Smith & Wesson Corporation

Robert L Kurtz

Kevin G Foley

Kurt J Hindle

Cartridge magazine for semi-automatic firearms has a base, side walls and a front and rear wall. The front wall has an opening at its upper end for the feeding of cartridges into the chamber of the firearm. The magazine includes a spring and a spring follower which feeds the cartridges upwardly toward the feed lips on the upper edge of the side walls of the magazine. A guide member extends inwardly from opposed sidewall portions of the magazine to engage the extractor groove of the cartridge being advanced toward the feed lips. Each guide member is formed by die lancing the side walls of the magazine at a distance from the feed lips greater than the cartridge radius, but less than the diameter thereof. Each member has an upright edge portion disposed at an oblique angle to the real wall of the magazine such that it is generally perpendicular to the axis of the cartridges being fed by the magazine spring follower. The member serves to retain the uppermost cartridge toward the rear wall of the magazine to prevent forward movement imparted by recoil and, where necessary, to cam the penultimate cartridge rearwardly as it is being fed toward the feed lips by the magazine spring follower.

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Windsor, CT, United States of America

Robert L Kurtz