Rotary Ammunition Magazine and Follower
AssigneeSmith & Wesson Corp.
InventorSimon M. Muska
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A rotary ammunition magazine for a rifle has a follower that is spring biased and rotates about an axis to move cartridges for feeding to the rifle's chamber. The follower has a surface portion which engages the last cartridge in the stack. The surface portion has one or more characteristics including a transverse orientation angle, a longitudinal orientation angle and an arcuate shape which determine the direction of the force vector and the lengthwise load distribution on the cartridge.
Claims15
A follower for advancing cartridges in an ammunition magazine, said follower comprising:
- a plate having a surface positionable within said magazine facing one of said cartridges, said plate having an axis of rotation, said surface comprising a surface portion engageable with said one cartridge, said surface portion being angularly oriented relatively to said plate at a longitudinal orientation angle measured about an axis oriented transversely to said axis of rotation.
A magazine for holding a plurality of ammunition cartridges, said magazine comprising:
- a plurality of sidewalls defining a space for receiving said cartridges;
- an elongate opening defined between a first and a second of said sidewalls providing access to said space;
- a follower mounted within said space, said follower being rotatable about an axis of rotation oriented parallel to said elongate opening for urging said cartridges toward said opening, said follower comprising:
- a plate having a surface positioned facing one of said cartridges, said surface comprising a surface portion engageable with said one cartridge, said surface portion being angularly oriented at a longitudinal orientation angle measured about an axis oriented transversely to said axis of rotation;
- a spring biasing said plate for rotation about said axis of rotation.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.