IMPROVEMENTS IN MAGAZINE OR REPEATING FIRE ARMS
Year: 1879

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alexander Melville Clark, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the
County of Middlesex, Patent Agent, for the Invention of IMPROVEMENTS IN
MAGAZINE OR REPEATING FIRE ARMS." A communication from abroad by
Josef Werndl, Managing Director, of the Osterreichischen Waffenfabriks-
Gesellschaft, of Steyr, in the Empire of Austria.
Sealed the 2nd December 1879, and dated the 11th July 1879.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alexander Melville Clark
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 11th July 1879.
"
ALEXANDER MELVILLE CLARK, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex,
Patent Agent, IMPROVEMENTS IN MAGAZINE OR REPEATING FIRE ARMS." [A
communication from abroad by Josef Werndl. Managing Director of the Osterreich-
ischen Waffenfabriks-Gesellschaft, of Steyr, in the Empire of Austria.]
This Invention relates to improvements in magazine or repeating firearms.
The magazine consists of a cluster of 2, 3, 4, or more tubes grouped around a
common longitudinal axis, and soldered or otherwise bound together. This bundle
of tubes is located beneath the barrel and parallel therewith. It is contained
within the gun stock, which is hollow and of semi-cylindrical form, and extends
nearly the length of the barrel. The tubes are closed at the forward ends, and
contain spring pushers by which the cartridges are fed back towards the breach.
The magazine is mounted to rotate on its longitudinal axis, and the rear ends of
the tubes are open, but they rotate close against a fixed plate provided with a
single aperture with which only the uppermost one of the magazine tubes, for the
time being can coincide at a time. The rear or breech end of the magazine is made
cylindrical for a few inches of its length, and upon the circumference thereof is
formed a series of alternate right and left handed oblique grooves. The right
handed grooves are deepest at the rear end of this cylindrical portion, and gradually
become shallower or run out flush with the surface at the other end just before
they mect. The deepest or forward ends of the left handed grooves, which are
similar but opposite, and meet the right handed grooves in the same way. The
number and inclination of the grooves is such, that the traverse of a longitudinally
moving stud backwards through one groove, and forwards through another, one

page_text: oppositely inclined will partially rotate the magazine, so as to bring the magazine
tubes successively opposite the aperture in the plate which closes their breech-ends,
the magazine being always rotated the same way. This stud is carried on the
extremity of a spring sliding bar fitted within the breech alongside the breech bolt,
by whose to and fro movement it is operated. This bar is slightly flexible in order
that the stud may slide out at the shallow end of one groove, and fall into the deep
part of the next one, and thus always enter a different groove at each traverse to
and fro. The rear end of this sliding plate has a pin or stud which engages in a
longitudinal groove in the breech bolt, by which after the latter is moved a certain
distance in either direction it is operated.
One of the magazine tubes being brought opposite the aperture, as above
mentioned, a cartridge passes out of it through the aperture, and is received by the
cartridge carrier to be thereby raised to the level of the barrel. This carrier is a
pivoted piece working in an aperture at the bottom of the breech shoe. It's
forward end is depressed below the said aperture to receive a cartridge from the
tube, which is at the same time brought opposite thereto when the breech bolt is
pushed forward, and its handle turned down, for which purpose the carrier is
provided with a lever acted on thereby, and carrying a stud working in a longi-
tudinal slot in the sliding bar, by which the carrier is raised to the level of the
barrel when the breech bolt is drawn back; as the magazine rotates on its axis, the
tubes can be successively brought opposite this aperture to be filled with cartridges,
without withdrawing them from their place in the stock. To enable this to be
done the sliding bar is hinged near its rear end, and is enclosed by a moveable
cover on the breech, so that by opening the latter the hinged part can be turned
back, and the stud which it carries disengaged from the groove in the breech bolt,
so that the sliding bar and consequently the magazine will not be operated by it
when it is drawn back. This is necessary, as otherwise, when the bolt is drawn
back, the magazine is placed in such a position that no cartridge can be inserted.
When one tube is filled, the next can be brought opposite the aperture by moving
the sliding bar by hand.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Alexander Melville Clark in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
10th January 1880.
A
ALEXANDER MELVILLE CLARK, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex,
Patent Agent.
"IMPROVEMENTS IN MAGAZINE OR REPEATING FIRE ARMS."
communication from abroad by Josef Werndl, Managing Director of the Osterreich-
ischen Waffenfabriks-Gesellschaft, of Steyr, in the Empire of Austria.
This Invention relates to improvement in magazine or repeating firearms. The
magazine is a cluster of tubes extending nearly the whole length of the barrel
and mounted to rotate on a longitudinal axis. The cartridges are led from the
magazine tubes to a cartridge carrier, and are thereby raised to the level of the
barrel, the magazine being rotated by the to and fro movement of the sliding
breech bolt (operating through mechanism hereafter fully described), so that a
cartridge is taken from each of the tubes successively. This rotary magazine holds
a very large reserve of cartridges since each of its tubes contains as many as tho
ordinary fixed magazine, and it can be readily refilled with cartridges without
removing it from the gun.
In order that the Invention may be more readily understood I have illustrated it
in the accompanying Drawings, and I will proceed to describe it in detail with
reference thereto.
Figures 1 and 2 are part elevations, part longitudinal sections of opposite sides
of the firearm; and Figure 3 is a cross section of the same on line 1-1, Figure 1;
Figure 4 is a longitudinal, and Figure 5, a breech end view of the rotary magazine
separately; Figures 6, 7, and 8 represent details; Figure 9 illustrates a slightly
modified arrangement of the mechanism. for rotating the magazine. The same
letters of reference indicate the same parts in all the Figures.
The magazine A consists of a cluster of 2, 3, 4, or more tubes a grouped around
a common axis, and soldered or otherwise bound together. This bundle of tubes
is located beneath and extends nearly the whole length of the barrel B, and is
contained within a semicylindrical casing of thin steel covered with leather forming
a continuation of the gunstock. The tubes a are closed at the forward ends by a
cap a', and contain spring pushers c by which the cartridges C are fed back
towards the breech, the rear ends of the tubes a being open, except that they
abut closely against a plate D fixed to the underside of the breech shoe. The
magazine A is provided with end pivots a turning, that at the front end in a
support a³, and that at the rear end in the plate D. This plate D has an aperture
d with which the uppermost tube a for the time being coincides, when the breech
bolt is in the forward or closed position. The magazine A is made cylindrical
externally for a short portion E of its length, in which alternate series of right
and left handed grooves e, e', are formed. The grooves of one series (the right
handed grooves for instance) gradually become shallower, so as nearly to run out
flush with the surface of the cylindrical portion E at their front ends just before
they meet the grooves of the other series, which are similar, but opposite, being
shallower at their rear ends just before they meet the grooves of the first series.
The number and inclination of the grooves e, e¹, is such, that the traverse of a
longitudinally moving stud f backwards through one groove e', and forwards
through another one e oppositely inclined, will rotate the magazine A sufficiently
to bring the next tube a opposite the aperture d, the magazine being always
rotated in the same direction. This stud f is carried by an extension of a sliding
bar F, having a longitudinal slot f¹ working on two guide studs f fixed in a
groove in the breech shoe, in which, said bar F is received alongside the breech
bolt;
and the said extension is slightly flexible in order that the stud may slide
out at the shallow end, and fall into the next groove. The rear end of this bar F

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T
;
'
has a stud g that passes through a longitudinal slot in the side of the breech shoe K,
and engages in a longitudinal groove G in the breech bolt H, by which after the
latter is moved a certain distance in either direction it is operated. This groove G
is right angled at its rear end to allow of the bolt H being partly rotated, in order
to lock it in the breech as usual; I is the cartridge carrier pivoted at i and
working in a mortise in the bottom of the breech shoe K. Its forward end is
depressed below the aperture d (at the same time that a tube a is brought opposite
said aperture) by the breech bolt being pushed forward, and its handle turned
down, the carrier I having pivotted to it at the right hand side an arm L, whose
free end projects upwards a sufficient height to be pressed upon by the locking piece
h of the breech bolt handle, when the latter is turned down to lock the bolt H in
the closed position; h¹ is a shallow cavity on the right hand side of h to receive the
end of this arm L, and prevent it slipping away from the pressure of the part h
upon it. When it is desired to use the arm as a single loader, the arm L is moved,
forward on its pivot to the position L' shown in dotted lines in Figure 2, so that it
does not rise so high as before; and in this position its end is received in another
cavity h², and is not pressed upon by the handle h when turned down to lock the
breech bolt, so that the carrier I remains in the raised position shown in Figure 2.
The carrier is brought up to the level of the barrel by its heel end i' (which rises
into a longitudinal groove in the underside of the breech bolt H), being struck by
the forward end of said groove, on the breech bolt being drawn quite back. The
carrier I is retained in whichever of these two positions it may be placed (until
again shifted by the action of the breech bolt) by a spring j¹ bearing against its
underside, and slipping over a projection or shoulder j. It should be observed that
to avoid confusion in Figure 1, the breech bolt H is represented in dotted lines in
the drawn back position, which does not correspond with the positions of the
carrier I, and bar F; these being represented in the positions they occupy when
the breech bolt is slid forward or closed. On a tube a being brought opposite the
aperture d by the forward or closing movement of the breech bolt, a cartridge is
pushed out through the aperture onto the carrier I, and is thereby raised to the
level of the barrel the next time the breech bolt is drawn back.
The magazine tubes can be successively brought opposite the aperture d to be
filled with cartridges without withdrawing the magazine from its place in the
stock, the sliding bar F being hinged at n and enclosed by a movable cover m, by
opening which the rear part of the bar F can be turned back, and the stud g dis-
engaged from the groove G in the breech bolt, in order that on drawing back the
bolt the magazine shall remain stationary, otherwise, it would be placed in such a
position relatively to aperture d, that no cartridge could be inserted. When one
tube a is filled, the next can be brought opposite the aperture by moving the
sliding bar F by hand.
In the modification shown in Figure 9, instead of the two alternating series of
grooves e, e¹, being respectively right and left handed, only one series & is spiral,
the other series e¹ being longitudinal, and joining the opposite ends of the spiral
grooves, as shown. In this case the pitch of the spiral grooves, is such, that the
magazine is rotated the whole distance necessary to bring another tube a opposite
aperture d on the forward movement of the stud through one of the spiral grooves
and remain stationary on its backward movement through one of the longitudinal
grooves e¹. The spiral grooves are of equal depth throughout, the longitudinal
grooves only becoming shallower at their ends just before meeting the spiral
grooves. As the magazine is not rotated by the act of drawing back the breech
bolt, as was the case in the previous arrangement, a magazine tube still remains
opposite the aperture d, and can be filled with cartridges through the open breech,
provided the breech is not drawn back so far as to raise the carrier. It is there-
fore unnecessary to provide means for disconnecting the sliding bar F from the
breech bolt as before.
Having described the nature of the said Invention and the manner of performing

page_text: the same, I declare that what I claim as the Invention to be protected by the
herein before in part recited Letters Patent is,—
1st. In a repeating fire arm, a tubular magazine extending nearly the whole
length of the barrel and mounted to rotate on a longitudinal axis within a casing,
substantially as shown and described.
2nd. The mechanism for operating the rotary cartridge magazine, substantially
as described, consisting of the sliding bar with stud working in inclined grooves
around the magazine, and connected to and operated by the breech bolt, as set
forth.
3rd. In a repeating fire arm, the combination of a rotary tubular magazine, as
described, and a pivoted carrier receiving the cartridges from the magazine and
raising them to the breech, the magazine and carrier being both operated by the
breech bolt, substantially as shown and described.
4th. The improved repeating or magazine firearm, substantially as shown and
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alexander Melville Clark, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Ninth day of January, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and eighty.
A. M. CLARK. (L.S.)