Automatic or semi-automatic rifle
View Patent ↗A rifle having a receiver with an integral hand guard and a barrel. The barrel is connected to the receiver. The hand guard extends over and surrounds the barrel. A removable hand guard is attached to the receiver by an attachment that stably holds the removable hand guard to the receiver. The attachment is arranged for allowing detachment and removal of the removable hand guard from the receiver without removal of fasteners.
1. An upper receiver for a firearm automatic or semi-automatic rifle having a lower receiver and a barrel, the upper receiver comprising:
a hand guard section removably connected to the upper receiver via a locking mechanism pivotally mounted to the hand guard section and configured for movement between a locking position and an unlocking position wherein the locking mechanism requires only a single movement in one direction to move from the locking position to the unlocking position, the hand guard section having at least one peripheral device mounting rail located thereon, wherein the hand guard section has peripheral device mounting rails located at a six o'clock position with respect to a centerline of the barrel wherein the hand guard section is capable of being completely detached and removed from the upper receiver after the locking mechanism has been moved into the unlocking position; and
an integrally formed rail, the integrally formed rail being located above the hand guard section.
2. The hand guard of claim 1 , further comprising a heat shield mounted within the hand guard section.
3. The hand guard of claim 1 , wherein the hand guard section has venting holes for cooling air to pass therethrough.
4. An automatic or semi-automatic rifle, comprising:
a hand guard section removably connected to an upper receiver via a locking mechanism pivotally mounted to the hand guard section and configured for movement between a locking position and an unlocking position wherein the locking mechanism requires only a single movement in one direction to move from the locking position to the unlocking position, the hand guard section having at least one peripheral device mounting rail located thereon wherein the hand guard section is capable of being completely detached and removed from the upper receiver after the locking mechanism has been moved into the unlocking position;
an integrally formed rail, the integrally formed rail being located above the hand guard section;
a firing mechanism located within the upper receiver;
a barrel connected to the receiver;
a barrel extension cooperating with the barrel, wherein the barrel extension has a pin configured to provide a limit of movement of an extractor of the rifle; and
a gas piston operating system assembly connecting the barrel to the receiver for cycling the firing mechanism in automatic or semi-automatic operation; wherein the gas piston operating system is removable as a unit from the barrel and receiver.
5. The rifle of claim 4 , wherein the gas piston operating system assembly has a cylinder sleeve, and the barrel has a gas block with a bore adapted to removably receive the cylinder sleeve therein.
6. The rifle of claim 5 , wherein the gas block has a gas passage communicating with a barrel bore, and the cylinder sleeve has a gas inlet port, and wherein the gas block and cylinder sleeve are indexed with respect to each other so that when the cylinder sleeve is installed in the gas block, the gas passage and gas inlet port are communicably connected.
7. The rifle of claim 5 , wherein the gas piston operating system assembly has a piston and rod assembly comprising a piston, an operating rod and return spring attached to each other to form an integral unit so that the piston and rod assembly is removably mated to the cylinder sleeve as a unit.
8. The rifle of claim 7 , wherein the firing mechanism has a bolt carriage assembly with an impingement surface engaged by the operating rod.
9. The rifle of claim 6 , wherein the cylinder sleeve is removably coupled to the gas block with a lock pin, wherein the lock pin defines a camming surface camming the cylinder sleeve to seal the gas inlet port to the gas passage in the gas block.
10. The rifle of claim 5 , wherein the cylinder sleeve comprises an index pin, and wherein the gas block comprises a camming surface and wherein the cylinder sleeve is positioned in gas block with the index pin engaging the camming surface, and wherein engagement between the index pin and camming surface cams the cylinder sleeve out from the gas block.
11. An automatic or semi-automatic rifle, comprising:
an upper receiver;
a lower receiver;
a barrel;
a hand guard section removably connected to the upper receiver via a locking mechanism pivotally mounted to the hand guard section and configured for movement between a locking position and an unlocking position wherein the locking mechanism requires only a single action to move from the locking position to the unlocking position, the hand guard section having at least one peripheral device mounting rail located thereon, wherein the hand guard section is capable of being completely detached and removed from the upper receiver after the locking mechanism has been moved into the unlocking position;
a rail integrally formed with the upper receiver, the integrally formed rail being located above the hand guard section;
a support fixedly coupled to the firearm; a movable sight pivotally coupled to the support and movable relative to the support between raised and stowed position; and
a spring loaded detent adapted to position and stably hold the movable sight in the raised position substantially without play.
12. The automatic or semi-automatic rifle as in claim 11 , wherein the support comprises a gas block.
13. The automatic or semi-automatic rifle as in claim 11 , wherein the sight is located without play by the detent relative to the support when in the raised position and in the stowed position.
14. The automatic or semi-automatic rifle as in claim 11 , wherein the support comprises a flat, and wherein the sight comprises a locating step, and wherein the locating step is preloaded against the flat by the detent when in the raised position.
15. The automatic or semi-automatic rifle as in claim 11 , wherein the sight is pivotally coupled to the support via a pin and the spring loaded detent is a plurality of spring biased balls located within a plurality of holes in the support, wherein the plurality of holes in the support are positioned about the pin.
16. The automatic or semi-automatic rifle as in claim 15 , wherein the sight further comprises a plurality of holes configured to partially receive the plurality of balls as the sight moves between the stowed and raised positions.
17. The automatic or semi-automatic rifle as in claim 16 , wherein the plurality of holes of the sight are offset from the plurality of holes in the support.
18. The automatic or semi-automatic rifle as in claim 11 , further comprising: a barrel extension cooperating with the barrel, wherein the barrel extension has a pin configured to provide a limit of movement of an extractor of the rifle.