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Claims  |
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What is claimed is:
1. A convertible, belt/clip-fed automatic gun, which comprises:
a. a gun barrel having a breech;
b. a receiver connected to the barrel and having a battery position
disposed adjacent said barrel breech, a shell pick up position and a shell
casing ejection port;
c. a bolt assembly slidably mounted in the receiver for reciprocating
movement, in response to firing of the gun, between the battery position
and a recoil position rearwardly of the shell pick up position and the
shell casing ejection port, the bolt assembly having means for picking up
a shell from the pick up position upon forward bolt assembly movement and
for loading the picked up shell into the barrel breech and, after firing,
for extracting a fired shell casing from the barrel breech upon rearward
recoil movement from the battery position to the recoil position, said
bolt assembly having an ammunition belt advancing and shell casing
ejection cam track formed thereon;
d. ammunition belt receiving and advancing means, comprising a cam follower
pivotally mounted to the receiver, at least one belt advancing pawl
mounted to the cam follower, a belt feeding adapter for receiving an
ammunition belt and means for releasably attaching said belt feeding
adapter to the receiver at a position adjacent to said shell pick up
position and in a cooperative relationship with said cam follower;
said cam follower having a cam track following portion thereof in
engagement with said bolt assembly cam track and being thereby responsive
to rearward movement of the bolt assembly from the breech to the recoil
position for causing said belt advancing pawl to inwardly advance an
ammunition belt held by the belt feeding adapter in a manner moving a
shell in the belt into the shell pick up position and being responsive to
forward movement of the bolt assembly from the recoil position to the
battery position for moving said belt advancing pawl a shell distance
outwardly in readiness for advancing the belt the next time the bolt
assembly is moved rearwardly to the recoil position; and
e. an ammunition clip holder and means for releasably attaching the clip
holder to the receiver in place of the belt feeding adapter and belt
advancing pawl.
2. The convertible gun as claimed in claim 1 wherein the belt feeding
adapter includes at least one shell anti-back up pawl for preventing a
shell in the shell pick up position from being moved outwardly away from
said pick up position when the belt advancing pawl is moved outwardly in
response to forward movement of the bolt assembly.
3. The convertible gun as claimed in claim 1 wherein said bolt assembly
includes a shell extractor and an ejector recess in a region opposite to
said extractor and wherein said cam follower includes a shell ejector
portion which is caused, responsive to the bolt assembly moving rearwardly
from the battery position to the recoil position, to move into said
ejector recess and cause ejection, through said shell casing ejection
port, of a shell casing held by the shell extractor when the bolt assembly
has moved rearwardly to a preestablished position relative to said shell
ejection port.
4. The convertible gun as claimed in claim 1 wherein the bolt assembly
comprises a bolt and a bolt carrier and wherein the cam track is formed on
the bolt carrier.
5. The convertible gun as claimed in claim 1 wherein the cam follower is
pivotally mounted at a forward region to the receiver and wherein the cam
track engaging portion is rearward of the pivotal mounting region.
6. The convertible gun as claimed in claim 1 wherein the belt advancing
pawl is pivotally mounted to the cam follower and is spring-loaded so that
when the cam follower is pivoted outwardly, in response to forward
movement of the bolt assembly, the belt advancing pawl pivots to a
retracted position as the belt advancing pawl is pushed outwardly under a
shell in the belt to a position which enables the belt advancing pawl to
advance the belt one shell position when the cam follower is subsequently
pivoted inwardly in response to the bolt assembly moving rearwardly from
the battery position.
7. The convertible gun as claimed in claim 1 wherein the belt feeding
adapter comprises a lower, body portion and an upper, cover portion, the
body and cover portions being hinged together so that the cover portion
can be opened relative to the body portion without detaching the belt
feeding adapter from the receiver, an ammunition belt being receivable
into the adapter when the cover portion is open and being retained in the
belt feeding adapter when the cover portion is then closed.
8. A convertible, belt/clip-fed automatic gun, which comprises:
a. a gun barrel having a breech;
b. a receiver connected to the barrel and having a battery positioned
disposed adjacent said barrel breech, a shell pick up position and a shell
casing ejection port;
c. a bolt assembly slidably mounted in the receiver for reciprocating
movement, in response to firing of the gun, between the battery position
and a recoil position rearwardly of the shell pick up position and the
shell casing ejection port, the bolt assembly including a bolt having
means for picking up a shell from the pick up position upon forward bolt
assembly movement and for loading the picked up shell into the barrel
breech and, after firing, for extracting a fired shell casing from the
barrel breech upon rearward recoil movement from the battery position to
the recoil position, and including a bolt carrier having an ammunition
belt advancing and casing ejection cam track formed thereon;
d. ammunition belt receiving and advancing means, comprising a cam follower
pivotally mounted to the receiver, at least one belt advancing pawl
mounted to the cam follower, a belt feeding adapter for receiving an
ammunition belt and means for releasably attaching said belt feeding
adapter to the receiver at a position adjacent to said shell pick up
position and in a cooperative relationship with said cam follower,
said cam follower having a cam track following portion in engagement with
said bolt assembly cam track and being thereby responsive to rearward
movement of the bolt assembly from the breech to the recoil position for
causing said belt advancing pawl to inwardly advance an ammunition belt
held by the belt feeding adapter in a manner moving shell in the belt into
the shell pick up position and being responsive to forward movement of the
bolt assembly from the recoil position to the battery position for moving
said belt advancing pawl a shell distance outwardly in readiness for
advancing the belt the next time the bolt assembly is moved rearwardly to
the recoil position and said belt feeding adapter including at least one
shell anti-back up pawl for preventing a shell in the pick up position
from being moved outwardly away from said pick up position when the belt
advancing pawl in moved outwardly in response to forward movement of the
bolt assembly; and
e. an ammunition clip holder and means for releasably attaching the clip
holder to the receiver in place of the belt feeding adapter and belt
advancing pawl.
9. The convertible gun as claimed in claim 8 wherein said means for
extracting a fired shell casing include a shell extractor pivotally
mounted to the bolt and an ejector recess formed in a forward region of
the bolt opposite said extractor and wherein said cam follower includes a
shell ejector portion which is caused, responsive to the bolt assembly
moving rearwardly from the breech to the recoil position, to move into
said ejector recess in the bolt and cause ejection, through said shell
casing ejection port, of a shell casing held by the shell extractor when
the bolt assembly has moved rearwardly to a preestablished position
relative to said shell ejection port.
10. The convertible gun as claimed in claim 8 wherein the cam follower is
pivotally mounted at a forward region to the receiver and wherein the cam
track following portion is rearward of said pivotal mounting region.
11. The convertible gun as claimedd in claim 8 wherein the belt advancing
pawl is pivotally mounted to the cam follower and is spring-loaded so that
when the cam follower is pivoted outwardly, in response to forward
movement of the bolt carrier with said cam follower portion if engagement
with the bolt carrier cam track, the belt advancing pawl pivots to a
retracted position as the belt advancing pawl is pushed outwardly under a
shell in the belt to a position which enables the belt advancing pawl to
advance the belt one shell position when the cam follower is pivoted
inwardly in response to the bolt assembly moving rearwardly from the
battery position.
12. The convertible gun as claimed in claim 8 wherein the belt feeding
adapter comprises a lower, body portion and an upper, cover portion, the
body and cover portions being hinged together so that the cover portion
can be opened relative to the body portion without detaching the belt
feeding adapter from the receiver, an ammunition belt being insertable in
the belt feeding adapter when the cover portion is open and being retained
in the belt feeding adapter when the cover portion is then closed.
13. A belt fed automatic gun with positive shell casing ejection, which
comprises:
a. a gun barrel having a breech;
b. a receiver connected to the barrel and having a battery position
disposed adjacent said barrel breech, shell pick up position and a shell
casing ejection port;
c. a bolt assembly slidably mounted in the receiver for reciprocating
movement, in response to firing of the gun, between the barrel battery
position and a recoil position rearwardly of the shell pick up position
and the shell casing ejection port, the bolt assembly having means for
picking up a shell from the pick up position upon forward bolt assembly
movement and for loading the pick up shell into the barrel breech and,
after firing, for extracting a fired shell casing from the barrel breech
upon rearward recoil movement from the battery position to the recoil
position, said bolt assembly having an ammunition belt advancing and shell
casing ejection cam track formed thereon, said bolt assembly including a
shell extractor and an ejector recess in a region opposite to said
extractor;
d. ammunition belt receiving and advancing means, comprising a cam follower
pivotally mounted to the receiver, at least one belt feeding adapter for
receiving an ammunition belt and and means for releasably attaching said
belt feeding adapter to the receiver at a position adjacent to said shell
pick up position and in a cooperative relationship with said cam follower,
said cam follower having a cam track following portion thereof in
engagement with said bolt assembly cam track and being thereby responsive
to rearward movement of the bolt assembly from the battery position to the
recoil position for causing said belt advancing pawl to inwardly advance
an ammunition belt held by the belt feeding adapter in a manner moving a
shell in the belt into the shell pick up position and being responsive to
forward movement of the belt assembly from the recoil position to the
battery position for moving said belt advancing pawl a shell distance
outwardly in readiness for advancing the belt the next time the bolt is
moved rearwardly to the recoil position, said cam follower including a
shell ejector portion which is caused, responsive to the bolt assembly
moving rearwardly from the battery position to the recoil position, to
move into said bolt assembly ejector recess and cause ejection, through
said shell casing ejection port, of a shell casing held by the shell
extractor when the bolt assembly has moved rearwardly to a preestablished
position relative to said shell ejection port.
14. The automatic gun as claimed in claim 13 wherein the belt feeding
adapter includes at least one shell anti-back up pawl for preventing a
shell in the pick up position from being moved outwardly away from said
pick up position when the belt advancing pawl is moved outwardly in
response to forward movement of the bolt assembly.
15. The automatic gun as claimed in claim 13 including an ammunition clip
holder and means for releasably attaching the clip holder to the receiver
in place of the belt feeding adapter and belt advancing pawl.
16. The automatic gun as claimed in claim 13 wherein the bolt assembly
comprises a bolt and a bolt carrier and wherein the cam track is formed on
the bolt carrier.
17. The automatic gun as claimed in claim 13 wherein the cam follower is
pivotally mounted at a forward region to the receiver and wherein the cam
track engaging portion is rearward of the pivotal mounting region.
18. The automatic gun as claimed in claim 13 wherein the belt advancing
pawl is pivotally mounted to the cam follower and is spring loaded so that
when the cam follower is pivoted outwardly, in response to forward
movement of the bolt assembly, the belt advancing pawl pivots to a
retracted position as the belt advancing pawl is pushed outwardly under a
shell in the belt to a position which enables the belt advancing pawl to
advance the belt one shell position when the cam follower is subsequently
pivoted inwardly in response to the bolt assembly moving rearwardly from
the battery position.
19. The automatic gun as claimed in claim 13 wherein the belt feeding
adapter comprises a lower, body portion and an upper, cover portion, the
body and cover portions being hinged together so that the cover portion
can be opened relative to the body portion without detaching the belt
feeding adapter from the reciever, an ammunition belt being receivable
into the belt feeding adapter when the cover portion is open and being
retained in the belt feeding adapter when the cover portion is then
closed.
20. The automatic gun as claimed in claims 1, 8 or 13 wherein the cam trach
comprises a substantially linear recess formed at an angle of between
substantially 5.degree. and 10.degree. relative to a bore axis of the gun.
21. The automatic gun as claimed in claim 20 wherein said angle is
substantially 6.degree..
22. The automatic gun as claimed in claims 1, 8 or 15 wherein the clip
holder and the means for attaching the clip holder to the receiver are
configured for holding a clip at angle causing the clip to be out of the
sight path of the gun. |
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Claims |
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Description |
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BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of automatic guns and
more particularly to light machine guns having the capability for
alternatively firing belted and clip-fed ammunition.
2. Background Discussion
In spite of the development of such sophisticated and powerful weapons as
nuclear bombs, ballistic and guided missles, supersonic fighters and
bombers, super aircraft carriers and nuclear-powered submarines, modern
military conflicts still ultimately rely upon foot troops whose combat
role is, as it has always been, to take and hold ground. This apparent
anomoly has been demonstrated time and time again in post-World War II
conflicts, including the Korean war, Viet Nam, Granada and the current
Iraq-Iran conflict in the Mid-East.
For several hundred years, the primary weapon of ground troops has been the
rifle. Starting with crude, single shot, match-lock muzzle loaders, the
rifle has evolved through breech-loaders and semi-automatic rifles, into
the present day, relatively small calibre, clip-fed. automatic rifles,
exemplified in the United States and many other free countries of the
world by the M-16 and in Soviet-block countries by the AK-47.
In most military organizations, rifles have typically been supplemented, on
a company, platoon or squad level, by submachine guns (which fire pistol
ammunition) and light machine guns (which fire rifle ammunition). By way
of example, in both World War II and Korea, the semi-automatic M1 rifle
used by U.S. troops was augmented by such automatic weapons as the
Thompson submachine gun, the "grease" gun, the Browning automatic rifle
(BAR) and 30 and 50 calibre machine guns, and in Viet Nam the M-16 was,
for example, augmented by the larger, NATO calibre M-60 machine gun.
Many modern automatic rifles, such as the M-16 and the AK-47, as well as
various other similar rifles in service throughout the world, combine
features which were once separately found in rifles, submachine guns and
light machine guns. The resulting modern rifles, which are usually
selectable between semi-automatic and fully automatic firing, are
sometimes referred to generically as "assault rifles."
Although modern automatic rifles usually have many advantages over those
used in World War II and Korea, being generally lighter in weight and
having greatly increased fire power, improvements are still continually
sought by the military services not only in automatic rifles but also in
ligth machine guns (LMG) which are easily carried by troops and which
increase the firepower and effectiveness of the troops in both offensive
and defensive situations.
One relatively recent requirement, at least by the military in this
country, for new generation LMG's is that such weapons have the dual
capability for firing both belted ammunition and ammunition held in
conventional, rifle clips. The use of belted ammunition, which is, in one
configuration, held in boxes which attach to the gun, enables sustained
firing without reloading the gun. On the other hand, the ability to use
standard rifle clips which hold the same calibre ammunition and which are
commonly available in rifle companies using the LMG's, enables continued
operation of the LMG if the supply of belted ammunition is exhausted.
Although some types of belt and clip-fed, "convertible" LMG's have been put
into limited service, that does not necessarily mean that such guns are
entirely satisfactory for combat use or that they cannot or should not be
improved upon. Extensive, individualized "gunsmithing" is, for example,
reportedly required on some types of convetable LMG's before they are
capable of satisfactory operation even in benign environments. This raises
questions as to the reliability of such guns in service and especially
under combat conditions, and improvements to overcome this apparent
manufacturability problem are expected to be needed.
It is desirable in such convertible guns to reduce the number of small
and/or complicated parts. Complicated parts are not only costly to
manufacture but often make the interchageability of parts difficult.
Among other requirements, LMG's should: (i) be rugged and operate reliably
and accurately, in a wide range of hostile environments, including arid
and sandy deserts, humid jungles and icy polar regions, (ii) be capable of
taking all manner of abuse and still operate satisfactorily; (iii) not
require excessive maintanance and whatever maintenance is required should
be quick and simple to perform both under adverse field conditions and by
relatively untrained troops, (iv) not have an excessive number of
complicated parts which can be easily damaged or which cannot be
interchanged among weapons of the same type, (v) be easy to operate
accurately by relatively green troops, and (vi) be relatively simple and
economical to manufacture.
The importance of this country's having the best possible weapons,
including LMG's, for its troops is made evident by the fact that in any
armed conflict, United States troops can be expected to be out numbered by
enemy troops, often by a large margin. It is, therefore, a principle
objective of the present invention to provide an improved, convertible
belt/clip-fed automatic gun or LMG which will overcome the deficiencies of
known guns of such type.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In accordance with the present invention, a convertible, belt/clip-fed
automatic gun, such as a light machine gun, comprises a barrel having a
breech and a receiver connected to the barrel and having a battery
position disposed adjacent the barrel breech, a shell pick up position and
a shell casing ejection port. A bolt assembly, comprising a bolt and a
bolt carrier, is slidably mounted in the receiver for reciprocating
movement, in response to firing of the gun, between the battery position
and a recoil position rearwardly of the shell pick up position and the
shell casing ejection port. The bolt assembly includes means for picking
up a shell from the pick up position upon forward bolt assembly movement,
for loading the picked up shell into the breach and, after firing, for
extracting the fired shell casing and ejecting it outwardly through the
ejection port upon rearward recoil movement from the breech towards the
recoil position.
Further comprising the gun are ammunition belt receiving and advancing or
feeding means which include a cam follower pivotally mounted to the
receiver, at least one belt advancing pawl mounted to the cam follower, a
belt feeding adapter for receiving an ammunition belt and means for
releasably attaching the belt feeding adapter to the receiver adjacent to
the shell pick up position and in an operative relationship with the cam
follower. The cam follower has a portion thereof in movable engagement
with a cam track formed on the bolt assembly, preferably on the bolt
carrier, the cam follower being shaped so that upon rearward movement of
the bolt assembly (and thus, the cam track) from the breech to the recoil
position, for example, by a firing of the gun, the belt advancing pawl is
moved inwardly towards the bore axis to inwardly advance, by one shell
position, an ammunition belt held by the belt feeding adapter in a manner
moving a shell held in the belt into the shell pick up position. The cam
follower is also responsive to forward movement of the bolt assembly from
the recoil position to the breech for moving the belt advancing pawl a
shell distance outwardly in readiness for advancing the belt the next time
the bolt assembly is moved rearwardly to the recoil position.
The bolt assembly includes a shell extractor and an ejector recess in a
region opposite the extractor. The cam follower includes a shell ejector
portion which is caused by the bolt carrier cam, responsive to the bolt
assembly moving rearwardly from the the breech to the recoil position and
pivoting of the cam follower, to move into the ejector recess and cause
ejection of a shell casing held by the shell extractor as the bolt
assembly continues to recoil rearwardly to a preestablished position
relative to the shell ejection port.
There is also included as part of the gun an ammunition clip holder and
means for releasably attaching the clip holder to the receiver in place of
the belt feeding adapter and out of engagement with the belt advancing
pawl. The clip holder is preferably constructed to receive and feed shells
from a conventional rifle clip and for holding the clip directed upwardly
and at an angle relative to a vertical plane through the bore axis which
does not interfere with use of the gun sights.
According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the belt feeding
adapter includes at least one shell anti-back up pawl for preventing a
shell in the pick up position from being moved outwardly away from said
position when the belt advancing pawl is moved outwardly in response to
forward movement of the bolt assembly.
It is preferred that the cam follower be pivotally mounted at a forward
region to the receiver and that the cam track engaging portion be rearward
of the pivotal mounting region. Also, it is preferred that the belt
advancing pawl is pivotally mounted to the cam follower and is
spring-loaded so that when the cam follower is pivoted outwardly, in
response to forward movement of the bolt assembly, the pawl pivots to a
retracted position as the pawl is pushed outwardly under a shell in the
belt to a position which enables the pawl to advnce the belt one shell
position when the cam follower is next pivoted inwardly in response to the
bolt assembly moving back rearwardly from the breech.
In the preferred embodiment, the belt feeding adapter comprises a lower,
body portion and an upper, cover portion, the body and cover portions
being hinged together so that the cover porton can be opened relative to
the body portion without detaching the adapter from the receiver, an
ammunition belt being insertable in the adapter when the coverportion is
open and being retained in the adapter when the cover portion is then
closed.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The present invention can be more readily understood from the following
detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying
drawings. It is to be noted that for purposes of showing important
features of the convertible gun of the present invention, the gun is
pointing to the left in FIG. 1 and is pointing to the right in the rest of
the FIGS. In the accompanying drawings:
FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective of a convertible belt/clip-fed automatic
gun (LMG) in accordance with the present invention,
FIG. 1a showing the belt feeding configuration of the gun, and
FIG. 1b showing the relative portion of the gun alternatively configured
for feeding ammunition to the gun from a conventional automatic rifle
clip;
FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective drawing of ammunition feeding and casing
ejection regions of the convertible gun shown in FIG. 1, showing the bolt
group (i.e., the bolt and bolt carrier), portions of the receiver and
barrel and showing both the belt feeding adapter and the rifle clip
feeding adapter;
FIG. 3 is a longitudinal cross sectional view taken along line 3--3 of FIG.
2 (assuming the parts shown in exploded perspective in FIG. 2 are
assembled together in their proper relationship), showing the gun at an
instant in time in which the bolt group is at the breech with a shell in
the breech and showing the belt feeding adapter installed on the receiver;
FIG. 4 is a plan view taken along line 4--4 of FIG. 3, but with the belt
feeding adapter removed, showing the outwardly pivoted position of a belt
feeding cam follower mounted on the receiver at the same instant in time
as FIG. 3, with the bolt group still at the breech;
FIG. 5 is a transverse cross sectional drawing taken along line 5--5 of
FIG. 3 showing, in particular, a belt advancing feed pawl (connected to
the belt feeding cam follower) in an outermost position in readiness for
advancing a next shell in the belt to the shell pick up position when the
bolt group moves rearwardly in recoil after firing the shell chambered in
the breech;
FIG. 6 is a longitudinal cross sectional drawing similar to the view of
FIG. 3, but showing the internal configuration of the receiver region of
the gun at a later instant in time when the bolt group has recoiler fully
rearward after firing the shell previously chambered in the breech;
FIG. 7 is a plan view of the gun similar to FIG. 4, but showing the
inwardly pivoted position of the belt feeding cam follower at the instant
of time of FIG. 6 when the bolt group has recoiler to a rearward position;
FIG. 8 is a transverse cross sectional drawing similar to FIG. 5 but at the
instant of time of FIG. 6 when the bolt group has recoiled to a rearward
position, and showing the belt advancing pawl in its innermost position in
which it has just moved a belted shell into the pick up position in
readiness to be picked up by the bolt when the bolt group moves back
forwardly to the breech; and
FIG. 9 is a sequence of plan views similar to FIG. 4 and taken at succesive
time intervals, showing the belt feeding cam follower and the bolt as the
bolt moves rearwardly from the breech, after firing, to its full recoil
position and showing the extraction and ejection of a fired shell casing
by the bolt,
FIG. 9a showing the bolt at the breech, a chambered shell and the belt
feeding cam follower pivoted to its outermost position,
FIG. 9b showing the bolt moved slightly rearwardly after firing, thereby
starting the extraction of the fired shell casing from the breech and
showing the belt feeding cam follower being pivoted inwardly towards a
barrel bore axis,
FIG. 9c showing the bolt recoiled rearwardly with the shell casing
extracted from the breech and laterally aligned with a shell ejection port
of the receiver and showing the belt advancing cam follower pivoted
inwardly towards the bore axis so that a shell ejecting portion of the cam
follower has entered a shell ejection recess in the bolt and is in contact
with the base of the shell casing being extracted,
FIG. 9d showing the bolt moved rearwardly relative to the belt feeding cam
follower so that the shell ejection portion of the cam follower is
forwardly of the bolt and has pushed against the shell casing base so that
the casing is pivoting about the shell extractor and is part way out of
the ejection port, and
FIG. 9e showing the bolt recoiled further rearwardly of the belt feeding
cam follower and showing the extracted shell casing pivoting out of the
ejection port and in contact with a rearward edge of the port which acts
as a pivot point.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
Illustrated in FIG. 1a is an examplary light machine gun (LMG) 10 in which
the present invention may be used to advantage. Shown comprising gun 10 is
a receiver 12 to which a barrrel 14 is connected. A collapsible shoulder
member or stock 16 projects rearwardly from receiver 12 and a conventional
pistol grip-type handle and trigger group 18 are connected to lower, rear
regions of the receiver. A bipod assembly 20, for example, of the type
used on an M-60 machine gun, is connected to rearward regions of barrel
14. Just rearwardly of bipod assembly 20 is a hand guard-grip assembly 22
which encloses rearward regions of barrel 14 and/or forward regions of
receiver 12.
Detachable connected to the bottom of receiver 12, forwardly of handle and
trigger group 17, is a box magazine 30 which holds a flexible belt 32 of
ammunition (i.e., shells) 34 for gun 10. Ammunition belt 32 is of the
disintegrating link type in which adjacent links 36 are interlocked by
shells 34, the stripping of shells causing the links to separate so they
can be separately discharged from gun 10, as described below.
In accordance with the present invention, and as described below, an
ammunition belt adapter assembly 40 is detachably connected to the
lefthand side (as shown in FIG. 1) of receiver 12 for enabling the firing
by gun 10 of shells 34 from belt 32. Shown in operative relationship with
belt adapter assembly 40 is a cam follower assembly 46 which provides not
only for the advancing of ammunition belt 32 into gun 10, so that shells
34 held by the belt can be fired, but also for the ejection of fired shell
casings through the other side of receiver 12, as described below.
Although gun 10 is, as a light machine gun, primarily intented for firing
belted ammunition, as is enabled by belt adapter assembly 40 and cam
follower assembly 46, emergency situations may arise during combat in
which supplies of belted ammunition for the gun may run out. In order to
enable continued operation of gun 10 in such situations, albeit with
reduced fire power, there is included the provision for alternatively
using standard rifle ammunition clips which may, in some situations, be
more plentiful than belted ammunition. Accordingly, as depicted in FIG.
1b, which shows only shell feeding regions of gun 10, ammunition belt
adapter 40 may be substituted, also as more particularly described below,
by a clip feeding adapter assembly 48 which then permits the firing by the
gun of shells held in a conventional rifle clip or magazine 50. By way of
example, assuming that gun 10 is configured for firing standard 5.56 mm
(i.e., 223 calibre) ammunition which is used in the M-16 rifle, clip
adapter assembly 48 is preferably configured for receiving a standard M-16
clip 50. As can be seen from FIG. 1b, when belt adapter 40 is replaced by
clip adapter 48, box magazine 30 is removed from a dovetail slot 52 in
receiver 12. Also, parts of cam follower assembly 46 are, as described
below, removed to accomodate clip feeding adapter assembly 50.
FIG. 2 shows, in exploded perspective, relevant shell feeding and ejecting
regions of gun 10 to which belt and clip adapter assemblies 40 and 48,
respectively, are detachably connected. Shown in FIG. 2, in addition to
forward regions of receiver 12 and rearward regions of barrel 14, are belt
adapter assembly 40, clip adapter assembly 48, cam follower assembly 46
and a bolt group 54.
It is to be noted that in FIG. 2 and subsequent FIGS. gun 10 is pointing to
the right; whereas, in order to show features not otherwise clearly
visible, FIGS. 1a and 1b depict the gun pointing to the left.
Principally comprising ammunition belt adaptor assembly 40, as shown in
FIG. 2, are an adaptor base 56 and a cover assembly 58. In turn comprising
cover assembly 58 are a upwardly recessed cover plate 60, a shell stripper
62, a shell pusher 64 and a shell holding or anti-back up pawl 66. Shell
pusher 64 is formed having a pair of similar, longitudinally spaced apart,
outwardly directed ears 72 through which are formed a pair of
longitudinally aligned mounting apertures 74. Formed along the rearward
edge of shell pusher 64 is a downwardly projecting, wedge-shaped shell
pushing portion 76. Shell stripper 62 is generally square in plan view and
has a mounting aperture 78 formed longitudinally through an outer end
region thereof. Formed upwardly into shell stripper 62, at a inner,
rearwardly corner of the stripper is a recess 80 which receives forward
regions of belt links 36 when a shell 34 is being stripped out of
ammunition belt 32 during firing of gun 10 and holds the link in place
(i.e., prevents forward movement of the link as the shell is pushed
forwardly during the stripping operation). Anti-back up pawl 66 is formed
having a pair of outwardly projecting, longitudinally spaced apart,
parallel ears 82 interconnected at inner end by a pawl portion 84. A pair
of longitudinally aligned mounting apertures 86 are formed through outer
end regions of ears 82. Upon assembly, anti-back up pawl 66 is positioned
between shell pusher ears 72 with mounting apertures 86 and 74 aligned,
and with a coil-type torsion spring between pawl ears 82.
An elongate pin 96, extends longitudinally through apertures (not shown) in
cover plate 60 and through shell pusher apertures 74, pawl apertures 86,
spring 94 and stripper apertures 78. Pin 96 pivotly mounts shell pusher 64
and stripper 62 in a side-by-side relationship, with the stripper
forwardly of the pusher and with anti-back up pawl 66 between pusher ears
72, within a rectangular recess formed upwardly into cover plate 60 and
defined by an under surface 98 (FIGS. 3 and 5). Compression springs 100
and 102, installed between inner end regions of shell pusher 64 and shell
stripper 62, respectively, and cover plate under surface 98, when the
shell holder and stipper are installed on pin 96, urge inner end regions
of the pusher and stripper downwardly. Such downward pivoting is limited
by the upper surfaces of outer ends of shell pusher 64 and stripper 62
bearing against cover under surface 98.
Further compr | | |
