Patent ID: 8745912

Claim:
A firearm, comprising: a stock; a receiver assembly mounted to the stock and having a receiver cavity accessible along a bottom side thereof; a barrel mounted to the receiver assembly; a rotary magazine configured to be inserted upward into an underside of the firearm, the magazine comprising: a magazine housing, comprising: a side wall, a front wall, and a rear wall, which in combination define a magazine cavity sized to receive a plurality of cartridges, each of which includes a case and a bullet; a shoulder positioned within the cavity along an inner surface of the side wall, the shoulder being arranged to contact the cases thereby limiting forward longitudinal movement of the cartridges within the magazine cavity at all locations along a contoured path through the magazine cavity to prevent a front tip of each of the bullets from contacting the front wall; an exit opening positioned along a top side of the magazine housing and providing access into the magazine cavity; a pair of retaining edges positioned adjacent to the exit opening and limiting upward movement of the cartridges out of the magazine cavity; a follower plate positioned in the magazine cavity and rotatable through at least 180° of rotation; a biasing mechanism operable to rotate the follower plate within the magazine cavity to advance the cartridges toward the exit opening; a follower plate support extending from the side wall into the magazine cavity and supporting one end of the follower plate, an opposite end of the follower plate being supported by the rear wall; a coupling mechanism positioned on an outer surface of the housing; at least one catch positioned on an outer surface of the housing, the coupling mechanism and the at least one catch providing releasable attachment of the magazine within the receiver cavity.