IMPROVEMENTS IN FIRE- ARMS AND CARTRIDGES
Year: 1867

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Westley Richards at the Office of
the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 12th December
1867.
I, WESTLEY RICHARDS, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN FIRE-
ARMS AND CARTRIDGES," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in fire-arms and cartridges..
In breech-loading fire-arms in which the breech is opened and closed by a
lever moving on a transverse horizontal axis, and in which also a lock with an
external hammer is employed, as is described in the Specification of a Patent
granted to me, and dated the 6th day of March 1866 (No. 688), and also in
the Specifications of other Patents granted to me, I connect the breech
lever with the hammer in such manner that the movement of the breech lever
to open the breech raises the hammer to full-cock. The breech lever is.
connected with one end of a bent lever jointed near the breech end of
the barrel, the other end of the bent lever which is consequently depressed
when the breech lever is raised then bears on a lever centred on the lock
plate at a point intermediate of its length so as to cause this latter lever
to rock on its centre, and in so doing it acts against a suitable projection
on the hammer which is thus raised. The bent lever may in some cases
also conveniently serve to bring back the striker when the breech lever is
raised.

page_text: Also according to my Invention in breech-loading fire-arms in which the
breech is opened and closed by a breech lever moving on a transverse
horizontal axis carrying the breech block I arrange the lock within the breech
block, and I so contrive it that the opening the breech puts the lock to full-
cock. I prefer that the arrangement should be such as is described in the
Specification of the Patent herein-before mentioned where the lever is jointed
in itself and one part of it moving first in opening the breech withdraws a
wedge or filling piece from behind the breech block. This part of the lever
in so moving presses on the tail of the tumbler which is centred within the
breech block and has the striker jointed to it; tho tumbler is thus partly
rotated against the resistance of the mainspring, and a sear catching into bents
in the tumbler retains the tumbler in this position. The mainspring and sear
are also within the breech block. The trigger is not carried by the block,
but is so placed that if pressed back when the breech is closed it comes against
the tail of the scar and disengages it from the bent of the tumbler, so as to let
the striker fly forward and explode the cartridge. In central-fire breech-
loading cartridges as at present usually constructed there is some liability to
.iss-fire in consequence of the anvil within the cap becoming displaced, now
to prevent this I surround the anvil with a short piece of thin metal tubo
fitting it tightly, but entering freely into the interior of the cap. In
central-fire cartridges in which a flexible or paper case is used it is usual
to enclose the flanges of the "hat cap" between two felt wads which are
sewn together, and the wads so prepared are glued to the back of the
cartridge. In this case the percussion cap and anvil have to be inserted
afterwards, the glue having to be pricked out of the vent in the hat cap. The
application in this way of the percussion cap to the charged cartridge involves
some danger, to avoid which I form an enlargement or thickening on the
exterior of the hat cap for a distance along it equal to the thickness of the
outer wad, and I enclose a perforated metal dise fitting the outside of the hat
cap between the wads; the wads are then attached to the cartridge without the
hat cap, and the hat cap containing the percussion cap and anvil is afterwards
thrust into its place. I make the hat cap so that the percussion cap fits
tightly into its mouth or open end, but is able to move freely in it when it is
thrust further in by the striker on the cartridge being fired; this ensures a
sharp blow on the fulminate and ensures its explosion.