Muzzleloader systems
View Patent ↗A bullet assembly comprising a bullet and a cup assembly, the cup assembly may have a ring portion for scraping the barrel of a muzzleloader. The cup assembly may be slidable on the bullet with an extended position and a contracted position, the contracted position having a greater diameter than the extended position. A contraction inhibiting member that requires shearing off of the member for contraction may be disposed on one of the components.
1. A bullet assembly for a muzzleloader, the bullet assembly comprising a bullet and a cup assembly, the bullet having a forward tapered end and a rearward tail portion, the tail portion having a recessed portion;
the cup assembly being axially slidingly engaged on the tail portion of the bullet between a extended position and a contracted position, the cup assembly comprising a cup component having a tubular side wall having an inner surface, an outer surface and an axis and defining an open cavity that receives the tail portion of the bullet at an open end, the cup assembly having a bottom wall having an inner surface and an outer surface and defining a closed end, the cup component comprising a plurality of contraction inhibiting members positioned to interfere with contraction between the extended position and the contracted position, the contraction inhibiting members extending axially and radially inward from the inner surface of the tubular side wall, wherein the contraction inhibiting members are deformed during contraction.
2. The bullet assembly of claim 1 , the cup component being formed of a deformable polymer material and the cup assembly further comprises a tail component, the tail component being formed of a material that is more rigid that the polymer material of the cup component.
3. The bullet assembly of claim 2 , wherein the plurality of contraction inhibiting members have forward surfaces facing the open end and are arranged around the axis, adjacent to the bottom wall, and wherein the tail portion of the bullet includes a bottom aligned with the axis and, when inserted in the cavity, are axially directly confronting the forward surfaces.
4. The bullet assembly of claim 2 , wherein the cup component and tail component are formed by overmolding one of the cup component and tail component on the other of the cup component and tail component.
5. The bullet assembly of claim 1 wherein the cup is slidably secured to the bullet such that when the bullet and cup are fired from the muzzleloader, the cup remains secured to the bullet.
6. A bullet assembly for muzzleloading, the bullet assembly having an axis, a forward end, and a rearward end, the bullet assembly having an extended condition wherein the bullet assembly has a first length, and a contracted condition wherein the bullet assembly has a second length, wherein upon the application of a threshold of axial force the bullet assembly transitions from the extended condition to the contracted condition, the bullet assembly comprising:
a bullet aligned along the axis at the forward end and having, in alignment along the axis, a forward tapered end, a rearward tail portion having a recessed portion, and a shoulder portion, wherein the shoulder portion is positioned between the forward tapered end and the recessed portion along the axis; and
a cup assembly configured to receive the tail portion of the bullet, the cup assembly being tubularly shaped around the axis and having a forward end positionally secured to the bullet at or adjacent to the shoulder portion and a rearward end, wherein, when the bullet assembly transitions from the extended condition to the contracted condition, the cup assembly axially slides on the tail portion of the bullet.
7. A bullet system for a muzzleloader, the bullet system comprising a bullet body and a cup assembly, the bullet body having a forward tapered end and a rearward tail portion, the cup assembly having an open end with the bullet body inserted therein and a closed end, the cup assembly comprising a cup component and a rigid ring portion with a circular cutting edge positioned at the closed end of the cup assembly for scraping a barrel of the muzzleloader and wherein the ring portion has serrations.
8. The bullet system of claim 7 wherein the ring portion comprises a metal ring.
9. A bullet system for a muzzleloader, the bullet system comprising a bullet body and a cup assembly, the bullet body having a forward tapered end and a rearward tail portion, the cup assembly having an open end with the bullet body inserted therein and a closed end, the cup assembly comprising a cup component and a rigid ring portion with a circular cutting edge positioned at the closed end of the cup assembly for scraping a barrel of the muzzleloader and wherein the ring portion is formed of a polymer more rigid than a polymer of the cup component.
10. The bullet system of claim 9 wherein the maximum diameter of the cup assembly is at the rigid ring portion.