Gas-powered repeating pistol

A gas-powered gun comprising:

• a frame having a grip thereon;
• a projectile barrel slidably mounted in said frame and axially reciprocal between a forward position and a rearward position therein, said barrel having a breech end, a muzzle end, a hammer mass connected to the barrel for reciprocal movement with the barrel and disposed between the breech end and the muzzle end, a projectile passage extending through the barrel from the breech end to the muzzle, and a loading port formed through a side of the barrel facing toward the grip at a location spaced a short distance forwardly from the breech end of the barrel for admitting a BB pellet into the projectile passage;
• a valve chamber defined adjacent the breech end of the barrel;
• a gas passage defined in the grip, communicating with the valve chamber, configured to receive a compressed gas cylinder therein, and having puncturing means disposed therein for puncturing a sealed end region of a compressed gas cylinder to supply pressurized gas to the valve chamber;
• valve means disposed in the valve chamber including a movable valve member that is reciprocal between a closed position toward the barrel and an open position in the opposite direction, with the movable valve member defining a forwardly facing engagement surface and being configured to duct pressurized gas into the breech end of the projectile passage when in the open position;
• a firing spring disposed around the barrel and biasing the barrel rearwardly toward a position wherein the breech end of the barrel engages the engagement surface of the movable valve member;
• a valve spring disposed in the valve chamber, biasing the movable valve member toward the closed position, and opposing the action of the firing spring when the breech end of the barrel is in engagement with the engagement surface;
• trigger means to reciprocate the barrel to the forward position and then to automatically release the barrel for return reciprocation so that the breech end of the barrel will impact the engagement surface with sufficient momentum to move the movable valve member to the open position, with the valve spring and the pressure of the gas in the valve chamber being quickly operable to dissipate said momentum and to return the movable valve member to the closed position so that only a burst of pressurized gas is ducted into the breech end of the projectile passage in response to impact of the barrel with the engagement surface;
• and, magazine means also disposed in the grip and extending into closely spaced relationship with the barrel at a location just forward of the valve means for defining a loading station and for feeding BB pellets one at a time to the loading station and into the projectile passage of the barrel through the loading port of the barrel as the loading port moves through the loading station during forward movement of the barrel by the trigger means and just prior to the barrel's being released by the trigger means for return reciprocation.

A gas-powered gun having a metal frame that forms a barrel portion and a grip portion of the gun, with a pre-machined fitting having exterior surfaces enveloped by the metal of the frame during die-casting of the frame, with the fitting being located at a juncture of an elongate, forwardly-opening barrel passage formed through the barrel portion during die-casting of the frame and a gas supply passage formed through the grip portion during die-casting of the frame, with a magazine passage that extends side-by-side with the gas supply passage also being formed during die-casting of the frame, with a reciprocally movable barrel carried in the barrel passage and slidably connected to the frame, with valve means being carried by the fitting for ducting a burst of compressed gas from the gas supply passage into a breech end region of the barrel in response to rearward movement of the barrel under the influence of a firing spring that is interposed between the barrel and the frame for biasing the barrel rearwardly toward the fitting, with magazine means being insertable into the magazine passage to supply projectiles one at a time through a loading port formed in the barrel near the breech end of the barrel, and with trigger means for moving the barrel forwardly in the barrel passage to a position wherein the barrel is released to move rearwardly under the influence of the firing spring to cause the valve means to duct said burst of compressed gas into the breech end region of the barrel to propel a projectile through the barrel for discharge from a muzzle end region of the barrel.

A gas-powered pistol, comprising:

• a) a frame having an elongate body that defines an elongate barrel passage, and having a grip that defines an elongate gas passage having one end region that communicates with one end region of the barrel passage at a juncture of the body and the grip, with the grip also defining an elongate magazine passage that extends generally parallel to the gas passage and has one end region that communicates with the barrel passage, and with the frame defining a trigger opening through which access is provided to the barrel passage at a location spaced forwardly along the barrel passage from said juncture;
• b) valve housing means connected to the frame for defining a valve passage at said juncture, with the valve passage having a first elongate branch that extends along an imaginary barrel axis that extends substantially centrally through the elongate barrel passage, and having a second elongate branch that communicates with the first elongate portion and that extends along an imaginary gas passage axis that extends substantially centrally through the elongate gas passage;
• c) valve assembly means connected to the valve housing means and communicating with the first branch for receiving pressurized gas introduced into the valve housing means through the second branch when a pressurized gas cylinder is installed in the elongate gas passage, and for providing a movable valve member that is biased toward a closed position and is capable of being cycled rapidly from the closed position to an open position and thence back to the closed position in response to being impacted, to thereby discharge a burst of pressurized gas from the first branch into the barrel passage;
• d) spring-biased barrel means including an elongate tubular projectile barrel having a muzzle end and a breech end and a projectile passage extending therethrough from the muzzle end to the breech end for being connected to the frame for movement along the barrel axis between a forward position and a rearward position, for being biased away from the forward position toward the rearward position, and for normally assuming an at-rest position situated slightly forwardly from the rearward position, with the breech end of the barrel being configured to impact the movable valve member when the barrel is moved from the at-rest position to the forward position and then is released to move rearwardly from the forward position whereby the movable valve member is impacted and caused to be cycled from its closed to its open to its closed position to duct said burst of pressurized gas into the breech end of the projectile passage, and for defining a loading port located relatively near the breech end of the barrel that is configured to permit a BB pellet to pass therethrough into the projectile passage at a loading station when the loading port of the barrel is moved through the loading station as the barrel is moved forwardly from the at-rest position to the forward position;
• e) magazine means configured to be inserted into the magazine passage for containing a supply of BB pellets, for feeding BB pellets one at a time to the loading station, and for biasing each BB pellet that has been fed to the loading station in a direction that will cause each BB pellet that has been fed to the loading station to be moved through the loading port so that, each time the barrel is moved to its forward position, a BB pellet then positioned at the loading station is fed through the loading port and into the barrel passage;
• and,
• f) trigger means connected to the frame and extending through the trigger opening for defining a finger operated trigger that is movable between operated and non-operated positions, that is biased toward its non-operated position, and that is operable, when moved from its non-operated position to its operated position to move the barrel from its at-rest position to its forward position and thence to release the barrel for movement to its rearward position so that a projectile that is loaded through the loading port into the projectile passage at the loading station is propelled through and discharged from the projectile passage by being acted upon by said burst of pressurized gas that is introduced into the breech end of the projectile passage when the breech end of the barrel impacts the movable valve member and is caused to be cycled from its closed to its open to its closed positions.