IMPROVEMENTS IN REVOLVING FIRE-ARMS
Year: 1862

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Deane, junior, of King William Street, in the
City of London, Gun Manufacturer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN REVOLVING FIRE-ARMS."
Sealed the 5th September 1862, and dated the 8th March 1862.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Deane at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 8th
March 1862.
I, JOHN DEANE, junior, of King William Street, in the City of London,
Gun Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN REVOLVING FIRE-ARMS," to be as follows:-
My Invention relates to pistols, rifles, and other small fire-arms in which
there is a revolving breech chamber, and consists in so constructing the
chamber and breech as to admit of such chamber being loaded at the rear,
as hereafter explained.
My Invention consists in boring the revolving chamber entirely through,
and in fitting at the rear of such chamber an independent breech-piece or
shield through this breech-piece and on one side an aperture is made,
through which a cartridge is inserted into one of the compartments of the
revolving chamber. The chamber is turned so as to present another compart-
ment, and so on until the whole of the compartments have been charged. A

page_text: shield connected to one end of a bolt free to move on a pin connected to some
fixed part of the arm is then brought down to close the aperture in tho
breech-piece, and the pistol or gun is fired by the hammer striking through an
aperture, made for the reception of the nose thereof in the shield, on a cap, or
detonating powder at the rear of the cartridge. The chamber and the breech-
piece, or shield, are capable of being removed when a revolving chamber of
the ordinary construction, and fitted with nipples, may be substituted. Should
the prepared cartridges be exhausted, it may be desirable to unship my
breech-loading chamber and breech, and use the arm as an ordinary revolving
chamber pistol or gun. In like manner my breech-loading chamber and its
appurtenances may be applied to breech-loading guns and fire-arms where a
revolving chamber of the ordinary construction is now used.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Deane in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 8th
September 1862.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
DEANE, junior, of King William Street, in the City of London, Gun Manu-
facturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eighth day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, in the twenty-fifth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said John Deane, junior, Her special licence that. I, the said John
Deane, junior, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
I, the said John Deane, junior, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN REVOLVING FIRE-ARMS," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said John Deane, junior, my executors or administrators,
by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their bauds and
seals, 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
months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Deane, junior, do hereby
declare the nature of my 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, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto
annexed, that is to say:-
My Invention relates to pistol, rifles, and other small fire-arms in which
there is a revolving breech chamber, and consists in so constructing the
breech as to admit of such chamber being loaded at the rear, as hereafter
explained.
My Invention consists in the employment of an independent breech-piece
or shield, together with a revolving chamber, in which the compartments for
receiving the charge are bored or formed entirely through the length of such
chamber. Through this breech-piece, and on one side, an aperture is made,
through which a cartridge is inserted into one of the compartments of the
revolving chamber. The chamber is turned so as to present another com-
partment, and so on until the whole of the compartments have been charged.
A plate connected to one end of an arm free to move on a pin connected to
some fixed part of the arm is then brought down to close the aperture in the
breech-piece, and the pistol or gun is fired by the hammer striking through an
aperture made for the reception of the nose thereof in the shield, on a cup, or
detonating powder at the rear of the cartridge.
Figure 1 of the accompanying Drawings is a side elevation of a revolving
pistol, showing my Invention applied thereto; Figure 2 is a face view;
Figure 3 a back view, and Figure 4 is a section through the line x, y, of
Figure 3 of the independent breech-piece.
a is the chamber, with compartments for holding the charge, bored
throughout the length of the chamber, free to revolve on a spindle in the
usual manner; 6 is the independent breech-piece passed over the spindle, it is
planed out at the back to form a recess, into which the lump centers; the
sides d, d, overlap the sides of the lump; e is the aperture through which the
spindle passes; f is the slot through which the lever for causing the rotation
of the chamber works; 9 is the opening to allow of the hammer striking the
cartridge, and h is the aperture through which the cartridges are inserted into
the compartments in the revolving chamber. The entrance to the aperture in
the shield is rounded off to facilitate the insertion of the cartridges. i is a
plate on the end of an arm k, free to turn on the pin l. This plate is turned
to cover the aperture h after the chamber has been charged. It is turned up,
as shewn by the dotted lines, to allow of the insertion of the cartridges into
the compartments in the chamber. The chamber, and the breech-piece or

page_text: shield are capable of being removed, when a revolving chamber fitted with
nipples may be substituted. Should the prepared cartridges be exhausted, it
may be desirable to unship the breech-loading chamber and breech, herein-
before described, and use the arm as an ordinary revolving chamber pistol
or gun.
In like manner my Invention may be applied to breech-loading guns
and fire-arms, where a revolving chamber of the ordinary construction is
now used.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I am aware that the
compartments for holding the charges in revolving chambers in fire-arms have
heretofore been formed entirely through the length of such chambers, and
therefore I lay no claim to the construction or separate employment of such
revolving chambers; but I claim as my "Improvements in Revolving Fire-
arms," the employment of an independent and movable breech-piece or shield,
in combination with a revolving chamber, in which the compartments for con-
taining the charge are bored or formed entirely through the length of such
chambers.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Deane, junior, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Sixth day of September, One thousand eight
hundred and sixty-two.
JOHN DEANE T