Patent ID: 9354007
Filing Date: 2016-05-31
CPC Classification: F41A

Claim Text:
1. A cartridge magazine for housing a plurality of stacked cartridges and successively dispensing and guiding the uppermost one of the stacked cartridges from the magazine forward toward an inclined ramp leading to a chamber of a barrel of a firearm, the magazine comprising: a housing portion comprising a front wall, a rear wall, first and second side walls, and a pair of cartridge retaining lips, each of the first and second side walls being between the front wall and the rear wall, the front, rear and side walls defining a cartridge compartment extending along a longitudinal housing axis, the cartridge compartment being adapted to contain a plurality of stacked cartridges, the cartridge compartment having a lower region and an upper region, the cartridge retaining lips being disposed along a respective upper edge margin of each of the first and second side walls; a magazine follower within the cartridge compartment, the magazine follower being adapted and configured to move within the cartridge compartment generally along the housing axis; a follower urging spring within the cartridge compartment, the follower urging spring being adapted and configured to urge the magazine follower toward the upper region of the cartridge compartment; a nose-dive control spring comprising a resilient shank portion and a bullet-engageable end portion, the shank portion extending from one of the front and side walls to the bullet-engageable end portion, the nose-dive control spring being adapted and configured such that as a cartridge having a casing and a bullet moves upwardly along the longitudinal housing axis, the bullet-engageable end portion is engaged by the bullet of the cartridge and forced outwardly until an upper portion of the bullet moves upwardly beyond the bullet-engageable end portion and the shank portion subsequently resiliently urges the bullet-engageable end portion inwardly into the upper portion of the cartridge compartment and under a lower portion of the bullet thereby urging the cartridge into a retaining lips engaging position, the retaining lips engaging position being a position of the cartridge relative to the cartridge magazine in which the casing of the cartridge engages the cartridge retaining lips while the nose-dive control spring engages the bullet of the cartridge and at least a portion of the bullet extends above the upper edge margin of the first side wall, the nose-dive control spring being adapted and configured to prevent the cartridge from moving into a nose-dive orientation as a breech face of the firearm pushes the cartridge forward toward the inclined ramp of the firearm.