Year: 1886

page_text: Date of Application, 6th Dec., 1886
Complete Left, 5th Sept., 1887.
Complete Accepted, 7th Oct., 1887.
I, RICHARD MORRIS of Bennett Park Blackheath in the County of Kent, Engineer
do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
a
My invention relates to a fire arm which may be of moderate dimensions such as
a rifle or fowling piece or of larger dimensions such as a machine gun having
magazine containing a number of cartridges combined with apparatus such that by
the simple movement to and fro of a pusher, a cartridge is introduced into the
barrel, the striker is cocked, the case of the spent cartridge is extracted and
ejected, and a fresh cartridge is fed from the magazine. For this purpose I fix a
magazine at the side of the stock immediately behind the breech, this magazine
being of such depth as to contain the required number of cartridges piled one
above the other parallel to the barallel. The magazine may extend upwards above
the stock so that the cartridges descend in it by gravity, or it may extend down-
wards, in which case the cartridges are pressed up by a spring. Or according to
a modified arrangement the cartridges may be placed in line in a tube in the stock
or at the side of the barrel, being in that case pressed towards the feeding mouth
of the magazine by a spring. The feeding mouth of the magazine which opens
towards a hollow immediately behind the breech, is fitted with a species of valve
capable of partial rotation on a longitudinal axis parallel to the barrel. In one
attitude of the valve, it closes the mouth of the magazine supporting or holding back
the cartridge which is next to be fired; in moving to its other attitude, it conveys
the cartridge in a direction transverse to the barrel and deposits it in the hollow
immediately behind the breech. The pusher being now advanced along this hollow, it
first acts on an incline on the axis of the valve causing the valve to move to its closing
position, and then it pushes into the barrel the cartridge last deposited in the hollow.
The pusher being locked in its advanced position, the pull of the trigger releases a
spring striker in the pusher, and the cartridge is fixed. On now drawing back the
pusher, an extractor at the front end of the pusher withdraws the case of the spent
cartridge which is ejected, and then the pusher acting again on the incline on the
axis of the valve causes it to make a partial revolution whereby another cartridge is
deposited in the hollow behind the breech, and then the action can be repeated as

page_text: above described until the contents of the magazine are exhausted. The pusher is as
usual made with a spring striker which is cocked by the movement of the pusher
and is released by the pull of the trigger. The arm can be used without the magazine,
charging it by hand with separate cartridges in the usual way, and a magazine with
its valve may be applied to existing arms which have pushers or to which pushers can
be applied. It is convenient, inore particularly in the case of small arms, that the
magazine should be capable of being easily put in position for use and of being easily
removed. I therefore make it in the form of a rectangular case which has the
length and breadth of a cartridge and sufficient depth to hold a number of them, such
as 8 or 10, piled above one other. The top and bottom of this case are open so that
cartridges can be put in or taken out, but spring catches are provided to hold them
in, so that a soldier or sportsman may have in his pocket or wallet several such cases
charged with cartridges. When he desires to use the arm, he places one of these
charged cases in position over the valve which is mounted in the stock, and engaging
one end of the case in a notch, he presses the other end of the case down over a spring
latch which secures it. The act of pressing it down has the effect of withdrawing the
spring catches at the feeding mouth of the magazine leaving the cartridges free to be
successively delivered by the action of the valve as described above. When the
magazine is empty, the operator has merely to withdraw the spring latch and remove
the empty case, and to put in its place a fresh case charged with cartridges.
Dated this 6th day of December 1886.
ABEL & IMRAY,
Agents for the Applicant.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Magazine Fire Arms.
I, RICHARD MORRIS of Bennet Park, Blackheath in the County of Kent, Engineer
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:
My invention relates to magazine firearms, which may be of considerable size for
use as machine guns, or may be of moderate size, such as military rifles or fowling
pieces, the construction in all cases being of a simple character easily operated, not
liable to derangement, and such as does not interfere with the use of the weapon in
the ordinary way without a magazine when that is desired. I will describe this
construction referring to the accompanying drawings which shew ny invention applied
to a military rifle.

page_text: Fig. is a side view of part of the barrel and stock with the magazine placed in
position.
Fig. 2 is a plan of the same parts.
Fig. 3 is a transverse section through the magazine.
Fig. 4 is a transverse section behind the magazine.
The weapon is of the kind which is provided with a pusher or sliding bolt A which
when worked by hand operates in the known manner that is to say the pusher A being
drawn back by the handle B a cartridge C is laid in the hollow immediately behind
the breech of the barrel D. The pusher A being now moved forwards forces the
cartridge into the barrel and the pusher being locked in that position, the trigger can
be pulled liberating a spring striker within the pusher whereby the charge is fired.
The pusher being then drawn back spring extractors at its front end withdraw the
shell of the fired cartridge which is ejected by the backward movement of the pusher.
So far the mechanism is of a well known kind forming in itself no part of my
invention which consists in combining with a weapon of this kind the appliances
which I will now describe. At the side of the hollow occupied by the cartridge CI
fit a valve E fixed on a spindle F which extends backwards parallel to the pusher A.
A stud a projecting from the side of the pusher moves along a slot formed in the
spindle F this slot being through the greater part of its length parallel to the axis of
the spindle but having at its rear end an oblique part f. As the pusher A has to be
turned partly round for locking it when it is in its most advanced position I make
the stud a which projects from it not as a stud fixed on it but as a pin engaged in a
circumferential slot as shewn in Fig. 4 this pin being thus made to travel to and fro
along with the pusher while it admits of the partial rotation of the pusher for locking
it. Immediately above the valve E 1 fix the magazine G which is a rectangular box
capable of containing a number of cartridges piled above one another, all lying in a
direction parallel to the barrel. In order to economise weight and expose the
cartridges to view, the magazine may be made as shewn as an open frame having two
upright ends g g and on each side of it two horizontal ties 93 gr.
The magazine
may be permanently fixed in position on the weapon or hinged to it so that when
desired it may be folded down at the side of the stock. I prefer however to make the
magazine removable, and for that purpose I provide at the front and back ends of its
base projections ¹² and I fix on the stock a spring latch H. In placing the
magazine in position, the front projection is inserted under a fixed catch and
then the rear projection h³ is pushed down so as to engage under the spring latch H
being thus held firmly. When it is desired to remove the magazine, the spring
latch H is drawn back releasing the rear projection h² of the magazine which can
then be disengaged by withdrawing its front projection from under the catch h³.
As it is convenient for rapid service to lose little time in charging magazines I propose
that the operator should carry in his pocket or wallet or on a belt several spare
magazines G ready charged with cartridges, so that on the contents of one being
exhausted, it may be rapidly removed and a fresh charged magazine may be put in its
place. In order to prevent the cartridges from dropping out of magazines employed
in this way I provide at both the upper and the lower mouths of the magazine spring
latches and ². The latches at the upper mouth are sloped in such a manner
that cartridges can be put into the magazine pushing back and passing the latches
which prevent the cartridges from dropping out should the magazine be inverted.
The latches at the bottom also prevent the cartridges from dropping out but these
latches are made with ends so sloped that the act of fixing the magazine in position
causes them to be withdrawn leaving the cartridges free to descend on to the
valve E.
A charged magazine G being put in position the pusher A is drawn back and
its stud a acting on the oblique part of the slot of the axis F causes the axis F
and valve E to turn partly round to such a position that the lowest of the cartridges
in the magazine is delivered into the hollow behind the breech D while the convexly
rounded upper face of the valve prevents the cartridges above from descending as
shewn in Fig. 3. The pusher being now advanced its stud a during the first part

page_text: of the forward movement of A acting on the oblique part f turns the axis F and the
valve E back to their previous position indicated by the dotted lines in Fig. 3 opening
the mouth of the magazine, and allowing the lowest of the cartridges to drop into the
hollow of the valve E. The pusher A being advanced to its full extent pushing
the cartridge C into the barrel this cartridge can be fired. Then on retracting the
pusher A the spring extractor claw or claws at its front end withdraw from the barrel
the case of the discharged cartridge. Before the pusher A is pulled quite back, and
before its stud a begins to act in the oblique part of the slot in F, the shell of the
spent cartridge as it is drawn back by the extractor meets a prominence in its path
and is forcibly ejected leaving the space in front of the pusher free to receive a fresh
cartridge from the magazine, and then as the pusher A completes its backward stroke,
its stud a acting in the oblique slot causes the valve E to turn partly round,
delivering a fresh cartridge into the hollow in front of the pusher. Thus by the
forward and backward movements of the pusher acting as described on the valve E
the cartridges are successively delivered from the magazine. When the magazine is
thus emptied it can be filled again with cartridges introduced at its upper mouth, or
the empty magazine can be removed and a charged magazine can be put in its
place.
In some cases particularly when the invention is applied to machine guns it is
inconvenient to work the valve E by means of the spindle F extending backwards
from it. I therefore in such case modify the apparatus as shewn in Fig. 5 which is a
part transverse section and Fig. 6 a part plan. The valve E is pressed by a spring S
at its back into the position shown in Fig. 5 where it closes the mouth of the
magazine G by holding up the lowest cartridge C. On the front of the valve E at its
lower part there is fixed an incline and a stud al projecting from the pusher A acts
on this incline during the last part of the forward stroke of the pusher throwing the
valve E back sufficiently to allow the lowest cartridge to drop into the hollow of the
valve and to lie there between the valve and the pusher. When the pusher A is
drawn back extracting the case of the spent cartridge the stud a¹ leaves the incline fl
and thus the valve E is left free to be pressed forward by the spring S as soon as the
case that is being extracted is ejected whereupon the fresh cartridge that was lying in
the hollow of E is transferred into the hollow behind the breech ready to be pushed
into the barrel by the next forward movement of the pusher A, the valve E taking
again the position shewn in Fig. 5.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this invention and
in what manner the same is to be performed 1 declare that what I claim is :-
1. In a magazine firearm in combination with the magazine G a valve E caused
partly to revolve by the action of a stud a or a projecting from the pusher A on an
incline for fso as to open the mouth of the magazine for the descent of a cartridge
therefrom substantially as described.
2. The construction of the removable magazine G with its latches k¹ and 1² to
prevent cartridges from dropping out.
3. The mode of fixing the removable magazine G by the catch h¹ and latch H in
such a manner that the act of fixing it withdraws the lower latches ²:
Dated this 5th day of September 1887.
ABEL & IMRAY,
Agents for the Applicant.