ZA200504794B - Laser training pistol - Google Patents

Description

FIELD OF INVENTION

®

This invention lies in the field of firearms generally, and more specifically pistols and other firearms that have a similar action or an action to which the technology of this invention can be adapted, for example the Browning and

P99 types of design and suitable rifles and shot guns. The invention is in particular applicable to the conversion of a pistol shooting live rounds to a laser pistol suitable for semi-automatic firing of 9mm by 19mm blanks, for example.

BACKGROUND

Training in the use of weapons is essential to the effective use of the weapons and to the safety of the user. This applies both to police and other law enforcement agencies, private security agencies as well as military personnel.

The traditional or conventional firing range has become prohibitively expensive and suitable sites in built-up regions have become scarce. These difficulties have become exacerbated by new legislation about firearms that has raised more stringent requirements regarding training and firing ranges, which for example now require a 2.5 kilometer safe area behind every shooting lane.

Laser systems for training without live ammunition have been developed, but they lack realism, as realism requires the loud acoustic report, the flame, the

2007000 ny recoil and the smell of the gun powder. Laser training systems have, however, ® the key advantage that they do not require a conventional shooting range and can be used in indoors, which are orders of magnitude less expensive than traditional shooting ranges. Laser systems also provide interactive functionality, i.e. a display of targets reacts according to accuracy of shots fired. Thus an image of a person or a target may be screened, adapted by suitable software to react according the accuracy of shots fired: the figure may fall, stagger or not according to the shot accuracy, etc. A shortcoming of these laser systems, however, is that they lack realism, as mentioned (more particularly at night or in darkened surroundings).

Training weapons have been in use, which use compressed air or gas, such as CO; in addition to the release of a laser impulse, in order to simulate the recoil of the gun. Examples of these are described in the German patents DE 19629978 A1, DE10012217 A1, European patent EP 1262728 A1 and

American patent US 5,842,300 A. This simulation however lacks the sound of the report when firing a live round, the flame and the smell of burnt gunpowder. Compensation by acoustic signals produced by sound equipment does not produce realism.

Interactive systems also exist that fire blanks, but the blanks can only be fired one at a time requiring manual reloading. Blanks of the caliber 9mm by 19mm are obtainable at low cost in the NATO countries and from thence in many other countries in large numbers. These blanks can be fired from a pistol designed for 9 mm live ammunition, but they do not produce a recoil sufficient

ASE) to discharge the expended cartridge and reload another round. This is as a ® result of an insufficient pressure being developed in the barrel of the pistol.

Semi-automatic firing is not possible, due to this fact. Hence again there is a lack of realism for the training, in the important aspect of semi-automatic firing, which requires multiple high frequency shots.

An object of this invention is to provide a training weapon derived from a commonly and widely available pistol, which overcomes theses shortcomings and can be used in both indoor and/or outdoor facilities under any weather conditions.

THE INVENTION

A laser training weapon in accordance with the present invention has been converted from a weapon which can fire live rounds by the substitution of the barrel and the application of a laser mounting, the substituted barrel adapted for firing of blanks by having at least one selected from an extended infeed ramp for the blank and/or an oblique chamber recess for the blank to be fired in.

For this purpose the barrel shows constructional details, which make possible the firing of blanks of the 9 mm x 19 mm type and automatically discards the old casings and feeds new rounds into the barrel.

Modern semi-automatic pistols, which use the 9 mm x 19 mm type ® ammunition posses a latched breech. In this connection the word latched means that the barrel and the breech form a unit, which recoils simultaneously after the shot. Both therefore for a brief part of the way move back together.

Thereafter the shot and the major part of the pressure are discharged, however the breech and the barrel have already received the necessary recoil energy.

After the simultaneous recoil movement the barrel recoils against components, which stop this movement and unlatch the connection with the breech. The breech thereafter moves from this position to the rear alone in order to eject the cartridge case. The breech spring thereafter provides for the forward movement of the breech and the feeding of a new round into the chamber. The barrel and breech arriving again at the front are once again latched.

There are many different breech systems, which latch the barrel and breech.

For example we see here the “Browning breech” with all of its variants and the “Walther breech block”. These two systems constitute the greatest supply of pistols to be found world wide.

If one loads a blank in a weapon with a latched breech then after firing, as a result of the absence of a bullet, the energy discharges from the front of the barrel with a shock effect. The gas pressure necessary for the latching process is not built up. The authentic latching process with the release of the barrel from the beach consequently does take place. As a result the old cartridge case cannot be ejected and no new cartridge can be fed. In such a ® case one would have to pull back the breech manually after each shot, in order to give effect to this process. Continuous firing (semi-automatic firing) with banks is thus impossible with a latched breech system.

Now one could assume that one merely has to partially close the barrel in order to attain the necessary gas pressure in this way. This measure however does not lead to the desired result. Even with a complete closing of the barrel the required gas pressure is not attained in order to make the weapon a repeater. The gas pressure escapes past the cartridge casing to the rear because the casing is not as strongly pressed against the walls of the barrel as in the case of a genuine shot. The breech is then indeed pressed rearwardly a bit, but a complete unlatching does not take place. As a result one still does not attain a repetitive action.

In order to attain continuous shooting (semi-automatic fire) the weapon must be rebuilt with the use of a special barrel to a spring-mass-breech.

With a spring-mass-breech construction the breech and the barrel do not function as a unit. The barrel is only sealed by the breech spring and the mass of the breech. After firing of a round the breech moves against the breech spring towards the rear, by which the old cartridge casing is ejected. When the end position is reached the breech is again pushed forward by the breech spring and in this way a new round is fed.

In accordance with the present invention the barrel is so modified that the ® latching is removed.

The various kinds of the Browning breeches (Browning-Colt System,

Browning FN System, and the Browning-Petter [SIG] System) have one thing in common : the barrel is upon the unlatching process not only pressed towards the rear but also downwards, in order to take up a new round.

Because we are here in accordance with the present invention dealing with a replacement barrel by which the weapon is changed from a latched breech to a spring-mass-breech, it is necessary to undertake a fundamental alteration as compared with the original barrel.

THE DRAWINGS

The description which follows is by way of an example with reference to : -

A Walther P99 type, in which : -

Figure 1 is a side elevation of the barrel of an original Walther P 99 weapon,

Figure 2 is a side elevation of the barrel of the weapon modified to take 9mm by 19mm blanks,

A Vektor Z88 type, in which : -

Figure 3 is a side elevation of the original Vektor Z88 pistol barrel,

Figure 4 is a side elevation of the Vektor Z88 barrel modified for blanks,

Figure 5 which shows two barrels from underneath.

A Walther P99, in which : -

Figure 6 is a side elevation of a Walther P99 pistol modified according to the invention.

THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

In figure 1 the original P99 barrel is exemplary of the Browning type of design.

Figure 2 shows it modified for blanks of 9 x 19 mm type. Figure 2 shows a lengthening of the feed ramp, a reduction of the recoil rail, an incision 3 for directing downwards for improved ejection of the cartridge case and absence of the regulating stage 4. In figure 3 the original Z88 barrel is exemplary of the

Beretta type of design, these two cover the majority of designs used in pistols.

Figure 4 shows the lengthening of the feed ramp 11, the elastic recoil cushion 13 for reduction of the recoil rail, an optional further recoil cushion 12 and absence of milling for the regulating element. The cushion is shown also in the views of figure 5.

The main objective is directed to the alteration of the magazine or cartridge ® chamber. At the feed of the magazine a lengthened feed ramp 1 is provided with a special angle, shown in figure 2 and 11 in figure 4. In this way the taking up of a new round is made possible without the typical strong energy consuming movement of the barrel to the rear and downwards being necessary.

Furthermore the magazine is so altered that no live rounds of the type 9 mm x 19 mm can be loaded. To this end it is necessary to provide that the bore is only 8.4mm instead of the normal 9 mm where the live round would normally be fed into the barrel. Thus should a live round be erroneously fed into the barrel, then this will not fit fully into the chamber and projects to the rear by an amount of about 4 mm. Firing of the round is made impossible by this construction. Since blanks of the caliber 9 mm by 19 mm in the scope of the otherwise general projectiles are reduced to 8.4 mm, these rounds can be fully loaded into the magazine without problems.

A further characteristic of the invention is the particular support of the barrel 13 shown in figure 4. One finds a strongly reduced recoil only in order to ensure the ejection and feeding. The recoil has no more latching or uniatching function. Not only that, but the recoil movement of the breech achieved by the pressure of the 9mm x 19mm blanks, without the very strong energy consuming movement of the of the barrel to the rear and downwards, in order to eject the old cartridge case out of the chamber and to feed the new cartridge in.

® A small bore is to be found in the forward end of the barrel, which provides that the combustion gases can build up a prescribed pressure. Then a continuous firing is made possible with 9mm x 19mm blanks.

A particular advantage of this construction as opposed to the systems, which the branded ammunition consist in that, further alterations, such as the supply of a lighter breech or a feed ramp provided in the pistol stock (handle) is not necessary. It only requires the substitution of the barrel in order to restore the weapon to use for shooting live rounds.

In the case of the Walther-block-breech substantial alteration of the barrel must be undertaken in order to achieve continuous firing of blanks.

As mentioned, with the Browning System the weapon must be rebuilt by the substitution of the barrel from a latched breech to a spring-mass-breech type.

The alterations described with reference to figures 3 and 4 apply for example to the Beretta 92, Vektor Z88 and Taurus PT92 pistols. Also with these the lengthening of the feed ramp is necessary. In contrast to the Browning System the barrel requires an of course horizontal lengthening 15. In order to eliminate the latching the barrel must be modified as shown in figure 4. The milling of the latching element found in the original is absent. By specially developed measurements of the inner bore of the barrel a gas impulse is generated after the explosion of the blank, which is able to press the breech to the rear. In this way the empty cartridge case is ejected. The return spring ® then provides for the feed of the ammunition and the closing of the weapon breech. A continuous firing of blanks is made possible by this.

Now the barrel makes possible the continuous firing of blanks, which was not possible before with the simulation of shots. To this a laser 21 (figure 6) is built into a laser mounting and an electronic release is constructed which differs from to known systems.

Laser-gun equipment, which is found on a guiding rail for optical devices of the breech or which are fixed by clamps on a stirrup, are long known. These serve to indicate the position of the shots. For this purpose as a rule a laser point is shown on the target after activation of a switch. The sale of these systems to civilians is forbidden in many countries.

With this part of a training pistol proposed here such a use is impossible. The laser flash, which due to its extreme shortness of less than 10 milliseconds is invisible to the human eye, is released only upon execution of a shot. The movement of the breech a few millimeters to the rear upon the firing of a cartridge causes the release of the laser flash by operation of a switching element. As a result of the construction a further release is only possible after reaching the ejecting position. Use of the laser as a sighting aid is not possible. It is also possible to activate the laser by use of a Piezo element or by use of the discharging combustion gases.

The laser unit proposed here is provided in combination with opto-electronic ® hit establishing apparatus, which registers the position of the shot and documents the evidence.

The advantage of the process described here for rebuilding a live rounds pistol to a laser pistol consists in that the shottist can convert his own weapon in a short time to its original condition.

Claims (9)

CLAIMS ®

1. A laser training weapon, which has been converted from a weapon which can fire live rounds by the substitution of the barrel and the application of a laser mounting, the substituted barrel adapted for firing of blanks by having at least one selected from an extended infeed ramp for the blank and/or an oblique chamber recess for the blank to be fired in and/or a reduced latching component.

2. A laser training pistol as claimed in claim 1, in which the barrel shows constructional details, which make possible the firing of blanks of the 9 mm x 19 mm type and automatically discards the old casings and feeds new rounds into the barrel.

3. A laser training pistol as claimed in either one of clams 1 or 2, in which is applied to modern semi-automatic pistols, which posses a latched breech, modified in order to attain continuous shooting (semi-automatic fire) with blanks, in which the weapon is rebuilt with the use of a special barrel to a spring-mass-breech which is not latched and unlatched to the barrel.

4. A laser training pistol as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 3, in which the modification is directed to the alteration of the magazine or cartridge chamber at the feed of the magazine or chamber by providing a lengthened feed ramp with a special angle.

® 5. A laser training pistol as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 4, in which the bore is of reduced diameter instead of the normal diameter as would be used for a live round.

6. A laser training pistol as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 5, in which a support of the barrel is provided which reduces the recoil impact, sufficient only to eject and feed.

7. A laser training pistol as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 6, in which a small bore is provided in the forward end of the barrel, which provides that the combustion gases can build up a prescribed pressure.

8. A laser training pistol as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 7, in the barrel is lengthened.

9. A laser training pistol as herein described and as illustrated in either one of figures 2 or 4 of the drawings. DATED THIS 13™ DAY OF JUNE 2005 i. INC AGENT FOR APPLICANT