Patent ID: 7380505
Filing Date: 2008-06-03
Classification: F42B

Abstract:
1. A muzzleloading firearm projectile for use with a firearm having a barrel with longitudinally extending rifling on an inside surface thereof, said projectile comprising: a projectile body having at one end a tapered nose portion and at an opposite end a cylindrical shank, said projectile body being made of a copper or a copper alloy; a cylindrical skirt integral with said projectile body and oriented at an end of said cylindrical shank remote from said tapered nose portion coextensive with and extending longitudinally from said shank a finite distance to define a cavity having finite dimensions of depth and diameter, said skirt having a wall thickness configured to enable said cylindrical skirt to expand in diameter in response to an explosive discharge of powder used to propel said projectile body nose first from a barrel of the firearm from which said projectile body is being fired; an expansion plug filling said cavity and having its diameter dimension conforming to the diameter dimension of said cavity when received in said cavity and a length dimension that is at least one of equal to and greater than the depth dimension of said cavity, said expansion plug being made of a malleable material consisting of one of the group of wool felt, rubber, plastic, cork and paper and being configured to be compacted into said cavity in response to the explosive discharge of powder used to propel said projectile body nose first from the barrel of the firearm from which said projectile body is being fired to effect the expansion in diameter of said cylindrical skirt and an engagement of an outer surface of said cylindrical skirt with the rifling on the barrel; and a guidance ring provided on said cylindrical shank of said projectile body and extending radially outwardly of said projectile body at a location adjacent a juncture between said tapered nose portion and said cylindrical shank, said guidance ring being configured to have an outer diameter greater than a diameter of said cylindrical shank and a diameter of a rifling bore diameter of the firearm from which said projectile body is to be fired but less than a diameter of a groove diameter of the aforesaid rifling of the barrel, said guidance ring having a malleable characteristic to enable it to conform to the rifling on the barrel in response to being inserted into the barrel during a muzzleloading procedure.