Modular cartridge loading board system

A modular cartridge loading board system comprised of a series of individual cartridge storage blocks, the blocks being mountable on a backing board in any matrix configuration desired by the user. Each cartridge storage block is comprised of a base plate and a series of axially parallel cartridge tubes extending outwardly from one surface of the plate, the tubes being oriented on a locus of points and being equal in number to the locus and number of chambers in the cylinder of a user's hand gun. Each tube is provided with a dual seat configuration interiorly thereof so as to seat either a round nose cartridge or a flat nose cartridge in substantially non-jiggling fashion when the cartridge is positioned nose down within the tube. When a storage block is filled with either round nose or flat nose cartridges, the cartridges are easily transferred to a cartridge loader and, subsequently, from the cartridge loader to the cylinder's chambers of the user's hand gun.

This invention relates to a quick loading system for guns. More 
particularly, this invention relates to a loading system by which a series 
of cartridges can be quick loaded into plural chambers of a hand gun. 
Competition shooting is often used by various police agencies in an effort 
to improve the shooting accuracy of policemen. Further, competition 
shooting for pleasure and relaxation by others is also common in gun clubs 
around the country. Such competition shooting is, of course, generally 
segregated according to the gun type used. 
One basic type of competition shooting makes use of hand guns in the form 
of revolvers. As is well known, revolvers are normally loaded by hand, the 
five or six chambers of the revolver's cylinder being manually loaded one 
cartridge at a time. However, in competition shooting there normally is a 
time limit over which a series of shots can be fired, e.g., twelve 
cartridges must be fired in twelve seconds. And when more cartridges must 
be fired in a time period than can be carried in the chambers of the 
revolver's cylinder, the revolver must be reloaded during that time 
period. In other words, it is to the advantage of the competition shooter 
to be able to reload the chamber of his hand gun's cylinder within as 
short a time as possible during any given round of shooting so as to 
provide maximum time for aiming and shooting at the target, i.e., so as to 
minimize the time necessary for reloading the hand gun. 
There are cartridge loaders known to the prior art which materially 
increase the speed with which the chamber of a revolver's cylinder can be 
loaded and reloaded, and which greatly facilitates the loading of that 
hand gun, by the user. A cartridge loader basically functions to retain a 
number of cartridges in temporary storage which are equal to the number of 
chambers in the hand gun's cylinder (e.g., six cartridges for a six 
chamber hand gun), and to retain those cartridges in parallel alignment on 
a locus of points which is dimensioned the same as the locus of points 
defined by the chambers in the hand gun's cylinder. When reloading of the 
revolver is required, the cartridge loader with stored cartridges is 
interposed in operational relation with the revolver's cylinder, and all 
cartridges are released simultaneously into the chambers of that cylinder. 
Since all cartridges are loaded simultaneously, reloading of the revolver 
is accomplished quickly and simply relative to the alternative of loading 
one cartridge at a time. 
One type of cartridge loader that has seened significant commercial success 
in the marketplace is that disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,722,125, 
4,202,124 and 4,313,275, all invented by the inventor of the modular 
cartridge loading board system of this invention. The cartridge loader 
illustrated in those patents is basically comprised of a bored casing, and 
a star-shaped latch structure fixed in place on a centerpost, the 
centerpost (and, hence, the latch structure) being rotatable relative to 
the casing. The casing is provided with a plurality of cartridge bores 
aligned parallel to, and symmetrically oriented about, the centerpost's 
axis, the casing bores cooperating with the latch to retain cartridges in 
temporary storage with the loader. The casing's bores are of a length 
shorter than the cartridges to be stored therein so the cartridges' nose 
ends extend beyond one casing end face when stored within the bores, 
thereby permitting the cartridges' nose ends to be preliminarily 
positioned within the chambers of a revolver's cylinder before unlatching 
same from the loader. The star-shaped latch includes a plurality of star 
points that cooperate with the casing's bores and the cartridge's flanges 
for alternately capturing and releasing the cartridges depending on the 
rotational position of the latch. The rotational limits of the latch 
structure are defined by a stop structure that locates the rotational 
position of the centerpost in either a capture or a release position only. 
This prior art type cartridge loader materially increases the speed with 
which a revolver can be loaded and reloaded, and greatly facilitates the 
loading of that revolver, by a user. 
In competition shooting, as before referred to, it is often the case that 
the shooter must expend sixty cartridges to ninety cartridges or 
one-hundred and twenty cartridges or more in a shooting event. And the 
total number of cartridges to be shot in competition shooting may vary 
from one tournament or shoot to another. In other words, and in 
competition shooting, the total number of shooting rounds which is 
required of the shooter will result in the shooting of many loads of 
cartridges from the hand gun. And this, in turn, of course requires that 
the revolver be reloaded many times. But cartridge loaders of the prior 
art as referred to above, and as illustrated in the above referred to 
patents, each only store a number of cartridges equal to the number of 
chambers in the hand gun's cylinder. For example, and for a sixty 
cartridge round of competition, ten such loaders with six cartridges 
apiece would have to be carried by the user of a six chamber hand gun. 
Accordingly, it is necessary to provide a storage system by which a large 
number of cartridges may be held in potential loading position in order 
that same can be quickly transferred from that storage position to the 
chambers of a hand gun's cylinder. And toward this end objective, a 
loading board system is known to the prior art. 
The prior art loading board system includes a base plate and a series of 
groups of cartridge tubes upstanding from that base plate. Each group of 
tubes has a number of tubes equal to the number of chambers in the hand 
gun's cylinder. The cartridge tubes are each sized to receive a single 
cartridge and hold it in a vertical position, the tubes being aligned 
parallel to one another and oriented on a circular locus of points 
identical to that locus defined by the chambers of the hand gun's 
cylinder. With cartridges positioned in the cartridge tubes of each group 
on the base plate so that the flange ends of the cartridges are exposed, a 
cartridge loader such as that disclosed in the above patent can easily 
pick up each series of cartridges when reloading of the cylinder of the 
user's hand gun is desired. Typically, the loading board system will 
include ten groups of circularly aligned cartridge tubes, thereby 
providing the competition shooter with ten reloads by which cartridges can 
be transferred from a storage position on the base plate to the hand gun's 
cylinder through use of a single cartridge loader. 
The cartridge loading board system of the prior art, as discussed in the 
paragraph immediately above, provides a fixed number of cartridge reloads. 
In other words, this prior art cartridge loading board system can only 
accommodate a number of cartridge reloads which is equal to the number of 
cartridge tube groups provided on the base plate. And since the loading 
board system is orignially formed with a predetermined number of tube 
groups thereon, same can not be modifed or changed by the competition 
shooter to increase or decrease the number of potential reloads depending 
on the requirements of the competition shoot. More specifically, if the 
prior art loading board system is formed for storing ten groups of six 
cartridges apiece, the board cannot be modified by the user for storing 
ten groups of six cartridges each or twelve groups of six cartridges each 
or eight groups of six cartridges each, or whatever other number of groups 
may be desired depending on the rules of the competition shoot which the 
hand gun's user wishes to enter. Therefor, and for example, if the total 
number of cartridges to be shot in the competition shoot is equal to 
eighty-four, i.e., fourteen reloads of the hand gun's six chambers, and if 
the prior art loading board system only holds ten such reloads, then the 
system itself must be partially reloaded with individual cartridges by 
hand during the competition shoot or the last four loads of the shooter's 
cartridge reloader must be reloaded by hand. And because of the fixed time 
frame within which cartridges must be shot in the competition shoot, and 
because it is desirable to minimize reloading time and maximize shooting 
time in the competition shoot, such may result in significant time lost to 
the competition shooter. No competition shooter wishes to waste time 
reloading in a time controlled competition shoot. 
Accordingly, it has been the primary objective of this invention to provide 
a modular cartridge loading board system in which a backing board can be 
provided with any number of cartridge storage blocks, each of the storage 
blocks having a number of cartridge tubes equal to the number of chambers 
in a hand gun's cylinder, and each of the storage blocks being 
individually mountable on a backing board in whatever matrix configuration 
is desired by the user, thereby permitting a backing board to be provided 
with a desired number of cartridge storage blocks, in any desired matrix 
configuration, which is necessary to accommodate all cartridges to be shot 
in a competition shoot. 
A further objective of this invention has been to provide a novel storage 
block for a cartridge loading board system in which the individual 
cartridge tubes are each structured so as to be able to store either round 
nose cartridges or flat nose cartridges in the same tube, and in stable 
alignment, to permit easy and simple pick up of a group of either type 
cartridge from the storage block by a cartridge loader. 
In accord with this objective, the modular cartridge loading board system 
of this invention includes a series of individual cartridge storage 
blocks, the blocks being mountable on a backing board in any matrix 
configuration desired by the user. Each cartridge storage block is 
comprised of a base plate and a series of axially parallel cartridge tubes 
extending outwardly from one surface of the plate, the tubes being 
oriented on a locus of points and being equal in number to the locus and 
number of chambers in the cylinder of a user's hand gun. Each tube is 
provided with a dual seat configuration interiorly thereof so as to seat 
either a round nose cartridge or a flat nose cartridge in substantially 
non-jiggling fashion when the cartridge is positioned nose down within the 
tube. When a storage block is filled with either round nost or flat nose 
cartridges, the cartridges are easily transferred to a cartridge loader 
and, subsequently, from the cartridge loader to the cylinder's chambers of 
the user's hand gun.

A modular cartridge storage block 10 in accord with the principles of this 
invention is illustrated in FIG. 1. The block 10 includes a base plate 11 
and a group 12 of cartridge tubes 13 extending upwardly from the top face 
14 of that base plate. The cartridge tubes 13 are disposed in a circular 
locus of points 15 around a center axis 16, and the cartridge tubes each 
have an axis 17 aligned parallel to that vertical center axis. In the 
embodiment shown, six cartridge tubes 13 are illustrated in a group 12 of 
a block 10. Most hand guns (not shown) of the plural cartridge type 
incorporate six chamber bores (not shown) in the hand gun's cylinder (not 
shown). And of course, the number of cartridge tubes 13 on the base plate 
11 are equal to the number of chambers in that hand gun's cylinder with 
which the modular loading board system of this invention is adapted for 
use. Note the cartridge storage blocks 10 are each of a square 
configuration with right angled corners, same promoting ease in aligning 
the blocks in abutting relationship in the matrix configuration desired by 
a user as shown in FIG. 3. The width W of each base plate 11 is preferably 
between about 1.2 and about 2.0 times the diameter D of the circular locus 
of points 15. 
Each of the cartridge tubes 13 is of a height H above the base plate's top 
face 14 which is significantly shorter than the length L of the cartridges 
20, 21 to be stored therein so that the cartridges' flange ends 22 extend 
well beyond the free ends 23 of the cartridge tubes when the cartridges 
are stored therein. However, the diameter D.sub.t of the cartridge tubes 
13 is only slightly greater, e.g., a couple of thousandths of an inch, 
than the outside diameter D' of the casings of the cartridge 20, 21 to be 
stored therein. This nominal clearance between each cartridge casing's 
outside surface 19 and each cartridge tube's inside surface 23 prevents 
significant wobble of the cartridges 20, 21 when they are stored within 
the cartridge tubes 13. This, in turn, maintains and insures proper 
alignment of the cartridge's flange ends 22 on that circular locus of 
points (not shown) which insures that a cartridge loader (such as that 
shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,722,125, 4,202,124 and 4,313,275) can easily 
slide over those cartridges' flange ends in order to pick up the 
cartridges 20, 21 with the cartridge loader from the storage block 10 when 
desired. 
Each cartridge tube 13 defines a double seat 26 at its inner or base plate 
end 27 as shown in FIG. 2. The double seat 26 includes an upper seat 28 on 
which the flat end 29 of a flat nose bullet 21 is adapted to seat. The 
double seat 26 also includes a lower seat 30 defined by the base plate's 
top face 14 and rim 31 of the upper seat. A center hole 32 is bored 
through the base plate 11 centrally of the lower seat 30, and this center 
hole cooperates with the upper seat's rim 31 and the base plate's top face 
14 seat so as to provide a centered position for round nose 33 of round 
nose bullets 20. Further, and because flat nose bullets 21 are normally 
somewhat shorter than round nose bullets 20 of the same size, the upper 26 
and lower 30 seats for the flat nose 21 and round nose 22 bullets, 
respectively, cooperate with the height H of the cartridge tubes 13 to 
insure that neither round nose nor flat nost bullets wobble unduly out of 
position (relative to that position desired when same are to be picked up 
by a cartridge loader) when stored in the cartridge block 10. The center 
hole 32 in the base plate also functions as a dirt clearance hole to allow 
the cartridge's tubes 13 of the modular cartridge storage block 10 to be 
easily cleaned. 
Note that each cartridge storage block 10 is provided with a throughbore 37 
at two diametrically opposed corners 38, 39 thereof relative to axis 16. 
These throughbores 37 cooperate with fasteners, e.g., brads or small 
screws 40, in fixing each storage block 10 to a backing board 41 in a 
position desired by the end user. Note also, as shown in FIG. 1, that side 
walls 35 of successive cartridge tubes 13 within each group 12 are molded 
integral one with the other at those locations, as at 36, where same are 
adjacent one to the other. This provides additional strength for each of 
the cartridge tubes 13 individually, as well as for the cartridge storage 
block 10 itself, and permits the block 10 be easily molded in one piece 
out of plastic. 
In one form of this embodiment, the cartridge storage blocks 10 are 
individually formed separate and apart one from the other as shown in 
FIGS. 1 and 2. And this embodiment, of course, each block 10 includes just 
a single group 12 of cartridge tubes 13 disposed in chamber configuration 
for a hand gun's cylinder on the top face 14 of the base plate 11. And 
with cartridge storage blocks 10 of this embodiment, same can be aligned 
and oriented in any matrix 50 or 51 configuration desired on a backing 
board 41 simply by placing same in edge 52 abutting relation one to the 
other. In this regard, see the solid line 2.times.4 rectangular matrix 
configuration of storage blocks 10 as shown in solid lines in FIG. 3, and 
4.times.4 square matrix configuration of storage blocks as shown in solid 
and in dashed lines in FIG. 3. Alternatively, the storage blocks can be 
spaced (not shown) one from another on a backing board 41 if desired by 
the end user, or can be oriented in a generally concentric circular matrix 
configuration (not shown) if desired by the user, or in any other type 
matrix configuration desired. This for the reason, of course, that each 
modular cartridge storage block 10 is an independent unit that can be 
positioned as desired by the end user on the backing board 41. When the 
matrix configuration of the modular cartridge storage blocks 10 is 
established on the backing board 41, i.e., when the total number of 
storage blocks desired are oriented as desired on the backing board, same 
are secured to the backing board itself. As noted, the storage blocks 10 
may be fixed to the backing board 41 by small nails or by small screws 40 
through use of connector holes 37 provided at opposite corners of each 
storage block's base plate 11. Such small nails or small screws 40 are 
particularly useful when the backing board 41 is fabricated of wood, e.g., 
a plywood board. The direct connection of each modular cartridge storage 
block 10 to the backing board 41 by the fasteners 40 functions to maintain 
and restrain the exact number of storage blocks 10 desired on the backing 
board in the exact matrix configuration desired by the end user. And the 
number of cartridge storage blocks 10 so mounted normally will be 
dependent on the number of cartridges which must be fired by the shooter 
in a competition shoot when the modular cartridge loading board system of 
this invention is used in connection with a competition shoot. 
An alternative embodiment to the individual modular cartridge storage block 
10 shown in FIGS. 1-3 is a plural modular storage block 10a in a strip 49 
as shown in FIG. 4. In FIG. 4, plural modular cartridge storage blocks 
10.sup.1, 10.sup.2 & 10.sup.3 are separably connected together one with 
another along weakness lines 47, 48. For example, and when the plural 
cartridge storage blocks 10.sup.1 -10.sup.3 are molded of a plastic, the 
plastic mold can be structured to insure that weakness lines, i.e., lines 
of separation 47, 48 are established between successive cartridge storage 
blocks in a plural number or series of such blocks so as to separably 
connect same one to the other. When individual modular blocks 10.sup.1 
and/or 10.sup.2 and/or 10.sup.3 are desired for separation from the strip 
49 of such blocks, the individual blocks 10.sup.1 -10.sup.3 need merely be 
broken off relative to adjacent blocks by bending along the lines of 
weakness 47, 48. Accordingly, such strips 49 of modular cartridge storage 
blocks 10.sup.1 -10.sup.3 can be separated into individual storage blocks 
10 as required in order to make up either the solid line matrix 
configuration, or the solid and dashed line matrix configuration, on the 
backing board 41 as shown in FIG. 3, as well as any other matrix 
configuration desired by the end user. 
In use of the modular cartridge loading board system of this invention, and 
after the modular cartridge storage blocks 10 have been fixed to a backing 
board 41 in a preferred matrix configuration as shown in FIG. 3, the 
groups of cartridge tubes 13 on each cartridge storage block are filled 
with cartridges 20 or 21. In the solid line matrix configuration shown in 
FIG. 3, eight such storage blocks 10 are filled with six cartridges apiece 
for a total of forty-eight such cartridges. During a competition shoot, 
therefore, the shooter will reload the six chambers of his hand gun's 
cylinder with successive groups of six cartridges stored in successive 
cartridge storage blocks. Loading is accomplished through use of a 
cartridge loader 54 such as that shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,722,125, 
4,202,124 or 4,313,275. The cartridge loader is simply installed over the 
flange ends 22 of each group of six cartridges 20 in any cartridge storage 
block (the loader being shown in phantom lines in FIG. 2) while the 
loader's latch is retracted. After the cartridge loader 54 is properly 
positioned over the flange 22 ends of the cartridges 20 in a loader block 
10, the cartridge's latch is rotated to the latch position so as to 
capture the cartridges within the loader. The cartridge loader 54 is then 
moved manually from the loading board system's backing board 41 (which, of 
course, draws the cartridges 20 out of the cartridge tubes 13) into 
proximity with the hand gun's cylinder. And the cartridges 20 are then 
loaded into the hand gun's cylinder (not shown) from the cartridge loader 
54. 
The exact structure and use of a cartridge loader 54 adapted to cooperate 
with the modular cartridge loading board system of this invention is 
described and is illustrated in the aforementioned U.S. Pat. Nos. 
3,722,125, 4,202,124 and 4,313,275. The descriptions and illustrations of 
those aforementioned U.S. patents are hereby incorporated herein by 
reference.