Mounting and Attachment Assembly for Firearm Muzzle Accessories

An accessory mounting system for a firearm, comprising:

• a connection mechanism disposed along a muzzle end of a barrel of the firearm for connecting the barrel to a muzzle accessory;
• a protection mechanism including sleeve having a body engaged with the barrel and movable along the muzzle end of the barrel between an extended position at least partially covering the connection mechanism and a retracted position at least partially exposing the connection mechanism of the barrel;
• and
• a biasing member arranged along the barrel rearwardly of the muzzle end, the biasing member biasing the sleeve towards its extended position, while allowing the sleeve to move to the retracted position to accept the muzzle accessory,
• wherein when the sleeve is in its retracted position and the muzzle accessory is attached to the barrel, at least a portion of the sleeve is urged against the muzzle accessory to provide a tensioned connection between the muzzle accessory and the connection mechanism sufficient to substantially prevent the muzzle accessory from inadvertent loosening and/or disconnection during use of the firearm.

A method for attaching a muzzle accessory to a barrel of a firearm, comprising:

• moving a sleeve along a portion of the barrel of the firearm in a rearward direction toward a retracted position, to expose a connection mechanism of the barrel for connecting a muzzle accessory to the barrel of the firearm;
• aligning the muzzle accessory with the connection mechanism of the barrel of the firearm, and engaging the connection mechanism of the barrel with a corresponding connection mechanism of the muzzle accessory;
• maintaining the sleeve in the retracted position and rotating the muzzle accessory to tighten the muzzle accessory against the connection mechanism of the barrel until at least a portion of the muzzle accessory engages a locking surface of the barrel;
• and
• releasing the sleeve such that a forward face thereof is urged into biased engagement with and presses against at least a portion of the rear end of the muzzle accessory sufficient to generate a non-trivial stress between the connection mechanisms of the barrel and the muzzle accessory that substantially resists loosening of the engagement between the muzzle accessory and the barrel of the firearm during operation of the firearm.