Firearms – Revolvers – Firing mechanism
Patent
1996-08-27
1998-10-06
Johnson, Stephen M.
Firearms
Revolvers
Firing mechanism
43 7102, 43103, 43 72, 43100, F41A 1952, F41C 2312
Patent
active
058159720
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION
THIS invention relates to handguns, both of revolver and pistol type.
A disadvantage of all known handguns is that of upward jerking of the weapon when a shot is fired. FIG. 1 illustrates a conventional revolver gripped in the normal way in the hand. In this Figure, the numeral 101 indicates the normal reaction force resulting from the projection, at high velocity, of a bullet through the barrel of the gun. The recoil which arises on firing is resisted both by the inherent inertia of the weapon and by the hand of the shooter. The numeral 102 indicates the resisting force applied by the shooter's hand. The design of conventional handguns, such as that illustrated in FIG. 1, requires that the shooter grip the weapon at a position below the line of the reaction force 101. Thus the line of action of the force 102 is parallel to but below the Line of action of the force 101. The combined effect of the forces 101 and 102 is to create a turning moment, indicated diagrammatically by the numeral 103, which causes an upward jerking movement of the gun, indicated by the numeral 104.
The upward jerking movement 104 is magnified as a result of the fact that in the conventional design as illustrated, there is a substantially greater mass of the gun located below the line of action of the force 101 than above it. An additional factor which increases the tendency of the weapon to jerk upwards when a shot is fired is the fact that the reaction force on the hand, i.e. a force equal and opposite to the force 102, acts in a line above the wrist axis 105 about which the hand is substantially free to pivot relative to the forearm. This in turn gives rise to an anticlockwise turning moment about the wrist corresponding to upward jerking movement of the handgun.
The upward jerking movement each time a shot is fired requires re-alignment of the weapon before the next shot can be fired accurately. Proper re-alignment requires a considerable degree of skill on the part of the user and is time-consuming. This considerably limits the effectiveness of known handguns in situations where multiple shots are to be fired in close succession.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
According to the present invention there is provided a handgun which comprises a trigger, a firing mechanism arranged to be actuated by the trigger and to fire a cartridge, a barrel through which the bullet of the cartridge is projected when the cartridge is fired, the barrel having an axis, and a butt which is arranged to be gripped in the hand of a user, wherein the axis of the barrel, and hence the line of action of a recoil force which is generated when the cartridge is fired, is at least substantially aligned with the line of action of a resisting force applied to the handgun by the user's hand when the butt is gripped normally, and furthermore wherein the trigger is located above the axis of the barrel.
The alignment of the action and reaction forces in this way substantially reduces the tendency of the handgun to jerk upwardly when fired. In addition, the mounting of the trigger above the axis of the barrel allows for a layout with desirable weight distribution characteristics In some cases where the lines of action and reaction are not perfectly aligned it is preferred that the axis of the barrel be located very slightly below the line of action of the resisting force. This feature further reduces the tendency of the weapon to jerk upwardly when fired by producing a counter-moment opposing the moment acting about the pivot axis of the wrist.
Preferably also, the centre of inertia of the handgun is located substantially on or just above the axis of the barrel, thereby further reducing the tendency for the weapon to jerk upwardly when fired.
The handgun may be a revolver comprising a hammer which is arranged to cause movement of a firing pin in a direction to cause firing of a cartridge and which is carried by a spring loaded hammer shaft actuated by the trigger. In this case, the preferred layout is one in which the hammer shaft lying on an
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