Improvements in Break-down Guns.
Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 8th July,
1037
Complete Specification Left, 5th Apr., 1895-Accepted, 1st June, 1895
Date of Application, on July, 1077
Complete Specification Left, 5th Apr., 1895-Accepted, 1st June, 1895
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Break-down Guns.
I WILLIAM NOBBS of 45 Windsor Road, Holloway, in the County of
Middlesex, Gunmaker, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
The object of this invention is to provide a safe arrangement for firing double-
barrel break-down guns with the use of one trigger.
To this end, there is pivotted on the top of the trigger blade, a horizontal
swinging bar, which serves, when the trigger is pulled, to disengage the sear of
either tumbler, and thus discharge, first the right, and then the left-hand barrel.
By means of a pressure spring, this swinging bar receives a tendency to take up
a position under the tail of the sear, which locks the tumbler of the left hand
hammer, but when the gun is charged and is ready for firing, it is the sear of the
right-hand tumbler which has first to be released, and it is after the discharge of
the right-hand barrel, that the swinging bar takes the position into which it is
forced by the before-mentioned spring.
On the inner face of the right hand tumbler is formed a cam or inclined surface,
which bears against a short transverse pin mounted in a sleeve guide, and held
between the incline and the forward end of the swinging bar.
When the break-down gun is opened for re-charging, the hammers are
automatically cocked. This cocking movement causes the right hand tumbler,
through its cam, to press the transverse pin against the end of the swinging bar.
and thereby thrust the tail end of the bar (against the pressure of its spring)
under the tail of the sear of the right-hand tumbler, and retain it in that
position.
When, however, the trigger is pulled, the swinging bar tips the sear out of its
bent, and thus releases the hammer for the discharge of the right-hand barrel.
The forward movement of the hammer relieves the transverse pin from the pressure
of the incline or cam face, and leaves this swinging bar free to take up a position
under the tail of the left-hand sear. In order, however, to prevent too rapid a
shifting of the position of this swinging bar, which would occasion the discharge
of both barrels, the swinging motion is momentarily arrested by an interposing
device, which admits of taking various forms without affecting its retarding action.
A simple contrivance for this purpose is a horizontal rocking plate mounted loosely
on a pin standing up from the centre of the trigger plate, and carrying a small
bolt pivotted on the left hand side of the plate, and projecting forward through a
fixed guide into the plane of motion of the tail of the swinging bar.
As the sear of the right-hand tumbler is raised by the swinging bar. to discharge
the right hand barrel, it will strike the plate, turn it slightly on its pivot pin, and
bring its projecting bolt into contact with the tail of the bar."
This contact will serve momentarily to arrest the movement of the bar, but on
the withdrawal of the sliding blade, caused by the recoil of the rocking plate,
assisted by the recoil of the gun, the swinging bar will then resume its motion, and
take its place under the tail of the left hand sear, ready for discharging the second
barrel on the lifting of the trigger. The recoil of the plate on its pivot pin, and
the consequent withdrawal of the sliding bolt, is mainly due to the elastic pressure

page_text: of a finger on the trigger blade bearing upon an incline on the front of the pivotted
plate in its advanced position and pressing it backwards, there being but a slight
motion needed to withdraw the bolt from the tail of the swinging bar.
Instead of arresting the swinging bar by the arrangement just described, the
rocking plate may move in a vertical plane, it being actuated by a sliding rod
thrust forward by the grip of the hand on the stock, or by the pressure of the butt
against the shoulder of the sportsman.
I may remark that my invention applies equally to what are known as hammerless
and hammer guns.
Dated this 6th day of July 1904
NEWTON & SON,
Agents for the Applicant.
Improvements in Break-down Guns.
I WILLIAM NOBBS of 45 Windsor Road, Holloway in the County of
Middlesex, Gunmaker, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement :—
The object of this invention is to provide a safe arrangement for firing double-
barrel break-down guns with the use of one trigger.
To this end there is pivotted, on the top of the trigger blade, a horizontal
swinging bar, which serves, when the trigger is pulled, to disengage the sear of
either tumbler, and thus discharge, first the right, and then the left hand barrel.
In the accompanying drawings, I have shewn in several views so much of a
double barrelled break-down gun, as will serve to explain the nature of my
invention, and the means employed for carrying it into practical use.
Fig. 1 shews the "action" in side elevation, the left hand lock being removed.
Fig. 2 is a plan view, partly in section, shewing the two locks and the swinging
bar (carried by the trigger) in the position for controlling the discharge of the
right-hand barrel.
Fig. 3 represents the inner face of the right-hand lock shewing the means
provided for forcing the swinging bar into the position shewn in Fig. 2, against
the pressure of a spring, which gives it a tendency to move in the opposite
direction.
Fig. 4 is a plan view shewing the position of the swinging bar after the right-
hand barrel has been fired, and while arrested in its movement towards the left-
hand lock.
Fig. 5 is a similar view, shewing the swinging bar as having completed its
movement, and reached the position for controlling the firing of the left-hand
barrel.
Fig. 6 is an elevation of the trigger, the swinging bar mounted thereon, and the
mechanism for arresting the transverse movement of the swinging bar, when the
trigger has been pulled to fire the right-hand barrel.
In these views, A is the right-hand barrel, and A* the left-hand barrel, both of
which are discharged. by the pulling of a central trigger B.
This trigger is
mounted in a bracket piece carried by the trigger plate B₁.
C, C are the hammers with their tumblers mounted as usual on the lock
plates D, D*.
C, are the sears for locking into the notches of the tumblers and is the
safety sear for acting on the tumbler C. The tails of these sears, which are
opposite to each other, are alternately acted upon by the swinging bar E, which is
mounted upon the central trigger B, and rises and falls with it.

page_text: e is a light pressure spring made fast to the trigger plate B, and bearing upon
the swinging bar in rear of its fulcrum, the object being to impart to the bar E a
tendency to take up the position shewn in Fig. 5, that is, under the tail of the
sear c, which locks the tumbler of the left-hand hammer C. When the gun is
charged and is ready for firing, it is the sear c of the right-hand tumbler which has
first to be released by the uplifting of the swinging bar E, and it is after the
discharge of the right-hand barrel, that the swinging bar takes the position into
which it is forced by the before-mentioned spring.
Before, however, the bar E is allowed to take the position shown in Fig. 5, it
has been found desirable to arrest its lateral motion, and thereby to avoid the
possibility of its releasing both the sears c and c* through one pull of the trigger.
The means employed for avoiding this difficulty I will explain after having
drawn attention to the means by which the bar is rocked under the tail of the
sear c, in opposition to the pressure spring e.
On the inner face of the right-hand tumbler C (see Fig. 3) is formed a cam or
inclined surface c', which bears against a short transverse pin c³ mounted in a sleeve
guide carried by a fixed plate c. This pin is held between the incline c and the
forward end of the swinging bar.
When the break-down gun is opened for re-charging, the hammers are
automatically cocked. This cocking movement causes the right-hand tumbler,
through its cam, to press the transverse pin against the swinging bar, and thereby
thrust the tail end of the bar (against the pressure of its spring) under the tail of
the sear c of the right-hand tumbler C, and retain it in that position.
When, however, the trigger is pulled, the swinging bar tips the sear out of its
bent, and thus releases the hammer for the discharge of the right-hand barrel.
This forward movement of the hammer C relieves the pin c from the pressure of
the incline or cam face c', and leaves this swinging, bar free to take up a position
under the tail of the left-hand sear. In order, however, to prevent too rapid a
shifting of the position of this swinging bar, which would, as before stated, occasion
the discharge of both barrels, the swinging motion is momentarily arrested by au
interposing device or stop, which admits of taking various forms, without affecting
its retarding action.
I will now describe the arrangement illustrated at Figs. 2, 4, and 5, for securing
this object. f is a horizontal rocking block mounted loosely on a pin f, standing
up from the centre of the trigger plate. This block carries a small bolt pivotted
on the left-hand side of the block, and projecting forward through a fixed guide b,
carried by the trigger plate B', into the plane of motion of the tail of the swinging
bar E.
As the safety sear f³ of the right-hand tumbler is tripped together with the
sear e by the swinging bar, to discharge the right-hand barrel, a side projection on
the tail of the safety sear will strike the block, turn it slightly on its pivot pin, and
bring its projecting bolt into contact with the turned-up tail of the bar E.
This contact will serve momentarily to arrest the movement of the bar, but on
the withdrawal of the sliding bolt f, caused by the return motion of the rocking
block f, effected by the means to be presently described, the swinging bar will then
resume its motion, and take its place under the tail of the sear c", ready for
discharging the second barrel on the lifting of the trigger. The back motion of
the block on its pivot pin, and the consequent withdrawal of the sliding bolt out
of the plane of motion of the bar E, is mainly due to the elastic pressure of a
finger (Fig. 6), pivotted on the trigger blade, bearing upon an inclined face on
the pivotted block in its advanced position, and pressing it backwards, there being
but a slight motion needed to withdraw the bolt f' from the tail of the swinging
bar. This motion is due to the recoil of the gun, and the consequent involuntary
pull of the trigger by the finger still holding it.
The movement of the swinging bar E having now been traced from right to left,
where it underlies the tail of the sear c*, it only now remains to say, that on the
next rise of the bar, by the pulling of the trigger B, the sear c* will be tripped

page_text: clear of its tumbler, when the hammer C* will fall, and discharge the second
barrel A*.
On breaking the gun, to recharge the barrels, the hammers will be thrown back
to full cock, the result of which will be to bring the cam or incline c¹ on the
tumbler C again into action on the sliding pin c, which pin, striking the forward
part of the bar E, will rock it to the right, under the sears c and ³, or into the
position (Fig. 2) for discharging the right hand barrel at the next pull of the
trigger.
Instead of arresting the swinging bar by the arrangement just described, the
rocking block may move in a vertical plane, as illustrated at Figs. 7, 8, and 9,
Fig. 7 being an elevation of the left-hand side of the trigger, swinging bar, and
controlling mechanism.
Fig. 8 is a right hand elevation; and
Fig. 9 a plan view of the same.
In these figures, f is the block mounted on a horizontal pin f', carried by a
standard on the trigger plate B¹.
The safety sear strikes a forward projection on the block, and thereby rocks
it on its fulcrum pin. This block carries also a pendent projection f', which, as the
block is rocked, moves into the plane of motion of the swinging bar E, and arrests
its motion momentarily, as in the last described arrangement.
"
The release of the swinging bar from the block will in this, as in the former case,
be due either 'to the recoil of the gun, or to the involuntary pull of the trigger.
The return of the block after the firing of the second barrel, is in this arrange-
ment effected by the elastic finger b' (carried by the trigger B) pressing upop a
shoulder on the block f.
In place of using a rocking block for operating the sliding bolt or stop, this
bolt may be carried by a sliding bar fitted to the trigger plate, or it may form the
extremity of a sliding rod fitted to the gun-stock.
These two modifications are illustrated at Figs. 10 to 12 inclusive, the same
letters of reference indicating like parts in all the figures.
Fig. 10 is a side elevation of the trigger plate and its fittings; and
Fig. 11 is a top plan view of the same.
E is the rocking bar, which is arrested in its transverse motion by the sliding
bolt or stop, which in this instance is affixed to a bracket piece bolted to a
sliding bar F, and slides in a fixed guide b, as in Fig. 2.
This bar underlies the extension of the trigger guard, and is roughened on its
outer face, to give the sportsman a good hold upon it, when the gun is raised for
firing.
The recoil of the gun (following the discharge of the right-hand barrel), while
the grasp of the sportsman's hand is upon it, causes the virtual thrusting forward
of the bolt, in anticipation of the lateral movement of the swinging bar E.
Thus, the movement of that bar is momentarily arrested, and it is instantly
released by the reverse end way movement of the gun.
In Figs. 12, the bolt f' represents the forward extremity of a sliding rod F,
which projects through the end of the butt, and carries a plug that is free to slide
in a recess formed in the butt.
A coiled spring, seated in the recess, projects the plug outwards to a limited
extent, and holds back the bolt f* out of the plane of motion of the swinging bar E.
When, however, the gun is raised to the shoulder, the plug will be pressed inwards
against its spring, and the bolt f sliding forward in its guide b, will take up
the position for intercepting the lateral movement of the swinging bar E on the
discharge of the right-hand barrel. So soon as the pressure of the shoulder on
the plug of the sliding rod F ceases by the reverse end way movement of the gun,
the bolt will retire, and leave the swinging bar Ẹ free to take up a position
for firing the left-hand barrel.
I may remark that my invention applies equally to what are known as hammerless
and hammer guns.

page_text: Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
The means above described for preventing, in double-barrel break-down guns
fitted with a single trigger, the discharge of both barrels by one pull of the
trigger, such means consisting in the use of a swinging bar carried by the
trigger for discharging the gun when operated, as set forth, and controlled in
its lateral movement by a stop projected into the plane of motion of the
swinging bar.
Dated this 5th do of Anil 1805
NEWTON & SON,
Agents for the Applicant.