A self-powered, automatic gun for firing cylindrically shaped, telescoped shells of substantially uniform diameter and length held in a link-type ammunition belt, the gun comprising:
- (a) a receiver having defined therein an ammunition belt feed port, a fired shell casing ejection port, a belt link ejection port, a shell pickup position in communication with the feed port and the belt link ejection port, and a casing discharge position in communication with the casing ejection port, the shell pickup position and the casing discharge positions being axially aligned and spaced apart about one shell length;
- (b) a gun barrel and means for connecting a rearward end of the barrel to forward regions of the receiver;
- (c) a shell chamber having defined therethrough a longitudinal shell-holding aperture sized to enable the sliding therethrough of said cylindrical-shaped, telescoped shells and having a length substantially equal to the length of one of said shells;
- (d) means for mounting the shell chamber in the receiver rearwardly of the rearward end of the gun barrel for sliding movement between a shell firing position in which the shell-holding aperture is aligned with the gun barrel and a shell holding position in which the shell holding aperture is clear of said gun barrel and is between and is axially aligned with the shell pickup position and the casing discharge position;
- (e) a shell chamber carrier and means mounting the shell chamber carrier in the receiver for axial sliding movement between a forwardmost, battery position and a rearwardmost position;
- (f) means interconnecting the shell chamber with the shell chamber carrier so as to cause the shell chamber to move from the shell firing position to the shell loading position in response to the shell chamber carrier moving from the forwardmost position to the rearwardmost position and for causing the shell chamber to move from the shell loading position to the shell firing position in response to the shell chamber carrier moving from the rearwardmost position to the forwardmost position;
- (g) shell feeding means responsive to movement of the shell chamber to the shell loading position for advancing the ammunition belt through the belt feed port so as to position a shell held in the belt in the shell pickup position and for moving a shell casing in the casing discharge position out of the casing ejection port;
- (h) shell rammer means for loading shells into the shell chamber shell-holding aperture when the shell chamber is in the shell loading position, said shell rammer means including a rammer body having mounted thereto a shell rammer member and means for mounting the rammer body in the receiver for axial sliding movement between a forwardmost rammer position and a rearwardmost rammer position, movement of the rammer body from the rearwardmost rammer position to the forwardmost rammer position, when a shell is in the shell pickup position and the shell chamber is in the shell loading position, causing a shell to be rammed from the pickup position into the shell chamber shell-holding aperture, thereby causing a shell casing held in the shell chamber shell-holding aperture to be rammed out of said aperture into the casing discharge position;
- (i) means responsive to firing of a shell held in the shell chamber shell-holding aperture for causing movement of the shell chamber carrier and the shell rammer means from their said forwardmost positions to their said rearwardmost positions;
- (j) means, when the shell chamber carrier and the shell rammer means are in their rearwardmost positions, for preventing forward movement of the shell chamber carrier until the shell rammer means has moved forwardly to its forwardmost rammer position, thereby enabling the loading of a shell into the shell chamber shell-holding aperture before the shell chamber carrier starts moving forwardly to its forwardmost battery position and the shell chamber starts moving from the shell loading position to the shell firing position;
- (k) means for causing firing of a shell held in the shell-holding aperture when the shell is in the shell firing position;
- (i) means for searing up the shell rammer means when the shell rammer means is in its rearwardmost position;
- and
- (m) means for unsearing the shell rammer means when the shell rammer means is seared up.