Ammunition feed mechanism

Abstract

An ammunition feed mechanism for a machine gun includes a sprocket having rtridge feeding and positioning splines. This sprocket rotates in a feed direction to move a belt of linked cartridges into position for chambering and firing. An anti-backup pawl prevents counterrotation and maintains the sprocket in position while a cartridge is chambered. A ratchet release permits bidirectional rotation of the sprocket in loading and unloading of the ammunition belt. The rotation of the sprocket for feeding is done with a cam tube actuator making a ratchet connection with the sprocket. The reciprocating movement of the bolt carrier causes rotary movement of the actuator by means of a pin on the bolt carrier riding in the cam of the actuator. The bolt carrier has a depressible rammer for chambering the cartridges. This permits the bolt carrier to override a subsequently positioned cartridge during carrier recoil instead of the conventional recoiling of the carrier before subsequent moving of the next cartridge to its feed position.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.