IM- PROVEMENTS IN FIRE-ARMS
Year: 1863

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by William Horton at the Office of
the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 23rd July
1863.
I, WILLIAM HORTON, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North Britain,
Gun Maker, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention of "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN FIRE-ARMS," to be as follows, that is to say :—
This Invention relates to the arrangement and construction of fire-arms'
more especially such as are known as "breech-loaders," by means of which
improvements greater security and a more convenient action is obtained in the
locking of the barrels.
Under one modification or system of arrangement as applied to a double-
barrelled piece the stock is hinged at the front end to admit of the barrels rising
up for the insertion of the cartridges. In the tongue of the hinge a slot is formed,
into which a lug on the under side of the barrel enters; the pin which connects
the barrels to the stock passes through a slot in the lug, and this slot is
made sufficiently long to adunit of a certain amount of traverse of the barrels
in a longitudinal direction. The false breech-piece has a slot formed in it
immediately below the central line of the barrels, into which two holding-down
lugs formed on the under side of the barrels enter. At the central part of the
slot the metal is cut away on each side, forming a recess of an elliptical figure,
in which is fitted an eccentric or differentially formed piece of metal that serves
to lock and unlock the barrels by tho simple lateral movement of a hand lever.
The eccentric consists of a disc of steel arranged horizontally on the upper end

page_text: of a vertical spindle, which is squared at the lower part to receive the end of
the actuating lever. A portion of the periphery of the eccentric is cut away
so as to form an inclined plane, the projecting part of which enters a recess
formed for the purpose in one of the holding-down lugs when the eccentric is
turned so as to lock the barrels. The metal of the periphery of the eccentric
is also cut away in the vertical direction, and thus narrowing the area of the
disc; the extremity of this incurving part also forms an inclined plane,
extending in an upward direction from the lower edge of the eccentric. The
lover, by means of which the eccentric is turned, is fitted to the lower end of
the spindle, which extends out through the stock, and this lever is curved to
the shape of the trigger guard, so that it lies closely thereto when the barrels
are locked. A slight swell is made on the guard, which forms a catch to keep
the lever in its place and prevent it from being moved aside by accidental
causes. When the barrels are put into their place the inward movement of the
lever causes the eccentric to bring the ends of the barrels in close contact with
the false breech, and two discs which are formed thereon enter the ends of the
barrels, which are then securely locked by the action of the eccentric on the
holding-down lug. Above each disc is a small projecting lug which enters a
corresponding recess in each barrel and serves as a guide thereto.. In this way,
by a simple lateral movement of the hand lever, the barrels are very easily and
quickly unlocked to receive the charges, and again instantly locked ready for
firing. This system or arrangement is applicable to fire-arms to be used with
various kinds of cartridges.