Improvements in Small Arms.
Year: 1895

page_text: Date of Application, 6th July, 1895
Complete Specification Left, 25th Mar., 1896-Accepted, 25th Apr., 1896.
Improvements in Small Arms.
We, RICHARD HILL and JOHN VAUGHAN SMITH, trading as Hill and Smith,
of Bell Yard, Price Street, in the City of Birmingham, Gun Action Makers, do
bereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
This invention has relation principally to single-trigger double barrelled small
arms, and consists in making a single trigger blade act alternatively upon two sears,
that is to say, a pull upon the trigger makes the trigger blade come under and lift
one sear of the one barrel and by a further pull, the same blade is made to
transpose its position and come under and lift the sear of a second barrel, and if
necessary the said trigger may be made to automatically return to the position
which it occupied on the first pull, either through an auxiliary or through the
instrumentality of the opening of the barrels in the case of a drop-down gun.
In carrying out our improvements, we take an ordinary action under-strap,
suitably fitted with a single trigger and having upon the topside of it, an upright
divided bracket wherein an elongated frame or box, within which the trigger works,
is pivot jointed, the bearings of the said joint being slightly elongated, so that
the pins or studs upon which the trigger turns and the box oscillates are capable
of a slight lateral movement which admits of the said trigger shifting from under
one sear to the other. To allow for this cross movement the trigger slot in the
strap is cut away at its opposite sides and within this said slot the frame or box and
the trigger working through it oscillates with a traverse equal to the distance
encompassed by the sears.
The box has upon its bottom a cover plate or shield, which comes upon the
underside of the strap, and is of a breadth sufficient to always cover up or overlap
the broad trigger gap in the strap.
The frame has, at the point at which the trigger is jointed to it, upright ears,
through which the pin on which the trigger turns vertically passes with the outer
ends extending beyond the sides of the frame and forming trunnions or pivots upon
which the frame horizontally turns.
Now the end of one trunnion or the joint end of the frame has upon it a V shaped
lock, passing through a hole in one of the walls of the bracket. and alternately
coming upon the two opposite sides of a bar made at the free end of a flat spring,
whose fast end is fixed to the outer side of the bracket, so that to whatever side
the trigger is pulled, it is there retained by the bar of the spring lying over the
centre of the V-shaped projection.
Assuming that the trigger is located a little to the right hand side of the
axial line of the gun, then by pulling the trigger its blade is lifted which, in its
turn, lifts the tail end of the sear and takes the nose from out of the bent in the
tumbler, which falls and discharges the right hand barrel.
Now by giving the trigger a slight involuntarily cross push the said trigger and
its frame now passes over from the right hand side of the lock to the left hand
side and comes under the tail of the sear of the left hand barrel when a second
pull on the triggers lifts the same and discharges the said left-hand barrel.
If necessary the trigger may be brought back to its normal side by making the
projection on the bolt of the gun, which is operated by a hand lever, come in
contact with the said trigger blade or a joint of it and push the same back.

page_text: Instead of only one end of the tail end being made to-oscillate from one side
of the action to the other, the whole of the blade and its cognate parts may be
made to slide bodily so as to come first under one sear and then under the
other.
Our invention is equally applicable to double barrelled pistols, rifles and other
small arms.
RICHARD HILL,
JOHN VAUGHAN SMITH,
By Henry Skerrett,
Agent for Applicants.
TH
шап агщь,
We, RICHARD HILL and JOHN VAUGHAN SMITH, trading as Hill and Smith,
of Bell Yard, Price Strect, in the City of Birmingham, Gun Action Makers, 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 :-
This invention has relation to single-trigger double-barrelled small arms, and
consists in making a single trigger blade act alternately upon two sears, and so
discharge both barrels, either right barrel first or left barrel first, and the said
trigger is made to automatically return to the position which it occupied on the
first pull, through the medium of a bolt operated by the opening of the barrels in
the case of a drop-down gun.
In carrying out our improvements, we take an ordinary action under-strap or
plate, suitably fitted with a single trigger and having upon the topside of it, an
upright divided bracket wherein an elongated frame or box, within which the
trigger works, is pivot jointed, the bearings of the said joint being slightly
elongated, so that the pins or studs upon which the trigger turns and the box
oscillates are capable of a slight lateral movement which admits of the said trigger
shifting from under one sear to the other. To allow for this cross movement, the
trigger slot in the strap is cut away and within this said slot the frame or box and
the trigger working through it oscillates with a traverse equal to the distance
encompassed by the sears.
The box has upon its bottom a cover plate or shield, which comes upon the
underside of the strap, and is of a breadth sufficient to always cover up or overlap
the broad trigger gap in the strap.
The pin on which the trigger is horizontally jointed is connected to a vertical
pivot or trunnion centre working within the upright bracket and the end of the
trigger pin is formed into a bead with a V-shaped projection upon it, outside the
axial line of the said pin, and upon which the free end of a flat spring carried by
the bracket takes its bearing for the purpose of taking the trigger blade from one
side of the strap to the other after the firing of that barrel of the gun under whose
sear tail the trigger blade has been brought by the opening of the gun.
Figure 1 of the accompanying drawing represents, partly in elevation and partly
in longitudinal vertical section a double-barrelled breech loading and hammerless
gun provided with single trigger mechanism constructed and arranged in accordance
with our invention.
Figure 2 represents a horizontal section of the same upon the dotted line
Figure 1, showing the trigger plate brought over to the left hand side of the gun
and under the overhanging tail of the right-hand sear. The said view also shows
the vertical pivot or trunnion upon which the trigger is hung, and which trigger

page_text: ац
underplate or strap.
Figure 3 represents a transverse vertical section upon the dotted line I
Figure 1.
Figure 4 is a part vertical section on the dotted lines a³, Figure 1 and part end
elevation of the gun.
Figure 5 is a plan of the underside of the under-plate or strap.
Figure 6 represents one side of the bracket, showing the spring for oscillating
the trigger and also the auxiliary for taking the trigger back to its normal position
on each opening of the gun.
Figure 7 is another view of the bracket showing the reverse side to that illustrated
in Figure 6.
Figure 8 represents the horizontal pivot of the trigger and shows the projection
upon the head of the same in which the end of the spring bears.
Figure 9 represents the vertical pivot upon which the trigger horizontally
oscillates.
Figure 10 is a section and topside view of the box in which the trigger blade is
encompassed.
Figure 11 is an elevation and a topside view of the trigger.
Figure 12 is an underside plan of the body of the gun showing the sears and how
the solid part of each tail end comes opposite the gap in the other.
Figure 13 shows a back elevation of the said body of the gun and illustrating
the overlapping of the sear tails.
The same letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several figures
of the drawing.
a are the pair of barrels mounted and jointed to turn as usual upon the fore, part
of the body b; c is the fore end, b¹ the break off, and d is the top lever on the tang
strap e, operating the locking bolt f. g is..the safety mechanism, consisting of a
rocking lever g', tumbler 92, spring g³.and. slide g. h and i are a pair of sears,
with their tail ends, i, overlapping each other and with the solid parts.², i,
respectively coming opposite.the gaps h³, 3 of each other, which said sears come
one at a time upon the top edge of the blade, of the trigger j,,according as to
whether the trigger is upon the right hand side or the left. hand side of the gun.
The fore part, of.this said single trigger, is hung and, turns upon a horizontal
pivot k, which is itself mounted within a vertical pivot or part turning trunnion k³,
fitted within a like. shaped hole m', in the bracket m, carried by the understrap or
plate.n, of the gun. Now one end of this said horizontal pivot k, is connected
with an auxiliary or push arm o, pivoted at ol, to the understrap n, so that, as the
bolt is drawn back by the turning of the hand lever on the tang, the said nose of
the arm, coming within the path of the back part of the bolt, is pushed back, when
the vertical pivot k¹ and the trigger with it is.oscillated or swung. from right to
left, bringing the blade under the tail of the right sear ready for firing the right
barrel. The swinging trigger j, carries a spur ³, which alternately enters either
one or other of two like-shaped piercings n', n, formed in the understrap, according
as to whether the trigger is on the right or left. of the gun, and constitute means
for making the trigger.blade rise in a determined path and prevents any lateral
change in the position of the same during the time that the pull is upon it.
blade of the trigger rises and falls or works vertically within an oscillating box or
frame p, pivotedly mounted at p', to the understrap and working within a V-shaped
slot, in the said understrap, so that as the trigger is brought or swung over,
either by the force of the free end q', of the spring 9, carried upon one side of the
bracket m, acting upon the knife edge of the V-projection, on the head of the.
horizontal pivot k, on which the trigger turns, or by the arm o, through the medium
of the bolt f. The hole p², through which the pivot of the trigger box passes is
slightly elongated to admit of a little play required by the differentia in the mounting
of the same relative to the trigger mounting.
The
r is a small spring with the end r', taking into a hole in the trigger plate, and is

page_text: for the purpose of lifting the plate close up to the undersides of the tails h³, 1,
of the sears h, i, which are kept in their normal positions by springs and whose
noses engage with the bents in the tumblers as usual.
OPERATION.
Assuming that the trigger is in its normal position, viz., on the left hand side
of the gun and with its plate being opposed to the solid part of the overlapping
or brought-over tail end of the right hand sear; by pulling the trigger the blade
of the same is raised, the spur ³, passed upwardly through the piercing n' in the
trigger plate or strap n, the right hand sear lifted, and its nose end taken from
out of the bent in the right hand tumbler which falls by the force of its spring
and discharges the right hand barrel of the gun.
Immediately the finger is taken from off the trigger, the same resumes its
normal position by the reaction of the right hand sear upon it, and immediately the
spur ³, becomes clear of the hole n', then the trigger and its box are bodily turned,
swung or made to fly over from left to right, together with the vertical pivot to
which it is fitted, by the pressure of the free end q', of the spring q, acting upon
the knife edge of the V-shaped projection ³, on the end of the trigger pivot k,
consequent upon the point of bearing being excentric of the axis of the pivot.
The trigger plate, now being on the right hand side of the gun, is brought
opposite the solid part 2, of the brought-over tail, of the left hand sear i, and by
now again lifting the trigger, the spur j³, enters the piercing n² and lifts the left
hand sear and discharges the left hand barrel as usual and on the finger being
removed from the trigger the same is returned and the spur taken clear of the
hole 2, by the re-action of the sear.
By now opening the gun, the backward movement of the locking bolt causes its
rear part to come upon the nose end of the arm o, which is turned back upon its
pivot o', and through the medium of the horizontal pivot k, connected with it,
rotates the vertical pivot k¹, taking with it the trigger and its box, which has upon
its underside a shield p³, for covering up the piercing n³, in the strap n, hence
the return of the said trigger and its box to its normal position with its blade
coming upon the underside of the solid part of the tail of the right hand sear.
We may observe that the motion or direction of oscillation of the trigger in
passing from the left to the right after discharging the right barrel first, is against
the prevailing direction of pull of the trigger, thus counteracting any tendency to
the involuntary pull off which frequently occurs in single trigger guns of the usual
construction. In the event that it is required to fire the left hand barrel first then
it is only necessary to put the gun at safe and turn the trigger from the left to
right upon its vertical pivot. After the firing of the left barrel, the top lever
would have to be pulled over in order to take the trigger back to the left of the
gun to fire the right barrel.
Instead of transferring the trigger from left to right by operating the
top lever, the same may be effected by pulling down the trigger by hand until
the spur is clear of the hole on one side of the trigger plate and then
moving it over until the spur is coincident with the hole in the other side of the
said plate.
Our invention is equally applicable to double-barrelled pistols, rifles and other
small arms.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion, and in what manner, the same is to be performed, we declare that what we
claim is :-
•
First. In single-trigger double-barrelled small arms, mounting the trigger upon
horizontal and vertical axes, so as to make the same capable of rising and falling
and of swinging bodily with its cognate parts from one side of the lock to the
other, substantially in the way and for the purpose as described and set forth.

page_text: Secondly. In single-trigger double barrelled small arms, the employment in
conjunction with a from-side-to-side swinging trigger mounted upon horizontal and
vertical axes, of a spring for automatically transferring the said trigger from one..
side to the other after the same has been first pulled, substantially as and for
the purpose described and set forth.
Thirdly. In single-trigger double barrelled small arms, the combination with a.
swinging trigger or a spring-operated swinging trigger, of a spur or projection.
adapted to engage with the trigger strap, substantially as and for the purpose as.
described and set forth.
Fourthly. In single-trigger double-barrelled small arms, mounting the trigger
blade to work within a swinging frame, box or equivalent carrying a shield adapted.
to cover up the gap in the strap wherein the trigger blade has a swinging traverse,.
substantially as described and set forth.
Fifthly. In single-trigger double-barrelled small arms, providing the from-side-
to-side swinging trigger mechanism with an arm, auxiliary or projection which
normally comes within the path of the bolt and whereby the said trigger is taken
over to its normal side by the act of working the top lever, substantially as.
described and set forth.
Sixthly. In single-trigger double barrel small arms, the combination with a
swinging trigger, of sears having gapped and transversely-overlapping tails,.
substantially as and for the purpose described and set forth.
Seventhly. The general construction, arrangement and combination of the parts.
of the single trigger mechanism for double barrel small arms, substantially as.
herein described and set forth.
Dated this 24th dor of March 1806
RICHARD HILL,
JOHN VAUGHAN SMITH,
By Henry Skerrett,
24 Temple Row, Birmingham, Agent for Applicants.