Patent ID: 8863633

Claim:
An ammunition magazine for storing a continuous belt of linked ammunition rounds and dispensing the ammunition to a belt feed weapon, comprising: an elongated box comprising an ammunition compartment bounded by walls; an opening in the box for dispensing the belt of linked ammunition; and an ammunition lock proximate the opening comprising a guided slide member with a locking end, the guided slide member adapted for longitudinal sliding movement between locked and unlocked positions in a direction substantially perpendicular to the plane of an ammunition compartment wall, wherein in the locked position the distance between the locking end of the ammunition lock and a top of the ammunition compartment wall is less than the thickness of the ammunition belt, and in the unlocked position the distance between the locking end of the ammunition lock and the ammunition compartment wall is greater than the thickness of the ammunition belt; and a spring configured to bias the guided slide member from the unlocked position to the locked position.