A firearm operating system includes a housing, a central pivoting member disposed within the housing, a trigger including a portion disposed within the housing and a portion extending outside the housing such that the portion of the trigger within the housing includes a hole and at least one finger that extends in a first direction from the hole. Due to movement of the trigger, the at least one finger presses against the central pivoting member to cause the central pivoting member to rotate.

A fault tolerant electromagnetic safety system for firearms comprises an electromagnetic actuator with movable rotating member operably interfaced with the firing mechanism. The actuator is controlled via a programmable microcontroller coupled to an electric power source onboard the firearm. A safety actuatable by a user operably interfaces with the actuator and is manually movable between actuated and standby positions. In a blocking position, the actuator engages and prevents the firing mechanism from moving to prevent discharging the firearm. The safety when in the standby position is configured to prevent the actuator from disengaging the firing mechanism. Upon the detecting movement of safety to the actuated position, the microcontroller moves the actuator to a non-blocking position allowing discharge of the firearm via a trigger pull. The safety when moving to the standby position may be configured to mechanically reset the actuator to the blocking position in event of an electronics failure.

A lower receiver has a trigger assembly. An upper receiver is coupled to the lower receiver. The lower receiver has a bolt assembly and an L-shaped slot. The L-shaped slot has a long leg, a junction, and a short leg. The bolt assembly interacts with the L-shaped slot. The upper receiver has a rear end to which a compressed gas power source can be coupled. The upper receiver has a gas path from the compressed gas power source for firing a projectile through a barrel and for cocking the bolt assembly. The gas path is entirely contained by the upper receiver.

A firearm with tilting barrel-receiver assembly includes a frame and a barrel-receiver assembly pivotably mounted to the frame. The barrel-receiver assembly is movable between an open position and a closed position. A latching mechanism includes a latch that selectively engages the barrel-receiver assembly. The latching mechanism may be disposed in the frame in one embodiment. The latching mechanism is movable between a locked position wherein the barrel-receiver assembly is held in the closed position and an unlocked position wherein the barrel-receiver assembly is movable to the tilted open position. The latch may be spring biased into the locked position. The barrel-receiver assembly may be configured for complete removal from the pistol in some embodiments. An interlock mechanism formed by a movable safety may be provided which prevents the barrel-receiver assembly from being unlocked when the firearm is in a ready-to-fire condition.

A firearm with tilting barrel-receiver assembly includes a frame and a barrel-receiver assembly pivotably mounted to the frame. The barrel-receiver assembly is movable between an open position and a closed position. A latching mechanism includes a latch that selectively engages the barrel-receiver assembly. The latching mechanism may be disposed in the frame in one embodiment. The latching mechanism is movable between a locked position wherein the barrel-receiver assembly is held in the closed position and an unlocked position wherein the barrel-receiver assembly is movable to the tilted open position. The latch may be spring biased into the locked position. The barrel-receiver assembly may be configured for complete removal from the pistol in some embodiments. An interlock mechanism formed by a movable safety may be provided which prevents the barrel-receiver assembly from being unlocked when the firearm is in a ready-to-fire condition.

A novel firearm safety feature includes arresting surfaces for preventing the fall of a hammer in the event of a spontaneous failure of other firearm parts. In a particular embodiment a safety lug has an arresting surface and the hammer has a complementary arresting surface. In the event of a spontaneous failure, the arresting surface and the complementary arresting surface create a positive engagement and prevent the hammer from falling. In another embodiment, a grip safety includes an arresting surface and the hammer includes a complementary arresting surface. In the event of a spontaneous failure, the arresting surface and the complementary arresting surface create a positive engagement and prevent the hammer from falling.

A novel firearm safety feature includes arresting surfaces for preventing the fall of a hammer in the event of a spontaneous failure of other firearm parts. In a particular embodiment a safety lug has an arresting surface and the hammer has a complementary arresting surface. In the event of a spontaneous failure, the arresting surface and the complementary arresting surface create a positive engagement and prevent the hammer from falling. In another embodiment, a grip safety includes an arresting surface and the hammer includes a complementary arresting surface. In the event of a spontaneous failure, the arresting surface and the complementary arresting surface create a positive engagement and prevent the hammer from falling.

A firearm (1) includes a detection system (10) suitable to detect a configuration change of the firearm from an initial configuration. The detection system (10) includes a detection device (100), on the slide (20) suitable to be moved, starting from an initial position, to a detection position in which the detection device (100) detects a configuration change of the firearm. An idler device (200) on the slide (20) engages with the detection device (100) which moves the idler device (200). The detection device (200) includes at least one primary sensor element (250), a receiver device (300) on the main body (5) suitable to receive the information of the configuration change of the firearm from the primary sensor element (250) and at least a secondary sensor element (350).

Provided in various example embodiments is a firing mechanism for firearms including a trigger with a movable sear attached to the trigger. When dimensional interference occurs within the trigger group, the movable sear is displaced from a seated position to an unseated position, instead of moving the trigger out of the non-firing position. This allows a firearm to be cocked when the trigger is locked in safe mode, and allows a firearm to be placed into safe mode at any time, regardless of the position of the hammer. This functionality improves the effectiveness of automatic trigger locking mechanisms discussed in related applications, and may be applied in various forms to firearms generally.

A method of installing a safety selector in a firearm includes inserting the safety selector into an opening in the firearm, aligning a hole extending through the safety selector with a cavity extending transversely from the opening, inserting a spring through the hole and into the cavity, inserting a detent plunger through the hole and at least partially into the cavity, thereby compressing the spring, and moving the safety selector within the opening transversely to the cavity so as to capture the detent plunger at least partially within the cavity. The invention also encompasses a method of removing the safety selector.