Patent Publication Number: US-6981345-B1

Title: Tool for cleaning and loading rifles

Description:
The present invention relates to tools for cleaning and loading rifles. Specifically, the invention is a combination tool that can clean the inside bore of a rifle barrel and load a projectile into the rifle barrel. 
   BACKGROUND 
   Many types of cleaning devices are known for firearms generally and rifles specifically. Many of these prior devices address various specific cleaning issues including efforts to better clean the rifling groves within the barrel of the firearm. Additionally, other ram rod devices are known to assist persons in the loading of rifles, especially black powder rifles. Each of these separate tools is necessary for the efficient operation of muzzle loading rifles. 
   Generally, most tools for cleaning or loading a rifle are separate tools that fasten firmly to the end of a cleaning rod. When in use, the entire cleaning rod will therefore follow the same motion as whichever tool is attached to the end of the rod. This includes the rotational movement of the tool in the rifling of the barrel of a rifle. Because the cleaning and loading tools are fixedly attached to the cleaning rods, the tools can cause excess friction and drag in both the cleaning and loading processes. These cleaning and loading rods with the fixed tools include those that are sold with and removably mounted on a rifle. 
   SUMMARY 
   Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to overcome the foregoing drawbacks and limitations with respect to prior art rifle cleaning tools and loading tools. 
   In one example, a tool for cleaning and loading muzzle loading rifles comprises a tube having a longitudinal axis and a centered throughbore along the axis. The tube comprises a head, with the head having a knurled outer surface and a front face recess. The recess is adapted to support a projectile. A shaft is mounted in a throughbore of the tube and protrudes out the back of the tube. The diameter of the shaft is less than the diameter of the throughbore. The shaft is adapted to be fixed to a cleaning rod and the tube is further freely rotatable on the shaft. The tool may further include a washer and/or a self locking nut. The head may comprise the entire tube, and the entire outer surface of the head may be knurled. The recess may have a conical, convex curvature. And the tool may further comprise a cleaning rod fixed to the shaft. 
   In another example, a tool kit for cleaning and loading muzzle loading rifles may include a tube having a longitudinal axis and a centered throughbore along the axis. The tube comprises a head with a knurled outer surface and a front face recess, wherein the recess is adapted to support a projectile. A shaft is mountable in the throughbore of the tube, wherein the shaft is longer than the length of the throughbore. The shaft is adapted to be fixed to a cleaning rod, and the diameter of the shaft is less than the diameter of the throughbore. The tube is adapted to be rotatable on the shaft. The tool kit may further include a washer adapted to be rotatably mounted on the shaft and/or a self-locking nut adapted to be fixed on the shaft. The entire outer surface of the head may be knurled, and the recess in the head comprises a conical, convex curvature. The tool kit may further comprise a cleaning rod adapted to be fixed to the shaft. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       FIG. 1  is an environmental, perspective view of a man using the cleaning and loading tool for a muzzle loading, black powder rifle in accordance with the present invention. 
       FIG. 2  is a side elevation view of the tube portion of the tool described herein. 
       FIG. 3  is a side elevation view of the tool in accordance with the present invention. 
       FIGS. 4 and 5  demonstrate the use of the tool in the cleaning mode ( FIG. 4 ) and loading mode ( FIG. 5 ). 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
   The present invention is directed to a combination tool for use with muzzle loading rifles. The tool includes a tube that may both support a cleaning patch or a projectile to be loaded into a rifle. The floating tube will rotate within the barrel of the rifle to follow the rifling grooves therein. The knurled head secures the cleaning cloth or patching. The recess on the front face supports and centers the rounded edge of a projectile during loading. 
   Turning now to the drawings,  FIG. 1  depicts a reenactor soldier  14  using the tool  10  at the end of a cleaning rod  12 . The tool  10  maybe used to clean or load the rifle  18  by inserting the tool down the rifle barrel  16 . 
     FIG. 2  shows an example of a tube  20  in accordance with the present invention. The tube  20  has a longitudinal axis  21 . The tube  20  includes a centered throughbore  22  along the longitudinal axis  21 . The throughbore  22  includes a shoulder portion  24  at the end of the tube where the head  25  is located. 
   The tube  20  includes a head  25  that constitutes the front end of the tube. As shown, the tube  20  has a reduced diameter portion  28  behind the head  25 . This construction is preferred to allow the patching material to bunch behind the head  25  during cleaning. Alternatively, the head  25  could be the entire tube  20 . The outer surface  26  of the tube is knurled. Either a portion or all of the outer surface  26  may be knurled. As shown, the knurling is obtained by a cross-hatch design. Obviously, the knurling may include any roughening or unevenness on the surface  26  of the head  25 . 
   The head  25  includes a recess  30  on the front face of the head. As shown, the recess  30  has a conical, convex curvature. The recess  30  is adapted to center and support a projectile that may be loaded in a rifle. Other geometries of the recess  30  may be equally effective to hold or support the pointed or rounded projectile that could be loaded in a rifle. 
     FIG. 3  shows the tube  20  with the shaft  35  mounted in the throughbore  22 . The diameter  37  of the shaft  35  is less than the diameter  23  of the throughbore  22 . This difference in diameters allows the tube  20  to rotate freely on the shaft  35 . The length of the shaft  35  is such that it extends out the back of the tube  20 . The top  36  of the shaft  35  retains the tube  20  by being wider than the diameter  23  of the shaft and by being abuttable against the shoulder portion  24  of the throughbore  22 . Alternatively, as shown, a plastic washer  38  is mounted on the shaft  35  under the top  36  to prevent the shaft top from damaging the tube  20 . 
   Also shown in  FIG. 3  is a washer  40  that is rotatably mounted on the shaft  35  adjacent to  20 . The washer  40  has about the same, or alternatively, slightly larger, diameter as the head  25 . This similar diameter allows the washer  40  and tube  20  to stay centered in the rifle barrel. A nut  45  is fixably mounted onto the shaft  35  adjacent to washer  40  and on the opposite side of the washer from the tube  20 . The nut  45  is a self-locking nut. The nut  45  is fixed on the shaft  35  at such a position as to allow the tube some looseness to be rotatable on the shaft. A cleaning rod  50  is shown fixedly engaged to the shaft  35 . 
     FIGS. 4 and 5  show use of the tool for cleaning ( FIG. 4 ) and loading ( FIG. 5 ). In  FIG. 4 , the head  25  of the tube  20  secures the patching cloth  55  and makes it efficiently clean the walls of the barrel  60  of the rifle. The barrel  60  also includes rifling grooves  65  that are cleaned with the patching material. The rotating feature of the tube  20  reduces the likelihood of tears and rips of the patching cloth  55  during cleaning. In  FIG. 5 , the recess  30  in the head  25  cradles and centers the projectile  56  as it is loaded in the barrel  60 . In both the examples of cleaning and loading, the tube  20  is allowed to rotate freely with the rotation of the rifling grooves  65  down the barrel  60 . The loading process is made smoother because the rotating feature of the guide means the lead bullet, for instance, that is guided down the barrel is free of rotary engraving which can otherwise result when a fixed loading tool is used. The cleaning rod  50  moves the tool in and out of the barrel  60 . 
   The following includes sample specifications for a cleaning and loading tool to be used in connection with a 0.50 caliber rifle. The cleaning rod has 8-32 UNC regular female threads that attach to the tool. The tool includes a brass tube that is 1.875 inches long by 0.45 inches in diameter. The head of the tube is knurled to a medium surface roughness for a length of 0.525 inches. The recess in the head portion is machined to a 0.285 inch diameter for a depth of 0.437 inches. The taper of the recess is 21.5 degrees to a 0.365 inch diameter at the face of the recess. The throughbore that extends through the tube has a diameter of 0.173 inches. Behind the head of the tube is a reduced diameter portion that has a diameter of 0.31 inches. At the rear portion of the tube the brass increases to a diameter of 0.4 inches. An 8-32 UNC socket head cap screw 2 inches long made of 18-8 stainless steel acts a shaft. A nylon washer has an outside diameter of 0.406 inches to 0.499 inches by 0.062 inches thick. The variance of the outside diameter of the washer accommodates the fit of the tool central to the throughbore when a specific size patch material is used to clean the rifle. An 8-32 UNC nylock self-locking nut is made of 8-18 stainless steel. 
   As is evident from the foregoing, the tool may be offered as a disassembled tool kit that includes the brass tube, the washer, the nut, and a threaded shaft that may be sold separately or together with a cleaning rod onto which it may be mounted. A benefit of the particular example of this tool described above includes its rust-free characteristics, thereby making the tool essentially maintenance free. 
   While the invention has been described with reference to specific embodiments thereof, it will be understood that numerous variations, modifications and additional embodiments are possible, and all such variations, modifications, and embodiments are to be regarded as being within the spirit and scope of the invention.