US3545116A - Firearm with an angularly indexed firing pin and nonrotatable magazine - Google Patents

Description

3,545,1 16 AND Dec.'8, 1970 c. E. BABINGTON FIREARM WITH AN ANGULARLY INDEXED FIRING PIN NONROTATABLE MAGAZINE 4 Sheets-Sheet l Filed Aug. 9, 1968 miriai'ai:

Jun/mama.

1970 c E. BABINGTON 33,545,

FIREARM WITH AN ANGULARLY INDEXED FIRING PIN AND NONROTATABLE MAGAZINE Filed Aug. 9, 1968 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. Cl-MRLES E. BIJB/NG TON HIS flTTOEA/EYS 1970 c. E. BABINGTON $545,116

' FIREARM WITH AN ANGULARLY INDEXED FIRING PIN AND NONROTATABLE MAGAZINE Filed Aug. 9, 1968 4 Sheets-Sheet L A will rv III a. n

INVENTOR.

CAI/121.65 E. Bflfi/NG TON BY #7 V? United States Patent Ofifice 3,545,116 Patented Dec. 8, 1970 U.S. CI. 42-11 17 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISIIILOSURE Two embodiments of a spring powered, multiple cartridge, tear gas gun are disclosed, one a compact device for personal use, and the other a larger device shaped as a billy club for police use. Both embodiments include a Single firing pin mounted on an axially movable firing member. The firing pin is located of]? center from the axis of the magazine and the firing member is rapidly indexed whereupon the firing pin, when the gun is fired, successively advances toward different cartridges. Indexing the firing member is accomplished at each end of the stroke thereof. Both devices can be easily reloaded after use, with the parts of the billy club device especially arranged to permit rapid reloading.

This invention relates to firearms and more particularly to firearms of the type used with tear gas cartridges. As will become apparent, the firearms could be used with cartridges of other types which operate upon impact of a firing pin.

Various firearms for use with tear gas cartridges have been designed and some are being currently sold, both for use by individuals desiring self-protection and for use by police and others involved in riot control and similar activities. Typically, these devices have a magazine with a single cartridge receiving chamber and the gun must be disassembled to replace the single cartridge therein when it is spent. Multiple cartridge tear gas guns have been proposed but these have been of a complicated and bulky as well as expensive design.

An object of this invention is to provide a novel, improved firearm especially adapted for use as a tear gas gun of a compact construction and provided with a plurality of cartridge receiving chambers.

A further object of this invention is to provide a firearm usable as a tear gas gun having a plurality of cartridge receiving chambers which can be rapidly and easily reloaded. In one embodiment of this invention this object is met by providing a compact tear gas gun having a magazine which can be removed by merely rotating a knob. This device is sufficiently compact that it can be conveniently carried in the breast pocket or a ladys small handbag, the device being insignificantly larger than commercially available single shot tear gas guns.

In a second embodiment of this invention, which is preferred for police use, the magazine is released from the body of the gun by approximately 90 rotation of an end cap on the body member. The magazine along with a support head therefor is pushed out the end of the body member, the magazine then merely being unlatched from its support head and pivoted relative thereto to permit operation of an ejector mechanism.

Another object of this invention is to provide a firearm usable as a tear gas gun, the entire mechanism of which is releasably locked in a hollow tubular body member of relatively small diameter. To accomplish this object, the firearm has a single firing pin mounted upon an axially movable and rotatable firing member, the firing pin moving in opposite strokes toward and away from the cartridge receiving chambers of the magazine. All of the cartridge chambers as well as the firing pin are radially offset from the center axis of the body member.

Still another object of this invention is to provide an improved, inexpensive and positive mechanism for successively firing a plurality of tear gas cartridges or the like. In accordance with this invention the firing member has inclined cam surfaces on each end thereof cooperating with inclined cam surfaces non-rotatably located Within the tubular body member, the arrangement being such that the firing member is indexed upon each stroke thereof by the interengagement of its inclined surfaces with the nonrotatable inclined surfaces inside the body member.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent from the following description and the drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a tear gas gun made in accordance with this invention;

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal cross sectional view of the tear gas gun as taken along the line 2--2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the gun of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is an end elevational view of a magazine support head which forms part of the: tear gas gun of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a cross sectional view of the magazine support head taken along the line 5-5 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a portion of the magazine of the gun of FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a second embodiment of this invention in which a tear gas gun is formed as a billy club;

FIG. 8 is a cross sectional view of the second embodiment taken along line 88 of FIG. 7. To provide adequate space to illustrate details, FIG. 8 has been divided into upper and lower parts;

FIG. 9 is an exploded perspective view of a portion of the gun of FIG. 7. In FIG. 9, parts have been broken away and parts shown in cross section. Due to drawing space limitations, the relative sizes of the various parts are not accurately represented in FIG. 9;

FIG. 9a is an exploded perspective view of the remainder of the gun of FIG. 7;

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of the rear end of the magazine of the gun of FIG. 7;

FIG. 11 is an end view, with parts in cross section, of the magazine support head of the gun of FIG. 7 as viewed in the direction of arrows 11-11 of FIG. 9a; and

FIG. 12 is a perspective view of a manually rotatable cam plate of the gun of FIG. '7 as viewed generally in the direction of arrows 1212 of FIG. 9.

FIGS. 1 through 6 illustrate the construction of a firearm or tear gas gun, generally designated 10, designed for personal use and of a minimum size such that it may be conveniently carried in the breast pocket or in a ladys handbag. The tear gas gun 10 comprises a hollow tubular main body member 12 on the forward end of which is mounted a magazine support head 14 having a sleeve portion 16 which surrounds the forward end of the body member 12 and an internal shoulder 16a abutting the forward end edge of the body member 12. A pin 18 (FIG. 2) cooperates with a recess 20 (FIGS. 2 and 4) in the magazine support head 14 for holding the magazine support head non rotatably on the body member 12. Abutted against the end face of the magazine support head 14 is a magazine 22 having four cartridge chambers 24 therein for receiving tear gas cartridges 26. 'Lugs 28 projecting from the end face of the magazine support head 14 project into cooperating recesses 30 in the confronting end face of the magazine 22 for holding the magazine 22 affixed in relation to the magazine support head 14 and, ac-

cordingly, the body member 12 when these parts are assembled. The other, rearward end of the body member 12 is closed by a disc-shaped end plug 32 having diametrically opposed recesses 34 which are aligned with diametrically opposed slots 36 in the body member 12'. The recesses 34 and the slots 36 together receive spaced tongues 38 of a pocket clip 40. The recesses 34 may be slightly divergent so that, when the parts are assembled, the tongues 38 are sprung apart to more securely hold the clip 40.

The magazine support head 14 and the magazine 22 are held in assembled relation on the body member 12 by means of a separable connector rod including a first, rear connector rod member 42 passing through a central aperture in the end plug 32 and having an enlarged, external, knurled end cap or knob 44. A second, front connector rod member 46, having an enlarged cap portion 48 which projects from the forward end of the gun 10, extends axially through a central bore 50 in the magazine 22. Associated with the cap 48 is a tooth 52 projecting into a notch 50a in the end face of the magazine 22, the tooth 52 and notch 50a cooperating to prevent rotation of the assembled connector rod formed by the rod members 42 and 46. The rod members 42 and 46 have mating threaded ends so that, as shown in FIG. 2, the two rod members 42 and 46 may be threaded together to hold the body member 12, the magazine support head 14 and the magazine 22 in assembled, axially fixed relation.

Mounted for axial and rotatable movement within the body member 12 is a hollow tubular firing member 54 having a wedge-shaped firing pin 56 at the forward end thereof. The firing pin 56 is offset from the longitudinal axis of the body member 12 by the same radial distance as the radial distance by which the center axes of the several cartridge chambers 24 are offset from the same longitudinal axis. With reference to FIG. 2, it may be noted that the firing pin 56 may be mounted on or integral with a cap portion 58 of the firing member 54. A firing spring 60 confined within the body ember 12 coacts between the internal surface of the cap member 58 and the end plug 32. For this purpose a sleeve-like spring centering fitting 62 may be slidably mounted on the rear rod portion 42 and, if desired, may be integral with the end plug 32.

Energy is stored in the firing spring 60 by compressing it through movement of the firing member 54 to the right as viewed in FIG. 2. This energy storing stroke of the firing member 54 is accomplished by a manually operable actuator mechanism comprising a sleeve 64 axially fixed to the firing member 54 but rotatable thereon and a knob 66 attached to the sleeve 64 and extending generally radially from the longitudinal axis of the gun 10. The knob 66 extends through an axially extending slot 68 in the body member 12 and an aligned recess or slot portion 70 in the sleeve portion 16 of the magazine support head 14. To prevent accidental operation, the knob 66 is moved into an inclined offset notch 72 formed in the body member 12 and projecting toward the front of the gun when the gun 10 is not in use. As should be apparent, the knob 66 may be manually pulled backwardly along the inclined surface of the notch 72 so that it enters the slot 68 and, during continued rearward movement thereof, the firing spring 60 will be placed under compression. Upon release of the knob 66 the spring 60 will be released from compression whereupon the firing member 54 and its firing pin 56 Will be rapidly urged to the forward end of the gun 10 in a firing stroke so that the firing pin 56 forcefully strikes one of the tear gas cartridges 26.

In order to successively fire the various cartridges 26, the firing member 54 is repeatedly indexed during the energy storing and firing strokes thereof through the appropriate angle, in this case 90, to cause the firing pin 56 to engage successively different cartridges 26. For this purpose the rear end of the firing member 54 opposite from the firing pin 56 is formed as a plurality of circumferentially spaced prongs 74 having inclined surfaces 76 which, during the energy storing stroke, engage and slide along the inclined surface 78 of a wedge-shaped cam plate 80 affixed to the internal face of the body member 12. Accordingly, during the energy storing stroke the inclined surface 76 of one of the prongs 74 engages the inclined surface 78 of the cam plate 80, thereby causing the firing member 54 to index or rotate about the longitudinal axis of the gun 10 through a predetermined angle. During the immediately following firing stroke of the firing member 54, the inclined surface, designated 82, of the wedge-shaped firing pin 56 engages an inclined surface 84 of one of four circumferentially and equall spaced wedge-shaped cam members 86 located internally of the magazine support head 14. The cam members 86 can conveniently be formed integral with the support head 14 as shown in FIGS. 3, 4 and 5.

The added index resulting from the sliding engagement between the sloping or inclined surface of the firing pin 56 with one of the cam members 86 not only causes the firing pin 56 to be accurately directed toward one of the cartridges 26 but also causes a different one of the prongs 74 to be aligned with the sloping surface of the cam plate 80 so that upon a subsequent energy storing stroke of the firing member 54, the firing member 54 will be then rotated or indexed through an additional predetermined angle, thereby aligning the firing pin 56 to engage a different one of the cam members 86. To conserve the momentum of the firing spring 60 so that it Will have sufficient force to insure firing of the cartridges 26, the angle through which the firing member 54 is indexed during the energy storing stroke should be a much larger angle, say 80", than the additional predetermined angle, say 10, through which the firing member 54 is indexed during the firing stroke.

After all four cartridges 26 have been fired, the magazine 22 can easily be removed from the magazine support head 14 for replacement of the spent cartridges by rotating the cap 44, which for this purpose desirably has a knurled edge, thereby unthreading the rear connector rod 42 from the front connector rod member 46. The front connector rod member 46 is longer than the magazine 22 and can conveniently be inserted into the chambers 24 for ejecting the spent cartridges therefrom. An annular flange 88 may be formed on the rear rod member 42 to prevent the rear rod member 42 from accidentally sliding out of the body member 12 when the magazine 22 is removed. However, with the magazine 22 removed, the entire assembly can easily be removed from the body member 12 for cleaning by simply sliding off the magazine support head 14 and removing the pocket clip 40.

The tear gas gun described above in connection with FIGS. 1 through 6 is suited for personal use because of its compact size. The second embodiment of this invention, which is illustrated in FIGS. 7 through 12, is preferred for use by professionals such as police in connection with riot control and other police work.

The tear gas gun shown in FIGS. 7 through 12 is generally designated and includes a hollow tubular main body member 102 which, as illustrated in FIG. "7, has a reduced diameter, grooved hand grip portion 104 and a larger diameter forward end portion 106 to which a strap 108 (FIG. 8) can be connected. The details of the mounting of the strap 108 are unimportant but threaded holes 110 receiving screws 110a are shown in FIGS. 8 and 9 for this purpose.

Referring to FIGS. 8, 9 and 9a, an annular seat or shoulder 112 is located in the bore of the body member 102 recessed from the forward end thereof. Abutted against the shoulder 112 is a magazine support head 114 which has a cylindrical rearwardly extending body portion 116 and a generally cylindrical larger diameter head portion 118 with a rearwardly extending annular flange 120, the rear edge of which abuts the shoulder 112. The shoulder 112 serves as a seat for the magazine support head 114 which is held thereagainst by a releasable lock assembly comprising a connector rod 122 that extends axially through a major portion of the body member 102 and rearwardly out of the magazine support head 114. The forward end of the connector rod 122 has a connector rod cap 124 threaded thereon received within an enlarged diameter recess 126 in the forward end of the magazine support head 114. Surrounding the forward end of the connector rod 122 is a coil spring 128. As apparent from FIG. 8 the coil spring 128 coacts between the connector rod cap 124 and the shoulder 130 at the base of the recess 126 biasing the connector rod 122 forwardly of the body member 102 and biasing the magazine support head 114 rearwardly into engagement with the seat 112.

The connector rod 122 is releasably locked against forward movement within the body member 102 by a manually rotatable cam plate 132 which rotates about the longitudinal axis of the body member 102 and which is held axially fixed on the rearward end of the body member 102 by split collar members 134 having inwardly extending annular ribs 136 received in an annular groove 138 out in the rearward end of the body member 102. The cam plate 132 can be manually rotated upon rotation of a cup-shaped end cap 140 connected to the cam plate 132 and the assembled collar members 134 as by screws 142 projecting through aligned apertures therein.

With reference to FIGS. 9 and 12, the cam plate 132 has a key slot 144 extending axially therethrough for receiving the connector rod 122 and for receiving a perpendicular key pin 146 passing diametrically through an aperture 148 in the rear end of the connector rod 122 and aifixed thereto by a set screw 150. The rear face of the cam plate 132 has a pair of substatnially diametrically opposed recesses 152 and a pair of substantially diametrically opposed inclined cam surfaces 154 leading rearwardly from the key slot 144 to plateau portions 156 in which the recesses 152 are formed. Both recesses 152 have straight side surfaces, designated 152a, and the rear face of the cam plate 132 is further provided with a pair of opposed straight side surfaces 158 each confronting one of the cam surfaces 154.

The connector rod 122 is held against rotation Within the body member 102 by a pin 160 having an enlarged end portion 162 threadedly engaged with the body of the body member 102 and extending substantially diametrically therethrough. The pin 160 also extends into and through an elongate slot 164 in the connector rod 122. As apparent, the cam plate 132 may be rotated in one direction to remove the recesses 152 from engagement with the key pin 146 to thereby align the key slot 144 therewith. This rotation will be accompanied by a small, axially forward movement of the connector rod 122 under the influence of the spring 128. Similarly, rotation of the camplate 132 in the opposite direction will result in a rearward movement of the connector rod 122 as the key pin 146 follows rearwardly along the cam surfaces 154 for again locking the connector rod 122 against forward movement by relocating the recesses 152 in alignment with the key pin 146. The aforementioned straight surfaces 152a of the recesses 152 and the straight surfaces 158 cooperate to limit the angle through which the cam plate 132 can be rotated. For reasons which will be described below, the rear end of the body member 102 has a large internal diameter recess 166 into which the key pin 146 can move. Should the cam plate 132 be accidentally rotated when the key pin 146 is in the recess 166, the cam plate 132 can be properly repositioned by rotating it to an extreme end position which is determined by engagement of a locating pin 168 projecting from the surface of the body member 102 with one of the ends of an arcuate groove 170 in the confronting forward face of the cam plate 132.

Referring to FIGS. 8 and 9a, a cylindrical magazine 172 is mounted by a pivot pin 174 to a forwardly extending support rod portion 176 integral with the support head 114. Normally the magazine 172 is located, as shown in FIG. 8, inside the end of the body member 102 and locked to the support head 114 by a latch member 178 having a hook-shaped forward end overlying the forward face of the magazine 172 and a rear end connected by a pivot pin 180 to the head portion 118 of the support head 114. The total diameter of the major portion of the magazine 172 is only slightly less than the internal diameter of the enlarged body member front end portion 106 so that the magazine 172 is snugly received therein. Elongate, diametrically opposed notches 182 and 184 are cut in the periphery of the magazine 172 for receiving the support rod portion 176 and the latch member 178, respectively. The purpose of this type of mounting of the magazine 172 will be described below.

The magazine 172 has a plurality of circumferentially and equally spaced cartridge chambers 186 extending therethrough having axes parallel to and radially spaced from the center axis thereof. When assembled as viewed in FIG. 8, the magazine 172 is non-rotatable with respect to the body member 102 because it is non-rotatable with respect to the support head 114 which in turn is nonrotatably affixed to the connector rod 122 by a key pin 188 extending through the body portion 116 of the magazine support head 114 and through a slot 190 in the forward end of the connector rod 122.

The mechanism for successively firing the cartridges (not shown) located in the cartridge chambers 186 is similar to that described above in connection with FIGS. 1 through 6 and includes a hollow tubular firing member, generally designated 192, having a firing pin 194 projecting from the front end thereof and a plurality of circumferentially spaced cams or prongs 196 projecting from the rear end thereof. A generally tubular cam member 198 (FIG. 9) having a plurality of forwardly projecting cams or prongs 200 is nonrotatably attached to the connector rod 122 by a key pin 202 which passes through holes 204 and 206 in the cam member 198 and the connector rod 122, respectively. The prongs 196 and 200 have confronting inclined surfaces. The cam member 198 is mounted in the body member 102 rearwardly of the firing member 192 and cooperates with the firing member 192 to form a chamber 208 therein (FIG. 8) which confines a firing spring 210. Afiixedl inside the forward end of the firing member 192 are a plurality of circumferentially spaced splines 212 having forwardly extending, inclined cam surfaces 214 (FIG. 9a) adapted to engage similar inclined cam surfaces of circumferentially spaced and rearwardly extending prongs 216 which are integral with the magazine support head body portion 116. Mounted for rotation between spaced shoulders 218 and 220 on the firing mechanism 192 is a sleeve 222 to which is affixed an arcuate plate 224 having a threaded boss 226 thereon to which is connected a knob 228 by a threaded bolt 230. The knob 228 projects radially outwardly through an elongate slot 232 which extends longitudinally through the wall of the body member 102. Oifset from the slot 232 is a notch 234 communicating therewith for receiving tre knob 228 when the gun is not in use.

With the parts assembled as shown in FIG. 8, it is apparent that the tear gas gun 100 operates in essentially the same manner as the tear gas gun 10. Thus, when the knob 228 is manually moved rearwardly, the firing member 192 is thereby moved in an energy storing stroke which compresses the firing spring 210. Upon subsequent release of the knob 228, the firing member 192 is forcefully moved by the release or expansion of the firing spring 210 toward the front of the gun 100. During this forward movement, the firing pin 194 projects through one of a set of circumferentially spaced holes 236 in the magazine support head 114 and into engagement with a cartridge located in one of the cartridge chambers 186. During the energy storing stroke of the firing member 192, the inclined surfaces of the prongs 196 follow upon the non-rotatable inclined surfaces of the prongs 200 causing the firing member 192 to be indexed through a predetermined angle. During the subsequent firing stroke of the firing member 192, the inclined surfaces 214 of the splines 212 follow upon the inclined surfaces of the prongs 216 causing a further index of the firing member 192. The successive index steps cause the firing pin 194 to be indexed into engagement with different ones of the cartridges in the cartridge chambers 186 upon repeated actuation of the tear gas gun 100. As before, the index should be greatest during each energy storing stroke of the firing member 192 to conserve the energy of the spring 210 during the firing stroke.

The gun 100 can rapidly be reloaded in the following manner. First the end cap 140 and, accordingly, the cam plate 132 are rotated through 90 to align the key pin 146 with the key slot 144. The knob 228 is then pushed forwardly of the gun body member 102. This forward movement of the knob 228 is accompanied by a forward movement of the entire mechanism located Within the body member 102 through a distance permitted by the length of the slot 164 in the rod 122. At the end of the forward movement, the magazine 172 projects slightly beyond the end of the body member 102, generally in the position thereof indicated by phantom lines 172a in FIG. 8. As illustrated in FIG. 9a, the latch member 178 may then be pivoted away from engagement with the magazine 172 and the magazine 172 pivoted about the pin 174 to permit removal of the spent cartridges from the rearward end of the cartridge chambers 186.

All of the spent cartridges can be simultaneously ejected by an ejector mechanism including a manually operable ejector pin or push rod 238 extending through a centrally located bore 240 in the magazine 172. As can be seen from FIG. 8, the diameter of the bore 240 is larger at its forward end and confines therein an ejector spring 242 which coacts between the base of the enlarged diameter portion of the bore 240 and the rear face of the shoulder portion of a push rod cap portion 244 which in turn projects forwardly from the magazine 172. A starshaped ejector plate 246 is connected by a nut 248 to the threaded rear end 250 of the ejector pin 238. The ejector plate 246 is received within a circular recess 252 (FIG. 10) in the rearward end of the magazine 172. When the gun 100 is in use, the ejector plate 246 is effective to form part of the rear surface of the magazine 172 against which the cartridges are placed. When the magazine 172 has been pivoted to the position shown in FIG. 9a, the push rod 238 can be manually pushed rearwardly causing the ejector plate 246 to slide the cartridges out of the cartridge chambers 186. Guide pins 254 projecting forwardly from the ejector plate 246 into small apertures 256 in the magazine 172 prevent rotation of the ejector Plate 246.

After the spent cartridges have been removed and replaced by fresh cartridges, the magazine 172 is then pivoted back to the phantom line position illustrated in FIG. 9a in the direction of the arrows therein and the latch member 178 pivoted back into engagement with the magazine 172, whereupon the magazine 172 and the latch member 178 are again aligned with the longitudinal axis of the body member 102. The knob 228 can then be moved rearwardly to reposition the entire mechanism in its proper position in the body member 102. The cam plate 132 is then rotated by rotation of the end cap 140 to again seat the key pin 146 in the recesses 152. In the event the end cap 140 has been accidentally rotated during the reload ing operation, it is easily reset in a proper position by rotating the end cap 140 to an end position determined by engagement of the locating pin 168 in the arcuate groove 170 therein.

It may be observed that the gun 100 can easily be disassembled for cleaning or repair by removing the end cap 140, the key pin 146, the pin 160 and the knob 228. A channel 258 is cut in the body member 102 forwardly of the slot 232 to the shoulder 112 to permit the boss 226 to be moved forwardly within the body member 102. Accordingly, when the aforementioned parts are removed, the entire mechanism within the body member 102 can be slid forwardly out of the body member 102.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. A firearm comprising a body member; a magazine nonrotatably engaged with said body member, said maga zine having a plurality of cartridge chambers equidistant and radially spaced from the longitudinal axis of said body member; a firing member including a firing pin offset from said longitudinal axis and engageable with cartridges located in said cartridge chambers; manually operable means for moving said firing member in strokes away from and toward said magazine; and index means for causing said firing member to rotate upon each stroke away from and each stroke toward said magazine whereupon said firing pin advances toward different ones of said cartridge receiving chambers as said firing member successively moves toward said magazine.

2. The firearm of claim 1 wherein said manually operable means includes a firing spring in which energy is stored during each stroke of said firing member away from said magazine and wherein said index means includes cam means constructed and arranged to index said firing member through its greatest angular distances upon each stroke thereof away from said magazine.

3. The firearm of claim 1 wherein said manually operable means includes a sleeve rotatably mounted in axially fixed relation on said firing member and a knob projecting generally radially from said sleeve, and wherein said body member has an axially extending slot therein through which said knob projects.

4. A firearm comprising a body member; a magazine nonrotatably engaged with said body member, said magazine having a plurality of cartridge chambers equidistant and radially spaced from the longitudinal axis of said body member; a firing member including a firing pin offset from said longitudinal axis and engageable with cartridges located in said cartridge chambers; manually operable means for moving said firing member in strokes away from and toward said magazine; and index means for causing said firing member to rotate whereupon said firing pin advances toward different ones of said cartridge receiving chambers as said firing member successively moves toward said magazine, said index means including first cooperating inclined cam surfaces on said firing member and a part rotatably fixed in relation to said magazine operative to index said firing member through a predetermined angle in a predetermined direction during each stroke thereof away from said magazine, and second cooperating inclined cam surfaces on said firing member and a part rotatably fixed in relation to said magazine operative to index said firing member through an additional angle in the same predetermined direction during each stroke thereof toward said magazine.

5. The firearm of claim 4 wherein said second cooperating inclined cam sufaces include a surface of said firing pm.

6. The firearm of claim 5 wherein a magazine support head having cam surfaces cooperating with said surface of said firing pin is nonrotatably mounted on said body member, said magazine being nonrotatably assembled on said support head, and further including separable connector means projecting axially through said body member and said support head for maintaining said magazine assembled on said support head.

7. A firearm comprising a body member; a magazine nonrotatably engaged with said body member, said magazine having a plurality of cartridge chambers equidistant and radially spaced from the longitudinal axis of said body member; a firing member including a firing pin offset from said longitudinal axis and engageable with cartridges located in said cartridge chambers; manually operable means for moving said firing member in strokes away from and toward said magazine; index means for causing said firing member to rotate whereupon said firing pin advances toward different ones of said cartridge receiving chambers as said firing member successively moves toward said magazine; a magazine support head mounted within said body member; pivot means connecting said magazine to said support head; and a manually movable latch member pivotally engaging said magazine, said latch member normally being operatively engaged with said magazine to prevent pivotal movement thereof and maintaining adjacent end faces of said magazine and said support head in confronting relation, said magazine being pivotal upon manual release of said latch member to permit replacement of spent cartridges in said magazine.

8. A firearm comprising a body member; a magazine nonrotatably engaged with said body member, said magazine having a plurality of cartridge chambers equidistant and radially spaced from the longitudinal axis of said body member; a firing member including a firing pin offset from said longitudinal axis and engageable with cartridges located in said cartridge chambers; manually operable means for moving said firing member in strokes away from and toward said magazine; index means for causing said firing member to rotate whereupon said firing pin advances toward different ones of said cartridge receiving chambers as said firing member successively moves to- Ward said magazine; a magazine support head slidably mounted within an end of said body member; a seat for said magazine support head within said body member; means mounting said magazine on said support head with said magazine inside said body member; and connector means releasably maintaining said support head engaged with said seat whereby said magazine support head and said magazine are releasably held axially fixed in said body member, said connector means including a manually rotatable plate axially fixed on said body member in spaced relation to said support head, said manually rotatable plate having a key slot therethrough, a recess on the face thereof remote from said support head, and a cam surface on said face sloping circumferentially from said key slot to said recess, a connector rod projecting axially through said manually rotatable plate and portions of said body member and said magazine support head, said connector rod having a key thereon adapted to pass through said key slot and engage said cam surfaces of said manually rotatable plate, spring means coacting between said connector rod and said support head biasing said key into said recess and biasing said support head into engagement with said seat, whereby said key may be removed from said recess and enter said key slot by rotation of said plate, thereby permitting said support head and said magazine to be moved relative to said body member away from said plate.

9. A firearm comprising a hollow tubular body member, a magazine having a plurality of cartridge chambers equidistant and radially spaced from the longitudinal axis of said body member, means mounting said magazine on the front end of said body member in rotatably fixed relation thereto, said means including a separable connector rod extending axially through said magazine and said body member, said connector rod having a front end portion and a rear end portion, a knob affixed to said rear end portion at the rear end of said body member, said front end portion overlying the forward end of said magazine in non-obstructing relation to said chambers, said front end portion having surfaces interengaging surfaces of said magazine holding said front end portion nonrotatable with respect to said magazine when said parts are assembled, and said front end portion being threadedly engaged with said rear end portion whereby said front end portion may be separated from said rear end portion by rotation of said knob to permit removal of said magazine from said body member.

10. The firearm of claim 9 wherein said front end portion is longer than said cartridge chambers of said maga- 10 zine whereby it may be used to eject spent cartridges from said magazine.

11. The firearm of claim 9 wherein said means mounting said magazine on said body member includes a magazine support head slidably received on said body member.

12. The firearm of claim '9 further including a firing member having a firing pin axially and rotatably movable in said body member and cam means non-rotatable with respect to said body member engaging inclined surfaces of said firing member for indexing said firing member, whereby said firing pin is caused successively to advance toward different ones of said cartridge chambers upon each actuation of said firearm.

'13. A firearm including a hollow, tubular body member, a magazine having a plurality of cartridge chambers on axes parallel to and equally spaced from the center axis of said body member, support means within one end of said tubular body member, pivot means pivotally connecting said magazine to said support means, and manually operable means for sliding said su port means and said magazine toward one end of said body member to extend said magazine beyond the front end of said body member, whereby said magazine may be pivoted with respect to said support means to permit rapid removal of cartridges in the cartridge chambers thereof.

14. The firearm of claim 13 wherein said manually operable means includes a connector rod, spring means coacting between said support means and said connector rod biasing said support means into engagement with a seat within said body member and releasable lock means engaging the other end of said connector rod and preventing movement of said connector rod toward the front of said body member.

15. The firearm of claim 14 wherein said releasable lock means comprises a key affixed to said connector rod at said other end thereof, a cam plate having a key slot therein through which said key and said connector rod may move, said cam plate further having a recess on the face thereof opposite from said support means, said recess being angularly spaced from said key slot and said cam plate further having a cam surface sloping rearwardly from said key slot to said recess, said cam surface engaging and following upon said key, whereby said cam plate may be manually rotated to align either said recess or said key slot with said key.

16. The firearm of claim 15 further including means holding said connector rod non-rotatable in said body member and holding said support head and thereby said maigazine non-rotatable with respect to said connector ro 17. A tear gas gun comprising an elongate hollow tubular body member open at one end, a seat within said body member adjacent said one end, a magazine support head supported on said seat in said body member, a magazine having a plurality of cartridge receiving chambers pivotally connected to said support head and received within said body member, latch means coacting between said support head and said magazine releasably maintaining said magazine with said cartridge receiving chambers located on axes parallel to and spaced from the longitudinal axis of said body member, releasable connector means maintaining said support head engaged with said seat, said releasable connector means including an elongate connecting rod extending axially through a portion of said body member and through a portion of said support head, spring means coacting between said support head and said rod, and a manually rotatable plate axially fixed on said body member through which said connector rod extends, said manually rotatable plate having a key slot therethrough receiving said connector rod and a key mounted on the end of said connector rod, said key being aligned with said key slot to permit movement of said key and said connector rod through said manually rotatable plate in a predetermined angular position of said manually rotatable plate, a firing member confined within 11 said body member between said support head and said manually rotatable plate, said firing member including a firing pin adapted to pass through apertures in said support head and into engagement with cartridges located in said cartridge receiving chambers, means preventing rotation of said connector rod and said support head and thereby said magazine relative to said tubular body member, index means engageable With said firing member for rotating said firing member about the longitudinal axis of said tubular body member as said firing member axially moves Within said tubular body member, and manually operable means engaging said firing member 12 for causing axial movement thereof within said body member.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,775,178 9/1930 Von Frantzius 42-1 2,076,927 4/1937 Weber 42-1 2,195,711 4/1940 Hutchison 42-1 3,241,259 3/1966 McBride 42-1 3,352,046 11/1967 Warner et al. 42-1 10 SAMUEL FEINBERG, Primary Examiner C. T. JORDAN, Assistant Examiner

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