Firearm

In a firearm, a bolt assembly which operates automatically upon firing of a cartridge to accept a fresh cartridge;

• a trigger;
• a hammer which upon firing of a cartridge is automatically moved to a cocked position, said trigger and hammer cooperating in a manner such that while continuous finger pressure greater than a preselected value is exerted on said trigger said hammer becomes released from its cocked position after a fresh cartridge has been accepted by said bolt assembly so that said firearm will fire continuously while said finger pressure is maintained;
• reciprocating means forming part of said bolt assembly automatically movable in a first direction in response to firing of a cartridge and subsequently in a second direction;
• and means cooperating with said reciprocating means and with said trigger for delaying the release of said hammer by said trigger inversely proportional to the magnitude of finger pressure on said trigger whereby the operator of the firearm may increase and decrease the rate of fire by, respectively, increasing and decreasing his finger pressure on the trigger.

In a firearm firing mechanism:

• a trigger assembly having a movable finger element for engagement by an operator's finger;
• a bolt assembly which moves automatically in a first direction upon firing of a cartridge and then in a second direction to accept a fresh cartridge and move the same into a firing position;
• a hammer assembly having a hammer element which is moved to a cocked position in response to movement of said bolt assembly in said first direction, said hammer assembly and said trigger assembly cooperating during the movements of said bolt assembly in a manner such that while continuous finger pressure greater than a preselected value is exerted by an operator on said finger element said hammer element becomes released from its cocked position after a fresh cartridge has been accepted by said bolt assembly so that the firing mechanism will operate continuously while said finger pressure is maintained on said finger element;
• and firing rate control means cooperating with said bolt assembly and with said trigger assembly for varying the rate of operation of said firing mechanism by delaying operation of said mechanism, after each cartridge has been fired, in an amount inversely proportional to the magnitude of finger pressure on said finger element whereby the rate of fire may be increased or decreased by the operator by increasing or decreasing, respectively, his finger pressure on said finger element.