Muzzle loading bullet with gas seal
A projectile or bullet for a muzzle loading firearm that has a fixedly attached skirt as a gas seal. The projectile is a full-bore bullet that has high velocity and high accuracy and is easy to load. The bullet includes a rear body portion covered with skirt made of a different material than the body to form a gas seal when the projectile is fired. In a preferred embodiment, the skirt material is plastic, paper or nylon. The body portion of the projectile may be covered by a jacket. The nose portion of the bullet may incorporate a ballistic tip. In some embodiments, the rear of the bullet body is indented to allow the expanding gases at ignition to expand the rear of the bullet to further seal the combustion behind the bullet and to further seal the skirt to the bullet.
1. Technical Field
This invention generally relates to the field of projectiles for firearms, and more specifically relates to projectiles for muzzle loading firearms.
2. Background Art
Muzzle loading firearms have a long history. Modem muzzle loading firearms continue to find favor today with hobbyists and purists who use them for hunting and sport shooting. Although the principle of muzzle loading has remained relatively constant, various improvements have been made in an attempt to alleviate past problems and improve the speed, distance and accuracy of the bullet. For example, some modern muzzle loading bullets have copper jacketing or hydraulic tips. See U.S. Pat. No. 6,675,718 issued to Parker (the inventor of the present case), which is incorporated herein by reference.
To alleviate some of the previous problems with loading a bullet into a muzzle-loading firearm, a sabot was designed to replace the conventional wad. A sabot is typically a plastic sleeve that holds the bullet during loading and discharge, and then falls away after leaving the barrel of the gun. Sabots typically provide a gas seal that improves the muzzle velocity of the bullet. However, the sabot suffers from some disadvantages. For example, the sabot may split upon firing or ignition, causing increased inaccuracy in the flight characteristics of the bullet. In addition, a bullet is typically placed within a cylindrical portion of the sabot, between the bullet and the barrel. As a result, full-bore bullets cannot be loaded or shot using traditional sabots. Sabots are also more cumbersome during loading since they require two pieces to be handled.
Some of the modern muzzle loading bullets are no longer full-bore to eliminate the difficulty of loading the bullet. An example of a modern bullet is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,458,064 issued to R. M. Kearns. This bullet has a gas check member that frictionally and resiliently engages the base of the bullet. The gas check member is manually attached prior to loading and detaches upon exiting the barrel after firing. Bullets of this type are popular, and work well where shooting of bullets that are not full-bore is allowed. However, many states within the United States require the use of muzzle loading bullets that have full-bore diameter for certain hunting seasons. Bullets such as those described in Kearns that are less than full-bore are not fully compliant with state law in some states that require hunting with full-bore bullets. Thus a more accurate and high velocity bullet is needed that is full-bore and yet still easy to load.
DISCLOSURE OF INVENTIONAccording to a preferred embodiment, a full-bore projectile or bullet includes a rear body portion having a reduced diameter that is covered with a skirt made of a different material than the body to form a gas seal when the projectile is fired. In a preferred embodiment, the skirt material is plastic, paper or nylon. The body portion of the projectile is preferably covered by a jacket. The nose portion of the bullet preferably incorporates a ballistic tip.
In some embodiments, the base or rear of the bullet body is indented to allow the expanding gases at ignition to expand the rear of the bullet to further seal the combustion behind the bullet and to further seal the skirt to the bullet. The shape of the indention may be concave, triangular, slotted, or another suitable shape.
An advantage of some embodiments of the present invention is increased terminal energy which gives higher knockdown energy and provides for a more sure kill when hunting.
Another advantage of the present invention is that it can be used in conjunction with jacketing and ballistic tips to obtain a wide range of performance characteristics to be optimized for the desired use and/or type of game to be hunted.
The foregoing and other features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following more particular description of preferred embodiments of the invention, as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGSThe preferred embodiments of the present invention will hereinafter be described in conjunction with the appended drawings, where like designations denote like elements, and:
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Skirt 120 and skirt-cup 122 are permanently attached to the reduced-diameter portion 112 of the bullet body 110. This permanent attachment assures that the skirt flies with the bullet, rather than separating from the bullet upon exiting the barrel of a gun. This permanent attachment is in contrast to known sabots, which detach from the bullet and fall away once the sabot leaves the barrel, and is also in contrast to the bullet disclosed in the Kearns patent (discussed in the Background Art section above), which includes a gas check member that temporarily attaches to the bullet when loading, but also falls off the bullet once the bullet leaves the barrel.
Skirt 120 and skirt-cup 122 may be attached to the reduced-diameter portion 112 of the bullet using any suitable means of permanent attachment, including friction-fit, adhesives, fasteners, and other mechanical retention mechanisms that hold the skirt 120 and skirt cup 122 in place. One suitable example of mechanical retention mechanisms that help to hold a skirt 120 or skirt cup 122 in place is shown in
The preferred embodiments illustrated in
The combination of features shown herein results in a projectile that is relatively easy to manufacture and assemble and a reasonable cost. There are no pivot pins, set screws, or other things that are mechanically complex and prone to failure. A bullet in accordance with the preferred embodiments provides significantly greater damage when hunting with muzzle loaders, and provides a more humane kill by reducing the chance of an injured animal running off after being shot.
One skilled in the art will appreciate that many variations are possible within the scope of the present invention. For example, each of the rear portions of the bullet illustrated in
Claims
1. A projectile comprising:
- a body with at least a portion having a diameter at least as large as a bore size of an intended firearm; and
- a skirt made of a different material than the body and fixedly attached to a rear portion of the body.
2. The projectile of claim 1 wherein the body comprises metal and the skirt comprises a non-metal material.
3. The projectile of claim 1 wherein the skirt covers at least a portion of a rear portion of the body and at least a portion of the skirt has a diameter at least as large as a bore size of the intended firearm.
4. The projectile of claim 1 wherein the skirt is a cylindrical sleeve surrounding a reduced diameter portion of a cylindrical rear portion of the body.
5. The projectile of claim 1 wherein the body further comprises a rear portion having an indented surface.
6. The projectile of claim 5 wherein the indented surface is concave.
7. The projectile of claim 5 wherein the indented surface is conical.
8. The projectile of claim 1 wherein a nose portion of the body includes a ballistic tip.
9. The projectile of claim 1 wherein the diameter of the body steps down from a fill-bore diameter to a smaller diameter near a nose portion of the body.
10. A projectile comprising:
- a body with at least a portion having a diameter at least as large as a bore size of an intended firearm and a stepped down portion having a reduced-diameter portion that is substantially smaller than the bore size; and
- a skirt-cup made of a different material than the body and fixedly attached to a rear portion of the body, the skirt-cup substantially covering the reduced-diameter portion.
11. The projectile of claim 10 wherein the body comprises metal and the skirt-cup comprises a non-metal material.
12. The projectile of claim 10 wherein the rear portion comprises an indented surface.
13. The projectile of claim 12 wherein the indented surface is concave.
14. The projectile of claim 12 wherein the indented surface is conical.
15. The projectile of claim 10 wherein a nose portion of the body comprises a ballistic tip.
16. The projectile of claim 10 wherein the diameter of the body steps down from a full-bore diameter to a smaller diameter near a nose portion of the body.
17. A projectile comprising:
- a body with a rear portion, a middle portion and a point portion, wherein at least part of the middle portion of the body has a diameter at least as large as a bore size of an intended firearm and the rear portion has a diameter less than the bore size; and
- a skirt made of a different material than the body and fixedly attached to the rear portion of the body, wherein the skirt covers at least some of a rear portion of the body and at least a portion of the skirt has a diameter at least as large as a bore size of the intended firearm.
18. The projectile of claim 17 wherein the body further comprises a stepped diameter at a point between the middle portion and the point portion.
19. The projectile of claim 17 wherein the part of the middle body portion that has a diameter at least as large as a bore size is less than 25 percent of the portion of the skirt that has a diameter at least as large as the bore size.
20. The projectile of claim 17 wherein the part of the middle body portion that has a diameter at least as large as a bore size is less than 25 percent of the portion of the skirt that has a diameter at least as large as the bore size.
21. The projectile of claim 17 wherein the body further comprises a rear portion having an indented surface.
22. The projectile of claim 21 wherein the indented surface is concave.
23. The projectile of claim 17 wherein the skirt further comprises a plurality of annular channels in an outer surface of the skirt.
24. The projectile of claim 17 wherein a nose portion of the body comprises a ballistic tip.
25. The projectile of claim 24 wherein the ballistic tip is hydraulic.
26. The projectile of claim 17 wherein the body of the bullet comprises a metal jacket made of a material harder than the material of the body.
27. A projectile comprising:
- a body with a cylindrical rear portion, a middle portion, and a point portion, wherein at least part of the middle portion of the body has a diameter at least as large as a bore size of an intended firearm, and the length of the middle portion of at least bore size diameter is less than about 25 percent of the overall length of the projectile that is at least full bore;
- a cylindrical sleeve skirt surrounding a reduced diameter portion of the cylindrical rear portion of the body made of different material than the body and fixedly attached to the rear portion of the body, wherein the skirt covers at least some of a rear portion of the body and wherein at least a portion of the skirt has a diameter at least as large as a bore size of the intended firearm;
- a metal jacket made of a material harder than the material of the body covering a substantial portion of the body; and
- a ballistic tip in the nose portion of the body.
28. A method for manufacturing a bullet comprising the steps of:
- forming a bullet body with at least a portion having a diameter at least as large as a bore size of an intended firearm; and
- fixedly attaching a skirt made of a different material than the body to a rear portion of the body.
29. The method of claim 28 wherein the body comprises metal and the skirt comprises a non-metal material.
30. The method of claim 28 wherein the skirt covers at least a portion of a rear portion of the body and at least a portion of the skirt has a diameter at least as large as a bore size of the intended firearm.
31. The method of claim 28 wherein the skirt is a cylindrical sleeve surrounding a reduced diameter portion of a cylindrical rear portion of the body.
32. The method of claim 28 wherein the body further comprises a rear portion having an indented surface.
33. The method of claim 32 wherein the indented surface is concave.
34. The method of claim 32 wherein the indented surface is conical.
35. The method of claim 28 wherein a nose portion of the bullet body includes a hydraulic ballistic tip.
36. The method of claim 28 wherein the diameter of the body steps down from a full-bore diameter to a smaller diameter near a nose portion of the body.
Type: Application
Filed: Aug 5, 2004
Publication Date: Feb 9, 2006
Inventor: Bobby Parker (Spring Creek, NV)
Application Number: 10/912,466
International Classification: F42B 30/00 (20060101);