Rotary ammunition magazine and follower
AssigneeSmith & Wesson Corp.
InventorSimon M. Muska
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A rotary ammunition magazine for a rifle has a follower that is spring biased and rotates about an axis to move cartridges for feeding to the rifle's chamber. The follower has a surface portion which engages the last cartridge in the stack. The surface portion has one or more characteristics including a transverse orientation angle, a longitudinal orientation angle and an arcuate shape which determine the direction of the force vector and the lengthwise load distribution on the cartridge.
Claims15
A follower for advancing cartridges in an ammunition magazine, said follower comprising:
- a plate having a surface positionable within said magazine facing one of said cartridges, said plate having an axis of rotation oriented parallel to said one cartridge, said surface comprising an arcuate surface portion extending longitudinally along said plate and engageable with said one cartridge, said arcuate surface portion having a curvature which subtends an angle measured about an axis of curvature oriented transversely to said axis of rotation.
A magazine for holding a plurality of ammunition cartridges, said magazine comprising:
- a plurality of sidewalls defining a space for receiving said cartridges;
- an elongate opening defined between a first and a second of said sidewalls providing access to said space;
- a follower mounted within said space, said follower being rotatable about an axis of rotation oriented parallel to said cartridges for urging said cartridges toward said opening, said follower comprising:
- a plate having a surface positioned facing one of said cartridges, said surface comprising an arcuate surface portion extending longitudinally along said plate, said arcuate surface portion being engageable with said one cartridge and having a curvature which subtends an angle measured about an axis of curvature oriented transversely to said axis of rotation;
- a spring biasing said plate for rotation about said axis of rotation.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.