Extended lever for a firearm

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to repeating firearms, and particularly to a repeating firearm using a replaceable magazine.

In land warfare the individual infantry soldier is still an important part of military operations. The effectiveness of the individual soldier depends to a large extent on the accuracy, rate of fire, and number of rounds of ammunition which each individual soldier is capable of providing. For that reason, modern infantry firearms are capable of high cyclic rates of fire and are usually equipped with replaceable magazines capable of holding dozens of cartridges. Such magazines must usually be manually released from the firearm when they have become empty, at which time a full magazine must be inserted into the firearm before firing may be continued. In order to be capable of sustained firing an infantry soldier carries loaded spare magazines, typically held in protective pouches attached to ammunition belts. When actually engaged in combat it is common for soldiers to carry spare loaded magazines more immediately ready for use, since removal of a loaded magazine from a cartridge belt may take an undesirably long time.

In order to provide an ability to fire more rounds quickly, spare magazine carriers as disclosed in Johnson U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,484,404 and 5,636,465, of which the disclosures are hereby incorporated herein by reference, allow a spare magazine to be carried alongside the receiver of a rifle, ready for immediate use. However, the device disclosed in the mentioned Johnson U.S. patents may limit access to a functional operating lever or button located on the receiver of certain rifles. In particular, the spare magazine carrier shown in the U.S. Pat. No. 4,484,404 is located close to one part of a bolt catch operating lever on certain auto-loading rifles such as M-16 military rifles and Colt® AR15 rifles. This closeness to the bolt catch operating lever requires use of a certain amount of a soldier's attention to push the bolt catch operating lever to release the bolt and chamber a round from a newly inserted magazine in such a rifle. With the spare magazine carrier in place, the rifleman must exercise additional care and use a finger or the thumb to locate and definitely push the upper end of the bolt catch operating lever toward the receiver to release the bolt. While the time involved in doing so may be well less than a second, the action may require the rifleman to look at the bolt catch operating lever at a critical time, thus dangerously distracting his attention. Releasing the bolt of such a firearm upon replacing the magazine thus may require a critically important additional amount of time during combat. It is therefore desired to provide a way to improve the speed and efficiency of reloading and resuming operation of the firearm with which a spare magazine carrier is associated, without detracting from any other aspects of the firearm.

What is needed, then is a device which can be readily installed to facilitate operation of an operating control device such as a bolt catch operating lever and which fits in the available space adjacent the weapon when an accessory such as a spare magazine carrier is installed.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention supplies an answer to the aforementioned need for a fast and efficient way to reload and resume firing a firearm such as an automatic or semiautomatic firearm equipped with a spare magazine carrier mounted alongside the receiver of such a firearm. The present invention provides an improved bolt catch operating lever and an operating control device extender useful with an existing bolt catch operating lever or other operating control lever or button located on the firearm where a spare magazine carrier or similarly located accessory may interfere with it.

In one embodiment of the invention the operating control device extender has a leg including a head with an engagement contact face available near an outer face of an installed accessory such as a spare magazine carrier, where it can easily be pushed toward the receiver of the firearm on which the accessory is mounted, to move an operating control device such as a button or lever located on the receiver of the firearm.

It is a feature of one embodiment of the invention that it includes a clamp that securely attaches the extender to a bolt catch operating lever and retains the extender securely on the lever even if the clamp, through extended use, becomes slightly loosened.

In one embodiment of the invention, a bolt catch operating lever includes an integral extension and can be used to replace an original bolt catch operating lever of such a firearm.

It is a feature of one embodiment of the extender that it includes a positive stop to prevent an operating control lever from being bent or broken.

The foregoing and other objectives, features and advantages of the present invention will be more readily understood upon consideration of the following detailed description of the invention taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1

is a left side elevational view of a portion of an automatic rifle together with an attached protective carrier for a spare magazine and with an extender embodying the present invention attached to a bolt catch operating lever on the rifle.

FIG. 2

is a view similar to a portion of

FIG. 1

, at an enlarged scale, showing the spare magazine carrier partially cut away.

FIG. 3

is a top plan view of the spare magazine carrier, a portion of the receiver of the rifle, and the extender.

FIG. 4

is a view of a portion of the rifle with the extender in place, taken along line

4

—

4

of FIG.

1

.

FIG. 5

is an exploded isometric view of the extender shown in

FIGS. 1-4

together with the bolt catch and its operating lever.

FIG. 6

is an isometric view from the upper left rear, showing the extender in place on the operating lever of the bolt catch.

FIG. 7

is a sectional view of the extender in place on the bolt catch operating lever, taken along line

7

—

7

of FIG.

6

.

FIG. 8

is a right, or inner, end elevation view of the extender together with the bolt catch operating lever, taken in the direction of line

8

—

8

of FIG.

6

.

FIG. 9

is an isometric view of a combined bolt catch and extended operating lever which is an alternative embodiment of the present invention, taken from the upper left rear thereof.

FIG. 10

is an isometric view of the combined bolt catch and extended operating lever shown in

FIG. 9

, taken from the lower right front thereof.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring now to

FIGS. 1 and 2

of the drawings, an exemplary spare magazine carrier

10

is shown attached to an automatic rifle

12

. A spare magazine

14

is held in the carrier

10

, while a magazine

16

is held in the receiver

18

of the automatic rifle

12

, ready for use. The spare magazine carrier

10

includes a body

19

having a top

20

, a front side

22

, a rear side

24

, a right, or inner, side

26

, and a left, or laterally outer, side

28

, spaced outwardly apart from the left side of the receiver

18

by a width

30

.

To use the spare magazine carrier

10

most advantageously, a shooter will grasp the spare magazine

14

in his left hand while moving the magazine-release push button on the right side of the receiver (not shown) leftward with his right hand. This allows the empty magazine

16

to fall from the receiver

18

and releases the spare magazine

14

into the shooter's left hand, so that he may immediately insert the spare magazine

14

upwardly into position in the receiver

18

. A magazine retaining catch of the automatic rifle

12

engages and retains the spare magazine

14

as it is inserted into position in the receiver

18

. As a result of the readily available spare magazine

14

, the automatic rifle

12

may be reloaded extremely quickly once the magazine

16

has been emptied. Another loaded magazine may thereafter be inserted into the spare magazine carrier

10

at the first convenient opportunity.

Certain rifles, for example the M-16 military automatic rifle and a similar civilian semi-automatic rifle, the Colt® AR15 rifle, like the rifle

12

shown in

FIGS. 1 and 2

, may include push-buttons or levers which act as functional control devices to initiate, prevent, or stop the action of mechanisms contained within the receiver of such rifles. Some of such push-buttons or levers may be located on the left side of the receiver

18

where the body

19

of the spare magazine carrier

10

may make it awkward, or may require close attention, to operate such push-buttons or levers.

In particular, in the rifle

12

there is a bolt catch operating lever

58

, also called a bolt hold-open lever, attached to the left side of the receiver

18

by, and arranged to pivot about, a pin

60

extending parallel with the length of the rifle

12

. The pin

60

extends through a hole

61

in the bolt hold-open lever

58

, defining its fulcrum, and through a pair of gudgeons

62

on the side of the receiver

18

. When the upper end

64

of the bolt hold-open lever

58

is moved away from the receiver

18

, with the bolt

66

manually held withdrawn rearwardly with respect to the receiver

18

, as shown schematically in broken line in

FIG. 1

, the bolt catch in the hold-open mechanism engages the bolt

66

to hold it in its rearward position. When the upper end

64

of the bolt hold-open lever

58

is pressed to the right, or inward toward the receiver

18

, the catch is disengaged and releases the bolt

66

to be moved forward by a spring.

When the last cartridge that was contained in a magazine such as the magazine

16

has been discharged, the bolt hold-open mechanism automatically engages the bolt

66

, holding it in its rearward position. The bolt

66

is thus held rearward while the empty magazine

16

is removed and replaced by the spare loaded magazine

14

. Before the rifleman can again shoot the firearm, the bolt

66

must be released by moving the bolt hold-open lever

58

, so the bolt can carry a round from the loaded magazine into the chamber of the firearm.

In order to make it unnecessary for the rifleman to look at the upper end

64

of the bolt hold-open lever, an extender

70

according to the present invention is attached to the upper end

64

of the bolt hold-open lever

58

, as shown in

FIGS. 1-4

. The extender

70

includes an elongate body

72

whose inner end is attached to the upper end

64

of the bolt hold-open lever

58

by a clamp

74

.

Without the spare magazine carrier

10

attached to the rifle

12

, the lower end

68

of the bolt hold-open lever

58

is ordinarily available to be pushed inward toward the receiver

18

to cause the bolt hold-open lever

58

to pivot about the pin

60

to engage the catch of the bolt hold-open mechanism with the bolt

66

. The availability of the lower end

68

to be pushed is particularly useful when the user of the rifle is wearing gloves, since the upper end

64

is too small and too close to the receiver

18

to be grasped easily by a gloved hand to withdraw it away from the receiver

18

. When the spare magazine carrier

10

is present, however, the lower end

68

is not easily reached to be pushed. The bolt catch or hold-open mechanism can easily be engaged with the bolt

66

to hold the bolt open, by pushing downward on the extender

70

when a spare magazine carrier

10

is mounted on the rifle

12

.

The elongate body

72

includes an extension arm

76

directed away from the receiver

18

. An enlarged head

78

forms the outer end of the extender

70

and has an engagement contact face

80

, spaced apart by a distance

82

from a reference face

81

engaged with the upper end

64

, and spaced apart from the left side of the receiver

18

by a predetermined distance

83

somewhat less than the width

30

of the spare magazine carrier

10

. The engagement contact face

80

is thus substantially aligned with the left or laterally outer side

85

of a nearby somewhat narrower portion of the spare magazine carrier

10

, and thus is located closer to the left side of the receiver

18

by a small distance

89

in the range of 0.2-0.6 cm (0.08-0.24 inch) and preferably in the range of 0.38-0.51 cm (0.15-0.20 inch) toward the receiver

18

from the outermost surface of the laterally outer, or left, side

28

of the spare magazine carrier

10

. The outer surface or engagement contact face

80

of the head

78

of the extender

70

is thus exposed conveniently in a location where it can be pressed inward toward the receiver

18

by the rifleman, using the heel of his hand, after he has pushed the loaded spare magazine

14

into the receiver

18

of the rifle

12

. At the same time, the head

78

of the extender

70

is not so prominent as to be likely to be pushed inadvertently. In an extender

70

for an M-16 rifle with a spare magazine carrier

10

, the distance

82

should thus be in the range of 1.90-2.54 cm (0.750-1.0 inch) and is preferably 1.97 cm (0.775 inch).

Pushing on the engagement contact face

80

of the extender

70

requires only a minimum amount of attention, since the engagement contact face

80

, which is larger than the ear

96

on the upper end

64

of the bolt hold-open lever

58

, is well exposed to be contacted and pushed by the rifleman, even if his left hand is gloved. Since the engagement contact face

80

is exposed, the rifleman does not need to exercise any particular care or give any particular attention, but needs only to sweep the left hand upward and inward to easily touch the extender

70

and push it inward, thus disengaging the catch mechanism from the bolt

66

. Since the extender

70

protrudes outward away from the receiver

18

, pushing upward on the bottom face

84

of the extender

70

will also cause the bolt hold-open lever

58

to rotate about the fulcrum defined by the pivot pin

60

, in the same direction that would result from inward pressure against the upper end

64

. Thus, the rifleman need only continue upward movement of the left hand after inserting the loaded magazine into the receiver

18

, with very little attention required in order to engage and move the extender

70

and thus move the bolt hold-open lever

58

as required to chamber a cartridge from a just-inserted magazine

14

.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, as shown also in

FIGS. 5-8

, the extender

70

includes two pieces held together by a bolt

86

and a locknut

87

. A main body piece

88

includes the head

78

and has a front face

90

in which a groove

92

extends most of the way toward the bottom face

84

of the body

72

. A retaining shelf or ledge

94

shown in

FIGS. 7 and 8

at least partially closes at the bottom of the groove

92

and extends beneath a portion of the bottom of the ear portion

96

of the upper end

64

of the bolt hold-open lever

58

. The location of the ledge

94

in the main body

88

of the extender rather than in the clamping body

98

simplifies attachment of the extender

70

to the upper end

64

when a spare magazine carrier

10

is already in place on the rifle

12

.

The clamping body

98

has a main or inner face

100

opposing the front face

90

of the first body

88

and defines a deep groove

102

in an inner end portion

104

. The lack of a ledge

94

in the groove

102

in the clamping body

98

allows the clamping body

98

to slide down around the ear

96

. The deep groove

102

is deep enough to receive the majority of the width of the ear

96

, but shallow enough so that a small gap

106

remains as shown in

FIG. 8

when the ear

96

is tightly held between the clamping body

98

and the main body part

88

of the extender

70

. The bolt

86

extends through aligned bores

110

and

112

defined through the main body

88

and the clamping body

98

, and the locknut

87

fits in a wide groove

116

defined on the front face of the clamping body

98

. The width of the wide groove

116

corresponds with the width across flats of the locknut

87

to prevent the locknut

87

from turning while the bolt

86

is screwed into the locknut

87

. The clamping body

98

has an outer end face

118

that abuts tightly against a flat clamp body locating face

119

on the inner side of the head

78

to maintain the alignment of the clamping body with the main body of the extender

70

.

Preferably, the rear end

120

and the edges

122

of the head

78

are rounded or chamfered to prevent the head

78

from causing discomfort when it is pressed or hit during use. A hole

123

may be provided in the head

78

to lighten the extender

70

. An inner rear or transition face

124

of the head

78

, between the engagement contact face

80

and the extension arm portion

76

, is oriented at an oblique angle

126

(FIG.

3

), which may be in the range from 30 to 60 degrees and is preferably at least 40 degrees, and most preferably about 45 degrees to the engagement contact face. This helps prevent the extender

70

from being caught on the rifleman's clothing or equipment.

The thickness

132

of the portions

128

and

130

behind the ear

96

is limited by the available space behind the ear

96

in order to leave the bolt hold-open lever

58

free to move far enough to release the bolt

66

. The thickness

132

is preferably made nearly as great as possible, so that the portions

128

and

130

occupy the entire available space between the ear

96

and the adjacent portion of the receiver

98

when the bolt hold-open lever

58

is pushed far enough toward the receiver

18

to release the bolt

66

. The portions

128

and

130

of the extender

70

thus act as a positive stop to protect the bolt hold-open lever

58

from being damaged as a result of the forces that may result from pushing sharply up or inward on the extender

70

after inserting a loaded magazine

14

into the receiver

18

.

The extender

70

is offset a slight distance rearwardly with respect to the bolt hold-open lever

58

, as seen best in

FIG. 3

, in order to provide clearance between the rear of the spare magazine carrier

10

and the front of the extender

70

, as shown best in

FIG. 3

, where a space

134

of at least 1.27 mm (0.050 inch) is preferably available.

It will be understood that other clamping mechanisms may be used instead of the particular one discussed herein above to attach an extension arm to the upper end of the bolt catch operating lever

58

. For example, a set screw could be used with a one-piece extender, two clamping elements could be arranged to grip the inner and outer faces of the ear

96

, or a wedging arrangement could be included.

Referring now also to

FIGS. 9 and 10

, it will be seen that an extender arm can be incorporated in a replacement bolt hold-open catch mechanism

140

that can be installed in a firearm in place of the original equipment bolt hold-open catch mechanism including the bolt catch operating lever

58

when installing a spare magazine carrier

10

. The bolt hold-open catch

140

can be installed in place of the original bolt catch and operating lever

58

by simply drifting out the pin

60

from the gudgeons

62

, preferably before installing a spare magazine carrier

10

.

In such a replacement part, the usual bolt-engaging catch body

142

and a hole

144

establishing a fulcrum are as in the original part, and an actuating lever arm

146

extends away from the catch body

142

for a short distance in the same direction as the upper portion

64

of the bolt hold-open lever

58

. An extension arm

148

is directed laterally, approximately perpendicular to the actuating lever arm

146

, so that it extends away from the receiver

18

when the part

140

is installed in place of the original part including the catch operating lever

58

. As in the previously described extender

70

, the extension arm

148

includes an enlarged head, which has an engagement contact face

150

located in a position corresponding with that of the engagement contact face

80

of an extender

70

installed on the bolt hold-open lever

58

. The engagement contact face

150

is thus spaced apart from a plane parallel to the left side of the receiver and including the fulcrum

144

by a distance

154

of about 1.0-3.5 cm (0.39-1.38 inch) and preferably 2.2-3.0 cm (0.87-1.2 inch), and most preferably about 2.35 cm (0.92 inch), in particular for an M-16 rifle equipped with a “Redi-Mag”™ spare magazine carrier of the type available from J.F.S., Inc. of Salem, Oreg. Preferably, the actuating lever arm

146

includes a positive stop

152

at the inner end of the laterally projecting extension arm

148

.

The terms and expressions which have been employed in the foregoing specification are used therein as terms of description and not of limitation, and there is no intention, in the use of such terms and expressions, of excluding equivalents of the features shown and described or portions thereof, it being recognized that the scope of the invention is defined and limited only by the claims which follow.