Weapon with recoil damping

Abstract

A weapon ( 104 ) including a stock, a barrel assembly ( 105 ) slidably mounted on said stock whereby, on discharging said weapon, the barrel assembly ( 105 ) slidably recoils relative to said stock, and a damper ( 107 ) for decelerating the recoiling barrel assembly, wherein said barrel assembly ( 105 ) includes a plurality of projectiles axially disposed within a barrel ( 108 ) wherein each of said projectiles is associated with a discrete propellant charge for propelling said projectile from the barrel. Suitably the weapon further includes a breech block ( 109 ) which slidably recoils relative to said stock and a further damper ( 106 ) for decelerating the recoiling breech block.

1 . A weapon including a stock, a barrel assembly slidably mounted on said stock whereby on discharging said weapon the barrel assembly slidably recoils relative to said stock, and a damper for decelerating the recoiling barrel assembly, wherein said barrel assembly includes a plurality of projectiles axially disposed within a barrel wherein each of said projectiles is associated with a discrete propellant charge for propelling said projectile from the barrel.  
     
     
         2 . The weapon as claimed in  claim 1  wherein the weapon further includes a breech block which slidably recoils relative to said stock and a further damper for decelerating the recoiling breech block.  
     
     
         3 . The weapon as claimed in either  claim 1  or  claim 2  wherein the damper includes at least one recoil return spring.  
     
     
         4 . The weapon as claimed in  claim 1  wherein said plurality of projectiles are adapted to be propelled or fired from the barrel prior to the barrel reaching a recoil travel limit.  
     
     
         5 . The weapon as claimed in  claim 2  wherein said plurality of projectiles are adapted to be propelled or fired from the barrel prior to either the barrel or the breech block reaching their respective recoil travel limits.  
     
     
         6 . The weapon as claimed in  claim 2  wherein the barrel and the breech block recoil together against the action of said damper which reaches its travel limit prior to contact between the breech block and said further damper.  
     
     
         7 . The weapon as claimed in  claim 6  wherein said plurality of projectiles are retained in a casing and the breech block recoils to a greater extent than the barrel assembly, whereby an empty casing is ejected from the weapon.  
     
     
         8 . The weapon as claimed in  claim 7  further including a magazine arranged for feeding shell casings into the weapon wherein, during breech block recoil, a fresh shell is loaded into the barrel assembly subsequent to ejection of the empty casing.  
     
     
         9 . The weapon as claimed in  claim 1  wherein said weapon comprises a machine gun that utilises double tap ammunition.