AN IM- PROVEMENT IN REPEATING PISTOLS AND RIFLES
Year: 1852

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Moore, of Birmingham, in the
County of Warwick, Gun Maker, and William Harris, of Bir-
mingham, aforesaid,. Gun Maker, for the Invention of "AN IM-
PROVEMENT IN REPEATING PISTOLS AND RIFLES."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Moore
and William Harris at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents,
with their Petition, on the 1st October 1852.
WC, WILLIAM MOORE & WILLIAM HARRIS, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVEMENT IN REPEATING
PISTOLS AND RIFLES" to be as follows:-
Our Invention consists in the introduction of a hinge or other joint
in the frame of repeating pistols or rifles, in which the revolving barrel
works;
that is to say, the single barrel, along which the projectile is
urged by the explosion of the powder in one of the barrels of the re-
volving chamber, instead of being fixed to the frame in which the said
chamber revolves, is connected therewith by a joint, so that the said
single barrel may be turned upon the said joint from its place in front
of the said revolving chamber.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Moore and William Harris in the Great
Seal Patent Office, on the 31st March 1853.
-
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we,
WILLIAM MOORE, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Gun
Maker, and WILLIAM HARRIS, of Birmingham, aforesaid, Gun Maker,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the First day of October, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-two, in the sixteenth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
us, the said William Moore and William Harris, Her special licence,
that we, the said William Moore and William Harris, our executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as we, the said William
Moore and William Harris, 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 "AN IMPROVEMENT IN REPEATING PISTOLS AND
RIPLES," upon
the condition (amongst others) that we, the said William
Moore and William Harris, or one of us, by an instrument in writing
under our hands and seals, or under the hand and seal of one of us,
should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Inven-
tion, 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
months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that we, the said William Moore and William
Harris, 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):

page_text: Our Invention consists in constructing the frame in which the
chambers of repeating pistols and rifles work with a joint, so that the:
barrel, along which the projectile is urged after leaving the revolving
chamber, may be readily removed from the front of the said revolving
chamber, so as to give facility in loading the said chamber; and by
which said method of construction we also obtain the advantage of
being able to connect the said barrel with the said revolving chamber
during the discharge of the pistol or rifle, as herein-after particularly
explained.
Figure 1, of the accompanying Drawing represents in vertical section
a pistol made according to our Invention; and Figures 2, 3, and 4,
represent portions of the same. a, Figures 1, and 2, is the barrel,
which is connected with the body of the pistol by the joint 6, in the
frame c. In Figure 1, the said frame, is represented closed; in
Figure 2, the said frame is represented partly open by the disengage-
ment of the fastening at d, and the raising of the barrel a, upon the
joint b. The said joint b, may be made in any convenient manner; but
we find an ordinary hinge joint, from the middle of which a portion
has been cut away to admit of the action of the hammer, as seen in
Figure 1, answer very well. On bringing the barrel a, into its place,
the ends c', c", of the frame become connected together by the fasten-
ing represented, and which is made as follows:-e, is a spring, which
bears against the side of the frame c; the said spring e, carries a
stud f, having an inclined face, as shewn in dotted lines in the front
view (see Figure 2). When the vertical side of the frame is brought
down into its place, the end thereof presses back the said pin f, out of
the frame, until the hole g, is opposed to the said pin f, when the said
pin is forced into the said hole by the said spring e, and the fastening
effected. By pressing on the button h, the pin f, is disengaged from the
hole 9, while the barrel a, and vertical side of the frame are raised.
i, is a conical annular projection on the end of the barrel a, which is
made accurately to fit the funnel shaped mouths of the detonating
barrels k, l, of the chamber 1, and against which projection the said
mouths of the detonating barrels are forced at the moment of discharge
in the following manner-m, is a hollow fixed axis, on which the

page_text: chamber, rotates; the said chamber 1, .is keyed to the axis n, by a
sliding key; the said axis n, passes through the fixed, hollow axis mi,
into the interior of the lock, and carries on its end the disc o, on the
face of which a series of ratchet teeth are made; by pressing the
trigger p; the arm or lever q, which is pressed against the face of the
said ratchet by the spring 7, engages with one of the teeth of the said
ratchet, and moves the said chamber through one sixth part of a revò-
lution, by which a detonating barrel k, is brought opposite the barrel a.
The continued motion of the trigger brings the shoulder s, of the link t,
against the end of the slide u, and forces the said slide against the pos-
terior face of the chamber 1, so as to cause it to slide on the hollow
axis m, and axis n, and bring the funnel shaped mouth of the barrel ki,
to bear against the conical mouth i, of the barrel a, and thus, during
the explosion, to constitute the two barrels one continuous barrel.,
When the trigger has been moved to its full extent by the pressure of
the finger, the shoulder s, of the link t, escapes from the shoulder v, of
the trigger, and the hammer falls; but the slide 2, is kept in its. place 1
by the pressure of the said shoulder v, of the trigger, which comes in
contact with it at the moment when the shoulder s, of the link t,
escapes from it.
.
:
When the hammer is again raised, the slide u, is forced back by the
spring w, and the chamber 1, is forced back, so as to disconnect itself
from the barrel i, by the coiled spring a, forcing the plug y, against the
anterior face of the chamber 7. The posterior face of the chamber 1, is
formed into a series of inclined planes (see Figure 4), so that when the
slide at,
is pressed forwards, the said face, bearing against the end of the
said slide, causes the said chamber to advance as it rotates, and gradually
to bring the funnel shaped mouth of the detonating barrel close against,
and at the proper moment force it into contact with, the projecting end
of the barrel a.
By pulling the trigger to any extent. short of what is necessary to
discharge the pistol, and afterwards removing the finger from the said
trigger, the cock or hammer is raised from the nipple, and 'locked in
that position until it is liberated by the further action of the finger on
the trigger. The said. locking of the hammer 1, is thus effected:-By

page_text: partially raising the said hammer 1; the slide u, urged by the spring w;
escapes from the shoulder 2; against which it previously pressed, and
being shot by the spring w, under the said shoulder, the hammer can
no longer fall to its full extent; the under part of the shoulder 2,
bearing upon the top of the slide u. When, however, the trigger p
is pulled so far that the hammer becomes detached from it, in the
manner already described, the slide is at that time pressed against the
chamber 1, by the shoulder v, of the trigger, so that when the hammer.
falls, the slide u, on the finger being removed from the trigger, bears.
against the vertical face of the shoulder 2, of the hammer; and it is
only after the hammer has been partially raised, that the slide 'u,
assumes the position represented, by escaping underneath the said
shoulder 2.
The advantages of our method of construction further consist of the
-completeness of the frame when closed, and the facility with which
it can be opened to load the chambers or remove them; and also
the facilities of manufacture which it affords; for, by the said ar- .
rangement, the moving parts in the body of the pistol can be. more
readily put together than when all the sides of the frame are made in
one. piece with the barrel; and when the said frame and barrel are in
one piece, a defect in the barrel or frame may render the whole pistol
useless; whereas, by our arrangement, a defective barrel may be
replaced by a new one.
Another advantage of our method of constructing the frame is, that.
its front side has no connection with the axle or centre pin on which
the chambers revolve; the cylinder containing the said axle being "
screwed into the back portion of the frame (or body of the pistol); and
a frame so constructed can be better made to admit of the chambers
advancing to interlock the concave mouth of each chamber with the
fore barrel at the time of explosion.
The only precaution necessary, in opening the frame, for safely
loading, is that of first placing the pistol at half cock, which is done by
a partial pull of the trigger, or by placing the thumb upon the cock, in
the usual manner of cocking.
Another advantage is, that the front vertical portion of the frame and

page_text: the barrel may be made of twisted iron proper for barrels, while the
body may be case-hardened, whereby it resists rust much better, and is,
from its hardness, better for the action of the moving parts.
The barrel may, as heretofore, be either screwed into or on the
front portion of the frame, or the front side of the frame may be made
of the same piece of iron or steel as the barrel.
Having now described the nature of our said Invention, and the
manner of carrying the same into effect, we wish it to be understood
that we do not limit ourselves to the precise method of carrying our
Invention into effect herein described, as the same may be varied
without departing from the nature of our said Invention.
But we claim the construction of a hinge joint frame for containing
the chamber of repeating pistols and rifles, whether the said hinge
joint be situated in that part of the said frame herein described or
in any other part of the said frame, whereby the several advantages
herein described as arising from the said hinge joint frame may be
realized.
In witness whereof, we, the said William Moore and William
Harris, have hereunto set our hands and seals, this Twenty-
ninth day of March, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and fifty-three.
WILLIAM MOORE. (L.S.)
WILLIAM HARRIS. (L.S.)
Witness, GEORGE SHAW.