IMPROVEMENTS IN FIRE-ARMS AND CARTRIDGES
Year: 1867

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Joseph Lewis, of No. 51, High Street, Bloomsbury,
Engineer, and George Clark, Gentleman, of No. 29, Arundel Street,
Strand, both in the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
Sealed the 27th September 1867, and dated the 1st April 1867.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Joseph Lewis and George
Clark at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with their
Petition, on the 1st April 1867.
We, JOSEPH LEWIS, of No. 51, High Street, Bloomsbury, Engineer, and
GEORGE CLARK, Gentleman, of No. 29, Arundel Street, Strand, both in the
County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN FIRE-ARMS AND CARTRIDGES," to be as follows:-
This Invention comprises improvements, firstly, in the construction of
fire-arms; secondly, in the construction of cartridges; and, thirdly, in rifling
guns; some of which improvements are described in the Provisional Specifi-
cation of the Invention for improvements in fire-arms and cartridges, for which
Provisional Protection was granted to the said Joseph Lewis by Certificate,
No. 2855, dated the 3rd November 1866, but for which his application for
Letters Patent has not been proceeded with, as sundry improvements in the
said Invention have since been invented by the said Joseph Lewis and George
Clark jointly. The following is a description of all the improvements above
referred to:-
Firstly, the improvements in the construction of fire-arms relate to breech-
loaders, and consist in the arrangement (1st) of a plunger or breech-closing bolt,

page_text: with a backward and forward action in its socket or tube and in the charge
chamber; (2nd) of a mode of locking and unlocking the plunger; (3rd) of
an action for firing the gun; (4th) of a spring and trigger or lock action,
serving to fasten and unfasten the plunger and explode the fulminate which
ignites the charge; (5th) of a mode of inserting the cartridge in the chamber;
and (6th) of another mode of locking and unlocking the plunger bolt; which
arrangements for the convenience of description are classified under their
respective heads, as follows:-
1st, the arrangement for opening and closing the chamber consists in a
sliding bolt fitting at its forward end into and closing the chamber, and
moving in a tube or socket which forms a continuation of the barrel with a
to-and-fro horizontal action, which by means of a projecting lever or handle is
imparted to the sliding bolt with or without turning it in its socket. By
driving the sliding bolt backwards an opening is formed in its socket in a line
with the chamber, forming a recess to receive the cartridge, whilst by the
same motion the gun is cocked, as herein-after described, and by the forward
motion of the sliding bolt the cartridge is pushed into the chamber. A self-
acting lever stop attached to the sliding bolt serves to fasten the plunger
when the chamber is loaded. A button attached to and working the lever
stop is so placed in advance of the plunger handle that the former is neces-
sarily acted upon by the hand simultaneously with the action of drawing the
sliding bolt. A cap or hood which is attached to and moves with the sliding
bolt covers and protects the opening in the socket in which the sliding bolt
moves and the cartridge is inserted; at the rear end of the sliding bolt there
is a projection into which a screw is fixed to hold this cap or hood, which
necessarily must slide to and fro with the plunger.
2nd, for the purpose of locking the plunger it has a slot through it at the
rear end, into which slot a cross bolt is shot, whereby not only is the plunger
securely fastened, but a perfect resistance is afforded to the explosive force
of the charge, thus constituting the plunger a solid immoveable breech closer.
To unlock the plunger the cross bolt is withdrawn, as herein-after described.
At the lower side of the breech end of the barrel is a lump screwed or welded
to the barrel and serving as a guide to the cross bolt, and also as an abutment
of the barrel against the stock.
3rd, to fire the gun a piston contained in a tube and held in position by a
spiral spring is made use of as a striker; this piston and its tube (if used)
and its spring are contained and fixed inside the sliding bolt, in the bottom of
which there is a longitudinal inclined groove, through which a tumbler acted
upon by a spring and acting as a hammer strikes the piston and causes the front

page_text: end of it (the piston) to impinge on the needle or piercer which ignites the
fulminate in the cartridge in the manner herein-after described. An advantage
of the arrangement above described for firing the gun is that no lock plate or
hammer is required, whereby the stock is so much stronger by not being cut
away at the side to receive a lock plate and hammer pivot.
4th, the spring and trigger action consists of a spring, a forked lever
attached to the trigger, and a tumbler placed and fixed longitudinally in an
iron frame in a line with the charge chamber and under the sliding bolt
socket; this frame is securely fixed to the stock or barrel. The forked lever
carries the cross bolt which locks and unlocks the sliding bolt or plunger, and
as it is put in motion by the trigger action to fire the gun it previously lifts
and fastens the cross bolt in the slot at the rear end of the sliding bolt
plunger, and after the gun is fired withdraws the cross bolt from the slot and
unlocks the said plunger. The trigger is also so connected with the tumbler
and acts upon the lock spring at the same time by means of a short bent lever
that has an up-and-down motion through a slot in the sliding bolt socket,
through which slot the tumbler works'; motion is imparted to the tumbler by
the elastic action of the spring, according as the latter is placed in a state of
tension or released by the action of the trigger on the short bent lever and
tumbler. The effect of the upward motion of the tumbler when released from
the spring is to strike the rear end of the piston striker, which acting ou the
piercer explodes the fulminate. From this arrangement when the trigger is
pulled it results that, first, the forked lever shoots the cross bolt into the slot
at the rear end of the plunger, and instantaneously after the tumbler by the
action of the spring strikes the piston, which acting on the piercer ignites the
charge. After the charge is fired in drawing back the sliding bolt the
tumbler (which is acted upon by means of the before-mentioned inclined
groove in the sliding bolt, in which groove the tumbler works) is turned down
and laid hold of by the spring, thus cocking the gun, which is then in
readiness to be fired by the trigger action. The pressure of the finger on the
trigger causes one continuous action which locks the plunger with the cross
bolt and liberates the tumbler, so that the plunger is first securely locked and
the charge then fired without any possibility of the gun being discharged
before the plunger or breech closer is fastened; at the same time when the
trigger is pulled slowly there is an appreciable resistance in locking the
plunger which admits of an arrangement for suspending the action at that
point, so as not to release the tumbler unless the trigger is again pulled. The
tumbler may, if considered requisite, be locked whilst the gun is loaded and
not required to be fired. The barrel, the chamber, and the sliding bult

page_text: socket or tube may be (as shewn in the Drawings) one continuous tube, or
the breech part of the tube containing the actions may be separate and
screwed to the barrel proper.
5th, the mode of inserting the cartridge in the charge chamber is as
follows: Attached to the sliding bolt is a cradle or open box of suitable form
and dimensions to contain the cartridge, and provided with springs to prevent
the cartridge falling out. The use of this cradle is to facilitate the insertion
of the cartridge into the opening behind the chamber formed by drawing
back the plunger, as before mentioned. A tube attached to the sliding bolt
may be used for the same purpose, but this cradle or tube may be dispensed
with.
6th, another mode of locking and unlocking the plunger bolt is to fix to it
a lever or handle which may be turned with the bolt, or on a ring or part
of a ring round the bolt, and being provided with a lump; this handle and
lump are so fitted that being turned down into a slot in the plunger tube or
socket this lump on the lever handle will enter the slot in the plunger socket
and lock the plunger bolt when pushed home into the chamber. This is
intended to be used not in combination with but in lieu of the cross bolt
fastening described under No. 2.
Secondly, the improvement in the construction of cartridges consists in the
introduction inside the cartridge of a metallic pin or piercer, of which the
point or forward end being close to a fulminating cap or patch resting on the
rear end of the bullet, and the rear end of this pin being struck by a piston or
hammer, the impact of the point of the pin on the fulminate shall ignite the
charge. This pin or piercer is made with or without a head and may be naked
in the powder, but we prefer to enclose it in a tube of paper, metal, or other
suitable material, which serves the double purpose of holding the fulminating
cap or patch and protecting the pin from corrosion by the action of the gun-
powder. This tube is made longer than the piercer so that the end of the tube
next to the fulminate shall extend beyond and cover the point of the piercer
and prevent its point from coming in contact with the fulminate, unless the
head of the piercer be struck by the front of the piston, thus obviating
accidental explosion. In forming the cartridge a fulminating cap fitted on
the end of the paper or other protecting tube covering the point of the piercer
is placed in contact with the rear end of the bullet or the point of the piercer
instead of being so fixed in a fulminating cap may be in close proximity
to a disc or patch containing fulminate and resting on the rear end of the
bullet. The head or rear end of the piercer may be inserted in a wad having
a hole in its centre for that purpose, and forming the rear end of the cartridge

page_text: over the powder in or upon the cartridge case, so that when the plunger is
locked the thickness of the wad intervenes between the charge and the forward
end of the plunger through a hole, in which the point of the piston striker
passes when the gun is fired. The position of the fulminate in the cartridge
may be varied from that above described. Instead of being at the base or
rear end of the bullet it may be either in the centre of the powder or at the
rear end of the cartridge immediately under the wad, and in either of these
two variations the fulminate would be on or close to the top of a supporting
pin resting on the bullet as its point of resistance, and would be struck by the
point of the piston striker in the manner before described. We intend to
apply this mode of constructing cartridges, and producing ignition of the
fulminate and the charge by the impact of a separate piercer in each cartridge
n fulminate resting on or close to the projectile, not only to our improved
breech-loader, as above described, but to ammunition in general for any kind
of gun, whether small arms or cannon, for which it may be applicable. The
use of a wad at the rear end of the cartridge is for the purpose of preventing
the escape of gas through the breech closer, but in cases where that precaution
is not required the wad may be dispensed with,
Thirdly, the improvement in rifling guns, and which is applicable to small
arms or to ordnance, consists in forming spiral rifling in only a comparatively
small portion of the length of the barrel. The theory on which this plan of
rifling is founded is that the object of rifling being to impart a spinning motion
to a cylindrical projectile on its long axis that object may be best effected by
limitting the spiral action to a short length of the barrel, allowing the pro-
jectile to travel the remainder of its passage through the barrel in a smooth
bore; but we give the preference to rifling on this plan the muzzle end of the
barrel only, the remaining part of the bore being smooth, through which
smooth part the projectile will be propelled with the full velocity imparted by
the expansive force of the explosion of the charge before reaching the spiral
rifling, and arriving under that condition at the rifled muzzle end of the barrel
will receive a rapid spin, causing it to rotate with greater velocity than if
its motion had been retarded by the resistance of curved rifling through the
whole length of the barrel.
Having given a description of the several improvements constituting our
Invention in order to render certain points thereof more clear we have
annexed to this Provisional Specification Diagrams, Figs. 1 & 2, to which the
following is a reference:-
(a) is the sliding bolt or plunger; (b), the socket in which the sliding bolt
moves to and fro; (c), the lump on the sliding bolt by which the latter is moved

page_text: backwards and forwards; (d) is a slot in the sliding bolt to receive the cross
bolt, which locks the former; (e) is an inclined groove in the sliding bolt, in
which the tumbler or hammer works; (f), a slot in the sliding bolt socket for
the passage of the tumbler; (g) is the piston striker and spiral spring; (h) is the
hole in the forward end of the plunger through which the striker acts; (i) is
the trigger, and (j), the forked lever attached to the trigger; (k) is a short
bent lever worked by the trigger and acting on the spring; (1) is the spring;
(m) the tumbler acting as a hammer; (n), the cross bolt; (o), the iron
frame; (p), the lever stop and button; (9), the sliding bolt handle; (r), the
barrel of the gun; (8), the stock; (t) the cartridge; (u), the bullet; (v), the
piercer covered with a paper tube; (w), a fulminating cap; (a), the wad for
the prevention of the escape of gas at the breech; (y), the charge chamber;
(2), the lump at the breech end of the barrel, and (2) the cradle, all respeo-
tively being parts of our Invention herein-before mentioned and referred
to; (a 2) is the cap or hood covering the opening in the top of the plunger
socket or tube through which the lump (c) works to and fro; (a 3) is a screw
and disc, whereby the hood (a 2) is fastened to the rear end of the plunger,
and travels to and fro with it. When the locking action, by means of the
cross bolt (n) working in the slot (d), is dispensed with, and is replaced by the
mode of locking the plunger herein-before described under the 6th head of
improvements in fire-arms, the rear end of the plunger as well as of the cap
or hood which covers it instead of terminating perpendicularly at right angles
with the top of the plunger is tapered gradually down to the stock.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Joseph Lewis and George Clark in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 1st October 1867.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, JOSEPH
LEWIS, of No. 51, High Street, Bloomsbury, Engineer, and GEORGE CLARK,
of No. 29, Arundel Street, Strand, Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the First day of April, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven, in the thirtieth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the said
Joseph Lewis and George Clark, Her special licence that we, the said
Joseph Lewis and George Clark, our executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as we, the said Joseph Lewis and George Clark, our execu-

page_text: tors, 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 FIRE-ARMS
AND CARTRIDGES," upon the condition (amongst others) that we, the said
Joseph Lewis and George Clark, our executors or administrators, by an
instrument in writing under our, or one of our, 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 George Clark, on behalf of myself
and the said Joseph Lewis, do hereby declare the nature of our said Invention,
and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described
and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
This Invention comprises improvements, firstly, in the construction of fire-
arms; secondly, in the construction of cartridges; and, thirdly, in rifling guns;
some of which improvements are described in the Provisional Specification
of the Invention in fire-arms and cartridges for which Provisional Protection
was granted to the said Joseph Lewis by Certificate, No. 2855, dated the
3rd November 1866, but for which his application for Letters Patent has not
been proceeded with as sundry improvements in the said Invention have since
been invented by the said Joseph Lewis and George Clark jointly.
Firstly, the improvements in the construction of fire-arms relate to breech-
loaders, and consist in the arrangement, first, of a plunger or breech-closing
bolt with a backward and forward action in its socket or tube and in the
charge chamber; second, of a mode of locking and unlocking the plunger;
third, of an action for firing the gun; fourth, of a spring and trigger or lock
action serving to fasten and unfasten the plunger and explode the fulminate
which ignites the charge; fifth, of a mode of inserting the cartridge in the
chamber; and, sixth, of another mode of locking and unlocking the plunger
bolt; which arrangements for the convenience of description are classified
under their respective heads as follows:-
First, the arrangement for opening and closing the chamber consists in a
sliding bolt fitting at its forward end into and closing the chamber, and moving
in a tube or socket, which forms a continuation of the barrel, with a to-and-fro
horizontal action, which by means of a projecting lever or handle is imparted

page_text: to the sliding bolt with or without turning in its socket. By drawing the
sliding bolt backwards an opening is formed in its socket in a line with the
chamber, forming a recess to receive the cartridge, whilst by the same motion
the
gun is cocked, as herein-after described, and by the forward motion of the
sliding boit the cartridge is pushed into the chamber. A self-acting lever stop
attached to the sliding bolt serves to fasten the plunger when the chamber is
loaded. A button attached to and working the lever stop is so placed in
advance of the plunger handle that the former is necessarily acted upon by the
hand simultaneously with the action of drawing the sliding bolt. A cap or
hood which is attached to and moves with the sliding bolt covers and protects
the opening in the socket in which the sliding bolt moves and the cartridge is
inserted. At the rear end of the sliding bolt there is a projection into which
the screw is fixed to hold this cap or hood which necessarily must slide to and
fro with the plunger.
Second, for the purpose of locking the plunger it has a slot through it at the
rear end, into which slot a cross bolt is shot, whereby not only is the plunger
securely fastened, but a perfect resistance is afforded to the explosive force of
the charge, thus constituting the plunger a solid immoveable breech closer.
To unlock the plunger the cross bolt is withdrawn, as herein-after described.
At the lower side of the breech end of the barrel is a lump welded to the
barrel and serving as a guide to the cross bolt, and also as an abutment of the
barrel against the stock.
Third, to fire the gun a piston contained in a tube and held in position by a
spiral spring is made use of as a striker; this piston and its tube (if any) and
its spring are contained and fixed inside the sliding bolt, in the bottom of
which there is a longitudinal inclined groove through which a tumbler acted
upon by a spring and acting as a hammer strikes the piston and causes the
front end of it (the piston) to impinge on the needle or piercer which ignites
the fulminate in the cartridge in the manner herein-after described. An
advantage of the arrangement above described for firing the gun is that no
lock plate or hammer is required, whereby the stock is so much stronger,
not being cut away at the side to receive a lock plate or hammer pivot.
Fourth, the spring and trigger action consists of a spring, a forked lever
attached to the trigger, and tumbler placed and fixed longitudinally in an
iron frame in a line with the charge chamber and under the sliding bolt socket;
this frame is securely fixed to the stock or barrel. The forked lever carries
the cross bolt which locks and unlocks the sliding bolt or plunger, and as it is
put in motion by the trigger action to fire the gun it previously lifts and fastens
the cross bolt in the slot at the rear end of the sliding bolt plunger, and after

page_text: the gun is fired withdraws the cross bolt from the slot and unlocks the said
plunger. The trigger is also so connected with the tumbler and acts upon
the look spring at the same time by means of a short bent lever that an
up-and-down motion through a slot in the sliding bolt socket, through which
slot the tumbler works, is imparted to the tumbler by the elastic action of the
spring, according as the latter is placed in a state of tension or released by the
action of the trigger on the short bent lever and tumbler. The effect of the up-
ward motion of the tumbler when released from the spring is to strike the rear
end of the piston striker, which acting on the piercer explodes the fulminate.
From this arrangement, when the trigger is pulled, it results that first the
forked lever shoots the cross bolt into the slot at the rear end of the plunger,
and instantaneously after the tumbler by the action of the spring strikes the
piston, which acting on the piercer ignites the charge. After the charge is
fired in drawing back the sliding bolt the tumbler (which is acted upon by
means of the before-mentioned groove in the sliding bolt, in which groove the
tumbler works) is turned down and laid hold of by the spring thus cocking
the gun, which is then in readiness to be fired by the trigger action. The
pressure of the finger on the trigger causes one continuous action which locks
the plunger with the cross bolt and liberates the tumbler, so that the plunger
is first securely locked and the charge then fired without any possibility of the
gun being discharged before the plunger or breech closer is fastened. At the
same time when the trigger is pulled slowly there is an appreciable resistance:
in locking the plunger which admits of an arrangement for suspending the
action at that point, so as not to release the tumber unless the trigger is again
pulled. The tumbler may, if considered requisite, be locked whilst the gun is
loaded and not required to be fired. The barrel, the chamber, and the sliding
bolt socket or tube may be (as shown in the Drawings) one continuous tube,
or the breech part of the tube containing the actions may be separate and
screwed to the barrel proper.
Fifth, the mode of inserting the cartridge in the charge chamber is as
follows:-Attached to the sliding bolt is a cradle or open box of suitable form
and dimensions to contain the cartridge, and provided with springs to prevent
the cartridge falling out. The use of this cradle is to facilitate the insertion
of the cartridge into the opening behind the chamber formed by drawing back
the plunger as before mentioned. A tube attached to the sliding bolt may be
used for the same purpose, but this cradle or tube may be dispensed with.
Sixth, another mode of locking and unlocking the plunger bolt is to fix to it
a lever or handle which may be turned with the bolt, or on ring or part of a
ring round the bolt and being provided with a lump; this handle and lump

page_text: are so fitted that being turned down into a slot in the plunger tube or socket
this lump on the lever handle will enter the slot in the plunger socket and
lock the plunger bolt when pushed home into the chamber. This is intended
to be used not in combination with but in lieu of the cross bolt fastening
described under No. 2.
Secondly, the improvement is the construction of cartridges consists in the
introduction inside the cartridge of a metallic pin or piercer, of which the
forward end being close to a fulminating cap or patch resting on the rear end
of the bullet, and the rear end of the pin being struck by a piston or hammer,
the impact of the point of the pin on the fulminate shall ignite the charge.
This pin or piercer is made with or without a head, and may be naked in the
powder, but we prefer to enclose it in a tube of paper, metal, or other suitable
material, which serves the double purpose of holding the fulminating cap or
patch and protecting the pin from corrosion by the action of the gunpowder.
This tube is made longer than the piercer so that the end of the tube next to
the fulminate shall extend beyond and cover the point of the piercer and
prevent its point from coming in contact with the fulminate unless the head of
the piecer be struck by the front of the piston, thus obviating accidental
explosion. In forming the cartridge a fulminating cap fitted on the end of
the paper or other protecting tube covering the point of the piercer is placed
in contact with the rear end of the bullet, or the point of the piercer instead
of being so fixed in a fulminating cap may be in close proximity to a disc or
patch containing fulminate and resting on the rear end of the bullet. The head
or rear end of the piercer may be inserted in a wad having a hole in its centre
for that purpose, and forms the rear end of the cartridge over the powder in or
upon the cartridge, so that when the plunger is locked the thickness of the
wad intervenes between the charge and the forward end of the plunger through
a hole in which the point of the piston striker passes when the gun is fired.
The position of the fulminate in the cartridge may be varied from that above
described. Instead of being at the base or rear end of the bullet it may be
either in the centre of the powder or at the rear end of the cartridge
immediately under the wad, and in either of these two variations the fulminate
would be on or close to the top of a supporting pin resting on the bullet as its
point of resistance and would be struck by the point of the piston striker in
the manner before described. We intend to apply this mode of constructing
cartridges and producing ignition of the fulminate and the charge by the impact
of a separate piercer in each cartridge on fulminate resting on or close to the
projectile not only to our improved breech-loader, as above described, but to
ammunition in general for any kind of gun, whether small arms or cannon, for

page_text: which it may be applicable. The use of a wad at the rear end of the cartridge
is for the purpose of preventing the escape of gas through the breech closer,
but in cases where that precaution is not required the wad may be dispensed
with.
Thirdly, the improvement in rifling guns, and which is applicable to small arms
or to ordnance, consists in forming spiral rifling in only a comparatively small
portion of the length of the barrel. The theory on which this plan of rifling is
founded is that the object of rifling being to impart a spinning motion to a cylin-
drical projectile on its long axis that object may be best effected by limiting the
spiral action to a short length of the barrel, allowing the projectile to travel
the remainder of its passage through the barrel in a smooth bore; but we give
the preference to rifling on this plan the muzzle end of the barrel only, the
remaining part of the bore being smooth, through which smooth part the
projectile will be propelled with the full velocity imparted by the expansive
force of the explosion of the charge before reaching the spiral rifling, and
arriving under that condition at the rifled muzzle end of the barrel will receive
a rapid spin, causing it to rotate with greater velocity than if its motion had
been retarded by resistance of curved rifling through the whole length of the
barrel.
Having given a description of the several improvements constituting our
Invention, in order to render certain points thereof more clear we have
annexed to this Complete Specification Diagrams, Figs. 1 and 2, to which
the following is a reference :-
a is the sliding bolt or plunger; b, the socket in which the sliding bolt
moves to and fro; c, the lump on the sliding bolt, by which the latter is
moved backwards and forwards; d is a slot in the sliding bolt to receive the
cross bolt which locks the former; e is an inclined groove in the sliding bolt
in which the tumbler or hammer works; f, a slot in the sliding bolt socket
for the passage of the tumbler; 9 is the piston striker and spiral spring ;
h is the hole in the forward end of the plunger through which the striker
acts; is the trigger, and ; the forked lever attached to the trigger;
k is a short bent lever worked by the trigger and acting on the spring;
I is the spring; m, the tumbler acting as a hammer; n, the cross bolt;
o, the iron frame; p, the lever stop and button; 9, the sliding bolt
handle; r, the barrel of the gun; s, the stock; t, the cartridge; u, the
bullet; v, the piercer covered with a paper tube; w, a fulminating cap;
a, the wad for the prevention of the escape of gas at the breech; y, the
charge chamber; z, the lump at the breech end of the barrel, and z 2 the
cradle, all respectively being parts of our improvements herein-before men-

page_text: tioned and referred to; a 2 is the cap or hood covering the opening in the
top of the plunger socket of tube through which the luthp c works to and
fro; a 8 is a screw and disc whereby the hood à 2 is fastened to the rear
end of the plunger and travels to and fro with it. When the locking action,
by means of the cross bolt n working in the slot d, is dispensed with and is
replaced by the mode of locking the plunger herein-before described under the
sixth head of improvements in fire-arms, the rear end of the plunger as well as
of the cap which covers it instead of terminating perpendicularly at right
angles with the top of the plunger is tapered gradually down to the stock.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Clark, on behalf of myself and
the said Joseph Lewis, have hereunto set my hand and seal, this
First day of October, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight
hundred and sixty-seven.