Im- PROVEMENTS IN REPEATING FIRE-ARMS
Year: 1874

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Alfred, Count Von Kropatschek,
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 16th December 1874.
I, ALFRED, Count VON KROPATSCHEK, of. Vienna, in the Empire of
Austria, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "Im-
PROVEMENTS IN REPEATING FIRE-ARMS," to be as follows:-
My Invention relates to improved repeating mechanism for breech-
loading fire-arms, which I will describe as applied to a gun on the
sliding bolt system.
The cartridge magazino consists of a tube extending along the under
side of the barrel, and containing at the forward end a spring pusher, by
which the cartridges are fed towards the breech chamber. The cartridges
as they are successively pushed out at the rear end of this tube are
received on a cartridge elevator or carrier block working in a mortise
in the bottom of the breech chamber, whereby the cartridge is raised
into a line with the barrel in readiness to be pushed forward into the
same.

page_text: follows: It consists of a block hollowed on its upper surface to embrace
the cartridge, and mounted on a horizontal pin or pivot at its rear end,
and is raised and lowered in its mortise by the movement of the sliding
bolt.
The elevator is provided at its rear end with a tail piece, which,
when the elevator is lowered to receive a cartridge from the magazine,
projects upwards, and is received in a horizontal groove in the under
side of the sliding bolt or breech closer, this groove being continued at
the rear end in the circular direction of the bolt in order that the tail
of the elevator may not interfere with the rotary movement of the bolt
to lock the same in the breech. On drawing back the bolt the cartridge
elevator remains stationary until the bolt is drawn back so far that the
forward end of the groove comes against the tail of the elevator, where-
upon the latter is raised until the cartridge is brought into a line with
the barrel as before mentioned. The elevator is maintained in this
raised position until the sliding bolt is brought forward and rotated to
close and lock the breech by the upward pressure of a spring on a
vertical pin fitted beneath the axis of the elevator, and terminating in a
V shaped end, which is received in a corresponding V shaped recess on
the under side of the clevator. On sliding forward the bolt to close the
breech the cartridge on the elevator is pushed home into the barrel, and
the bolt is then partly rotated to lock it in the breech in the usual way.
This rotary movement of the bolt at same time depresses the elevator
in readiness to receive another cartridge. This is effected by the side of
the bolt lever coming into contact with the top end of a shifting thumb
piece or projection pivoted at one side of the clevator, a slight cavity
being made in the side of the bolt lever to receive the end of said thumb
picce and prevent it shifting during the movement.
The elevator is also maintained in the depressed position by the V
pointed spring pin acting on the V shaped recess on the under side of
the elevator before described. If desired to hold the cartridges in the
magazine in reserve, and to use the gun as a simple breech-loader, this
may be done by shifting the thumb piece or projection of the elevator
so that it will be received in another cavity in the side of the bolt lever;
and of such depth that the clevator will not be depressed when the bolt

page_text: is rotated to lock it in the breech. The elevator will therefore be
maintained in its raised position and form the bottom of the breech
chamber, a downwardly projecting lip at the front end of the elevator
preventing the cartridges being forced out of the magazine until the
clevator is again lowered to receive them.