Gas-operated shotgun

In a gas operated firearm having a receiver, an attached barrel, a trigger housing attached to the receiver, a tubular magazine mounted beneath the barrel and connected to the receiver, a bolt including means to lock the bolt in breech position in the receiver, slide means for locking and unlocking the bolt during forward and rearward travel of the slide and a shell carrier mounted in the trigger housing adjacent the end of the tubular magazine for receiving shells from the magazine and lifting them toward the breech of the barrel to be chambered by the bolt sliding forward, wherein the improvement comprises:

• a one piece lever pivotally mounted in the receiver adjacent the shell carrier and having at least four different positions in which the stop lever
• 1. releases a shell from the magazine and blocks the carrier from pivoting upward into the receiver,
• 2. stops a shell from leaving the magazine and releases the carrier for lifting a shell upward to the breech of the barrel,
• 3. releases the carrier to pivot upward into the receiver, and pivots outward to enable shells to be fed into the magazine, and
• 4. stops a shell from leaving the magazine and blocks the carrier from pivoting upward into the receiver.

In a firearm having a receiver, a barrel connected at its rear end to the receiver, a magazine connected to the receiver for feeding shells in succession into the receiver, a carrier within the receiver for receiving shells fed from the magazine and transferring them to chambering position, a bolt for chambering shells and closing the breech end of the barrel, a slide movable forward and rearward in the receiver for driving the bolt and, means for operating the slide, the improvement comprising shell feed control means for coordinating the feeding of shells from the magazine, the movement of the carrier, and the chambering movement of the bolt, said shell feed control means including:

• a single stage shell stop and carrier latch bar mounted in said receiver for pivotal movement about at least one vertical axis and translational movement at said axis, for selectively assuming positions in which it
• a. latches the shell carrier in a shell-receiving position while it stops the shells in the magazine from feeding onto the carrier,
• b. releases a single shell from the magazine to move rearwardly from the magazine onto the shell carrier while it latches the carrier in shell receiving position,
• c. stops the following shell in the magazine from protruding beyond the magazine onto the carrier, and
• d. releases the shell carrier for pivoting movement thereof into chambering position while it stops the shells in the magazine from feeding toward the receiver.

In a firearm having a receiver, a barrel connected at its rear end to the receiver, a magazine connected to the receiver for feeding shells in succession into the receiver, a carrier within the receiver for receiving shells fed from the magazine and transferring them to chambering position, a bolt for chambering shells and closing the breech end of the barrel, a slide movable forward and rearward in the receiver for driving the bolt and, means for operating the slide, the improvement comprising shell feed control means for coordinating the feeding of shells from the magazine, the movement of the carrier, and the chambering movement of the bolt, said shell feed control means including:

• a single, integral shell stop and carrier latch bar mounted in said receiver for pivotal movement about a vertical axis and for translational movement at said axis;
• means for moving said bar and controlling the movement thereof selectively between positions thereof at which said bar
• a. latches the shell carrier in a shell-receiving position while it stops the shells in the magazine from feeding onto the carrier,
• b. releases a single shell from the magazine to move rearwardly from the magazine onto the shell carrier while it latches the carrier in shell receiving position,
• c. stops the following shell in the magazine from protruding beyond the magazine onto the carrier while it releases the shell carrier for pivoting movement thereof into chambering position, and
• d. releases the shell carrier for movement thereof into the receiver while it passes shells being loaded into the magazine.