Patent attributes
A centerfire autoloading pistol including a loaded chamber indicator to identify the presence of a cartridge loaded in the firing chamber. The pistol may generally include a housing having an external surface and defining a chamber to receive a cartridge, a barrel unit disposed at least partially in the housing, and an indicating element having two ends. In one embodiment, the indicating element may be pivotally mounted to the housing proximate to one of the ends. The indicating element is displaceable in response to contact by the cartridge from a first position which may in one embodiment correspond to an absence of a cartridge loaded in the chamber, to a second position which may in one embodiment correspond to a presence of a cartridge loaded in the chamber. A biasing member, such as a spring, may be provided for biasing the indicating element towards the first position. In one embodiment, the indicating element protrudes outwards from the external surface of the pistol in response to contact by the cartridge to provide visual and tactile indication of a loaded chamber condition to a user of the pistol. Initial which may include alphanumeric characters, symbols, colors, or a combination thereof may be provided on the indicating element.
