Loading Devices for Muzzle Loading Rifles

Prior art known to me is represented in the following patents: U.S. Pat. Nos. 163,404, Phillips, May 18, 1875; 184,079, Hovis, Nov. 7, 1876; 3,747,252, Walker, July 24, 1973.

The early prior art, as shown in the Phillips and Hovis patents, related to revolvable chambers, much like that used in the ordinary hand gun. These required a cap-piece which was adapted to fit over the end of the rifle barrel, and means to align a chamber with the barrel bore. The later patent to Walker relates to a tool for lining up and piloting a ball shot into the rifle muzzle. The known prior art devices did not provide a readily accessible loading device, and insofar as applicant is aware, are not widely used because of this.

In contrast, my improved device may be loaded with a patch, ball, and powder and, since it is suspended by a neck sling, it is immediately accessible for use. To quickly load the rifle for a second shot, the hunter merely pulls on a tubular member forming part of my improved device. This pull releases the member from one end cap so that the grasped member may be inverted and aligned with the rifle barrel bore, whereby the powder flows into the bore and the patch and ball are started on their way into the bore by a plunger carried by the tubular member.

In the drawings accompanying this specification and forming a part of this application, there is shown, for purpose of illustration, an embodiment which my invention may assume, and in these drawings:

FIG. 1 shows my improved device as normally worn by a hunter or other rifle user, in readily accessible position,

FIG. 2 is a view similar to FIG. 1, but showing the condition of parts just after the hunter has exerted a pull on the tubular member of my device,

FIG. 3 is a small scale elevational view of parts of my device in separated relation,

FIG. 4 is an enlarged, fragmentary sectional view of my loading device, in empty condition,

FIG. 5 is an elevational view, partly in section, showing the tubular member in condition for loading a lubricated patch and ball shot therein,

FIG. 6 shows a following step wherein the gun powder is being loaded into the tubular member, and

FIG. 7 shows my improved loading device in position on the rifle barrel, with the powder, patch and ball part-way to final position in the rifle bore.

My improved loading device 10 is adapted to be supported from the neck of a person by a suitable sling 11, as seen in FIG. 1. In this position, it dangles in the chest area of a user and is immediately accessible for use.

The loading device 10 comprises a tubular member 12 which may be formed of any rigid material, such as a suitable metal or plastic. An end cap 14 is removably connected to one end of the tubular member and a second end cap 15 is removably connected to the opposite end of the member. At least the connection between the tubular member 12 and the end cap 15 should be such that disconnection may be effected by a separating pull. For this purpose I have found it suitable to utilize a split metal ring 16 seated in an annular groove in the tubular member 12, but projecting from the external surface of the latter sufficiently to snap into an annular groove on the interior surface of the end cap 15. The end cap 14 may have a different type of connection with the member 12, such as screw threads, bayonet connection, or the like, but for simplicity of manufacture, this connection may also be in the form of a split ring 17, similar to that just described. In some cases, it is desirable to make the split ring connection 17 more resistant to separation than that of the ring connection 16, to insure that a pull on the tubular member 12, as shown in FIG. 2, will always cause separation of the connection 16.

The end cap 15 is provided with an apertured head 18 so that the neck sling 11 may be connected thereto. The sling may take any suitable form and preferably is flexible, such as a leather thong as herein shown, which may have its ends knotted together to form a loop which will freely pass over the head of a person.

Slidable axially within an opening in the end cap 14 is a plunger 19 which is presently in the form of an elongated round rod of any suitable rigid material, such as metal, wood or plastic. The rod preferably has an enlargement 20 on its outer end for hand-grip purpose. The inner end of the rod has an undercut portion 21 over which a ferrule 22 is pressed and firmly held in position. The ferrule has a headed extremity 23 to prevent complete withdrawal of the rod from the end cap 14, and the extremity 23 has a circular concavity 24 to receive a peripheral part of a ball shot 25.

The loading device is shown in empty condition in FIG. 4, and may be loaded during the leisure time of a hunter, and when the device is not suspended from the hunter's neck. To load the device, the end cap 14 is removed, and this may be effected by grasping the tubular member 12 in one hand and pulling on the rod 19 or end cap with the other.

A lubricated patch 26 and the ball 25 are placed on the open end of the tubular member 12 and pushed by finger pressure into the member to the position shown in dot-dash lines in FIG. 5. The end cap 14 is then replaced, the tubular member 12 is inverted, and the end cap 15 is removed, as seen in FIG. 6, so that gun powder 27 may be poured into the open end of the tubular member in any desired amount, as measured in a commercially available powder measure 28. The end cap 15 is then replaced and loading of the device has been completed. The sling 11 is placed over the hunter's head so as to support the device 10 in the position shown in FIG. 1.

After the hunter has fired the single shot already in the rifle, he may quickly reload the rifle for a second shot in the following manner: First he grasps the tubular member 12 in one hand and may hold the rifle in the other hand with the muzzle pointing upwardly. He then pulls downwardly on the member 12 and this separates the latter from the end cap 15 which remains suspended from the neck sling. In the same motion, the hunter may invert the tubular member 12 and place it in abutting relation over the end of the rifle barrel, using the same hand to hold the tubular member and the upper end of the rifle barrel, with the tubular member aligned. Then with the other hand, which no longer is needed to support or steady the rifle, the hunter pushes down on the plunger 19 to move the patch 26 and ball 25 on their way into the barrel bore, the powder 27 having already gravitated toward the closed lower end of the barrel bore. The loading device is then removed from the rifle and the usual ram rod (not shown) is used to move the patch and ball downward to final position wherein the two seat on the powder and compress the same.