IMPROVEMENTS IN BREECH-LOADING FIRE-ARMS
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Louis Emile Dufour, Merchant, of Paris, Empire
of France, and of 16, Castle Street, Holborn, City, London, for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN BREECH-LOADING FIRE-ARMS."
Sealed the 31st October 1854, and dated the 23rd May 1854.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Louis Emile Dufour a
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
23rd May 1854.
I, LOUIS EMILE DUFOUR, Merchant, of Paris, in the Empire of France, and
of 16, Castle Street, Holborn (City), London, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN BREECH-LOADING FIRE-ARMS" to be as
follows; and consists of modifications in the shutting, locking, or closing to
of the so-called Lefancheux's gun; vz., the substitution of an inclined plane on
the holding tongue of the barrel for the oblique traversing pin, used to cause
the barrels to oscillate or swivel vertically; and the substitution of a moveable
trigger guard instead of the key lever under the barrel in front of the stock;
also, in changing the locking apparatus, known by the name of Beringer.
Instead of a certain moveable piece, by which the barrels are made to swivel,
I use an inclined plane in the thickness of the trigger guard, which thus acts
like a key or lever; also, in a cartridge or cartridge bottom, with oblique nipple
or vent; also, in a cock with two hammers, made of one piece & fixed on the
same head; the first flat, for striking the priming needle, the other hollow, to
receive the nippier, when used, and crushing the cap; also, in throwing back-
wards the systems or mountings of the stock to receive the oblique nipple and

page_text: the double hammer cock; also, in a slide, to stop the hole for the oblique
nipple when the cartridge is not used; also, in a ramrod added to the gun
"Lefaucheux's," so that the gun may be used by loading with a ramrod or by
loading at the breech.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Louis Emile Dufour in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
17th November 1854.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, LOUIS
EMILE DUFOUR, Merchant, of Paris, Empire of France, and of 16, Castle
Street, Holborn (City), London, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most. Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-third day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the seventeenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs; and successors, give and grant unto. me,
the said Louis Emile Dufour, Her special licence that I, the said Louis
Emile Dufour, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said Louis Emile Dufour, my 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 "I-
PROVEMENTS IN BREECH-LOADING FIRE-ARMS," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Louis Emile Dufour, by an instrument in writing
under my hand and seal, 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 Seal Patent Office within six
calendar montlis, next and immediately after the date of the said Letters
Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Louis Emile Dufour, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement :-
These improvements apply to that class of breech-loading fire-arms in which
the barrel is disconnected from the breech, and is pivotted (at some point
intermediate between its butt and its muzzle) to the stock. These improvements
consist,―

page_text: First, of two modifications effected in the shutting, locking, or closing to
of the so-called Lefaucheux's guns; the first being the substitution of an
inclined plane on the holding tongue of the barrel for the oblique traversing
pin, used for allowing the barrels to oscillate or swivel vertically; this new
holding tongue and its adjuncts, replacing the traversing pin,occupy the same
place; and the inclined plane, having the same obliquity as the traversing pin,
acts in the same manner, but is of a firmer construction. In this first improve-
ment I also substitute a moveable trigger guard for the key lever under the
barrel in front of the stock. This trigger guard has a branch at the fore
part, on which the square of the T or bolt is fixed by a screw, and the back
end has a spring with a small projection entering into a recess, so as to hold
the trigger guard in its place; and the trigger guard being thus placed hehind
(instead of in the front, as the unlocking lever is generally placed), it carries
the inclined plane of the T forward, and the prolongation for the purpose
receiving and transmitting the motion to the barrels by means of the trigger
guard acting as a key. This arrangement is intended to allow the opening
and shutting of the gun by means of the right hand, the left hand only being
used for holding the gun.
of
Second, myimprovements consist in changing the locking apparatus, known
by the name of its inventor, Beringer. In this apparatus I use, instead of a
certain moveable piece, by means of which his barrels are made to swivel, an
incline plane, which I apply in the thickness of the trigger guard, the latter
being made to act like a key or lever. The inclined plane, acting as an
impediment to the tongue on the barrel when the hook at the end of the
trigger guard is turned, forces the barrels to swivel, and the said barrels being
brough home, the inclined plane is struck again by the tongue on the barrel;
thus bringing the trigger guard home also.
Third, in a cartridge or cartridge bottom or blank, with an oblique nipple
or vent; the said cartridge bottom, being inserted into the barrels of a breech-
loading gun, allows the gun to be used like a common nipple gun. The
oblique nipple is placed near or upon the edge of the cartridge bottom, and
rather more towards the back than to the frout, so that when the cartridge
bottom is inserted in a barrel, the nipple enters a little into the thickness of
the metal, and fills up the groove cut into it for receiving the needle of the
ordinary breech loading gun; the remainder of the nipple is almost entirely
contained in the stock part of the breech. This arrangement allows to give
this nipple the necessary dimensions for resisting effectually the shocks of the
hammer and the explosive force of powder, and to fire the charge in the barrel
directly from the mouth of the nipple.

page_text: Fourth,iu a cock with two hammers at the head; one of the hammers being
flat, for striking the priming needle, the other being hollow, for the purpose of
crushing the cap on the nipple when used,and preventing its fragments from
flying off. The nipple, being thus placed in an oblique position, has amongst
others the following advantages:-The hammer, in its circular throw, strikes
the nipple perpendicularly; the firing of the powder in the chamber is effected
in a more direct line; and although the nipple hole communicates at its lower
end with the centre of the charge, yet the upper end of this hole is thrown far
enough back,deviating from the perpendicular line of the priming needle, so
as to allow the use of a cock with a long head and a double hammer.
Fifth, in fixing further backwarks the system or lock mountings of the
stock, for the purpose of lodging more easily the oblique nipple in a groove,
cut in the metal of the front part of the system, which forms the bottom of the
breech; and in order that this system may conveniently receive the head of the
two-hammer cock, which is longer than the common ones, the breech or hinge
piece is lengthened out towards the stock.
Sixth, in certain slides or slide pieces for stopping or filling up the hole for
the oblique nipple of the cartridge when the latter is not used. These slides
have the same shape as the grooves made on the stock part of the breech for
lodging the nipple and the end of the cartridge, into which the nipple is fixed;
each slide (as will be seen hereafter) is oblique at the top and cut perpen-
dicularly at the bottom where it enters the stock part of the breech, but is
straight in the intermediate parts; there is also a slight projection on each
side of each slide, so as to keep it in the proper position in the bottom of the
breech. Each of these slides is kept in place in the bottom of the breech by
a horizontal pin, which is acted upon by a spring. This pin and spring are
made of two distinct and separate pieces. By means of the nipple cartridge,
guns may be used in two different ways, viz., they may either be loaded in the
usual way with the ramrod, or at the breech, as may be desired.
Seventh, in order to complete the preceding improvements, I have devised
a safety apparatus, which consists in a bell crank lever, one branch of which
rests perpendicularly upon the arm of the tumbler, which prevents thehammers
being acted-upon or going-off when they are either at rest (ie. at half cock)
or cocked; each tumbler is set free again by pressing upon a button or
moveable key or finger pull, placed at the handle part of the fire-arm, or the
part which is embraced by the three last fingers, when the gun is discharged.
In order that these improvements may be fully and clearly understood, I
have on the annexed Sheet of Drawings represented the way in which the same
are or may be carried into effect,

page_text: Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4, & 5 relate to the second part of my improvements as stated
above. These Figures represent the hook and tongue of the so-called Beringer's
locking apparatus with my improvements adapted to the same. a is the hook
for fastening the tongues of the barrel; a¹, a",
1, are two inclined planes, forming
a groove on the hook. The trigger guard being secured to the hook a, these
inclined planes allows the barrel to swivel when the trigger guard is turned,
and bring the trigger guard home again when the barrels of the fire-arm are
turned home or locked. 6 are the tenons or tongues on the barrel, as seen in
front and sideways; they are slightly rounded off at the angle 6, so as to slide
on the inclined plane a". The prolongation of the tongue (mentioned in the
first part of my improvements), which I have devised in lieu of the oblique
traversing pin as used in gun-locking apparatus (generally known abroad by
the name of Lefaucheux's), is represented at Fig. 6, which is an elevation of
the barrels and tongues from the right side of a pair of barrels; Fig. 7 is a
sile elevation from the opposite side; Fig. 8 is an under side view of the
barrels with the improved tongue c on the breech; c' is an inclined plane,
which forms the extension of the tongue. Figs. 9 & 10 are respectively a
detached elevation and a plan of the bolt, being an inclined plane at the
upper part of this bolt.
Fig. 11 is a longitudinal section through the middle of a gun, illustrating
amongst others the improvements stated under the first head, and last
described. It will be seen that the moveable trigger guard e, which is shewn
separately in plau, Fig. 12, and in elevation, Fig. 13, acts in lieu of the ordi-
nary key, being secured to the bolt d by means of a square or hexagon and
a screw el, as shown in the Drawing.
Figs. 14 and 15 relate to the third part of my improvements, and represent
vertical sections of two cartridge bottoms with their nipples; these nipples
are shewn separately in four projections at Fig. 16. This nipple receives
the cap at its upper part, and at the lower part is screwed in the cartridge
bottom, which may be made of one or several metals.
Figs. 17 and 18 relate to the fourth part of my improvements, and are a
side and a front view of a cock with two hammers, so arranged as to suit the
guns made upon my improved plan. The cock has a long head, so as to have
the two bammers sufficiently distinct and separate from each other, by means
of a slight projection or burr g, which prevents the point of the priming
needle when struck by the flat hammer from sliding into the hollow hammer.
In Fig. 11, the cock is represented as being used in conjunction with a
nipple; at Fig. 19, it is shewn as being used with a priming needle, the same
as at Fig. 20, in which it is supposed to be at rest, or at half cock. This cock

page_text: has a strong neck for supporting the shock, which it receives in case it goes off
without the arm being primed or loaded.
Figs. 21 to 26 are six projections of the principal portion of the breech or
hinge piece, or system. Fig. 21 is a longitudinal elevation; Fig. 22 is a top
view, and Fig. 23 a bottom view; Fig. 24 is a front end view; Fig. 25 is a
back end view, and Fig. 26 a cross section. These Drawings are intended to
fully illustrate the manner in which I carry the fifth part of my improvements
into effect.
Respecting the sixth part of my improvements, it will easily be understood
that since the nipple takes up a certain space in the breech or hinge piece,
this space has to be filled up when it is desired to load the arm by means of
the ramrod. For this purpose, I use the slide h, shewn in plan and elevation.
at Fig. 24; this slide being inserted perpendicularly at the breech of the gun,
and fastened in its place by the pin i, which is constantly acted upon by the
spring, and penetrates into a hole drilled across the slide. Fig. 25 shews.
detached views of h and i; the spring, not being linked or attached to the
pin, allows it to act more freely than those at present in use which are attached
to each other.
Fig. 27 shews the application of my improvements to a gun on the old
plan, the gun shewn being mounted with the double-headed hammer, of which
Fig. 28 is a detached side view, and Fig. 2) a detached front view. This
gun being intended to be used in two ways, I fill the empty space left in the
breech or hinge piece, when the nipple of the cartridge (Fig. 30) is taken out,
with the slide Fig. 30, which is kept up by the pin and spring Fig. 31.
Fig. 32 shews the whole of a gun lock and its appertaining parts, with the.
addition of the bell crank lever k, which is hinged so as to be able to perform
an oscillating motion under the back end of the systein or hinge piece opposite
the tumbler arms l. The branch of the bell crank lever rests against the
tumbler, being kept up against it by the spring m. The branch ² is carried
further on towards the butt to the point where the sportsman usually places
his thumb when he is levelling his gun; at this point the back end of the
breech piece or hinge-piece is perforated, so as to admit the stem of the button.
n to pass; this stem is screwed into the lever branch, being used for releas
ing the tumbler from the branch k¹, for allowing the discharge of the gun by
a slight pressure on the trigger. The said button n may also be worked bya
small straight or bent treadle applied externally to it, or it may be covered
with a spring (shewn in dotted lines), and the tumbler may thus be set free,
when required, by exerting a slight pressure on the button.
However, as this safety apparatus would be an impediment in cocking the

page_text: gun, I have devised several means which may be used for obtaining this
motion, as exemplified at Figs. 33 and 34. In the first of these plans, the
tumbler arm is cut off near the place where the branch rests against it,
the remaining portion of the tumbler arm, and I fix on the lower side of the
tumbler an elastic piece of steel, having the shape of a square, which projects
beyond the end of the tumbler arm; hence, if the hammers be cocked. the
body of the tumbler will turn about the hinge, siuce the end of the elastic
piece of steel gives way; but the tumbler cannot be moved by the trigger
unless the safety apparatus has been acted upon, thus preventing accidents
resulting from the involuntary discharge of the gun.
eand e' is a straight spring,held on the lock plate at one end by a heel part,
and at the middle part by a screw. This straight spring allows to leave some
wood between the main and small spring, so that the two locks bear on the
wood without being affected in the least by the central screw, by which the
two locks are secured to the gun.
Fig. 34 shews the second plan which I have devised for the purpose of
allowing the gun to be cocked independently of the safety apparatus. The
tumbler is here hinged on any suitable point, the hinge being rounded off on
one side below, and straight or square at the upper angle, so as to allow the
tumbler to fold in one direction only; it will thus be seen that the gun may
be cocked, notwithstanding the branch & bearing on the tumbler arm, but the
pressure exerted on the trigger can only take effect when the branch is
turned off the tumbler arm 7 by means of the button n. It may also be
observed, that this button being secured to the branch 2 by means of a screw,
the hammer may be constantly precluded from coming down, by merely un-
screwing the button and taking it off the gun. In case it is preferred that
the releasing pressure of the hammers be applied from the under side of the
gun, I use instead of the button na kind of treadle or lever p, which is
placed under the trigger guard. The stem p¹ in that case passes through the
wood, so as to act upon a double-armed lever g, which is hinged on the top
plate, and the opposite arin of which presses on the branch 2 of the lever k.
In this arrangement, the piece p acts in the same way as the button n. When
it is desired to withdraw the lever p, so that the hammers may not go off, the
spring 7, which unites the lever p to the trigger guard, near the hinges, must
be taken off, and if it is thought necessary, the pin t may also be taken out,
or made of one piece with the lever p.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the manner in
which the same is or may be carried into effect, I wish it to be understood
that I claim, as being secured to me by the herein-before recited Letters

page_text: 2
Patent, the different improvements, substantially as described above, and
applied to breech loading fire-arms.
In witness whereof, I, the said Louis Emile Dufour, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Fourteenth day of November, in the year of our
Lord 1854.
L. E. DUFOUR. (L.S.)