Jan 6, 2026

US12516902 - Load balanced firearm barrel extension

A barrel extension configured to reduce the likelihood of premature bolt failure in automatic and/or semi-automatic style weapons. The barrel extension includes one or more cutouts within a body of the barrel extension. The cutouts are configured to reduce rigidity of the barrel extension proximal to the location of the cutout. As the rigidity around the extractor is lowered, the force on the bolt lugs is more evenly distributed. In one example, the cutouts are in the form of a single oval cutout positioned adjacent an extractor of the bolt.

Assignee: Knight's Armament, LLC
Inventors: Joshua R. Drew, C. Reed Knight, Jr., David B. Kowalski
Filing date: 2022-09-30

firearmbarrelextensionautomaticsemi-automatic

The patent describes a barrel extension designed to minimize premature bolt failure in automatic and semi-automatic firearms by incorporating cutouts that reduce rigidity near the extractor. These cutouts help evenly distribute shear stress on the bolt lugs, thereby lowering the risk of shearing and enhancing the firearm’s reliability.

Claim 1

1 . A system, comprising: a bolt having one or more lugs; wherein the bolt has an extractor; a barrel extension having one or more teeth configured to engage the lugs of the bolt; wherein the barrel extension has one or more weakened areas configured to reduce a risk of shearing at least one of the lugs of the bolt; and wherein the weakened areas are positioned on the barrel extension to even out an uneven shear stress distribution on the lugs created by the extractor on the bolt. a bolt having one or more lugs; wherein the bolt has an extractor; a barrel extension having one or more teeth configured to engage the lugs of the bolt; wherein the barrel extension has one or more weakened areas configured to reduce a risk of shearing at least one of the lugs of the bolt; and wherein the weakened areas are positioned on the barrel extension to even out an uneven shear stress distribution on the lugs created by the extractor on the bolt.

Google Patents

https://patents.google.com/patent/US12516902

USPTO PDF

https://image-ppubs.uspto.gov/dirsearch-public/print/downloadPdf/12516902