FIREARM ATTACHMENT APPARATUS FOR DRY FIRE TRAINING

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the priority filing benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/942,250, filed on Feb. 20, 2014 under 35 U.S.C. §119(e), the entire disclosures of which is incorporated herein by reference herein for all purposes.

BACKGROUND

Dry-fire training generally involves a procedure of simulating the firing of a firearm without the use of live ammunition or rounds (e.g., bullets filled with gunpowder). In this context, an unloaded firearm being used during a dry-fire practice session may correspond to a small arms weapon or “small firearm,” such as a pistol (e.g., an automatic or semi-automatic handgun) or a rifle (e.g., a bolt-action, automatic, or semi-automatic rifle). To dry-fire a corresponding firearm, a shooter can pull the set trigger of the firearm; in response, a hammer or other striking implement will drop into or otherwise move into the firing chamber of the firearm (e.g., and empty firing chamber or a firing chamber containing a dummy round or a snap-cap).

Subsequent to a dry-fire action, the trigger mechanism of the firearm will typically need to be manually reset by the shooter. By way of example, a manual slide movement may be required to reset the trigger mechanism of a pistol, and a manual charging handle/bolt carrier group movement may be required to reset the trigger mechanism of a rifle. In either scenario, a shooter ordinarily must use both hands to reset the trigger mechanism of his or her firearm device. In contrast, when a firearm is discharged using a live round, a concussive force of a back blast or recoil of a fired bullet will automatically move the slide of a pistol or the charging handle/bolt carrier group of a rifle to reset the corresponding trigger mechanism.

With respect to dry-fire training, the components of marksmanship can include, but are not limited to including, practicing the drawing and/or initial positioning of a firearm, target acquisition drills, firearm sight alignment and/or sight picture drills, trigger control drills and breathing exercises, shooting stance drills, as well as general firearm assembly, loading, and grip familiarization. In practice, after a firearm is dry-fired by a shooter, the shooter will need to alter their posture/positioning, target acquisition, sighting, grip, shooting stance, etc., in order to reset the trigger mechanism of their firearm (e.g., by simulating a recoil action). In many situations, this required activity is detrimental to marksmanship training.

For instance, it is often desirable for a shooter to be able to maintain their positioning, grip, stance, etc., during dry-fire training to best simulate the firing of successive live rounds of ammunition with their firearm. Preserved shooter positioning is also desirable for marksmanship evaluation purposes. In this regard, a trainer may be able to more astutely recognize even minor deviations in firearm manipulation and firing habits of a shooter under evaluation, when positioning, grip, stance, etc., are maintained between successive simulated firings of the shooter's firearm. Accordingly, it would be beneficial to have a means for consistently reproducing various marksmanship attributes during dry-fire training without substantial repositioning or movement on the part of a shooter.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

This summary is provided to introduce, in a simplified form, a selection of concepts that are further described below in the detailed description. This summary is not intended to identify key features of the claimed subject matter, nor is this summary intended to be used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter.

Various embodiments of the disclosure describe apparatus for improving marksmanship training by consistently simulating the firing of successive live rounds of ammunition with a firearm device during dry-fire training, when the firearm device is not loaded with bullets. With the use of the firearm training implements described herein a shooter's positioning, grip, stance, etc., can be maintained during a dry-fire training session, to allow a firearms trainer to recognize even minor variances in firearm manipulation and firing habits of the shooter.

In accordance with some aspects of the invention, a firearm attachment is described for dry-firing a firearm device during marksmanship practice. This firearm attachment can include at least a coupling portion configured to fixedly couple the firearm attachment to a slidable member of the firearm device, and a tethering aperture positioned at a distal end of firearm attachment, relative to the coupling portion. In various implementations, when the firearm attachment is coupled to the firearm device via the coupling portion, and a rearward force is applied at the tethering aperture, the firearm attachment can pull the slidable member of the firearm device into a set position for dry-firing the firearm device.

In accordance with other aspects, the tethering aperture may have an annular shape that is configured to be coupled to a sling apparatus. In this regard, the sling apparatus may have a tethering portion that is disposed through the tethering aperture to couple the sling apparatus to the firearm attachment.

In an embodiment, a rearward force can be applied at the tethering aperture of the firearm attachment by the sling apparatus to pull the slidable member of the firearm device into a set position for firing the firearm device.

In various implementations the firearm device to which the firearm attachment can be coupled may be a pistol or a rifle. When the firearm device is a pistol, the coupling portion may be configured to securely fit over and on top of a rearward portion of a slide of the pistol. When the firearm device is a rifle, the coupling portion can be configured to securely fit over and on top of a rearward portion of a charging handle of the rifle.

Further, in some aspects, the coupling portion can include a grip implement that is located on one or more internal sides of the coupling portion and connects the coupling portion to the rearward portion of the slide of the pistol. Similarly, the coupling portion can include a grip implement that connects the coupling portion to the rearward portion of the charging handle of the rifle.

In accordance with one embodiment, an apparatus is described that includes both a firearm attachment configured to fixedly attach to a slidable member of a firearm device, and a sling device that couples to the firearm attachment at a tethering aperture of the firearm attachment. When the firearm attachment is coupled to the firearm, and a rearward force is applied at the firearm attachment by the sling device, the firearm attachment can pull the slidable member of the firearm into a set position for firing the firearm.

In another aspect of the disclosure, the sling device can include a tethering portion that is disposed through the tethering aperture to couple the sling device to the firearm attachment.

In one implementation, the firearm may be a pistol and the firearm attachment can be configured to securely fit over and on top of a rearward portion of a slide of the pistol. In this arrangement, the firearm attachment can include a grip implement that is located on one or more internal sides of the firearm attachment and connects to the rearward portion of the slide of the pistol.

In an embodiment, the firearm may be a rifle and the firearm attachment can be configured to securely fit over and on top of a rearward portion of a charging handle of the rifle. In this arrangement, the firearm attachment may include a grip implement that connects to the rearward portion of the charging handle of the rifle.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Various example embodiments are described in detail below by way of example and with reference to the drawings, in which:

FIG. 1A depicts a side view of a pistol with a slide component in a closed position, in accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure.

FIG. 1B depicts a side view of the pistol of FIG. 1A with the slide component in a recoil position, in accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure.

FIG. 2A depicts a side view of a dry-fire apparatus that is attached to a pistol in a closed position during a marksmanship training session, in accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure.

FIG. 2B depicts a side view of a dry-fire apparatus that is attached to the pistol in a recoil position during a marksmanship training session, in accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure.

FIG. 3 depicts a front side view of the dry-fire apparatus of FIGS. 2A and 2B during a marksmanship training session, in accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure.

FIG. 4A depicts an isometric view of a dry-fire apparatus that is attached to a pistol at a slide component in a closed position, in accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure.

FIG. 4B depicts another isometric view of a dry-fire apparatus that is attached to the pistol in a recoil position, in accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure.

FIG. 5 depicts a side view of a dry-fire apparatus that is attached to a rifle during a marksmanship training session, in accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure.

FIG. 6A depicts an isometric view of a dry-fire apparatus that is attached to a rifle at a charging handle component in a closed position, in accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure.

FIG. 6B depicts another isometric view of a dry-fire apparatus that is attached to a rifle in a recoil position, in accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure.

FIG. 7A depicts an isometric view of a pistol showing a back plate of the slide component of the pistol, in accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure.

FIG. 7B depicts another isometric view of a pistol showing a dry-fire back plate having a tethering aperture, in accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure.

FIG. 7C depicts an isometric view of a dry-fire apparatus including the dry-fire back plate of FIG. 7B, in accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Representative examples of a dry-fire attachment and dry-fire apparatus are described within this section. These examples are provided to add context to, and to aid in the understanding of the subject matter of this disclosure. It should be apparent to one having ordinary skill in firearms usage and marksmanship that the present disclosure may be practiced with or without some of the specific details described herein. Various modifications and/or alterations can be made to the subject matter described herein, and illustrated in the corresponding figures, to achieve similar advantages and results, without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure.

References are made in this section to the accompanying figures, which form a part of the disclosure and in which are shown, by way of illustration, various implementations corresponding to the described embodiments herein. Although the embodiments of this disclosure are described in sufficient detail to enable one having ordinary skill in the art to practice the described implementations, it should be understood that these examples are not to be construed as being overly limiting or all-inclusive.

In accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the disclosure, FIG. 1A depicts a side view of a firearm device (e.g., a pistol or a handgun) 10 with a slide component (e.g., a slide or slidable member) 12 in a closed position. The pistol 10 of FIG. 1A is depicted in generic form, but may correspond to any common type of automatic or semi-automatic handgun in the consumer marketplace having similar attributes to those depicted in the illustration. In addition to the slide 12, the pistol 10 may also include, but is not limited to including, a barrel 18 with only the muzzle portion exposed while in the closed position, a frame 14 to which the slide 12 is movably attached, a trigger assembly (e.g., a firing trigger or trigger) 19 that can be pulled by a shooter to fire or discharge the pistol 10 (e.g., when the pistol is loaded with live rounds of ammunition), and a grip 16 that a shooter can grasp to hold on to the pistol with one or two hands while shooting.

FIG. 1B depicts another side view of a pistol 20 (e.g., the pistol 10 shown in FIG. 1A) with the slide 12 in a retracted or recoil position, in accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure. During dry-fire training, the recoil position is achieved when a shooter manually pulls the slide 12 of the pistol 20 backward to re/set the trigger mechanism/assembly 19. In this scenario, when no ammunition is loaded within the pistol 20, no bullets are moved into the barrel 18 for firing. Instead, the pistol 20 is only primed for a dry-fire.

In contrast, a loaded pistol 20 (e.g., a pistol loaded with charged bullets) is fired when a shooter pulls the trigger 19 of the pistol 20 in a rearward direction with respect to the frame 14. In this instance, the slide 12 and barrel 18 collectively move in a slight rearward direction until a bullet exits the muzzle of the barrel 18, at which point, the slide 12 releases from the barrel 18 and continues to move in a rearward direction until the recoil position is achieved. Once in the recoil position, a bullet shell for a fired round is ejected from the pistol 20, and a new round is moved into the barrel 18 as the slide 12 again achieves a closed position (e.g., the pistol shown in FIG. 1A). In this configuration, the pistol 20 is automatically rearmed with a new round in response to the concussive force of a back blast from the fired bullet.

FIG. 2A depicts a side view of a dry-fire apparatus 30 that is attached to a pistol 10 in a closed position during a marksmanship training session, in accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure. The dry-fire apparatus 30 can be configured with a sling apparatus having both a harness 34 and a tethering portion 36, as well as a firearm attachment 38 that can be coupled to the tethering portion 36 of the sling apparatus. In various embodiments, the tethering portion 36 may be disposed through a tethering aperture 64 (depicted in FIGS. 4A-B) of the firearm attachment 38 to couple the sling apparatus to the firearm attachment 38.

During a dry-fire training session, a shooter 32 may assume a shooting stance and grip his or her weapon (e.g., as depicted in FIG. 2A) with the sling apparatus being substantially taught with respect to the pistol 10 in the closed position, when the tethering portion 36 is coupled with the firearm attachment 38. In this configuration, a recoil action can be easily simulated by the shooter 32 slightly pushing forward on the grip/handle 16 of the firearm to effectuate a rearward force being applied at the firearm attachment 38 (e.g., at the tethering aperture 64 of the firearm attachment 38). Notably, this can occur without a shooter 32 being required to take his or her support hand off the firearm.

FIG. 2B depicts another side view of a dry-fire apparatus 40 (e.g., with a sling apparatus, 34 and 36, as well as a firearm attachment 38) that is attached to the pistol 20 in recoil position during a marksmanship training session, in accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure. In various scenarios, the shooter 32 may extend his or her elbow(s) by the mere length measure of an inch, a couple inches, or a few inches, to effectuate a rearward force 42 being applied at the firearm attachment 38 by the tethering portion 36 of the sling apparatus. This minor body movement can effectively simulate a recoil action, as described herein. Notably, the shooter 32 may not even need to reposition his or her hands on the grip 16 or alter sight alignment to reset the trigger assembly 19 of the firearm 20 in this manner.

FIG. 3 depicts a front side view of a dry-fire apparatus 50 (e.g., with a sling apparatus, 34 and 36, as well as a firearm attachment 38) worn by a shooter 52 (e.g., as depicted in FIGS. 2A and 2B) during a marksmanship training session, in accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure. In various configurations, the sling apparatus, 34 and 36, may also include a harness clip 54, or some other attachment means that could perform a similar function of the harness clip 54, to secure the harness 34 to the body of the shooter 52.

During a simulated recoil movement, as described herein with respect to FIGS. 2A-B, a shooter's sighting can be maintained when the rearward force 42 is applied at the firearm attachment 38, regardless of whether one or two hands are being used to hold the shooter's firearm. Preserved shooter positioning is desirable for marksmanship evaluation purposes. For example, a trainer may be able to more easily recognize even small deviations in firearm manipulation and firing habits of a shooter under evaluation, when positioning, sighting, grip, stance, etc., are maintained between successive simulated firings of a shooter's firearm.

FIG. 4A depicts an isometric view of a dry-fire apparatus 60 that is attached to a pistol 10 at a slide component 12 in a closed position, in accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure. In various implementations, the firearm attachment 38A can be configured to fit over and on top of a rearward portion of the slide 12 (e.g., in the manner shown in FIG. 4A). An underside view of the firearm attachment 38B is depicted to provide a better perspective for viewing a tethering aperture 64 and a coupling portion 62 of the firearm attachment 38B.

In some configurations, the coupling portion 62 of the firearm attachment 38B may include a grip implement that is located on one or more internal sides of the coupling portion 62 to connect the coupling portion 62 of the firearm attachment 38B to a rearward portion of the pistol slide 12. Further, the tethering aperture 64 may have an annular shape that enables the tethering portion 36 of a sling device 34 to be disposed there through (e.g., in the manner shown in FIG. 4A).

FIG. 4B depicts another isometric view of a dry-fire apparatus 70 that is attached to a pistol 20 in a recoil position, in accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure. When a rearward force 72 is applied to the firearm attachment 38 (e.g., at the tethering aperture 64) by the tethering portion 36 of the sling device, the slide 12 can be pulled back to simulate the recoil action of a fired weapon. It should be understood that the firearm attachment 38 may be composed of one or any number of common types of rigid component manufacturing materials, such as metals, plastics, ceramics, carbon fiber, fiberglass, etc., without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure. Further, the sling apparatus/device, including the harness 34, tethering portion 36, and harness clip 54, may be composed of one or any number of common types of textile/fabric and rigid manufacturing materials, such as leathers, nylons, metals, plastics, etc., without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure.

FIG. 5 depicts a side view of a dry-fire apparatus 80 that is attached to a slidable member (e.g., a charging handle/bolt carrier group) 86 of a rifle 84 during a marksmanship training session, in accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure. It should be understood that the rifle 84 of FIG. 5 is depicted in generic form, and may correspond to any common type of bolt-action, automatic, or semi-automatic rifle in the consumer marketplace having similar attributes to those depicted in the illustration. In some configurations, the dry-fire apparatus 80 may include a sling apparatus/device 88 that is configured to tether to a charging handle 86 of a rifle 84.

In various marksmanship training scenarios, the sling device 88 may be fixedly coupled to an attachment point on a shooter 82 or an attachment point external to a shooter 82 (e.g., as depicted in FIG. 5). In this configuration, a recoil action can be easily simulated by the shooter 82 slightly pushing forward on the rifle 84 (e.g., at the shoulder mount or at a grip/handle portion of the rifle) to effectuate a rearward force being applied at a firearm attachment (e.g., 92 of FIGS. 6A-B) of the dry-fire apparatus 80 that is coupled to the charging handle 86 of the rifle 84. In this regard, only a minor body movement on the part of a shooter 82 may be required to reset the shooter's 82 rifle 84 for successive simulated firings during a dry-fire training session.

FIG. 6A depicts an isometric view of a dry-fire apparatus 90 that is attached to a rifle 84 at a charging handle component 86 in a closed position, in accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure. In various configurations, the firearm attachment 92A can be configured to fit over and on top of a rearward portion of the charging handle 86 of the rifle 84 (e.g., in the manner shown in FIG. 6A). An underside view of the firearm attachment 92B is depicted to provide a better perspective for viewing a tethering aperture 96 and a coupling portion 94 of the firearm attachment 92B. In some configurations, the coupling portion 94 of the firearm attachment 92B may include a grip implement that connects the coupling portion 94 to a rearward portion of the charging handle 86 of the rifle 84. Further, the tethering aperture 96 may have an annular shape that enables a portion of the sling device (e.g., a tethering portion) 88 to be disposed there through (e.g., in the manner shown in FIG. 6A).

FIG. 6B depicts another isometric view of a dry-fire apparatus 100 that is attached to a rifle 84 in a recoil position, in accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure. When a rearward force 102 is applied to the firearm attachment 92 (e.g., at the tethering aperture 96) by the sling device 88, the charging handle 86 can be pulled back to simulate the recoil action of a fired weapon. It should be understood that the firearm attachment 92 may be composed of one or any number of common types of rigid component manufacturing materials, such as metals, plastics, ceramics, carbon fiber, fiberglass, etc., without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure. Further, the sling device 88 may be composed of one or any number of common types of textile/fabric and rigid manufacturing materials, such as leathers, nylons, metals, plastics, etc., without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure.

Alternatively, a dry-fire firearm attachment for a rifle 84 may be configured as a modified charging handle (e.g., the charging handle 86 depicted in FIGS. 6A-B having an additional coupling portion) that can reach within the body of the rifle 84 to couple with a bolt carrier group of the rifle 84. In this embodiment, a rearward force can be applied to the modified charging handle (e.g., at a tethering aperture) by a sling device, such that the charging handle 86 would be arranged to pull back on the bolt carrier group component of the rifle to thereby simulate the recoil action of a fired weapon. Notably, in this form, the required shooter activity for dry-firing the rifle 84 would be substantially similar to that discussed above in connection with FIGS. 6A-B.

FIG. 7A depicts an isometric view of a pistol 110 showing a back plate 118A of a pistol's slide component 112, in accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure. An enlarged view of the back plate 118B is depicted to illustrate how the back plate 118A attaches to the slide 112 of certain types of firearm devices (e.g., automatic or semi-automatic handguns). Similar to other embodiments described herein, the pistol may comprise a frame 114 to which the slide 112 is movably attached, a grip component 116, etc.

FIG. 7B depicts another isometric view of a pistol 120 showing a dry-fire back plate 122A (e.g., a firearm attachment) having a tethering aperture 124, in accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure. An enlarged view of the dry-fire back plate 122B is depicted to illustrate how the back plate 122A attaches to the slide 112 of the pistol. In this regard, the back plate 118A-B of FIG. 7A can be exchanged for the dry-fire back plate 122A-B by simply pulling-out back plate 118A-B and inserting the dry-fire back plate 122A-B. This back plate switch to the dry-fire back plate 122A-B can allow a corresponding firearm to be at least temporarily used for dry-fire training in a manner similar to that, which was previously described.

FIG. 7C depicts an isometric view of a dry-fire apparatus 130 including the dry-fire back plate 122 (e.g., a firearm attachment) of FIG. 7B, in accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure. Similar to previous configurations, the dry-fire apparatus 130 depicted in FIG. 7C may include a sling device 132 with a tethering portion 134, as well as the dry-fire back plate 122. In various arrangements, the sling device 132 can be attached to or otherwise coupled with the dry-fire back plate 122 at the tethering aperture 124 of the dry-fire back plate 122, in a manner similar to that which was previously discussed.

In this configuration, a recoil action can be easily simulated by a shooter slightly pushing forward on the grip 116 of the firearm to effectuate a rearward force being applied at the dry-fire back plate 122 (e.g., by pulling the slide 112 back to reset the firearm device). In this regard, it should be understood that the sling device 132 may include a body harness to attach to a shooter (e.g., as disclosed with respect to FIGS. 2A-B), and that the function of re/setting a corresponding trigger assembly for firearm would occur in a similar manner to that which was previously described.

The foregoing description, for purposes of explanation, used specific nomenclature to provide a thorough understanding of the described embodiments. However, it should be apparent to one skilled in the art that some of the specific details may not be required in order to practice the described embodiments. Thus, the foregoing descriptions of specific embodiments are presented herein for purposes of illustration and description. These descriptions are not intended to be exhaustive, all-inclusive, or to limit the described embodiments to the precise forms or details disclosed. Further, it should be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art that many modifications and variations are possible in view of the above teachings, without departing from the spirit and the scope of the disclosure.