Caulking gun

In combination with caulking gun having a housing, a U-shaped handle attached with said housing, a U-shaped squeeze trigger mounted about a pivot in said handle with pawl means to ratchet a plunger rod and a displacement head into the inlet of a caulking cartridge disposed in said housing, comprising:

• (a) a plurality of cutting holes of different size defined in said handle with said holes being generally oval in shape and having edges bevelled inwardly toward the inside of said handle to form a sharp edge on the inner side of the handle to form with a cooperating edge of said trigger a sharp shear when said trigger is depressed into said handle;
• (b) with said shearing hole being oval shaped so as to receive and visually fit the round plastic caulking cartridge nozzle at an appropriate caulk dispensing acute angle.

In combination with hand held type caulking gun having a housing, a U-shaped handle attached with said housing, a U-shaped squeeze trigger mounted about a pivot in said handle with pawl means to ratchet a plunger rod and displacement head into the inlet of a caulking cartridge disposed in said housing, a single hand actuated release means for rotating said plunger rod out of engagement with said pawl means while said gun is held by said single hand to release any force imposed by said rod against said displacement head comprising:

• (a) a release block means mounted with said gun in sliding splined relation on said plunger rod for rotating said plunger rod out of connection with said pawl means when moved from a first position to a second position;
• and
• (b) spring means connected between said gun and said release block means to maintain said release block means in said first position and to return said release block means to said first position after movement.

A caulking gun having a housing, a U-shaped handle attached with said housing, a U-shaped squeeze trigger mounted about a pivot in said handle with pawl means to ratchet a plunger rod and displacement head into the inlet of a caulking cartridge disposed in said housing comprising a piercing blade and seal means mounted at the outlet end of said housing for piercing the closure diaphram of the caulking cartridge and thereafter sealing the caulking nozzle and said diaphram of said cartridge to seal the caulking cartridge between the occasions that caulking compound is extruded from said cartridge through said nozzle including:

• (a) a piercing blade adapted to extend into the opened outlet nozzle and through the seal diaphram;
• and
• (b) a swivel support means in connection with said housing for supporting said piercing blade from a retracted stored position against said housing to extension of said blade to a position for entering said nozzle, to movement of said blade into said nozzle and through said diaphram, and to the return of said blade to said stored position.