Fire control for auto-loading shotgun

1. A firearm comprising:

a barrel having a chamber;

a bolt assembly;

a magazine for supplying a round of ammunition to the chamber; and

a trigger plate assembly for controlling the movement of the round of ammunition between the magazine and the chamber of the firearm, the trigger plate assembly comprising:

a carrier operable to direct a round of ammunition into the chamber;

a latch release movable into engagement with a feed latch and operable to direct the release of a round of ammunition from the magazine onto the carrier;

a carrier dog configured for communication with the carrier and with the latch release during operation of the bolt assembly; and

a latch release lever movable into engagement with the latch release during firing of the firearm;

wherein movement of the bolt assembly upon firing of the firearm causes the latch release lever to engage the latch release to allow the feed latch to release the round of ammunition onto the carrier and the carrier dog to move the carrier to transfer the round of ammunition into the chamber, and

wherein manual activation of the bolt assembly causes the carrier dog to engage the latch release to allow the feed latch to release the round of ammunition onto the carrier and the carrier to direct the round of ammunition into the chamber.

2. The firearm of claim 1 , the trigger plate assembly further comprising a magazine cutoff selectively movable between a first position allowing substantially free movement of the carrier and a second position directing the carrier to a substantially centered orientation.

3. The firearm of claim 2 , wherein manual activation of a fire control with the magazine cutoff in the second position causes the carrier to reposition the carrier dog to prevent engagement of the latch release and to substantially lock the fire control in an open position.

4. The firearm of claim 3 , wherein a subsequent movement of the magazine cutoff to the first position releases the carrier dog to allow the fire control to return to a closed position without a round being released from the magazine.

5. The firearm of claim 2 , wherein the magazine cutoff is selectively movable to a third configuration to secure the carrier in a raised orientation that opens the magazine of the firearm to enable substantially unrestricted access thereto to facilitate the loading of rounds into the magazine and the unloading of rounds from the magazine.

6. A firearm comprising:

a barrel having a chamber;

a magazine; and

a fire control including:

a bolt assembly;

a feed latch moveable between a position blocking release of a round of ammunition from the magazine and a position allowing release of the round of ammunition from the magazine onto the carrier, and/or release of the bolt assembly from a locked open position; and

a trigger plate assembly comprising:

a trigger;

a hammer initiating firing of the round of ammunition upon movement of the trigger;

a hammer plunger configured to urge the hammer into a position for firing the round of ammunition;

a carrier configured to direct the round of ammunition from the magazine into the chamber;

a movable latch release configured to engage the feed latch so as to substantially block movement of the feed latch over the carrier; and

a latch release lever movable into engagement with the latch release by the hammer plunger so as to move the latch release to a position enabling the feed latch to move to an open position for releasing the round of ammunition onto the carrier for feeding the round of ammunition into the chamber during firing of the firearm.

7. The firearm according to claim 6 , wherein the fire control further comprises a carrier dog configured to engage the latch release to allow the feed latch to release the round of ammunition onto the carrier and the carrier to direct the round of ammunition into the chamber during manual operation of the bolt assembly.

8. The firearm according to claim 6 , wherein the latch release comprises one or more engaging surfaces configured to contact at least a portion of the feed latch.

9. A firearm, comprising:

a barrel defining a chamber configured to hold a shell;

a receiver coupled to the barrel;

a bolt assembly disposed in the receiver and having a bolt body that rides on an axial reciprocating bolt carrier so as to be movable along the receiver, the bolt body configured to cooperate with the barrel so as to seal the chamber during firing;

a magazine configured to retain a plurality of shells for feeding shells into the chamber;

a carrier movably positioned between a lowered position to receive the shells from the magazine and an upward position to feed the shells into the chamber;

a carrier dog rotatably coupled to the carrier and positioned to engage the bolt carrier;

a feed latch pivotable to engage and lock the carrier in the lowered position;

a latch release movably positioned to be engaged by the carrier dog and movable into engagement with the feed latch; and

a latch release lever movable into and out of engagement with the latch release, wherein, during manual cycling of the bolt assembly, the latch release lever does not engage the latch release, and the carrier dog is rotated into engagement with the latch release so as to activate or disengage the feed latch.