Certain Improvements in Repeating Guns.
Year: 1891

page_text: Date of Application, 21st Apr., 1891-Accepted, 3rd Oct., 1891
Certain Improvements in Repeating Guns.
A communication from abroad by THE OSTRANDER REPEATING GUN COMPANY,
a Corporation of San Francisco, in the County of San Francisco, State of
California, one of the United States of America.
I WILLIAM EDWARD GEDGE, of No. 11 Wellington Street Strand, in the City
and County of London, Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of this inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described
and ascertained in and by the following statement. :-
This invention relates to certain improvements in that class of weapons known
as magazine guns or repeaters; and it is especially applicable to shot guns having
two barrels upon a single stock.
It consists of a stock having two barrels mounted thereon so as to slide forward
and back, and a mechanism whereby loaded shells are carried from the magazine
and introduced into the barrels of the gun, discharged shells being ejected by the
same movement and the hammer drawn back into position for firing, and a means
whereby either of the barrels may be loaded or operated independent of the other,
and in certain details of construction.
Referring to the accompanying drawings for a more complete explanation of the
invention.
Figure 1 is a longitudinal vertical section of the gun taken through the centre
of the nearest barrel. The actuating mechanism is shown in the position of
firing.
Figure 2 is a plan view of the same, the barrels being removed and part of the
stock being broken away to expose one side of the actuating mechanism.
Figure 3 is a vertical cross section on the line 2-2 of Figure 1 looking towards
the breech.
Figures 4 and 10 are front views of the clutch mechanism.
Figure 5 is a detail view of the two sliding plates connected with the clutch
mechanism.
Figure 6 is a plan view of the upper shell holding pin.
Figure 7 is an elevation of the lower shell holding pin.
Figure 8 shows the locking device of one of the magazines.
Figure 9 is a longitudinal vertical section through the centre of the gun, the
actuating parts are shown as being re-loaded and the barrels moved forward.
A is the stock of the gun. B is the front extension of said stock, called the
fore end, within which a pair of barrels C is fitted to slide forward and back.
D is a casing within which the operating mechanism is contained. E is the
standing breech against which the rear end of the barrels abut when they are
closed and locked in position.
F is the locking latch by which the barrels are held in place when the breech is
closed. This latch engages a corresponding groove C₁ in the web between the
barrels, and is held up by a spring f. The front end of this latch is inclined or
beveled so that when the barrels are drawn backward they will easily depress the
latch by pressing down the spring f and will slide over it until the groove arrives
at the latch, when the latter will be forced upward by the spring and thus lock
the barrels securely in place.
The latch F is connected with the front end of a bell crank lever H. The other
arm of the lever is connected with a rod I which extends back into the casing D
and is connected with a trigger i by which the rod is pulled back.
When this trigger is pulled, it will act through the connecting rod I, and the

page_text: lever H, and thus depress the front end of the latch F, disengaging it from the
locking notch of the barrels.
The barrels are fitted to slide in guides upon the stock and the groove C¹ formed in
the rib between them is engaged by the upwardly projecting catch K formed upon
the front end of the connecting rod L. As soon as the barrels are moved forwardly
to open the breech and after latch F has been depressed, the rear end of the
groove will strike against the catch K, and pull it forward to the end of its travel,
and by this movement, and its connections, will draw the operating rack bar N
forward, the latter being pivoted at to the connecting rod L. This rod L and
the catch K are held up by a plate M. so that the catch K is always in position to be
engaged by the groove which connects it with the barrels.
To disengage the barrels, the plate M is moved forward by means of its outer
button M, and this will free the latch K to be depressed by the barrels into a
recess and out of their way. To replace them the reverse movement simply takes
place.
O is a shaft journaled within the casing and having upon it the
pinions P, the teeth of which engage with the teeth of the rack N.
pinions also engages with vertical racks Q, and another horizontal
latter moves above the pinion.
loosely turning
Each of these
rack R which
Each of the rack bars Q carries a segment S which is of such shape as to receive
the rear end of the shell, and when the barrels C are moved forward, they act
through the connecting rod or link L, and the rack bar N, to rotate the pinions P,
and these by their engagement with the racks Q, will raise the latter, causing
them to slide up in the guides within which they travel, and thus the segments
are raised, carrying with them the shells from the magazines below to the line of the
barrels, up to a point opposite the rear opened ends of the barrels, so that when
the latter are drawn back again, the front ends of the shells will enter the barrels,
and when the latter are closed and locked in place, the shells will be in position for
firing. The slot in the barrels into which the lug K projects is long enough so
that the barrels may be moved back far enough to cause the front ends of the shells
to enter into the rear ends of the barrels before the front end of the slot strikes
the lug K and draws it back also, by which movement the rack N turns the
pinions P in the opposite direction, and causes the carriers S to commence their
descent, and at the beginning of this action, the front ends of the shells are securely
supported within the barrels so that they will be completely introduced by the
completion of the rearward movement of the barrels, while the carriers S descend
to their normal position beneath the magazines T.
After firing, the latch or lug F is first brought down by pulling on the trigger i
of rod I, then the barrels are pushed forward, first to clear the empty shell, which
is now ejected, and then to come in contact with latch K and the loading process
takes place again.
These magazines T are placed, one beneath each barrel, and are designed to
contain only two extra cartridges, so that when the gun has been loaded there will
be two cartridges in the barrels of the gun, and two more are introduced into the
magazines beneath, through gates or doors t on the sides of the stock. The doors
of these magazines are locked by little latches t' entering sockets 6 in the fore end,
spring controlled push buttons free the latches again, and the springs t² will force
the doors open quickly, as shown in Figure 8.
The flanges of the shells move in slots in the vertical guides e which stand upon
each side of the standing breech E.
U are pins which project horizontally beneath each of the standing breeches,
and these pins are pressed forward by springs u so as to project slightly into the
paths of the shells as they are moved upwardly by the carriers S, as shewn in
Figure 7.
The front ends of these pins are beveled so that when the upwardly moving
shell strikes the pin it will press it backward against the spring u, and thus allow
the shell to rise until it has passed the pin, when the spring u will force the pin out

page_text: again just beneath the lower edge of the flange of the shell, and this prevents it from
moving downward when the carrier S begins to descend, and also holds the front
of the cartridge up so that it will enter the barrel properly.
W W are other pins projecting just above the upper edges of the flanges of the
shells when they are in position to enter the gun, and these pins prevent the shell
from being forced upward and thrown out before the proper time. These pins are
actuated by springs w similar to those which actuate the pins U, as shewn in
Figure 6.
q
Upon the upper ends of the vertical rack bars Q are formed cams and the
pins W have projections, as shown at w which are engaged by the curved cam g, so
that when one of the rack bars Q is moved upwards by the action of the pinion P,
the cam will withdraw the pin W, and this allow the discharged shell to be ejected.
As the cam continues to move upward it allows the pin W to be again forced out
by its spring w' so that by the time the loaded shell has reached the proper position
to be introduced into the barrel of the gun, this pin will be again projected to act
as a stop and prevent the shell from being raised too high.
YY are the hammers which are suitably fulcrumed within the case D, and are
acted upon by the bars fulcrumed at and receiving the pressure of the coil
springs which thus act upon the hammers when the latter are released by pulling
the triggers.
vare the triggers by which each of the hammers is disengaged so as to fire the
cartridge in its barrel. ' are the rear springs which return the triggers after they
are pulled. These triggers have the plates V projecting into the casing, and
fulcrumed upon the pin. Each hammer Y has the front or striking end and
upon the opposite or rear end the look y' which is engaged when the hammer has
been drawn back by a corresponding notch upon the plate V.
الا
The hammers are withdrawn to the position of full cock by the action of the
rack bar R which carries pins projecting upon each side, and these pins pressing
upon the shoulder on the shank of the hammer, as plainly shown in Figure 9,
will force the hammer back until the hook portion y' is engaged by the notch v
and is thus held in position.
X is a safety hook fulcrumed in the upper part of the case, and acted upon by the
rear end of the rack bar R which causes it to engage with a corresponding notch y'
on the upper front end of the hammer, as shewn in Figure 9, and this prevents the
gun from being discharged as long as this engagement continues.
When the hammer is in its forward position, the hook X is held up by means of
a sliding bar G having a lug g upon its front end which depresses the rear end of
the hook X.
The bar G is forced forward so as to depress the rear of the hook X and so
is ready
disengaging it from the hammer by its button g¹ and in this state the gun
for firing.
When after firing the barrels are pushed forward again the bar R will be pushed
backward, and while bringing the hammer back with it also, its rear end will strike
the shoulder g of the slide bar G, and so force the latter back in its housing a,
allowing at the same time the hook X to be thrown forwardly by spring & until
the former drops into the notch y² of the hammer again thereby keeping the
hammers in a cocked condition. It will be seen that in this position a respective
hammer is not effected any more by any manipulation on other parts of the gun
until the button g' is forced forward which will free the hammer and put the gun
ready for firing.
By this arrangement each of the hammers can be cocked or fired off inde-
pendently of each other.
When the hammer falls it strikes upon the rear end of the firing pin k, this
firing pin being so shaped that its front end will be forced against the primer in
the shell so as to discharge the latter and fire the gun. The firing pin is retracted
whenever released, by a spring k' which acts upon it for this purpose.
If it is desired to load but a single barrel of the gun, in case of only one

page_text: discharge having taken place, this is effected by temporarily disengaging the
pinion of the barrel which is not to be loaded from the rack bar M.
As the two pinions P turn loosely upon the shaft O, they may be moved
longitudinally upon the shaft far enough to disengage either of them from the
rack bar N. This rack bar is sufficiently wide to engage both the pinions when
in their normal position, but either of them may be moved along the shaft
sufficiently to disengage them from the rack bar, and when one is thus disengaged,
the movement of the barrels, which has been previously described, will only cause
the rack bar to act upon the pinion and mechanism of the other barrel.
This movement for each pinion is effected by means of the transversely sliding
plates m having slots in each end which allow them to be moved upon the guide pins m
shown plainly in Figures 4 and 10. Each of the pinions P' has formed with it a
grooved collar
and a spur m² upon each plate engages one of the grooves.
Either of the plates m is moved so as to force its pinion outwardly by means of
a lever o upon the vertical shaft o'. This shaft has a pin or spur o projecting
from the front and extending between the upwardly extended opposite ends of the
plates m. Each plate has one end higher than the pin, and the other end extends
out below the pin. When the lever o is moved to one side the pin 2 acts
against one of the plates to move it outward, and by means of the spur m² entering
the grooved collar one of the pinions P is disengaged from the rack bar N, and
when moved in the opposite direction the other pinion will be disengaged. The
lever o and the plates m are returned to a central position by the springs o³. Both
pinions are returned into engagement by springs p' which act to force them back
into place as soon as relieved from the pressure of the levers.
When the lever o is pushed to one side it disengages one of the pinions from the
rack bar, and the gun barrels being then moved forward and back, as previously
described, only one shell will be discharged and a new load placed in the corre-
sponding barrel, while the others will remain unmoved. The loaded shell which is
not moved, is simply held in its place by the guides and stops which hold its flange
so that the barrels may easily be moved out and backward again without disturbing
this shell.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this inven-
tion as communicated to me from abroad, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, I declare that what I claim is :-
1. Connecting the carrier which elevates the cartridge from the magazine of a
gun to the rear end of the gun barrel, with a toothed rack bar which engages a
toothed pinion in the gun stock, and turning the pinion by a second toothed bar
which is connected with the gun barrel and is reciprocated by sliding the barrel
forward and back upon the gun stock.
2. The barrels of a gun sliding forward and back upon the stock, toothed rack
bars and pinions connected with and moved by the barrels to raise cartridges from
the magazine to the rear of the gun barrels, and also to draw the hammers back
where they are retained by the trigger blade, and safety catches and releasing
devices connected therewith.
3. A pair of gun barrels sliding forward and back upon the stock with inde-
pendent toothed rack bars and pinions connected with the barrels and with a
cartridge carrier, and clutch levers whereby either pinion may be disengaged from
the actuating rack bar whereby either carrier may be operated independently of
the other.