Improvements in and relating to Magazine-rifles and other Fire-arms.
Year: 1888

page_text: Date of Application, 1st Nov., 1888
Specification Accepted, 30th Mar., 1889
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in and relating to Magazine-rifles and other Fire-arms.
I, JOSEPH JAMES SPEED, of 3 Woodstock Villas, Waltham Cross, in the County
of Herts, Mechanical Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and
in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascer-
tained in and by the following statement :-
My invention relates to magazine-rifles and other fire-arms and is chiefly designed
to improve the construction and increase the efficiency of the "Lee" rifle.
One feature of my said invention is the provision of suitable means for locking or
retaining the firing-pin or striker at either extremity of its longitudinal movement,
that is to say, either in its cocked position or in the position which it occupies when
the gun has been fired. I thus provide for preventing accidental firing of the gun,
and for enabling the gun to be safely handled whilst a live cartridge is in the
chamber thereof and the firing-pin or striker is cocked. Moreover, by locking the
said firing-pin at the forward end of its stroke or movement, accidental opening of
the breech will be prevented, as the breech-bolt cannot be turned while the firing-pin
or striker is restrained from endwise movement. Therefore a soldier after firing, or
when drilling with bis rifle, can, by a simple operation, secure the breech-bolt
in such a
manner as to prevent accidental movement or displacement thereof,
for example, when the butt-end of the rifle is brought down forcibly upon the
ground.
My said invention, moreover, comprises a hand-guard of improved construction,
which can be very readily attached to and detached from the barrel, and which will
afford efficient protection against injury to the hand by contact with the barrel when
heated by rapid firing.
My said invention also comprises improved means for permanently attaching a
magazine to or connecting it with the gun in such a manner as to permit its insertion
in and withdrawal from the aperture in the underside of the receiver or shoe of the
gun, and to prevent its loss when withdrawn therefrom. And my said invention
comprises other improvements hereinafter set forth.
In the accompanying drawings
Figure 1 is a plan of part of a "Lee" rifle with my present improvements applied
thereto, a portion of the breech-bolt being removed.

page_text: the rear portion of the stock being removed.
Figure 4 is a transverse section on the line ¹, r¹, Figure 2.
Figure 5 is a side elevation of the firing-pin-head or cocking-piece and part of
the firing-pin.
Figure 6 is a plan.
Figure 7 a side elevation, and
Figure 8 a front elevation of the magazine detached.
Figure 9 is a transverse section on the line 2, 2, Figure 7.
Figure 10 is a side elevation, and
Figure 11 a front elevation of the follower or platform detached.
Like letters indicate corresponding parts throughout the drawings.
His the gun-stock, B the barrel, B₁ the receiver or shoe of the gun. C is
the breech-bolt, D the firing-pin, which is provided with the head or cocking-
piece D¹.
a is a lever which is formed with or fixed upon a pin or rod extending through
the side of the receiver B₁ and having its inner extremity cut away as at so
that this end is of semi-circular form in transverse section. The bead or cocking-
piece D' of the firing-pin D is formed with corresponding semi-circular notches or
cavities c, e in its underside.
may be
When the lever a is in the position shown by full lines in Figure 2, the firing-
pin D can be moved to and fro to cock and fire the gun. By turning the said lever a
into the position indicated by dotted lines in this Figure, after the firing-pin has been
cocked and the breech closed, the semi-circular end of the pin or rod b
caused to enter, the corresponding notch or cavity c in the head or cocking-piece D'
and thus securely retain the said firing-pin in its cocked position. When it is desired
to fire the gun, the firing-pin can be very readily unlocked without liability to acci-
dental firing of the gun. Moreover, after firing the gun, the pin or rod b may, by
turning the lever a as above described, be caused to enter the notch or cavity c¹ so
as to prevent end wise movement of the firing-pin and thus secure the breech-bolt in
its closed position.
The gun shown in the drawings is provided with a rear sight comprising an arm d
formed with a peep-hole and acted upon by a spring d designed to retain the said
arm either in a horizontal or in a vertical position. For this purpose the said spring
is provided with a stud or projection adapted to enter one or the other of two notches
or depressions in the boss of the said arm. This sight is designed for use in combi-
nation with the fore sight described in the specification of former Letters Patent
granted to me and dated 1st October A.D. 1887, No. 13,335. I sometimes utilizo
the spring of this sight for retaining the lever a and pin or rod & in place, tho
said lever a being arranged between the arm d and the side of the receiver Bas
shown. By this combination of parts I am enabled to apply the locking dovice to the
rifle in a very simple and efficient manner at a low cost.
My improved hand-guard is constructed as follows, viz-two spring-clips e are
securely attached by rivets e' or otherwise to a piece of wood or other suitable non-
conductor or slow conductor of heat, which is made to fit the upper side of the barrel
at a convenient distance in front of the receiver B: The said clips are so formed
that, when the guard is placed upon the barrel and pressed downward, the said clips
will spring outward over the sides of the barrel and will then engage therewith
in such a manner as to prevent accidental displacement of the guard, whilst permitting
its ready removal from the barrel by hand when desired, for cleaning or other
purposes.
I provide as hereinafter described for permanently attaching or connecting a maga-
zine to the gun in such a manner that it can be withdrawn from the receiver to
permit the use therein of other magazines which are designed to be thrown away
after the firing of the cartridges which they contain. The magazine g is provided
with an eye on the front thereof near its lower end; and the said eye has connected

page_text: therewith a link with which is connected another link k. The link kis formed
with a coil whereby it is attached to the eye or loop for the attachment of the
shoulder-strap. The two links are so constructed as to allow the link j to move
freely up and down in the link k, so that the magazine can be very readily inserted
in and withdrawn from the receiver. When the magazine is attached to the gun in
this manner, it will (when withdrawn from the receiver) hang in the position indicated
by dotted lines in Figure 2, with its sides parallel, or nearly parallel to the axis of
the gun, that is to say, in the most convenient position to permit its re-insertion into
the receiver. It will, moreover, be suspended freely, so that it can be readily
pushed aside in the operation of inserting another magazine into the receiver.
By the employment of the link-hinge above described, I obviate the necessity of
attaching the magazine to the gun as heretofore by means of a chain which requires
to be much longer than the said link-hinge, and is therefore liable to become twisted
by the turning of the magazine when withdrawn from the receiver, thus necessitating
the untwisting of the said chain before the magazine can be re-inserted into the
receiver.
A further object of my present invention is the adaptation of the "Lee" magazine
for containing cartridges arranged in a zig-zag column or in two columns so situated
relatively to each other that the axes of the cartridges in one column are level, or
nearly level with the upper surfaces of the cartridges in the other column. In a
magazine of this kind or class, it is necessary that the body of the box or casing
should be considerably wider than that of a magazine designed to contain a single
straight row of cartridges, and that the upper end of the said box or casing should be
reduced to a width approximating the width of one cartridge, to permit the feeding
of the cartridges one by one into position in front of the breech-bolt. Therefore, in
order that the platform or follower may enter the narrow part of the box or casing of
the magazine, the said platform or follower must be considerably narrower than the
wide portion of the said box or casing. Under these circumstances, it has heretofore
been found. impracticable to provide for the efficient control of the platform or
follower.
It has, moreover, been ascertained by actual experience, in trials of guns provided
with magazines of this kind as heretofore constructed, that, in the introduction of the
first cartridge into the magazine, the rear end of the platform or follower is liable
to be depressed to such an extent as to cause the accidental removal or displacement
of the said platform or follower from the box or casing. It has also been found in
practice that it is possible, by depressing the platform or follower at the rear end, to
get a cartridge-head underneath the said platform or follower.
Now to obviate these defects, I construct the magazine as follows, viz :-I make
the body of the box or casing sufficiently wide to contain a zig-zag column of cart-
ridges and I form corrugations or depressions m at or near the front end of the said
box or casing on opposite sides thereof, which corrugations or depressions are inade
parallel to each other from the top to the bottom of the box; and I make the part
of the platform or follower n forward of the said corrugations or depressions equal in
width to the interior of the magazine-box, so that, when the said platform or follower
is depressed at its rear end, the wide part n' thereof is prevented from passing the
corrugations or depressions m in the walls of the magazine. Moreover I make the
platform or follower longer than the inside length of the magazine-box, so that
the said platform or follower will be at a slight angle to the top of the box or casing
when the magazine is empty. By the construction of the magazine as above described,
1 provide for so controlling the platform or follower as to prevent its being placed
at a sufficient angle or inclination to permit its accidental removal from the box or
casing, and for preventing depression of the forward end of the platform or follower,
without simultaneously depressing the rear end thereof.
To prevent the cartridges from getting beneath the said platform or follower, when
the rear end of the latter is depressed, I turn or bend the rear end of the platform
or follower upward so as to forin a flange n², which projects a suitable height above
the upper surface of the platform to engage with the head of a cartridge

page_text: placed thereon. Or I provide the follower with any other suitable projection for
this purpose.
The formation, in the walls of a magazine, of corrugations or depressions for
controlling the platform or follower, is a well-known device in the "Lee" magazine
when designed to contain a single straight column of cartridges.
In the Lee" magazine as hitherto contructed, however, two sets of corrugations
or depressions are formed in the walls thereot, one at or near either end thereof,
and corresponding projections are provided on the platform or follower. By my
improvements, obviate the necessity of employing corrugations at or near the rear
end of the box or casing; this is of great importance in the case of a magazine
designed to contain a zig-zag column of cartridges, more especially when such cart-
ridges are made without rims or heads or with but slight rims, as it enables the
magazine to be made very compact, corrugations at or near the rear end of the maga-
zine obviously necessitating the making of the magazine either wider or deeper than
would otherwise be required to adapt it to hold the desired number of cartridges.
Moreover if the platform or follower were made of sufficient width to enable it to
engage with corrugations at or near the rear end of the magazine-box, in the wider
part thereof, the said platform or follower could not rise sufficiently high to enter
the narrow part of the magazine and properly elevate the last or bottom cartridge.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I wish it understood that I
claim
First The combination, with the receiver, the breech-bolt and the firing-pin, of a
locking device for retaining the said firing-pin in its cocked or in its fired position, as,
and for the purposes, above specified.
Second-The combination of parts comprising the locking lever and pin, the
arm & having the peep-hole, and the spring d', substantially as, and for the purposes,
set forth.
Third The improved detachable hand-guard comprising the curved spring-clips
rivetted or otherwise secured to a suitably shaped piece of wood or similar material,
substantially as, and for the purpose, set forth.
Fourth-The combination, with a magazine, of the link-hinge for attaching the
same to, and suspending it from the receiver or shoe of a gun, substantially as, and
for the purposes, set forth.
Fifth The improved magazine constructed to contain a zig-zag column of cart
ridges, and having at or near its forward end corrugations or depressions opposite
and parallel to each other, and in which the platform or follower is formed with
projections or enlargements to engage with the said corrugations or depressions
substantially as, and for the purposes, set forth.
Sixth A platform or follower for a cartridge-magazine, provided at its rea
end with an upwardly extending flange or projection, for the purpose above
specified.
Dated this 1st day of November 1888
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London,
Agents for the Applicant.