IMPROVEMENTS IN BREECH-LOADING FIRE-ARMS
Year: 1870

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Albert Bernard Zieschang and Frederick Louis
Hugo Schmidt, both of No. 46, Nicholas Street, St. Peter's 'Road, in
the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS -IN
the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of
66
DREECH LUADING NIKE ARMN
IMPROVEMENTS -IN
·PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Albert-Bernard Zies-
chang and Frederick Louis Hugo Schmidt at the Office of the
Commissioners of Patents, with their Petition, on the 13th January
1870.
We, ALBERT BERNARD ZIESCHANG and FREDERICK LOUIS HUGO
SCHMIDT, both of No. 46, Nicholas Street, St. Peter's Road, in the
County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN BREECH-LOADING FIRE-ARMS," to be as follows:-.
This Invention has for its object improvements in breech-loading
fire-arms.
In constructing breech-loading fire-arms we form or fix at the breech
end of the barrel a shoe of a trough-like form open by preference at the

page_text: top, but it might be on one side. This shoe or trough carries a pin or
axis on one side of but parallel with the bore of the piece. On this:
axis a breech. block is mounted so as to be able to turn into and out.
from the shoe or trough. When in the shoe or trough it closes the bore
of the piece at its rear end, and when out of the shoe or trough it leaves the
bore open for the insertion of a cartridge. At the back of the breech block:
a screw is formed which enters a tube with a corresponding thread within
it. On this tube there is a handle on one side, and the tube has also a
collar upon it which when the breech is closed is received into a recess
in the bottom of the shoe or trough, and the breech block is firmly I
Tocked in its place by turning down the lever to one side, thus rotating
the tube partially and unscrewing it to the amount of a portion of a
turn of the screw from the breech block. In this way the distance.
between the face of the breech block and the back of the collar on the
tube is somewhat increased, and as both of these parts abut on the shoe 1
or trough, the one at its forward end and the other on the groove in its.
bottom as already mentioned, the breech block is in this way firmly held
in its place, closing the breech of the barrel. When the lever is turned
back for opening the breech it screws the breech block and the tube
behind it more closely together and so relieves the end pressure on the :
breech block and frees it so that it can easily by the further motion of
the lever be turned back out of the way: The lever and the side of the
shoe or trough are so formed that the lever can only turn when the
breech block is closing the breech. The extractor for withdrawing
the cartridge case after firing is a lever formed at one end to an arc of a
.circle and working in a corresponding recess in the side of the shoe or
trough; it is mounted on a centre pin or axis, and its inner end enters
under the flange of the cartridge case in the usual manner: Its outer end
is operated on by an incline on the breech block which, when the breech
is opened causes it partially to rotate in its recess, and similarly the
closing the breech causes it to turn back to its original position. The
notch or recess in which the extractor works does not as is usual extend
into the chamber of the gun, but terminates in the circular groove which
receives the flange of the cartridge; this arrangement removes all
liability of the extractor being set fast by dirt entering behind it. The
face of the breech block is bevilled on the edge so as to aid in pushing
the cartridge home and to give a freer escape to any gas which may
issue from a faulty cartridge.

page_text: The breech-loading arrangement above described may be used with.an
outside lock, but I prefer to arrange a needle or striker to pass through
the centre of the breech block as is usual when central-fire cartridges
are employed. The needle or striker is carried by a stem within the lever
tube, and a coiled spring presses it constantly forward. There is however
on the back of the breech block an incline which when the lever tube
with the striker within it is rotated in opening the breech acts against
a projection on the stem of the striker and forces it back to full cock,
where it is retained by a sear jointed to it, the extremity of which
drops into an opening in the side of the lever tube and is there retained.
The coiled mainspring presses on the tail of the sear and so gives to its
other extremity a tendency to move outwards, and thus the one spring
serves both as scar and mainspring; or two separate coiled springs
may be used, the one within the other; the inner spring acting as the
scar spring and the outer as the mainspring.
When the breech is
closed the opening into which the sear catches is brought to coincide
with an opening in the bottom of the shoe or trough, and in firing the
piece the pressure on the trigger causes an instrument to project up
through this opening and eject the end of the scar from the opening in
the lever tube, and the striker then immediately flies forward by the
action of the coiled spring upon it, and so discharges the cartridge.
".
In place of fixing the lever handle upon the tube as above described,
we in some cases joint it to it so that it may fold down parallel to the
axis of the piece when the breech is closed and turn out at right angles.
thereto for opening the breech. The parts are so formed that move-
ment on this joint can only take place when the breech is closed. In
this arrangement a projection on the lever handle is used in order to
force back the striker and cock the piece.
.
The extractor above described is applicable also to guns of the Snider:
construction.
'
In order to render the shooting of the gun more accurate we
strengthen or thicken the barrel at the muzzle, making it stronger.or
thicker at this point than it is at other parts intermediate of the muzzle
and breech. This strengthening or thickening of the muzzle also affords
facility for the fixing of a bayonet or sword- without injury to the
barrel:
'
:
In rifling breech-loading fire-arms we employ by preference six
}

page_text: original cylindrical bore, and the other side of each groove is at right
angles to the tangential side. The lands and the grooves we make of
equal width.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
-
filed by the said Albert Bernard Zieschang and Frederick Louis
Hugo Schmidt in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 13th July
1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, ALBERT
BERNARD ZIESCHANG and FREDERICK LOUIS HUGO SCHMIDT, both of
No. 46, Nicholas Street, St. Peter's Road, in the County of Middlesex,
send greeting.
: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Thirteenth day of January, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy, in the thirty-
third year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto us, the said Albert Bernard Zieschang and Frederick
Louis Hugo Schmidt, Her special licence that we, the said Albert
Bernard Zieschang and Frederick Louis Hugo Schmidt, our executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as we, the said Albert
Bernard Zieschang and Frederick Louis Hugo Schmidt,.our executors,
administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no
others, from time to time and at all times thereafter during the term
therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and
vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the
Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
BREECH-LOADING FIRE-ARMS," upon the condition (amongst others) that we,
the said Albert Bernard Zieschang and Frederick Louis Hugo Schmidt,
our executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under our
or their hands and seals, or under the hand and seal of one of us or
them, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said
Invention, and in what manner the same was to be performed, and
cause the same to. be filed in the Great Scal Patent Office within six
calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said
Letters Patent.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that we, the said Albert Bernard Zieschang and
Frederick Louis Hugo Schmidt, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be
particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement
thereof, that is to say :-
.
This Invention has for its object improvements in breech-loading fire-
arms.
In constructing breech-loading fire-arms we form or fix at the breech
end of the barrel a shoc of a trough-like form, open by preference at
the top, but it might be on one side. This shoe or trough carries a pin
or axis on one side of but parallel with the bore of the piece. On this
axis a breech block is mounted so as to be able to turn into and out
from the shoe or trough. When in the shoc or trough it closes the bore
of the piece at its rear end, and when out of the shoc or trough it leaves
the bore open for the insertion of a cartridge. At the back of the
breech block a screw is formed, which enters a tube with a corresponding
thread within it. On this tube there is a handle on one side, and the
tube has also a collar upon it which when the breech is closed is received
into a recess in the bottom of the shoe or trough, and the breech block
is firmly locked in its place by turning down the lever to one side, thus
rotating the tube partially and unscrewing it to the amount of a portion
of a turn of the screw from the breech block. In this way the distance
between the face of the breech block and the back of the collar on the
tube is somewhat increased, and as both of these parts abut on the shoe
or trough, the one at its forward end and the other on the groove in its
bottom, as already mentioned, the breech block is in this way firmly
held in its place, closing the breech of the barrel. When the lever is
turned back for opening the breech, it screws the breech block and the
tube behind it more closely together, and so relieves the end pressure
on the breech block and frees it so that it can easily by the further
motion of the lever be turned back out of the way. The lever and the
side of the shoe or trough are so formed that the lever and tube can
only turn about the screw of the breech block when the breech block
is closing the breech. The extractor for withdrawing the cartridge case
after firing is a lever formed at one end to an arc of a circle and working
in a corresponding recess in the side of the shoe or trough; it is mounted
on a centre pin or axis, and its inner end enters under the flange of the

page_text: '
cartridge case in the usual manner. Its outer end is operated on by an
incline on the breech block, which when the breech is opened causes
it partially to rotate in its recess, and similarly the closing the breech
causes it to turn back to its original position. The notch or recess in
which the extractor works does not as is usual extend into the chamber
of the gun, but terminates in the circular groove which receives the
flange of the cartridge. This arrangement removes all liability of the
extractor being set fast by dirt entering behind it. The face of the
breech block is bevilled on the edge so as to aid in pushing the cartridge
home and to give a free escape to any gas which may issue from a faulty
cartridge.
7.
The breech-loading arrangement above described may be used with
an outside lock, but we prefer to arrange a needle or striker to pass
through the centre of the breech block as is usual when central-fire
cartridges are employed. The needle or striker is carried by a stem
within the lever tube and a coiled; spring presses it constantly forward.
The lever handle, with which as before stated the tube is provided, is
jointed to it, so that when the breech is closed it'may be laid along
parallel with the tube. When it is elevated for use a projection upon
the lever handle comes against a projection on the stem of the striker
and forces it back to full-cock, where it is retained by a sear jointed to
it, the extremity of which drops into an opening in the side of the lever
tube and is there retained. The coiled mainspring presses on the
tail of the sear, and so gives to its other extremity a tendency to move
outwards, and thus the one spring serves both as sear and mainspring;
or two separate coiled springs may be used, the one within the other,
the inner spring acting as the sear spring and the outer as the main-
spring.
When the breech is closed the opening into which the sear catches is
brought to coincide with an opening in the bottom of the shoe or trough,
and in firing the piece the pressure on the trigger causes an instrument
to project up through this opening and eject the end of the sear from
the opening in the lever tube, and the striker then immediately flies
forward by the action of the coiled spring upon it, and so discharges the
cartridge. The parts are so formed that the lever handle can only move
on the joint connecting it with the tube when the breech is closed. Or
in place of forcing back the striker to full-cock by means of the lever

page_text: 9
г
part of the shoe or body covering the breech, whilst the collar f2 is
jammed against the back of the recess c³. The abutting faces of the
block cand tube fare formed to the same incline as the screw thread and
remain always in contact. The lever handle g is jointed to the tube f, it
is shown separately at Figures 9. When the breech is closed it turns
down out of the way, as it is shown in Figure 1, and the end of the
lever acts as a spring and presses on an inclined surface at f³; in this,
way a constant tendency is given to the lever to fold down when it is
free to do so. The lever handle g has however a projection at g', which by
resting against the back of the breech block e prevents its folding down
except the tube f be turned so that the projection g¹ of the lever
coincides with and is able to enter the notch in the breech block at e2;
f* is a notch into which the end of the lever g drops when folded down.
In opening the breech when the lever handle g has been raised its first
action, when it is turned from left to right is to turn the tube fon the
screw e¹, and so to relieve the pressure of the breech block against the
front of the shoe or body; until this is done the breech block cannot
move around the pin d in consequence of the collar f² entering a
notch in the side of the socket c¹, but when the lever 9 has moved
a certain distance the notch f* in the tube f comes opposite the
notch and then the parts become free to move around the pin d.
Similarly in closing the breech when the block e is in the position
indicated by the dotted lines in Figure 2 the tube is not free to turn
upon it, the notch f* fitting to the outside of the socket c¹ and retaining
it, hence the first motion is around the pin d, and when this motion is
complete the notches c¹* and f' coincide and the tube f turns on the
block e and forces it home.
The breech block and tube in the arrangement which the Drawing
shows contain a striker h, which is pressed forward by a coiled spring i.
The striker is in two parts fitting together, as is shown clearly in
Figures 10. The coiled spring abuts on a collar on the striker at h¹
and also on the back of a spring box or tube j, which forms an end
closing the tube f, and is held in place by the spring stop k passing
through the side of the tube f into a hole in the side of the spring
box j. The spring stop k is shown seperately at Figures 10°. When the
lever handle is turned up to open the breech the projection g¹ upon
it acts on the shoulder h² on the striker and forces it back against the
resistance of the spring i until the end of the scar which is jointed
to the striker drops into the hole f³ in the tube f.

page_text: * Separate views of the sear are shown at Figure 11. It will be observed
that its arms bear against the hinder part of the striker, and when the
sear is out of the bent hole they hold this part of the striker back and
prevent it from entering to the bottom of the socket in the fore part
of the striker; the spring i is thus to some degree compressed and its
reaction causes the scar to drop into the bent hole as soon as it comes
opposite to it. In firing the gun the trigger m is caused to act through
the piece n upon the noze of the sear and eject it from the bent hole,
when immediately the striker flies forward and strikes the priming of:
the cartridge. The piece n is shown separately at Figures 12, and the
slotted spring n¹ through which it passes and which holds it in its
place is shown at Figures 13; the spring boxj is shown separately at
Figures 14. The hole which the spring stop k enters is marked j¹, and
there is a slot at in the side of the tube into which the end of the
screw which attaches the spring stop / enters, so that without removing
this screw the spring boxj cannot be separated from the tube f, but
when the stop k is raised the spring box recedes as far as the slot j
admits and the tension of the spring is relieved. The gun is then
perfectly safe to carry and it cannot be discharged until the spring box j
is thrust back.
o is the extractor, it is shown separately at Figures 15, it turns on
a centre stud o¹ formed in a piece with it, and moves in consequence
of the block e coming against it in opening and closing the breech.
The face of the block e is coned to aid in forcing the cartridge and
the extractor home. A peculiarity of this extractor is that its recess
does not cut the chamber in which the cartridge lies, but only the
circular groove in rear thereof, in which the flange of the cartridge lies.
In place of forcing back the striker to full cock by means of the lever
handle g it may be done by an incline on the back of the block e.
Figure 16 is a longitudinal section, and Figure 17 a transverse section
of an arm thus arranged. e* is a projection or incline on the breech
block which acts on the shoulder 72 of the striker when this together
with the tube f is rotated in opening the breech. The lever handle
is here shown fixed upon the tube f in place of being jointed to it.
The striker is here in one piece and has a moveable collar h* upon it
on which the coil spring i and the sear arms A press..
Figures 18 show our improvement of strengthening or thickening the
barrel at the muzzle by which the shooting of the gun is improved, and
:

page_text: the liability of injury. to the barrel by. the attachment of the bayonet or
sword is avoided. The barrel and collar are by preference in one piece,.
or the collar may be a separate piece accurately fitted to the exterior of
the barrel, and the collar is then shrunk on before the boring of the
barrel is completed.
Our system of rifting is shown at Figure 19, and again to a larger-
scale at Figure 20. The line a, a, of the rifling is a tangent to the
cylindrical bore, and the line b, b, is at right angles to a, a. The deepest-
part of each groove should for a left hand twist be on the left side, and
for a right hand twist on the right hand side.
Having thus described the nature of our Invention and the manner
of performing the same, we would have it understood that we claim as
our Invention of improvements in breech-loading fire-arms is,—
First. The combination of the breech block with the tube and other.
parts serving to lock it in position to close the breech, substantially
as described.
Second. The extractor formed to an arc of a circle turning on a.
centre at one side of the bore, and working in a cavity extending into
the circular groove which receives the flange of the cartridge, but not
into the chamber of the bore, substantially as described.
Third. The arrangement of parts for actuating the striker, substantially
as described.
Fourth. The strengthening or thickening the barrel at the muzzle,
substantially as described.
Fifth. The method of rifting the barrels, substantially as described.
Sixth. The general arrangement of breech-loading firc-arms, substan-
tially as described.
In witness whereof, we, the said Albert Bernard Zieschang and
. Frederick Louis Hugo Schmitz, have hereunto set our hands
and seals, this Thirteenth day of July in the year of our Lord