be structurally very simple and inexpensive, and may interiit with the other parts of the gun in a manner avoiding any detraction from the overall appearance of the gun.

To attain the above results, I preferably employ a takeup unit which is mounted pivotally to the receiver or main body of the gun, and which upon pivotal movement will act against the slide in a manner displacing or urging it transversely of its main direction of sliding movement, and thus preventing any looseness in that transverse direction. A particular feature of the invention resides in a preferred manner of mounting of this pivotal element with extreme simplicity, by means of the same pin which is utilized yfor mounting the usual slide stop element of the gun. -Optimum functioning and compactness of the overall assembly may be achieved by locating the present takeup element at the underside of the receiver, preferably just forwardly of the trigger guard, with the take-up elerice ment extending upwardly at opposite `sides of the receiver in a manner engaging two lower edges of the slide. To take .up lateral looseness of the slide, the interengaging surfaces or edges of the take-up element and slide may have cammng configurations, for urging the slide laterally by a camming action to a predetermined optimum position. Alternatively and in a second Vform of the invention, the take-up element may have at one of its sides a tab or tabs acting to urge the slide laterally relative thereto, with these tabs preferably being resilient to take up looseness in the lateral direction.

The above and other features and objects of the invention will be better understood from the following detailed description of the typical embodiments illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 is a side view of an automatic pistol having a slide guide or take up mechanism constructed in accordance with the invention, `with certain portions of the gun being broken away to reveal the interior mechanism:

FIGS. 2 and 3 are sections taken on lines 2-2 and 3-3 respectively of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a vertical section taken on line 4 4 of FIG. l;

FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIG. 4, but showing a variational `form of the invention; and

FIG. 6 is a side view of the take-up element taken on line 6-6 of FIG. 5 (with the gun omitted for clarity).

Referring first to FIG. 1, I have shown at 10 an automatic pistol of a well known type, which may be considered as completely conventional except for the provision of a slide guide or takeup unit 11, and for certain changes made in the portions of the gun which coact with this slide guide. More particularly, the gun includes an essentially conventional receiver or main body 12, to the upper side of which there is mounted a slide 13 Iwhich is guided for recoiling |movement between the full line and broken line positions of FIG. 1 along the axis designated 14. Within slide 13, there is provided the usual barrel 15 of the gun.

The handle portion 16 of the receiver contains a removable magazine represented at 17, which holds a series of shells or cartridges 18. During recoil of the gun, the cartridge case of the `fired round is ejected from the breech end of barrel 15, and a next successive upper round within magazine 17 is fed upwardly from the magazine and into the barrel, all in completely conventional manner.

Along much of its front to rear extent, the slide may ibe considered as having basically an inverted U-shaped cross section, as brought out in FIG. 4. At and near the particular vertical plane in which FIG. 3 is taken, this cross section is interrupted to form an upper opening 19 through which the fired shells are ejected. At the forward end of the slide, this element has a downwardly projecting portion 20 which is hollow and essentially cylindrical, and receives the forward end of a recoil spring 21 which acts through a plug 22 to exert forward yielding force against the slide in a manner resisting rearward movement of the slide, and returning the slide forwardly to the full line position of FIG. l after a recoiling action. The rear end of spring 21 acts rearwardly in conventional manner against an appropriate shoulder formed in the receiver 12. Toward its rear end, the slide is not hollow, but rather its cross section is `filled in to forlrn a forwardly facing shoulder 23 for shifting the rounds forwardly into the barrel, and closing the breech end of the barrel during lfiring.

The lower edge portions 24 of slide 13 (FIG. 3) are shaped to form guideways which interfit with mating guideways on the receiver, which mating guideways have forward portions extending along the upper edges 25 of a generally U-shaped forward portion 26 of the receiver (located forwardly of and above the trigger guard or loop portion 27 of the receiver and the contained firing trigger .28). More particularly, the lower edge portions 24 of the slide are shaped to contain two opposed inwardly directed guideway grooves 29, which extend parallel to axis 14 and parallel to one another, and into which there extend two laterally and oppositely directed parallel flanges 30 formed on and continuing rearwardly of portion 26 of the receiver. Beneath grooves 29, edge portions 24 of the slide may have opposed inwardly directed anges or projections 31 which also extend parallel to one another and parallel to axis 14, and which are received within mating parallel axially extending grooves 32 formed in the receiver directly beneath anges 30. Thus, these interfitting guideway grooves and projections are intended to guide the slide for movement only along the axis 14 relative to the receiver, Ibut obviously can not be formed precisely enough to prevent some vertical or lateral looseness and freedom for movement of the slide relative to the receiver, particularly after wear of the parts has enlarged the grooves or decreased the sizes of the anges.

For taking up this looseness in the slide mounting, the slide guide or take-up unit designated 11 includes a main take-up part 33, having Vbetween its forward end surface 34 and a location 35 an essentially U-shaped cross section (see FIG. 4) to form a saddle extending about the underside of the receiver and upwardly at its opposite sides. The upper edges of this U-shaped take-up part 33 have upper surfaces 36 which engage upwardly against undersurfaces 37 formed on the bottom edges of the slide, so that part 33 may exert force upwardly against the slide in a manner taking up any vertical looseness in the guideway -grooves and

projections

29, 30, etc. As Will be apparent from FIGS. 3 and 4, these

surfaces

36 and 37 are preferably inclined as shown, to function as caming surfaces, disposedat the angles a and b, so that these surfaces tend to cam the slide laterally in a manner preventing lateral shifting movement of the slide relative to the receiver and part 33. Preferably, the

surfaces

36 and 37 at one side of the slide are inclined in a first direction, while the corresponding surfaces at the opposite side `of the slide are inclined oppositely, so that the two sets of surfaces tend to earn the slide in two opposite directions, and thus act together to positively retain the slide against even the slightest lateral shifting movement.

Rearwardly beyond the location designated 35 in FIG. l, the bottom portion on the takeup or saddle part 33 is cut away at 38, so that the part 33 forms two mounting arms 39 which extend rearwardly along opposite sides of the receiver, directly above the trigger guard structure. The inclined

interengaging edge surfaces

36 and 37 of the slide 13 :and part 33 may continue rearwardly to substantially the rear ends of arms 39, as will be apparent from FIG. 1. Each of the arms 39 contains a circular opening 40, through which an externally cylindrical pin 41 extends in closely fitting relation, so that pin 41, which extends along an axis 42 disposed essentially transversely of axis 14, mounts arms 39 and the rest of part 33 for upward land downward swinging movement about axis 42. The pin 41 preferably is the same pin conventionally used for mounting the usual slide stop 42 at the outside of the receiver, and for pivotally mounting a barrel supporting link 43 within the receiver. Ordinarily, the pin 41 is integral with slide stop 42, but in the present figures it is illustrated as formed separately therefrom in laccordance with the teachings f Patent Number 3,207,037. Pin 41 may have an enlarged head 44 outwardly beyond and serving to retain slide stop 42, with the stop having an opening 44 through which the pin extends in a manner mounting the stop for slight pivotal movement about axis 42. At its opposite end, pin 41 -may have a groove 46 containing a snap ring or other resilient Cil element 47 which is removably received within the groove to retain the parts in assembled relation.

Link 43 contains an opening 47 through which pin 41 extends, and has another opening 48 at its upper end which is connected by a pin 49 to a pair of downwardly projecting arms 50 Lat the breech end of the barrel, so that the breech end of the barrel may swing slightly rearwardly and slightly downwardly as the link swings rearwardly about axis 42.

This link type mounting of the breech end of the barrel is generally conventional, as is the illustrated manner of locating the forward end of the barrel by extension through a tubular bushing or sleeve 51 (FIG. l), which is mounted in fixed position relative to the slide 13, and which is rearwardly reciprocable along and relative to the barrel during recoiling motion.

Take-up part 33 is urged upwardly to take up looseness in the slide mounting by means of a screw 52 which is received within a downwardly projecting tubular portion 53 of part 33, and is disposed essentially about an axis 54 which is generally parallel to axis 14. Screw has external threads engaging internal threads within tubular portion 53 of part 33 at 55, so that rearward adjustment of the screw causes its reduced diameter portion 56 to bear rearwardly against a vertical transverse shoulder 57 formed in a cut-away or recess 58 provided in the forward portion of trigger guard 27. The tubular portion 53 of part 33 may itself be cut away at 59 to follow the contour of trigger guard 27. A screwdriver slot 60 provided in the head of screw 52 allows adjustment of the screw to any desired setting, while an O-ring 61 received within a groove 62 in the screw, and formed of neoprene rubber or another resilient material which by its resilience exerts yielding force outwardly against the inner cylindrical wall surface 63 of portion 53 of p'art 33, introduces sufficient friction into the connection between the screw and portion 53 to frictionally retain the screw in any adjusted position to which it may be set.

In using the gun illustrated in FIGS. l through 4, a person may adjust screw 52 so that the part 33 is swung upwardly about faxis 42 just far enough to cause

surfaces

36 and 37 of part 33 and the slide to displace the slide upwardly until all vertical looseness is taken out of the

guideway connection

29, 30, etc. between these parts. The screw is held in this adjusted setting by the friction of O-ring 61, so that the slide can only move :along axis 14, and can not shift vertically at any time. Also, the ca-mming inclination of

surfaces

36 and 37 prevents any lateral displacement of the slide relative to the receiver, so that the slide can not move in any direction transversely of axis 14.

As the guideway structures wear, screw 52 may be further adjusted to again take up any newly introduced looseness, to always maintain accuracy in the slide mounting. At the same time, however, the take-up part 33 does not interfere in any way with the recoiling motion of the slide Aalong axis 14, or with the proper functioning of any of the other parts of the gun. When the gun is fired, the gases produced in the barrel cause the slide to recoil rearwardly to its broken line position of FIG. 1, while the breech end of the barrel swings slightly rearwardly and slightly downwardly, as link 43 swings rearwardly and downwardly about pin 41, until upon returning forward movement of the slide under the influence of spring 21, the shoulder 23 of the slide displaces the barrel forwardly to its initial battery position.

FIGS. 5 and `6 show a variational type of take-up part 33a which may be considered as identical with part 33 of FIGS. 1 to 4 except for the manner in which lateral looseness of the slide 13a is taken up. In this second fonm of the invention, the upper edges 36a of take-up part 33a, and the engaged lower edges 37a of the slide, are directly horizontal, rather than having the camming inclination of

surfaces

36 and 37 of FIG. 3, and in lieu of that camming configuration the saddle or take up part 33a has one or more (preferably two) upwardly extending tabs 137 which are integral with part 33a and extend upwardly therefrom at one side of the slide. These tabs have some resilience and yieldingly act inwardly against the side of the slide, in the direction indicated at 138 in FIG. 5, to urge the slide as far as it will go in that direction relative to part 33a and the receiver 12. To enable or increase Such resilience, the take-up part 33a may contain slits 139 extending downwardly into the main body of that part beneath the level of edges 36a of the part, so that the tabs 137 have substantial vertical extent. These tabs are preferably always under resilient stress, to in all conditions apply the desired lateral force against the slide in the direction 138 of FIG. 5, and thus take up all freedom for lateral motion of the slide. At the same time, tabs 137 do not interfere in any way with the front to rear recoiling movement of the slide. Also, it will be understood that part 33a is adjusted in the same manner as is -part 33 of the iirst form of the invention, by an adjusting screw such as that shown at 52 or its equivalent, to properly take up the vertical looseness of the slide without unduly binding the slide against recoiling movement.

I claim:

1. A gun comprising a receiver, a barrel, a slide mounted for recoiling movement relative to said receiver and barrel in a predetermined front to rear direction, means yieldingly resisting said recoiling movement, interfitting guideway means on said receiver and slide guiding the latter for sliding movement relative to the receiver in said front to rear direction, and means for displacing said slide very slightly relative to said receiver in a direction transversely of said guideway means and transversely of said front to rear direction in a relation overcoming any looseness in said guideway means.

2. A gun as recited in claim 1, in which said last mentioned means include an element mounted for pivotal movement and operable to displace said slide in said transverse direction relative to said receiver upon said pivotal movement.

3. A gun as recited in claim 1, in which said last mentioned means are essentially non-resilient and act to displace said slide in said direction essentially non-resiliently.

4. A gun as recited in claim 1, in which said last mentioned means are constructed to apply displacing force to said slide relative to the receiver in said transverse direction without exertion of said force through or against said barrel.

5. For use with a gun having a receiver part, a barrel, and a slide part mounted by guideway means to recoil in a front to rear direction relative to the receiver part; a device comprising a structure for displacing said slide part very slightly relative to said receiver part in a direction transversely of said guideway means and transversely of said front to rear direction in a relation overcoming looseness of said guideway means, and means for moving said structure relative to one of said parts in a predetermined take-up direction.

6. A device as recited in claim 5, in which said structure includes an element adapted to be connected pivotally to said receiver and having two upwardly facing edges for engaging and bearing upwardly against opposite sides of said slide part.

7. A device as recited in claim 6, in which said edges have oppositely laterally inclined upper camming surfaces.

8. A device as recited in claim 6, in which said element has at least one `projection extending upwardly beyond an adjacent one of said edges for laterally engaging and confining said slide part.

9. A ldevice as recited in claim 5, in which said last mentioned means includes a threaded member threadedly -adjustable to actuate said structure relative to said receiver part.

10. A device as recited in claim 5, in which said structure includes a UIAnerally U-shaped element adapted to extend about an undersurface of said receiver part and having portions to extend upwardly at opposite sides of the receiver part with upper edges 'adapted to engage the receiver part and urge it upwardly, said element having two arms for projecting rearwardly and containing apertures for mounting the element pivotally to said receiver part, said last mentioned means of claim 16 including a screw threadedly connected to said element and adapted to adjustably bear rearwardly against said receiver part to pivot the element forwardly and upwardly relative to the receiver.

11. A gun comprising a receiver, a barrel, a slide mounted for recoiling movement relative to said receiver and barrel in a predetermined front to rear direction, means yieldingly resisting said recoiling movement, interfitting guideway means on said receiver and slide guiding the latter for sliding movement relative to the receiver in said front to rear direction, and means for displacing said slide very slightly in a direction transversely of said guideway means .and transversely of said front to rear direction in a relation overcoming any looseness in said guideway means, said last mentioned means including an element mounted for pivotal movement and operable to displace said slide in said transverse direction upon said pivotal movement, and means for adjustably moving said element pivotally relative to the receiver and thereby adjusting said transverse displacement of said slide.

12. A gun as recited in claim 11, in which said means for moving said element include an adjusting member threadedly connected to said element and adjustably applying force to said receiver to adjustably pivot said element.

13. A gun comprising a receiver, a barrel, a slide mounted for recoiling movement relative to said receiver and barrel in a predetermined front to rear direction, means yieldingly resisting said recoiling movement, interfitting guideway means on said receiver and slide guiding the latter for sliding movement relative to the receiver in said front to rear direction, and means for displacing said slide very slightly in a direction transversely of said guideway means and transversely of said front to rear direction in a relation overcoming any looseness in said guideway means, said last mentioned means including an element mounted for adjusting movement relative to said receiver and operable to displace said slide in said transverse direction upon said movement, and a threaded adjusting member for moving said element to adjust said transverse displacement of the slide.

14. A gun comprising a receiver, a barrel, a slide mounted for recoiling movement relative to said receiver and barrel in a predetermined front to rear direction, means yieldingly resisting said recoiling movement, intertting guideway means on said receiver and slide guiding the latter for sliding movement relative to the receiver in said front to rear direction, a slide stop, a pin mounting said stop for pivotal movement relative to the receiver, and an element mounted by said pin for pivotal movement and operable to displace said slide upwardly relative to the receiver upon said pivotal movement in a relation overcoming any looseness in said guideway means.

15. A gun comprising a receiver, a barrel, a slide mounted for recoiling movement relative to said receiver and barrel in :a predetermined front to rear direction and having two downwardly facing edges at opposite sides thereof, means yieldingly resisting said recoiling movement, intertting guideway means on said receiver and slide guiding the latter for sliding movement relative to the receiver in said front to rear direction, and means mounted movably to said receiver and operable to engage said two edges of the slide and displace them and the slide slightly upwardly in a relation overcoming any looseness in said guideway means.

16. A gun comprising a receiver, a barrel, a slide mounted for recoiling movement relative to said receiver and barrel in :a predetermined front to rear direction and fhaving two downwardly facing edges at opposite sides thereof, means yieldingly resisting said recoiling movement, interfitting guideway means on said receiver and slide guiding the latter for sliding movement relative to the receiver in said front to rear direction, and an element movable relative to the receiver and extending about an underside of said receiver beneath the slide and having portions extending upwardly at opposite sides of the receiver presenting upper edges engaging said edges of the slide to displace them and the slide slightly upwardly in a relation overcoming any looseness in said guideway means.

17. A gun -as recited in claim 16, including means mounting said element to the receiver for pivotal movement in a direction to displace said edges of the slide upwardly, and a threaded adjusting member operable to adjustably pivot said element relative to the receiver.

18. A gun comprising a receiver, a barrel, a slide mounted for recoiling movement relative to said receiver and barrel in a predetermined front to rear direction and having two downwardly facing edges at opposite sides thereof, means yieldingly resisting said recoiling movement, interfitting guideway means on said receiver and slide guiding the latter for sliding movement relative to the receiver in said front to rear direction, and means mounted for movement relative to said receiver and having two edges engageable upwardly against said edges of the slide to displace said slide upwardly in a relation overcoming looseness in said guideway means, said edges of the slide and of said last mentioned means having camming engagement tending to cam said edges of the slide in opposite lateral directions and to thereby confine the slide against later-al movement.

19. A gun comprising .a receiver, a barrel, a slide mounted for recoiling movement relative to said receiver and barrel in a predetermined front to rear direction and having two downwardly facing edges at opposite sides thereof, means yieldingly resisting said recoiling movement, interfitting guideway means on said receiver and slide guiding the latter for sliding movement relative to the receiver in said front to rear direction, an element mounted for -movement relative to said receiver yand having two edges engageable upwardly against said edges of the slide in a relation to displace the slide upwardly and thereby overcome looseness in said guideway means, and at least one projection on said element extending upwardly past an adjacent one of said edges of the slide and engaging laterally against a side of the slide to take up lateral looseness thereof.

20. A gun comprising `a receiver, a barrel, a slide mounted for recoiling movement relative to said receiver and barrel in a predetermined front to rear direction, means yieldingly resisting said recoiling movement, interfitting guideway means on said receiver and slide guiding the latter for sliding movement relative to the receiver in said front to rear direction, a trigger, a linger receiving trigger guard thereabout, and means for displacing said slide very slightly in a direction transversely of said guideway means and transversely of said front to rear direction in a relation overcoming any looseness in said guideway means, said last mentioned means including means acting against said trigger guard Iand against said slide in a relation to displace the slide relative to the trigger guard and relative to the remainder of the receiver.

21. A gun comprising a receiver, a barrel, a slide mounted for recoiling movement relative to said receiver and barrel in a predetermined front to rear direction, means yieldingly resisting said recoiling movement, two sets of interfitting guideways on said receiver and slide at opposite sides thereof guiding the latter for sliding movement relative to the receiver in said front to rear direction, said slide having two downwardly facing edges at said opposite sides thereof, a trigger, a finger receiving trigger guard thereabout, a slide stop above said trigger guard, a horizontal pin mounting said stop pivotally, said receiver having a forward portion projecting forwardly beyond said trigger guard, an element extending about the underside of said forward portion of the receiver and having portions extending upwardly .at opposite sides thereof presenting upper edges engaging said edges of the slide in a relation displacing the slide upwardly and overcoming looseness in said guideways, said element having arms at opposite sides of the receiver containing apertures through which said pin extends to mount said element for pivotal movement, and an adjusting member connected to said element forwardly of said trigger guard and adjustably exerting rearward force against the trigger guard in a relation to pivot the element :and thereby apply upward force against the slide through said edges.

22. A gun as recited in claim 21, in which said edges of the slide and element at one side thereof are inclined in a first camming direction to cam the slide in a first lateral direction :and said edges at the other side are inclined oppositely to cam the slide in the opposite lateral direction.

23. A gun as recited in claim 21, in which said element has at least one ,projection lat one side of said slide projecting upwardly alongside and engaging the slide to displace it laterally.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,627,686 2/1953 Shockey 89-196 X BENJAMIN A. BORCHELT, Primary` Examiner.

S. C. BENTLEY, Assistant Examiner.