Abstract:
An extender for a bolt catch release lever on a bolt catch operating lever of a firearm equipped with a protective spare magazine carrier for holding a loaded spare magazine in a position of readiness for immediate insertion into operative engagement with that firearm, and an integrated bolt catch and extended catch release lever. The extended bolt catch release lever places an engagement contact face of an outer end in a position accessible for easy operation of the bolt catch release mechanism of a rifle when the spare magazine carrier is in place.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS  
       [0001]    This application is a division of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/142,474, filed May 10, 2002. 
     
    
     
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0002]    The present invention relates to repeating firearms, and particularly to a repeating firearm using a replaceable magazine.  
           [0003]    In land warfare the individual infantry soldier is still an important part of military operations. The effectiveness of the individual soldier depends to a large extent on the accuracy, rate of fire, and number of rounds of ammunition which each individual soldier is capable of providing. For that reason, modern infantry firearms are capable of high cyclic rates of fire and are usually equipped with replaceable magazines capable of holding dozens of cartridges. Such magazines must usually be manually released from the firearm when they have become empty, at which time a full magazine must be inserted into the firearm before firing may be continued. In order to be capable of sustained firing an infantry soldier carries loaded spare magazines, typically held in protective pouches attached to ammunition belts. When actually engaged in combat it is common for soldiers to carry spare loaded magazines more immediately ready for use, since removal of a loaded magazine from a cartridge belt may take an undesirably long time.  
           [0004]    In order to provide an ability to fire more rounds quickly, spare magazine carriers as disclosed in Johnson U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,484,404 and 5,636,465, of which the disclosures are hereby incorporated herein by reference, allow a spare magazine to be carried alongside the receiver of a rifle, ready for immediate use. However, the device disclosed in the mentioned Johnson U.S. Patents may limit access to a functional operating lever or button located on the receiver of certain rifles. In particular, the spare magazine carrier shown in the U.S. Pat. No. 4,484,404 is located close to one part of a bolt catch operating lever on certain auto-loading rifles such as M-16 military rifles and Colt® AR15 rifles. This closeness to the bolt catch operating lever requires use of a certain amount of a soldier&#39;s attention to push the bolt catch operating lever to release the bolt and chamber a round from a newly inserted magazine in such a rifle. With the spare magazine carrier in place, the rifleman must exercise additional care and use a finger or the thumb to locate and definitely push the upper end of the bolt catch operating lever toward the receiver to release the bolt. While the time involved in doing so may be well less than a second, the action may require the rifleman to look at the bolt catch operating lever at a critical time, thus dangerously distracting his attention. Releasing the bolt of such a firearm upon replacing the magazine thus may require a critically important additional amount of time during combat. It is therefore desired to provide a way to improve the speed and efficiency of reloading and resuming operation of the firearm with which a spare magazine carrier is associated, without detracting from any other aspects of the firearm.  
           [0005]    What is needed, then is a device which can be readily installed to facilitate operation of an operating control device such as a bolt catch operating lever and which fits in the available space adjacent the weapon when an accessory such as a spare magazine carrier is installed.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0006]    The present invention supplies an answer to the aforementioned need for a fast and efficient way to reload and resume firing a firearm such as an automatic or semiautomatic firearm equipped with a spare magazine carrier mounted alongside the receiver of such a firearm. The present invention provides an improved bolt catch operating lever and an operating control device extender useful with an existing bolt catch operating lever or other operating control lever or button located on the firearm where a spare magazine carrier or similarly located accessory may interfere with it.  
           [0007]    In one embodiment of the invention the operating control device extender has a leg including a head with an engagement contact face available near an outer face of an installed accessory such as a spare magazine carrier, where it can easily be pushed toward the receiver of the firearm on which the accessory is mounted, to move an operating control device such as a button or lever located on the receiver of the firearm.  
           [0008]    It is a feature of one embodiment of the invention that it includes a clamp that securely attaches the extender to a bolt catch operating lever and retains the extender securely on the lever even if the clamp, through extended use, becomes slightly loosened.  
           [0009]    In one embodiment of the invention, a bolt catch operating lever includes an integral extension and can be used to replace an original bolt catch operating lever of such a firearm.  
           [0010]    It is a feature of one embodiment of the extender that it includes a positive stop to prevent an operating control lever from being bent or broken.  
           [0011]    The foregoing and other objectives, features and advantages of the present invention will be more readily understood upon consideration of the following detailed description of the invention taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.  
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0012]    [0012]FIG. 1 is a left side elevational view of a portion of an automatic rifle together with an attached protective carrier for a spare magazine and with an extender embodying the present invention attached to a bolt catch operating lever on the rifle.  
         [0013]    [0013]FIG. 2 is a view similar to a portion of FIG. 1, at an enlarged scale, showing the spare magazine carrier partially cut away.  
         [0014]    [0014]FIG. 3 is a top plan view of the spare magazine carrier, a portion of the receiver of the rifle, and the extender.  
         [0015]    [0015]FIG. 4 is a view of a portion of the rifle with the extender in place, taken along line  4 - 4  of FIG. 1.  
         [0016]    [0016]FIG. 5 is an exploded isometric view of the extender shown in FIGS.  1 - 4  together with the bolt catch and its operating lever.  
         [0017]    [0017]FIG. 6 is an isometric view from the upper left rear, showing the extender in place on the operating lever of the bolt catch.  
         [0018]    [0018]FIG. 7 is a sectional view of the extender in place on the bolt catch operating lever, taken along line  7 - 7  of FIG. 6.  
         [0019]    [0019]FIG. 8 is a right, or inner, end elevation view of the extender together with the bolt catch operating lever, taken in the direction of line  8 - 8  of FIG. 6.  
         [0020]    [0020]FIG. 9 is an isometric view of a combined bolt catch and extended operating lever which is an alternative embodiment of the present invention, taken from the upper left rear thereof.  
         [0021]    [0021]FIG. 10 is an isometric view of the combined bolt catch and extended operating lever shown in FIG. 9, taken from the lower right front thereof.  
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
       [0022]    Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 2 of the drawings, an exemplary spare magazine carrier  10  is shown attached to an automatic rifle  12 . A spare magazine  14  is held in the carrier  10 , while a magazine  16  is held in the receiver  18  of the automatic rifle  12 , ready for use. The spare magazine carrier  10  includes a body  19  having a top  20 , a front side  22 , a rear side  24 , a right, or inner, side  26 , and a left, or laterally outer, side  28 , spaced outwardly apart from the left side of the receiver  18  by a width  30 .  
         [0023]    To use the spare magazine carrier  10  most advantageously, a shooter will grasp the spare magazine  14  in his left hand while moving the magazine-release push button on the right side of the receiver (not shown) leftward with his right hand. This allows the empty magazine  16  to fall from the receiver  18  and releases the spare magazine  14  into the shooter&#39;s left hand, so that he may immediately insert the spare magazine  14  upwardly into position in the receiver  18 . A magazine retaining catch of the automatic rifle  12  engages and retains the spare magazine  14  as it is inserted into position in the receiver  18 . As a result of the readily available spare magazine  14 , the automatic rifle  12  may be reloaded extremely quickly once the magazine  16  has been emptied. Another loaded magazine may thereafter be inserted into the spare magazine carrier  10  at the first convenient opportunity.  
         [0024]    Certain rifles, for example the M-16 military automatic rifle and a similar civilian semi-automatic rifle, the Colt® AR15 rifle, like the rifle  12  shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, may include push-buttons or levers which act as functional control devices to initiate, prevent, or stop the action of mechanisms contained within the receiver of such rifles. Some of such push-buttons or levers may be located on the left side of the receiver  18  where the body  19  of the spare magazine carrier  10  may make it awkward, or may require close attention, to operate such push-buttons or levers.  
         [0025]    In particular, in the rifle  12  there is a bolt catch operating lever  58 , also called a bolt hold-open lever, attached to the left side of the receiver  18  by, and arranged to pivot about, a pin  60  extending parallel with the length of the rifle  12 . The pin  60  extends through a hole  61  in the bolt hold-open lever  58 , defining its fulcrum, and through a pair of gudgeons  62  on the side of the receiver  18 . When the upper end  64  of the bolt hold-open lever  58  is moved away from the receiver  18 , with the bolt  66  manually held withdrawn rearwardly with respect to the receiver  18 , as shown schematically in broken line in FIG. 1, the bolt catch in the hold-open mechanism engages the bolt  66  to hold it in its rearward position. When the upper end  64  of the bolt hold-open lever  58  is pressed to the right, or inward toward the receiver  18 , the catch is disengaged and releases the bolt  66  to be moved forward by a spring.  
         [0026]    When the last cartridge that was contained in a magazine such as the magazine  16  has been discharged, the bolt hold-open mechanism automatically engages the bolt  66 , holding it in its rearward position. The bolt  66  is thus held rearward while the empty magazine  16  is removed and replaced by the spare loaded magazine  14 . Before the rifleman can again shoot the firearm, the bolt  66  must be released by moving the bolt hold-open lever  58 , so the bolt can carry a round from the loaded magazine into the chamber of the firearm.  
         [0027]    In order to make it unnecessary for the rifleman to look at the upper end  64  of the bolt hold-open lever, an extender  70  according to the present invention is attached to the upper end  64  of the bolt hold-open lever  58 , as shown in FIGS.  1 - 4 . The extender  70  includes an elongate body  72  whose inner end is attached to the upper end  64  of the bolt hold-open lever  58  by a clamp  74 .  
         [0028]    Without the spare magazine carrier  10  attached to the rifle  12 , the lower end  68  of the bolt hold-open lever  58  is ordinarily available to be pushed inward toward the receiver  18  to cause the bolt hold-open lever  58  to pivot about the pin- 60  to engage the catch of the bolt hold-open mechanism with the bolt  66 . The availability of the lower end  68  to be pushed is particularly useful when the user of the rifle is wearing gloves, since the upper end  64  is too small and too close to the receiver  18  to be grasped easily by a gloved hand to withdraw it away from the receiver  18 . When the spare magazine carrier  10  is present, however, the lower end  68  is not easily reached to be pushed. The bolt catch or hold-open mechanism can easily be engaged with the bolt  66  to hold the bolt open, by pushing downward on the extender  70  when a spare magazine carrier  10  is mounted on the rifle  12 .  
         [0029]    The elongate body  72  includes an extension arm  76  directed away from the receiver  18 . An enlarged head  78  forms the outer end of the extender  70  and has an engagement contact face  80 , spaced apart by a distance  82  from a reference face  81  engaged with the upper end  64 , and spaced apart from the left side of the receiver  18  by a predetermined distance  83  somewhat less than the width  30  of the spare magazine carrier  10 . The engagement contact face  80  is thus substantially aligned with the left or laterally outer side  85  of a nearby somewhat narrower portion of the spare magazine carrier  10 , and thus is located closer to the left side of the receiver  18  by a small distance  89  in the range of 0.2-0.6 cm (0.08-0.24 inch) and preferably in the range of 0.38-0.51 cm (0.15-0.20 inch) toward the receiver  18  from the outermost surface of the laterally outer, or left, side  28  of the spare magazine carrier  10 . The outer surface or engagement contact face  80  of the head  78  of the extender  70  is thus exposed conveniently in a location where it can be pressed inward toward the receiver  18  by the rifleman, using the heel of his hand, after he has pushed the loaded spare magazine  14  into the receiver  18  of the rifle  12 . At the same time, the head  78  of the extender  70  is not so prominent as to be likely to be pushed inadvertently. In an extender  70  for an M-16 rifle with a spare magazine carrier  10 , the distance  82  should thus be in the range of 1.90-2.54 cm (0.750-1.0 inch) and is preferably 1.97 cm (0.775 inch).  
         [0030]    Pushing on the engagement contact face  80  of the extender  70  requires only a minimum amount of attention, since the engagement contact face  80 , which is larger than the ear  96  on the upper end  64  of the bolt hold-open lever  58 , is well exposed to be contacted and pushed by the rifleman, even if his left hand is gloved. Since the engagement contact face  80  is exposed, the rifleman does not need to exercise any particular care or give any particular attention, but needs only to sweep the left hand upward and inward to easily touch the extender  70  and push it inward, thus disengaging the catch mechanism from the bolt  66 . Since the extender  70  protrudes outward away from the receiver  18 , pushing upward on the bottom face  84  of the extender  70  will also cause the bolt hold-open lever  58  to rotate about the fulcrum defined by the pivot pin  60 , in the same direction that would result from inward pressure against the upper end  64 . Thus, the rifleman need only continue upward movement of the left hand after inserting the loaded magazine into the receiver  18 , with very little attention required in order to engage and move the extender  70  and thus move the bolt hold-open lever  58  as required to chamber a cartridge from a just-inserted magazine  14 .  
         [0031]    In a preferred embodiment of the invention, as shown also in FIGS.  5 - 8 , the extender  70  includes two pieces held together by a bolt  86  and a locknut  87 . A main body piece  88  includes the head  78  and has a front face  90  in which a groove  92  extends most of the way toward the bottom face  84  of the body  72 . A retaining shelf or ledge  94  shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 at least partially closes at the bottom of the groove  92  and extends beneath a portion of the bottom of the ear portion  96  of the upper end  64  of the bolt hold-open lever  58 . The location of the ledge  94  in the main body  88  of the extender rather than in the clamping body  98  simplifies attachment of the extender  70  to the upper end  64  when a spare magazine carrier  10  is already in place on the rifle  12 .  
         [0032]    The clamping body  98  has a main or inner face  100  opposing the front face  90  of the first body  88  and defines a deep groove  102  in an inner end portion  104 . The lack of a ledge  94  in the groove  102  in the clamping body  98  allows the clamping body  98  to slide down around the ear  96 . The deep groove  102  is deep enough to receive the majority of the width of the ear  96 , but shallow enough so that a small gap  106  remains as shown in FIG. 8 when the ear  96  is tightly held between the clamping body  98  and the main body part  88  of the extender  70 . The bolt  86  extends through aligned bores  110  and  112  defined through the main body  88  and the clamping body  98 , and the locknut  87  fits in a wide groove  116  defined on the front face of the clamping body  98 . The width of the wide groove  116  corresponds with the width across flats of the locknut  87  to prevent the locknut  87  from turning while the bolt  86  is screwed into the locknut  87 . The clamping body  98  has an outer end face  118  that abuts tightly against a flat clamp body locating face  119  on the inner side of the head  78  to maintain the alignment of the clamping body with the main body of the extender  70 .  
         [0033]    Preferably, the rear end  120  and the edges  122  of the head  78  are rounded or chamfered to prevent the head  78  from causing discomfort when it is pressed or hit during use. A hole  123  may be provided in the head  78  to lighten the extender  70 . An inner rear or transition face  124  of the head  78 , between the engagement contact face  80  and the extension arm portion  76 , is oriented at an oblique angle  126  (FIG. 3), which may be in the range from 30 to 60 degrees and is preferably at least 40 degrees, and most preferably about 45 degrees to the engagement contact face. This helps prevent the extender  70  from being caught on the rifleman&#39;s clothing or equipment.  
         [0034]    The thickness  132  of the portions  128  and  130  behind the ear  96  is limited by the available space behind the ear  96  in order to leave the bolt hold-open lever  58  free to move far enough to release the bolt  66 . The thickness  132  is preferably made nearly as great as possible, so that the portions  128  and  130  occupy the entire available space between the ear  96  and the adjacent portion of the receiver  98  when the bolt hold-open lever  58  is pushed far enough toward the receiver  18  to release the bolt  66 . The portions  128  and  130  of the extender  70  thus act as a positive stop to protect the bolt hold-open lever  58  from being damaged as a result of the forces that may result from pushing sharply up or inward on the extender  70  after inserting a loaded magazine  14  into the receiver  18 .  
         [0035]    The extender  70  is offset a slight distance rearwardly with respect to the bolt hold-open lever  58 , as seen best in FIG. 3, in order to provide clearance between the rear of the spare magazine carrier  10  and the front of the extender  70 , as shown best in FIG. 3, where a space  134  of at least 1.27 mm ( 0 . 050  inch) is preferably available.  
         [0036]    It will be understood that other clamping mechanisms may be used instead of the particular one discussed herein above to attach an extension arm to the upper end of the bolt catch operating lever  58 . For example, a set screw could be used with a one-piece extender, two clamping elements could be arranged to grip the inner and outer faces of the ear  96 , or a wedging arrangement could be included.  
         [0037]    Referring now also to FIGS. 9 and 10, it will be seen that an extender arm can be incorporated in a replacement bolt hold-open catch mechanism  140  that can be installed in a firearm in place of the original equipment bolt hold-open catch mechanism including the bolt catch operating lever  58  when installing a spare magazine carrier  10 . The bolt hold-open catch  140  can be installed in place of the original bolt catch and operating lever  58  by simply drifting out the pin  60  from the gudgeons  62 , preferably before installing a spare magazine carrier  10 .  
         [0038]    In such a replacement part, the usual bolt-engaging catch body  142  and a hole  144  establishing a fulcrum are as in the original part, and an actuating lever arm  146  extends away from the catch body  142  for a short distance in the same direction as the upper portion  64  of the bolt hold-open lever  58 . An extension arm  148  is directed laterally, approximately perpendicular to the actuating lever arm  146 , so that it extends away from the receiver  18  when the part  140  is installed in place of the original part including the catch operating lever  58 . As in the previously described extender  70 , the extension arm  148  includes an enlarged head, which has an engagement contact face  150  located in a position corresponding with that of the engagement contact face  80  of an extender  70  installed on the bolt hold-open lever  58 . The engagement contact face  150  is thus spaced apart from a plane parallel to the left side of the receiver and including the fulcrum  144  by a distance  154  of about 1.0-3.5 cm (0.39-1.38 inch) and preferably 2.2-3.0 cm (0.87-1.2 inch), and most preferably about 2.35 cm (0.92 inch), in particular for an M-16 rifle equipped with a “Redi-Mag”™ spare magazine carrier of the type available from J.F.S., Inc. of Salem, Oreg. Preferably, the actuating lever arm  146  includes a positive stop  152  at the inner end of the laterally projecting extension arm  148 .  
         [0039]    The terms and expressions which have been employed in the foregoing specification are used therein as terms of description and not of limitation, and there is no intention, in the use of such terms and expressions, of excluding equivalents of the features shown and described or portions thereof, it being recognized that the scope of the invention is defined and limited only by the claims which follow.