Firearm accessory mounting system

Abstract

A hand guard adapted for use in a firearm having a barrel and a line of sight in a sight plane. The hand guard surrounds a portion of the barrel and comprises a guard casing and fastening features coupled to the guard casing. Peripheral device mounting rails are coupled to the fastening features and located in a generally “Y” shape pattern. The generally “Y” shape pattern has a first peripheral device mounting rail located on a lower portion of the guard casing and second and third peripheral device mounting rails located on opposing sides of an upper portion of the guard casing. The peripheral device mounting rails are placed where peripheral devices mounted on the peripheral device mounting rails do not interfere with the line of sight.

1 . A hand guard adapted for use in a firearm having a barrel and line of sight in a sight plane, the hand guard surrounding a portion of the barrel comprising: 
 a guard casing;    fastening features coupled to the guard casing; and    peripheral device mounting rails coupled to the fastening features and located in a generally “Y” shape pattern;    wherein, the generally “Y” shape pattern has a first peripheral device mounting rail located on a lower portion of the guard casing and second and third peripheral device mounting rails located on opposing sides of an upper portion of the guard casing, and wherein the peripheral device mounting rails are placed where peripheral devices mounted on the peripheral device mounting rails do not interfere with the line of sight.    
     
     
         2 . The hand guard of  claim 1 , wherein the upper and lower portions of the guard casing comprise first and second shells, and wherein the first and second shells are removable from the firearm.  
     
     
         3 . The hand guard of  claim 2 , wherein the first and second shells have venting features for allowing cooling air to pass there through, and wherein the fastening features do not substantially prevent the cooling air from traveling through the guard casing.  
     
     
         4 . The hand guard of  claim 1 , wherein the fastening features allows a user to selectably move one of the peripheral device mounting rails from a first longitudinal location along the guard casing to a different second longitudinal location along the guard casing.  
     
     
         5 . An M4 or M16 type firearm having the hand guard of  claim 1 .  
     
     
         6 . The hand guard of  claim 1 , wherein the second and third mounting rails are symmetrically located on opposing sides of the upper portion of the guard casing.  
     
     
         7 . The hand guard of  claim 1 , wherein the first mounting rail is located nominally at a six o'clock position, and wherein the second and third mounting rails are symmetrically located nominally at a two o'clock and ten o'clock position on opposing sides of the upper portion of the guard casing.  
     
     
         8 . The hand guard of  claim 1 , wherein the guard casing comprises a composite thermo set molding, and wherein the peripheral device mounting rails comprise a metallic material bonded to the hand guard.  
     
     
         9 . A user selectable rail configuration comprising: 
 the hand guard of  claim 1;  and    a different selectable hand guard section having differently located and arranged peripheral device mounting rails than the hand guard of  claim 1;     wherein, the user may selectively interchange the hand guard of  claim 1  and the different selectable hand guard section on the firearm.    
     
     
         10 . An accessory mounting system adapted for use in a firearm having a barrel and a line of sight in a sight plane, the accessory mounting system comprising: 
 peripheral device mounting rails; and    a hand guard casing having fastening features, the fastening features adapted for coupling the peripheral device mounting rails to the hand guard;    wherein, the fastening features allow a user to relocate one of the peripheral device mounting rails from a first location on the hand guard casing to a different second location on the hand guard casing, and wherein the fastening feature and the hand guard casing cooperate with the peripheral device mounting rails to locate the peripheral device mounting rails in a predetermined orientation relative to the barrel.    
     
     
         11 . The accessory mounting system of  claim 10 , wherein the peripheral device mounting rails comprise first, second and third mounting rails located in a generally “Y” shape pattern comprising the first mounting rail located on a lower portion of the hand guard casing and the second and third mounting rails located on opposing sides of an upper portion of the hand guard casing, and wherein the peripheral device mounting rails are placed where peripheral devices mounted on the peripheral device mounting rails do not interfere with the line of sight.  
     
     
         12 . The accessory mounting system of  claim 10 , wherein the hand guard casing comprises first and second molded shells, and wherein the fastening feature comprises a metal insert bonded to an interior surface of the hand guard casing.  
     
     
         13 . The accessory mounting system of  claim 12 , wherein the metal insert is molded, at least partially, into the hand guard casing.  
     
     
         14 . The accessory mounting system of  claim 10 , wherein a peripheral device mounted on one of the peripheral device mounting rails is located having a peripheral device centerline parallel to a barrel firing centerline.  
     
     
         15 . The accessory mounting system of  claim 10 , wherein a peripheral device mounted on one of the peripheral device mounting rails is located having a peripheral device centerline intersecting a barrel firing centerline at a nominal target position.  
     
     
         16 . The accessory mounting system of  claim 10 , wherein the hand guard casing has a taper angle, and wherein the peripheral device mounting rails have a matching taper angle.  
     
     
         17 . The accessory mounting system of  claim 10 , wherein the hand guard casing has a taper angle and support surfaces located parallel to a barrel firing centerline, and wherein the peripheral device mounting rails are located on the support surfaces.  
     
     
         18 . The accessory mounting system of  claim 10  further comprising a heat shield mounted within the hand guard casing, wherein the hand guard casing has venting features adapted to allowing cooling air to pass there through, and wherein the fastening features do not substantially prevent the cooling air from traveling through the hand guard casing.  
     
     
         19 . The accessory mounting system of  claim 10  wherein the hand guard casing comprises an upper shell and a lower shell, and wherein the upper and lower shells are separable, and wherein the upper and lower shells are molded shells, and wherein the fastening features comprises a metal inserts either bonded to an interior surface of the hand guard casing or molded, at least partially, into the hand guard casing.  
     
     
         20 . A rifle comprising: 
 a receiver;    a barrel connected to the receiver;    a hand guard comprising a sleeve extending longitudinally along and surrounding at least a portion of the barrel; and    a firearm accessory mounting member for mounting firearm accessories to the rifle, the mounting member being located exterior of and being removably mounted to the sleeve, wherein the sleeve is of a different material than the mounting member and forms a thermal break between the mounting member and a heated region inside the sleeve.    
     
     
         21 . The rifle of  claim 20 , wherein the mounting member is metallic and the sleeve is non-metallic.  
     
     
         22 . The rifle of  claim 20 , wherein the mounting member is aluminum and the sleeve is thermo set composite plastic.  
     
     
         23 . The rifle of  claim 20  further comprising a heat shield between the sleeve and the barrel.  
     
     
         25 . The rifle of  claim 21  further comprising inserts coupled to the sleeve, the inserts adapted to couple the accessory mounting member to the sleeve.  
     
     
         26 . The rifle of  claim 25 , wherein the inserts are removable from the sleeve.  
     
     
         27 . The rifle of  claim 25 , wherein the inserts are permanently coupled to the sleeve.  
     
     
         28 . The rifle of  claim 25 , wherein the mounting member is selectably mountable on the sleeve at a number of different selectable location.