Abstract:
An air gun pellet with a head including two distinct structural features, providing overall improved performance. The first feature is a multiple section rim or cup on the head which enlarges or mushrooms upon impact. The second feature is a central driving point contained within the cup on the head. The combination of these features provides a synergistic effect resulting in a pellet having improved penetration, shock wave and tissue destruction.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The invention relates to ammunition and in particular to pellets for compressed gas powered weapons, especially air rifles or air guns. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Air gun pellets have either been designed for deep penetration or for “mushrooming” upon impact The two designs have opposite objectives and have entirely different effects. Pellets designed for deep penetration typically have pointed tips to drive the pellet deeper into the target. Pellets that are designed to mushroom open upon impact typically have a cup-shaped head which spreads open upon impact with the target. Mushrooming defines the deformation radially outwardly and subsequently towards the back of portions of the head of the pellet. Both designs have their advantages and disadvantages with respect to hunting. 
     Deep penetrating pellets drive further into the body of an animal but do not cause much damage with the result that. unless a vital organ or structure is hit, the animal is not struck down and thus, can escape. Cup headed pellets are designed for mushrooming spread open in the body, but do not penetrate deep enough into the body to damage major organs. They operate on a shock wave principle and may strike down an animal, but not permanently so that again the animal may escape. 
     It is not desirable when hunting to only wound an animal and permit the wounded animal to escape, since this will not only result in loss of the animal, but will expose it to prolonged suffering. Thus, the effectiveness of both penetrating and mushrooming pellets requires improvement. Hence, the need for a pellet which will not only penetrate deep into the animals body but also cause serious damage to vital organs. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     It is an object of the invention to provide a pellet for a weapon powered by compressed gas such as air, the pellet having a head for both high impact and penetration into the target. 
     This is achieved with a pellet for a compressed gas powered weapon including a pellet head having a circumferential rim with means for promoting sectioning of the rim and mushrooming on impact and a central penetration point. The pellet is designed so that the rim will spread open on impact and mushroom while the central point will provide penetration into the target, resulting in a larger and longer wound channel. 
     The pellets are preferably made of a relatively soft material which will allow for easy mushrooming upon impact, such as fead. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a pellet in accordance with the invention and before impact; 
     FIG. 2 is a top view of me pellet of FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 3 is a side view of the pellet on initial impact, and at partial opening before full mushrooming; 
     FIG. 4 is a top view of the pellet of FIG. 3; 
     FIG. 5 is a sectional view of the pellet of FIG. 3; 
     FIG. 6 is a sectional view of the pellet on initial impact, before full mushrooming; 
     FIG. 7 is a side view of the pellet, after full mushrooming; and 
     FIG. 8 is a sectional view of the pellet of FIG.  7 . 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     A preferred embodiment of the pellet  10  in accordance with the invention is shown in FIG.  1  and has the conventional features of a forward head portion  11 , and a rearward tail portion  18  including a waist portion  12  connected with the head portion  11 , a hollow, conical skirt  14  defining a conical propulsion air pocket  13 , and a land portion  15  extending along the annular rear end of the skirt  14 , as well as the novel features of a forwardly protruding circumferential bulge or rim  22  on the head with a plurality of radial slits  21  extending partially or completely radially through the wall of the rim  22  (see FIG. 2 a ). The rim is thereby divided into sections or expansion panels  23 . The head portion  11  typically has at least four expansion panels  23  which are shaped and constructed to open radially outward and curl backward upon impact with a target. In this embodiment, the head portion  11  is of circular cross section with an annular rim  22 . The radius of the head portion  11  depends on the caliber of the gun in which the pellet is to be used. Although heads of different cross section are conceivable, their cross section should be symmetrical to a longitudinal axis of the pellet and preferably circular. Any number of rim sections or expansion panels  23  can be used as long as the circumferential ring or rim  22  reliably separates into multiple expansion panels  23  for “mushrooming” on impact. Mushrooming increases the shock wave created upon impact. 
     Referring to FIG. 1, the head  11  of the pellet  10  is further provided in the central recess defined by the circumferential rim  22  with a centrally located penetration point  16  which is of equal height to the circumferential rim  22  and conically widens towards its base. The point  16  serves to promote deeper penetration of the target after the initial impact. 
     FIGS. 4 to  8  illustrate the mushrooming of the pellet  10 . FIGS. 3,  4  and  5  illustrate the pellet  10  on initial impact with the expansion panels  23  partially opened. FIG. 6 illustrates the pellet  10  on initial impact with the expansion panels  23  opened further but not fully opened (mushroomed). FIGS. 7 and 8 illustrate the mushroomed pellet  10  with the expansion panels  23  fully deformed outward and rearward (mushroomed). 
     Although the expansion panels in the preferred embodiment as illustrated are completely separated by the intermediate slits  21  produced by cuffing the rim  22 , the rim can be sectioned in a variety of ways. The term section or sectioned as used herein is intended to cover a rim which is partitioned by any means which provides a dividing of the rim  22  into individual expansion panels before or upon impact for reliably achieving a mushrooming effect. For example, the slits  21  can be replaced with lines of perforations extending through the rim  22  or lines of weakness in the form of scratches, grooves, indentations, etc. located on the inside wall , the outside wall, or both sides of the rim. Partial cuts or slits  21  can be used as well, or any combination of these means for partitioning the rim. FIGS. 1 to  8  illustrate the conical point  16  of the pellet  10  in various views and at different stages of mushrooming. 
     Although the point  16  in this embodiment has a sharp tip, as illustrated in the figures, it could also be rounded or even flat, as long it still provides the bullet with improved penetration characteristics compared to a bullet without the penetration point. 
     The rearward portion  18  including the waist portion  12 , the hollow, conical skirt  14 , and the land portion  15  is conventional and comprises a generally frustoconical bore  17  widening rearwardly towards the land portion  15 . Multiple variations of this general construction are commonly known in the art and can all be used in the pellet in accordance with the invention so that no detailed discussion thereof need be provided for a full understanding of all rearward portion variants by the person skilled in the art. 
     In the preferred embodiment, the skirt wall  19 , as in conventional projectile cross-sections, increases in thickness towards the head  11  of the pellet  10 . The rearward part of the skirt wall  19  comprises an axially-short portion  49  with an interior apical angle which is larger than the interior angle of the skirt  14 . 
     Although the pellet  10  is illustrated with a frustoconical bore  17  used for thrusting the pellet forward from the barrel of the gun, the head  11  may be applied with any configuration of rearward portion  18  used to propel the pellet  10  forward from the barrel of a gun. 
     The effect of using a pellet  10  that has a head  11  which combines the features of both multiple expansion panels  23  and a central point  16  is to cause deeper internal damage to the target. This creates immediate internal damage to vital organs such as heart, lungs, arteries, etc. Thus, loss of the target animal and its unnecessary prolonged suffering is substantially avoided. 
     Various modifications to the shape and construction of the head portion  11  and the tail portion  18  are possible, provided that the head portion includes both a mushrooming structure and a penetrating structure. 
     The head portion  11  in another preferred embodiment is triangular in shape instead of a circular cross section or has a polygonal shape. The tail portion  18  can have a cylindrical shape (either internal, external or both) instead of the conical shape shown in the drawings, and a rearward portion whose land portion was not in continuous contact with the rifling of the gun barrel could be used as well, as long as a sufficient seal with the barrel is achieved for reliable propulsion of the bullet in and from the barrel. 
     Although the penetration point  16  and the rim  22  are of equal height in the preferred embodiment, the penetration point can have a height larger or smaller than the rim, depending on the degree of penetration desired. Furthermore, although the penetration point  16  preferably has a circular cross-section, it can also have an irregular cross-section resulting in an overall asymmetrical shape, or can have a multi-faceted outer surface with an overall multi-sided shape, such as pyramidal. 
     The expansion panels  23  are preferably of equal shape and size to provide symmetrical mushrooming of the head  11 . However, expansion panels of different shape and size can also be used in a pellet in accordance with the invention. The differing panels can then be arranged symmetrically to the longitudinal axis of the pellet. The land portion  15  can be omitted, but is preferred for improved sealing of the skirt  14  against the barrel wall (not shown). 
     Changes and modifications in the specifically described embodiments can be carried out without departing farm the scope of the invention which is intended to be limited only by the scope of the appended claims.