Inline hammerless percussion firing system for muzzleloader firearms

A muzzleloader firearm inline hammerless percussion firing system comprising:

• a striker having a firing pin at a forward or breech end;
• a striker spring for biasing said striker in a forward position when said striker spring is compressed;
• a cocking button for compressing said striker spring;
• a retainer holding said cocking button in a forward position and keeping said striker spring compressed;
• and
• a sear pivotally mounted to said firearm for blocking said striker until a trigger system releases said sear;
• wherein said trigger system includes:
• a trigger holding said sear in a blocking position and releasing said sear upon movement of said trigger;
• and
• said trigger and a trigger edge, each having a planar face adjacent to one another, said trigger edge including a top segment in a same vertical plane as a trigger blade, and a lateral trigger segment seated at a lower portion of said top segment and having a width extending laterally outwards from said top segment width, and including said trigger edge planar face, said trigger blade adapted for compression by a shooter's finger, said trigger and said trigger edge being joined by a pivot pin that allows said trigger and said trigger edge to rotate in mechanical communication with one another such that said adjacent planar face of said trigger edge contacts said adjacent planar face of said trigger, thereby causing both to rotate together as a unit, said rotation controlled by tension springs, such that movement of said trigger edge against said trigger by said shooter's compression of said trigger blade is resiliently resisted by said tension springs, and said trigger edge top segment initially moves without moving said trigger establishing an initial lost motion operation.

A muzzleloader firearm inline hammerless percussion firing system comprising:

• a striker having a firing pin at a forward end;
• a striker spring connected to the striker to linearly drive the striker and firing pin forward;
• a cocking button slidably mounted to the firearm, the cocking button being slidable from a rearward safe position to a forward firing position to compress the striker spring and cock the firearm;
• a retainer pivotably mounted to the firearm to act proximate the rear of the striker to hold the cocking button forward and keep the striker spring compressed;
• a sear having an upper portion and a lower portion, and pivotably mounted to the firearm being movable from a blocking position in which the striker is prevented from moving forward to a released position, the sear includes a safety notch and a firing notch deeper than the safety notch;
• and
• a lost motion trigger system including a trigger that contacts a lower portion of the sear to hold the sear in the blocking position and a trigger edge that pivots relative to the trigger with lost motion before contacting the trigger and moving the trigger to release the sear lower portion to move downwards;
• the trigger edge being movable by a shooter's finger pressure to move out from below the safety notch in the sear, where firing is prevented, to below the firing notch in the sear, where firing can occur.

A method of firing a muzzleloader having an inline hammerless percussion firing system comprising:

• cocking said muzzleloader, said cocking including:
• sliding a cocking button from a rearward safe position to a forward firing position;
• compressing a striker spring acting on a striker by sliding said cocking button forward;
• holding said striker spring compressed at a rearward end by pivotally rotating a retainer mounted to the firearm, said retainer acting proximate the rear of said striker to hold the cocking button in said forward firing position, and maintaining compression to said striker spring;
• holding said striker spring compressed at a forward end by a pivotally mounted sear, said sear rotated to a blocking position, thereby maintaining compression to said striker spring and preventing said striker from moving forward to a released position, said sear including a safety notch and a firing notch deeper than the safety notch;
• and
• holding said sear in said blocking position by positioning a trigger having a trigger edge to prevent pivotal movement of said sear, said trigger and said trigger edge having adjacent planar surfaces;
• releasing said striker, said releasing including:
• compressing a trigger blade to release said trigger by moving said trigger edge from said safety notch in said sear to said firing notch;
• moving said sear from said blocking position to a release position by contacting said trigger planar surface against said trigger edge planar surface and allowing said trigger and said trigger edge to rotate as one unit, thereby allowing said striker to move forward upon force supplied by said compressed striker spring;
• and
• moving a firing pin by releasing said striker to move linearly forward under said striker spring force to strike a cartridge.