IMPROVEMENTS IN BREECH-LOADING FIRE-ARMS
Year: 1874

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by William Soper at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 5th
September 1874.
I, WILLIAM SOPER, of No. 23, Friar Street, Reading, in the County
of Berks, Gun Maker, do hereby declare the nature of the said Inven-
tion for "IMPROVEMENTS IN BREECH-LOADING FIRE-ARMS," to be as follows :-
My Invention is chiefly designed for altering "chassepôt” rifles and
other similar arms, originally constructed for the use of paper cartridges
to adapt them to the use of metallic cartridges; but the said Invention
may also be employed in the construction of new fire-arms of the
class wherein the breech is closed by a cylindrical sliding and turning
bolt.
The said Invention relates first, to the method of constructing or
altering the part of the barrel in which the cartridges are inserted.
In adapting my Invention to the aforesaid "chassepôt" or similar
arms, I enlarge the rear end of the said barrel to receive a tube of steel
or other suitable metal; the enlargement extends to the "lead” or

page_text: commencement of the rifling. This tube is slightly taper throughout
its length, and its rear end is larger than the bore of the breech shoe, so
that when the barrel is screwed into the latter the said tube cannot be
displaced. The said tube is well fitted in this enlarged portion of
the barrel, and is further secured thercin by soft solder, which holds
the said tube with sufficient tenacity to ensure the security of the
same, but permits it to be withdrawn from the barrel when worn or
injured.
I render the arm "self-cocking" by the following device:-I form in
the front or main portion of the bolt an oblique or cam-like groove for
the reception of the guide pin or stud, fixed in a projection on the rear
portion or "cock" of the bolt; this oblique groove terminates in a
longitudinal groove. In closing the breech when the handle of the
bolt is turned down this oblique groove acting on the said stud effects
the cocking of the arm, and when the trigger is pulled the longitudinal
groove forms a passage for the stud.
In the aforesaid "chassepôt " rifle the trigger is arranged in combi-
nation with a spring which has a picce projecting up through the
bottom of the chamber to hold back the rear portion of the bolt when the
arm is cocked. I lengthen this projection on the spring for the purpose
of increasing the length of the blow of the cock and firing pin when
the arm is discharged, and for the same purpose I lengthen the aforesaid
guide, stud, or pin. I remove the ordinary stop screw for preventing
the escape or removal of the bolt from its chamber and substituto
therefor a stud fixed on or connected with the aforesaid spring and pro-
jecting up through the bottom of the chamber into a longitudinal
groove or channel in the bolt. The end of this groove forms a shoulder
which cannot pass the said stud while the same projects up into the
said groove, but by pulling the trigger this stud can be depressed clear
of the bolt, and the latter can then be drawn out of its chamber.
For effecting the ignition of the cartridge I use a firing pin which is
secured to the end of the plunger or piston that carries the needle in
the said "chassepôt" arm. This firing pin is secured to the said
plunger by means of the ordinary needle holder of the said "chassepôt"
arm. I remove the original plug or obturator or needle guide, and
secure in the hole in which the same was fitted an end picce of steel or
other metal perforated for the passage of the firing pin, and secured in
place by the same screw that held the original plug or needle guide.

page_text: I use an extractor, which is a flat piece of steel or other metal, pro-
vided with a hook or claw for taking hold of the rim of the cartridge
and fitted in a longitudinal groove or channel in the bolt, which in the
said "chassepôt " arms is formed for the reception of the point of the
aforesaid stop-screw. The rear end of the extractor is formed with a
small stud or projection fitted in a recess in the bolt; by means of this
stud the said extractor is made fast when the nut which secures the
mainspring in the bolt is screwed into its place. The rear end of the said
extractor and a portion of the bolt are cut away or recessed to form a
groove to permit the bolt to clear the stud in the bottom of the chamber
when the bolt is turned therein.