Muzzle brake

Details Muzzle brake Muzzle brake

1995-12-20

1997-07-29

Eldred, J. Woodrow

Ordnance

Barrels

Recoil absorbers and climb arrestors

F41A 2100

Patent

active

056524064

DESCRIPTION:

BRIEF SUMMARY
This invention relates to a muzzle brake for reducing the recoil resulting from the firing of a gun.
Muzzle brakes are used to reduce the recoil experienced by a gun when it is fired. They work by utilizing the forward momentum of the pressure wave produced by expanding exhaust gas which follows the firing of the gun, deflecting some of that exhaust gas rearwards to produce a forward impulse on the brake which balances to some degree the recoil impulse on the gun barrel.
Prior art muzzle brake systems suffer from the disadvantage that they interact with the very high pressure short duration blast wave which occurs immediately after the projectile has left the muzzle, in addition to the subsequent longer duration exhaust pressure wave produced by expanding exhaust gases. This blast wave is directed rearwards by the muzzle brake, increasing the blast overpressure in the region behind the gun and exposing the gun crew to increased hazard. The blast is then followed by the exhaust pressure wave which lasts in the order of milliseconds.
A standard configuration of muzzle brake comprises a metal block connected to the front of the muzzle having an aperture on the inside surface of the barrel and passages configured to direct exhaust gases rearwards. Following firing of the gun some of the pressurized exhaust gas escapes through this aperture and is deflected rearwards, attenuating the recoil impulse on the barrel. However, the metal block type of brake allows a considerable quantity of exhaust gas to pass forward through the muzzle, and thus is relatively inefficient and only reduces the recoil force by approximately 50%.
Howitzers normally employ a design of brake which is more effective at reducing recoil. A howitzer style brake includes a structure supported in front of the muzzle having a larger diameter than that of the barrel and partially closed by an annulus defining a rearwardly directed pressure surface at its forward end. Pressurized exhaust gas expands into the volume defined by the structure and is deflected rearwards through apertures in the structure by the annulus. The design increases the proportion of exhaust gas which is deflected rearwards, and thus increases the degree to which the recoil impulse is attenuated.
Certain designs of muzzle brake utilise the pressure of the gases produced to effect closing of the barrel. FK-A-2,680,235 discloses a brake which has pivoting flaps which close off the barrel and direct the gases through rearwardly directed nozzles. DE-C-0,100,272 discloses a device which has opening valves in the barrel wall, the opening of the valves causing a slide to close off the barrel.
The application of muzzle brakes to guns from which saboted projectiles are to be launched also presents problems, as the disruption of the blast pressure wave by the brake can interfere with the sabot discarding process. This is particularly true of howitzer type muzzle brakes, which are found to be entirely unsuitable when launching saboted projectiles.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a muzzle brake for attachment to the muzzle of a gun barrel which minimizes interaction with the blast pressure wave from the barrel, but which interacts with the exhaust gas pressure wave by deflecting a significant proportion of the exhaust gas rearwards, so as to attenuate the recoil impulse on the barrel with minimum increase of the blast overpressure in the region behind the gun.
Thus according to the invention there is provided a muzzle brake locatable at the forward end of a gun barrel comprising a hollow cylindrical tube having an open forward end and having at least two apertures in the cylinder wall, each of the apertures being provided with associated closure means mounted on the hollow cylindrical tube so as to be movable between a closed position and a fully open position wherein each of the closure means has at least one associated biasing member acting on it to bias the closure means into the closed position, said biasing members being preloaded to a predetermined level so as to

REFERENCES:
patent: 5020416 (1991-06-01), Tripp
patent: 5036747 (1991-08-01), McClain

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