Bolt carrier with gas exhaust pocket
View Patent ↗A bolt carrier for gas impingement rifles equipped with a sound suppressor mechanism. The bolt carrier is configured to tortuously direct gas to a gas exhaust pocket and into a magazine well of the gas impingement rifle, thereby lessening ejection port light signature and significantly reducing the peak noise in the vicinity of the firer's ears. The gas exhaust pocket of the bolt carrier also improves the operator air quality and reduces bolt lug and chamber fouling associated with the other devices that have attempted to address the noise problem.
1. A bolt carrier group for a breechloading firearm, wherein the bolt carrier group is capable of operative association with a housing or a receiver that is provided with a cartridge case ejection port, the bolt carrier group comprising:
a bolt carrier having a first side and a second side defined and separated by a housing centerline of the housing or the receiver operatively associated with the bolt carrier group, wherein the first side is adjacent said cartridge case ejection port;
a gas exhaust pocket disposed in the second side;
one or more exhaust ports fluidly communicating the gas exhaust pocket with an internal exhaust-pressurized portion of the bolt carrier;
the gas exhaust pocket defined in part by snug operative association with the housing or the receiver so that exhaust gas received into the gas exhaust pocket from the internal exhaust-pressurized portion of the carrier via the one or more exhaust ports expands in the pocket; and
wherein a portion of the gas exhaust pocket comprises an aperture which directs the received exhaust gas into a forward portion of an ammunition feed magazine of the breechloading firearm.
2. A bolt carrier group for a breechloading firearm, wherein the bolt carrier group is capable of operative association with a housing or a receiver that is provided with a cartridge case ejection port, the bolt carrier group comprising:
a bolt carrier having a first side and a second side defined and separated by a housing centerline of the housing or the receiver operatively associated with the bolt carrier group, wherein the first side is adjacent said cartridge case ejection port;
a gas exhaust pocket disposed in the second side;
one or more exhaust ports fluidly communicating the gas exhaust pocket with an internal exhaust-pressurized portion of the bolt carrier;
the gas exhaust pocket defined in part by snug operative association with the housing or the receiver so that exhaust gas received into the gas exhaust pocket from the internal exhaust-pressurized portion of the carrier via the one or more exhaust ports expands in the pocket; and
wherein the gas exhaust pocket comprises a forward sealing surface dimensioned and shaped to direct the received exhaust gas, via an aperture, along a tortuous path to an external environment.
3. The bolt carrier group of claim 2 , wherein the aperture geometry is manufactured into the second side of the bolt carrier.
4. The bolt carrier group of claim 1 , wherein there are no gas exhaust ports along an exterior of the first side of the bolt carrier.
5. A method of simultaneously reducing an ejection port light signature and reducing a decibel level of a peak operating noise level of a breechloading firearm, the method comprising:
diverting exhaust gas received by a bolt carrier optatively associated with the breechloading firearm, via ejection ports, to a gas exhaust pocket formed along an exhaust side of the bolt carrier opposite an ejection side of the bolt carrier, wherein the ejection side is adjacent a cartridge case ejection port of a receiver or a housing of the breechloading firearm;
directing the exhaust gas through an aperture of the gas exhaust pocket, wherein the aperture is along a forward portion of the gas exhaust pocket, so that the exhaust gas urged into a forward portion of an ammunition feed magazine of the breechloading firearm.