AN IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS IN BREECH-LOADING FIRE-ARMS
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles Reeves, of Birmingham, in the County of
Warwick, Manufacturer, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVEMENT OR
IMPROVEMENTS IN BREECH-LOADING FIRE-ARMS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles Reeves at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
15th December 1859.
I, CHARLES REEVES, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Manu-
facturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVE-
MENT OR IMPROVEMENTS IN BREECH-LOADING FIRE-ARMS," to be as follows:-
My Invention consists of the following method of opening the breech end of
breech-loading fire-arms for the introduction of the charge and of securely
closing the same during discharge. The breech end of the barrel is opened and
closed by a sliding plug, which is capable of sliding and performing a partial
rotation in the prolonged end of the barrel. The said prolonged end of the
barrel is of such a length that when the plug is drawn back it is still wholly
within the said end of the barrel. In the end of the prolongation of the barrel
a plug is screwed closing the end of the barrel, the said plug carrying a plate or
bar which divides the end of the barrel into two nearly semi-cylindrical portions.
The sliding plug which closes the part of the barrel where the discharge takes
place is slit at the back end, and when the said plug is drawn back, the two

page_text: halves of the slit part pass respectively on the two sides of the plate or bar
dividing the end of the barrel. The sliding plug, when drawn back, is inca-
pable of a rotatory motion. When the plug is pushed home to close the barrel
for discharge, the slit end of the plug is disengaged from the fixed plate or bar,
and the said plug can now be made to perform a partial rotation. By turning
the said plug through a half revolution its slit end is placed crosswise against
the end of the fixed plate or bar, and the said plug is thus held firmly in its
place during discharge. The motions of the plug are effected by means of a
thumb plate or arm fixed on the plug and working through a slot in the barrel.
That portion of the slot which is in the direction of the length of the barrel
is of a size suitable for the introduction of the cartridge.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Charles Reeves in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
14th June 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHARLES
REEVES, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Manufacturer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fifteenth day of December, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-third year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Charles Reeves, Her special licence that I, the said Charles Reeves,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Charles
Reeves, 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 "AN IMPROVEMENT OR
IMPROVEMENTS IN BREECH-LOADING FIRE-ARMS," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Charles Reeves, my executors or administrators, 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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Charles Reeves, 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 consists of the method or methods herein-after described and
illustrated in the accompanying Drawings, of opening the breech end of the
barrels of breech-loading fire-arms for the introduction of the charge into the
barrel, and of securing the same during discharge.
Figure 1 represents a longitudinal vertical section of a part of a breech-
loading rifle, constructed according to my Invention; the several parts being
in the positions they respectively occupy when the breech end of the barrel is
open for the reception of the cartridge or charge. Figure 2 represents a side
elevation of the same, the parts being in the positions they respectively occupy
when the rifle is ready for firing; Figure 3 represents a transverse section,
taken through the line a, Figure 1; and Figure 4 represents a transverse
section, taken through the line b, Figure 2. The other Figures represent
separate portions of the rifle, Figures 1 and 2, and also a modification of my
Invention as herein-after explained. The same letters indicate the same parts
in the several Figures.
The breech end c of the barrel d is opened and closed by a sliding bolt or
plug e, which is capable of sliding in the prolonged part of the barrel. The
prolonged end f of the barrel is nearly closed by a plug screwed or welded
therein. The said plug is marked g, g, and its length is best seen in the ver-
tical transverse section of the prolonged part f of the barrel, Figure 5. The
said plug is divided down its middle by a slot h, by which the plug closing the
prolonged end of the barrel is nearly divided into two parts g,g. Figure 6
represents the prolonged end f of the barrel in plan; and Figures 7 and 8 repre-
sent transverse sections of that portion of the barrel represented in Figure 5; the
section Figure 7 being taken through the line a", and the section Figure 8 being
taken through the line 6, Figure 5. The sliding bolt or plug e, which closes
the breech of the barrel during discharge, is shown separated from the rifle in
side elevation in Figure 9, and in end elevation in Figure 10; the cover i, by
which the slot or opening k in the barrel is closed during discharge, being also
represented in connection with the plug e in both the said Figures 9 and 10.
The back end e of the sliding plug e is made of the shape best seen in Figures
3, 9, and 10, that is, of such a shape that it readily enters and slides in the
slot h in the plug g, g, when it is brought into the required position by raising
the handle into a vertical position. The end e² of the plug e is represented

page_text: in the slot in Figures 1 and 3. When the plug e is in the position repre-
sented in Figures 1 and 3, the charge may be introduced into the part c of the
barrel through the slot or opening k, the said slot being open when the cover i
is in the position represented in Figures 1 and 3. By pushing the handle
forwards or towards the muzzle of the rifle, the plug e is made to close the
barrel at c, the end e³ of the plug e at the same time being withdrawn from
the slot h. The handle is now turned down into a horizontal position, as
represented in Figures 2 and 4, when the end e² of the plug e is placed at right
angles, or nearly so, to the slot h, as shown in Figure 4, the cover i at the
same time being brought over and closing the opening k in the barrel. The
said plug e is thereby held firmly to its bearing at c, the end e² of the said plug e
being supported by the shoulders of the parts g, g². The relative positions of
the parts e² and g, g², when the rifle is ready for discharge, will be best under-
stood by an examination of Figure 4. The faces or shoulders of the parts 9, 9º,
upon which the end e² of the plug e bears, are so inclined, that as the plug e is
partially rotated by pressing down the handle, the said plug is made slightly
to advance and take a close bearing on the breech of the barrel at c. The
handle is connected with the sliding plug e by means of the curved plate or
cover i, which covers and uncovers the slot k in the barrel, as herein-before
described. The cone or termination on the front end of the sliding plug e
is attached to the said plug by screwing thereon, and when the said cone e³
becomes worn, a washer may be put under it, so as to raise and restore it to
proper working order.
I sometimes modify the cover i in the manner illustrated in Figures 11, 12,
and 13 of the Drawings, that is to say, I make the said cover tubular, so that
it completely encircles the prolonged end of the barrel. Figure 11 represents
a cover of this kind in elevation; Figure 12 represents the same in longitu-
dinal section and Figure 13 represents the same in transverse section; the
handle, sliding plug, and part of the barrel being also represented in conjunc-
tion with the cover in the said Figures 11, 12, and 13. The said cover, handle,
and sliding plug are marked with the same letters respectively as the corre-
sponding parts in Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, 9, and 10.
I sometimes also modify my Invention in the following manner:-Instead
of closing the prolonged end of the barrel with the divided plug 9, 92, in a slot
of which the flat end of the sliding plug e slides, I dispense with the said plug
g, g, and fix a flat bar or plate in the end of the barrel, the said fixed bar or
plate having the figure of the slot h, and dividing the prolonged end of the barrel
into two nearly semi-cylindrical portions. I make the back end of the plug e

page_text: cylindrical, and split or divide it at its back part, so that when the said split or
divided part of the plug is presented in the required position to the bar in the
middle of the end of the barrel, the two halves of the split part of the plug pass
respectively on the two sides of the fixed plate or bar. When the plug is
pushed home so as to close the barrel at c, the split end of the said plug is
disengaged from the fixed plate or bar, and by giving the plug a partial rota-
tion, its split end is placed crosswise against the end of the fixed plate or bar,
and the plug is held firmly in its place during discharge.
The last described modification differs only from that first described in the
respect that the parts 9, 92, are moveable and attached to the sliding plug,
and the part e fixed in the prolonged part of the barrel; but I prefer to carry
my Invention into effect by the method first described and represented in the
Drawings.
Although I have only described and represented my Invention as applied to
a rifle, yet my said Invention may be applied to other kinds of fire-arms; but
as the application of my Invention to other kinds of fire-arms differs in no
essential respects from the method of applying it to rifles, I do not consider
further explanation necessary.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of
carrying the same into effect, I wish it to be understood that I do not limit
myself to the precise details herein described and represented, 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 breech-loading fire-arms,
herein-before described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawings, that is
to say, the arrangement or combination of parts described and represented for
opening and closing the breech ends of breech-loading fire-arms.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Reeves, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Thirteenth day of June, in the year of our Lord.
One thousand eight hundred and sixty.
Witness,
GEORGE SHAW.
CHARLES REEVES. (L.S.)