AN IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS IN BREECH-LOADING FIRE-ARMS
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Powell, of Birmingham, in the County of
Warwick, Gun Manufacturer, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVEMENT
OR IMPROVEMENTS IN BREECH-LOADING FIRE-ARMS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Powell at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 7th
May 1864.
I, WILLIAM POWELL, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Gun
Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN
IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS IN BREECH-LOADING FIRE-ARMS," to be as
follows:-
My Invention has reference to breech-loading fire-arms of the kind com-
monly called drop-down guns, or guns in which the breech ends of the barrels
turn upon a joint on the fore part of the body, the said breech ends being held
firmly against the face of the break-off of the said guns during discharge, and
raised from the said break off for loading.
My Invention consists of the improvement or improvements herein-after des-
cribed in mechanism for securing or fastening down the breech ends of the barrels
of the said fire-arms for discharge, and for liberating the said barrels for load-
ing. I effect the securing or fastening down of the barrels by means of a lever,
the short end of which has the figure very nearly of a quadrant, I make in the
middle of the break off a vertical slot or opening, and in the said slot or open

page_text: ing the quadrant end of the lever is situated and works, the front of the said
quadrant being presented to the breech ends of the barrels. The lever turns
upon an axis situated at the back of the break off, the long arm of the said
lever lying upon the tang of the break off. At the breech end of the barrels,
and between them is a projecting block or lump of metal, the upper part of
which is inclined or slightly concave. This concavity in the upper part of the
projecting block is of nearly the same curvature as the quadrant end of the
lever. The free end of a spring on the under side of the tang of the break off
presses upon the back of the quadrant and forces the quadrant end of the lever
in the recess or opening in the break off. On shutting down the barrels, the
projecting block between the breech ends of the barrels enters the recess or
opening in the break off and bearing against the upper angle of the quadrant
pushes the said quadrant back so as to allow the said block to pass it. When
the projecting block has pressed back and passed the quadrant end of the lever,
and the barrels have been shut down to their fullest extent, the quadrant end
of the lever is projected forward by the action of its spring, and the front end
of the said quadrant made to bear with considerable force upon the cancave
top of the projecting block between the barrels. The breech ends of the
barrels are thereby held or fastened firmly down during discharge. To release
the barrels for charging, the long end of the lever is raised from the tang of
the break off; the quadrant is thereby drawn from off the top of the pro-
jecting block, and out of the range of the said block, and the breech ends of
the barrels can then be raised from the break off and their open ends exposed
for charging. On loosing the long arm of the lever it is pressed against the
tang of the break off, and the quadrant end again projected forward in the
opening or recess in the break off, ready on shutting down the barrels to be
pressed back by the projecting block.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Powell in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 4th
November 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
POWELL, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Gun Manufacturer,
send greeting..
WHEREAS Her most, Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventh day of May,' in 'the year. of our:
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, in the twenty-seventh year
.

page_text: of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said William Powell, Her special licence that I, the said Willian
Powell, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said William Powell, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any
time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after during the term therein expressed, should and law fully 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 IMPROVE-
MENT OR IMPROVEMENTS IN. BREECH-LOADING FIRE-ARMS," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said William Powell, my executors or adminis-
trators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands.
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.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William, Powell, 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 thereof, that is to say:-..
My Invention bas reference to breech-loading fire-arms of the kind.com-
monly called drop-down guns, or guns in which the breech ends of the barrels.
turn upon a joint on the fore part of the body, the said breech ends being held.
firmly against the face of the break off of the said guns during discharge, and
raised from the said break off for loading.
My Invention consists of the improvement or improvements herein-after-
described in mechanism for securing or fastening down the breech ends of the
barrels of the said fire-arms for discharge, and for liberating the said barrels
for loading. I effect the securing or fastening down of the barrels by means
of a lever, the short arm of which has the figure of a portion of a quadrant..
I make in the middle of the break off a vertical slot or opening, and in the
said slot or opening the quadrant end of the lever is situated and works, the
front of the said quadrant end being presented to the breech ends of the
barrels. The lever turns upon an axis situated at the back of the break off, the
long arm of the said lever lying upon the tang of the break off. At the
breech end of the barrels and between them is a projecting block, or lump of
metal, the upper part of which is inclined or slightly concave. This concavity.
in the upper part of the projecting block is of nearly the same curvature as
the end of the quadrant part of the lever. The free end of a spring on the
under side of the tang of the break off presses upon the back of the quadrant

page_text: end of the lever, and forces the said quadrant end in the recess or opening in
the break off. On-shutting down the barrels, the projecting block betwee
the breech ends enters the recess or opening in the break off, and bearing against
the upper angle of the quadrant end of the lever pushes it back so as to allow
the said block to pass it. When the projecting block has pressed back and
passed the quadrant end of the lever, and the barrels have been shut down to
their fullest extent, the quadrant end of the lever is projected forward by the
action of its spring, and the end made to bear with considerable force upon
the concave top of the projecting block between the barrels. The breech ends
of the barrels are thereby held or fastened firmly down during discharge. To
release the barrels for charging, the long arm of the lever is raised from the
tang of the break off. The end of the quadrant part is thereby drawn from off
the top of the projecting block and out of the range of the said block, and the
breech ends of the barrels can then be raised from the break off and their
open ends exposed for charging. On loosing the long arm of the lever it
is pressed against the tang of the break off and the quadrant end again pro-
jected forward in the opening or recess in the break off, ready on shutting
down the barrels to be pressed back by the projecting block.
Having explained the nature of my Invention, I will proceed to describe
with reference to the accompanying Drawings, the manner in which the same
is to be performed.
Figure 1, represents in side elevation; and Figure 2, in longitudinal vertical
section, a double-barrelled breech-loading gun, containing mechanism for fasten-
ing down and releasing the barrels of the said gun constructed according to
my Invention, the said barrels being fastened down ready for discharge.
Figure 3 represents the gun in longitudinal section, the parts of the said gun
being in the positions which they respectively assume when the barrels have
been released and raised from the face of the break off ready. for the intro-
duction of the charge, and Figure 4 represents a plan of the body of the gun
without the barrels and stock. The same letters indicate the same parts in
Figures 1, 2, 3, and 4.
.
a, are the barrels turning in a vertical plane úpon the fore part 6 in the
ordinary manner; c is the body, and d the break off of the said body, against
the face of which break off the open breech ends of the said barrels are held
firmly, or from which they are released by means of the lever e, f. The said
lever e, f, turns on a horizontal pin or axis g across the break off d, and has
motion in a vertical plane upon the said axis. The short arm f of the lever
has nearly the figure of a portion of a quadrant, the said quadrant end f being
turned towards the breech ends of the barrels a. In the break off d is a

page_text: ..
vertical slot or opening h, in which the quadrant end f works. The long arm
e of the lever is made into a flat plate, (the shape of which is best seen in
Figure 4) and lies when it is in its normal position upon the tang i of the
break off as represented in Figures 1 and 2. The quadrant end of the lever
is forced outwards in the slot h by the free end of the spring / bearing upon
the shoulder at 1 of the said quadrant end. At the breech ends of the barrels
á, and between them is a projecting block or lump of metal m, the said block
or lump m forming a prolongation and extension of the ordinary lump n,
situated at the under side of the barrels. The lump n enters a recess or
opening p in the body c of the break off when the barrels are shut down as
represented in Figure 2. The top of the block m is inclined or slightly concave,
the concavity in the said top being equal to the convexity of the face of the
quadrant end of the lever. When the barrels are shut down after loading'
the projecting block m between the breech ends of the barrels enters the upper
part of the slot or opening in the break off, and its curved face bearing in
its motion against the upper angle of, the quadrant end of the lever presses
back the said quadrant end into a nearly vertical position (see Figure 3) so as
to allow the said block to pass it. When the projecting block m has pressed'
back and passed the quadrant end f of the lever, the barrels a shut down upon
the body c, the lump'n entering the recess or opening p in the said body. As
soon as the barrels have been shut down to their fullest extent the quadrant
end f of the lever is projected forward by the action of the spring k, and the
front of the said quadrant end is made to bear with considerable force upon
the concave top of the block m, and thereby hold or fasten down the said
barrels firmly in their place during discharge as illustrated in Figures 1 and 2.
In order to release the barrels a for recharging, the long arme of the lever is
raised from the tang into the position represented in Figure 3. By the raising
of the arm e the quadrant end of the lever is drawn from off the top of the
block m, and out of the range of the said block. The breech ends of the
barrels can now turn on their joint and be raised from the face of the break
off, and their open ends exposed for charging as illustrated in the said Figure 3.
After the barrels have been raised, the long arme of the lever is loosed, when
the said lever is forced forward and made to take the position represented in
Figure 2 by the action of the spring k. On shutting down the barrels after
charging, the quadrant end f of the lever is pressed back by the block m, and
afterwards made to bear thereon and hold down the barrels in the manner herein-
before described and illustrated in Figure 2. Instead of placing the long arm e of
the lever c,.f, on the outside of the tang i of the break off as represented in

page_text: the Drawings, the greater part of the said long arm e may be situated under-
neath the said tang.
In this modification the axis of the lever is situated somewhat lower in the
break off than represented in the Drawings, and the end or finger plate of the
arm e is turned at right angles to the other part, and passes through and works
in a slot or opening in the end of the tang.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the manner in,
which the same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that. I do not
limit myself to the precise details herein described and illustrated in the
accompanying Drawings, as the same may be varied without departing from
the nature of my Invention.
But I claim as my Invention the improvement or improvements in
mechanism herein-before described and illustrated in the accompanying.
Drawings for fastening down and releasing the barrels of breech-loading fire-
arms of the kind commonly called drop-down guns, or guns in which the barrels
turn in a vertical plane upon a joint on the fore part of the body, that is to
say, fastening down and releasing the barrels of the said fire-arms by means
of a lever of the kind described and illustrated, the short or quadrant arm of
the said lever being made to bear upon a projecting block at the breech ends
of the barrels to bold or fasten down the said barrels, and drawn from off the
said projecting block to release the barrels.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Powell, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Third day of November, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four.
Witness,
GEORGE SHAW.
WILLIAM POWELL. (L.S.)