Improved Magazine Breech-loading Bolt Guns.
Year: 1892

page_text: te of Application, 25th July, 1892-Accepted, 24th Sept., 189
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improved Magazine Breech-loading Bolt Guns.
I, PAUL MAUSER, of Oberndorf on the Neckar, Württemberg, in the Empire
of Germany, Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascer-
tained in and by the following statement :-
My invention relates to those breech-loading bolt guns which are provided with
a cartridge magazine below the cartridge rest of the breech case, and its object is
to simplify the construction of the magazine, to make it more solid and compact,
and to increase thereby the durability of the gun itself.
The invention is applicable to various styles of breech-loading guns having
movable bolts, but I will illustrate and describe it as applied to that particular type
of gun which is known as the "Mauser" magazine gun.
In the accompanying drawing of such gun
Figure 1 is a vertical axial section of the breech case, magazine and trigger-
guard.
Figure 2 is a side view of the magazine, of which the bottom is represented as
opened.
Figure 3 is a vertical cross section of the magazine in the line 3-3 of Figure 2,
seen in the direction of the arrow.
Figure 4 is a plan view of the magazine.
Figures 1 to 4 relate to a gun with which cartridges with projecting bottoms or
rims are used. For guns intended to fire cartridges formed with an annular groove
instead of a projecting rim, the general features remain unchanged but some
particular points must be altered. These alterations are represented in Figures 5
to 8, in which
Figure 5 is a vertical axial section of the breech-case, magazine and trigger-
guard of a gun. The locking device of the magazine bottom, and also the device
for retaining the cartridges, is constructed differently from that in Figures 1 and 2.
Figure 6 is a side view of the magazine, of which the bottom is represented as
opened.
Figure 7 is a rear view of the magazine.
Figure 8 is a plan view of the magazine.
The main feature of the invention consists in the employment, under the cartridge
rest, of a magazine m, which is permanently fixed to the gun, is made in one piece
with the trigger guard z, and is filled with cartridges from its top opening. The
trigger guard and magazine m are permanently fixed to the breech case a
by two
screws, one, f, at the forward end and one, /, at the rearward end of the trigger
guard z. The magazine m is milled out of the solid material of the trigger guard,
according to the size of the cartridges used, in Figures 1 to 4 for such with
projecting rims, in Figures 5 to 8 for such with annular groove round the rear end.
The forward and rearward top portion of the magazine m fit snugly to the opening
of the bottom part of the case a, whilst its springing side cheeks, which will be
hereinafter particularly described, have some play in this opening to allow yielding
when the cartridges are fed into the magazine. The side walls m' of the magazine
are made as thin as advisable. Between them works the cartridge lifter, consisting
of two levers jointed together, a spring between them, and a main spring e pressing
upon the short arm of the main lever d. The magazine is closed beneath by a
lid, which may be removed for cleaning or repairing purposes, and which bears in
a housing n, the pin, round which the lever d swings, and also.the spiral spring e,
acting, in regard to Figures 1 to 4, with its lower end upon the short arm of the
said lever and by its upper end upon the lower oblique face of a latch g guided

page_text: by suitable ways of the housing n. The head of this latch catches into an
indentation milled out of the forward end of the trigger guard when the lid fis
swung round its rear end, which catches by a projection into a recess 1 of the
trigger guard. To secure the lid f absolutely in its closed position, the pin
projects on both sides of the housing n about 1 millimeter, and rests with these
projections in indentations, Figure 2, milled in the inner sides of the walls of the
magazine m, parallel to the lower edge of the latter.
A vertical cross groove
allows the pin 2 to enter the indentations 3, and also to leave them when the lid /
is to be opened. Suppose the lid is put on and locked, it is brought into the
position shown in Figure 2. Its front end is raised until the pin passes through
the cross grooves to the indentations 3, when a push upon the housing n, partly
from below and partly from the front, will shift not only the pin back along the
indentations, but will also cause the latch to catch into the indentation g',
whereby the lid is securely locked. For opening the lid a cartridge p with
projecting rim is placed between a hook shaped nose 2 of the latchy and a
groove milled in the front portion of the trigger guard, as shown in Figure 1,
and raised at its front end as indicated by the curved arrow. By this means the
latch is forced at first downwards, as indicated by the straight arrow, and then
forwards after being free of its indentation g', so that the pin leaves the
indentations and the cross grooves and the lid can be swung round f¹ into the.
position of Figure 2. It may now be detached entirely from the magazine m
together with the lifter and the latch.
The upper portion of the side walls m is cut away and replaced by checks m² or
springing steel sheets, which are rivetted to the walls m', and the upper edges of
which are bent or curved inwards. These lips m³ may be shaped differently
according to the shape of the cartridges and the best way to retain them in the
magazine and to release them when they are pushed into the barrel. In Figure 4
the middle portion of the lips me projects mostly, but the latter may also be parallel
or shaped in any other suitable manner. In general the spring checks ought to
allow the cartridges to be pushed or pressed from above singly, or from a cartridge
holder as patented by Her Majesty's Letters Patent No. 12689 of September 3, 1888,
and as described in Complete Specification No. 10130 of May 27, 1892, into the
magazine against the pressure from below of the cartridge lifter, and then
retained securely by the lips m³, until the uppermost one is pushed into the barrel
by advancing the bolt of the gun. The forward and rearward top portions of the
magazine m are provided with recesses allowing a free outward motion of the spring
cheeks m² if required, but preventing their springing too much inwards.
For cartridges without projecting bottom or rim the same cannot be used for
opening the lid if it were furnished with the above described locking device; the
latter must therefore be altered as shown at Figures 5 to 8. The spring e works
with its upper end against the oblique face of the hook shaped latch g, swinging
round a cross pin of the housing n at the lower portion of the latch g. The latter
catches in a milled indentation g' of the fore portion of the trigger guard and locks
thereby the lid. If the lid is to be opened, the projectile of a cartridge pis
inserted in a shallow indentation g of the front face of the latch g and pushed in
the direction of the oblique arrow, Figure 5, until the latch is relieved from g¹.
A further downward push in the direction of the second arrow brings the parts in
the position shown in Figure 6. The pin, round which the lever d swings, does
not in this case protrude from the housing n, but is flush with the sides of the latter,
so that it passes snugly between the smooth walls m' of the magazine m, as the
lid is secured sufficiently by the joint " and the latch g catching in gl.
The spring checks m² may be the same as represented in Figures 1 to 4, or they
may be constructed as shown in Figures 5 to 8, where they are much smaller and
not rivetted to the side walls m', but are pushed into position with their front
end m in the front wall of the magazine, whilst their rear end is guided by a recess
of the rear wall. The spring cheeks m² have lips m³, as already described, and are
furnished in a suitable place with inwardly projecting ribs m³ parallel to their

page_text: lower edges, which serve as guides for the bottom portion of the cartridges for
preventing them from rising with the projectiles too much when pushed forward to
enter the barrel.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is
C
1. In repeating bolt guns, the application under the cartridge rest, of a
magazine (m), which is fixed permanently to the breech case (a), forms one piece
with the trigger guard, and is charged with cartridges from above, substantially as
herein shown and described and for the purposes explained.
2. In a cartridge magazine characterized by Claim 1, spring checks (m²), which
allow the magazine to be charged from above by pushing the cartridges singly or
from a cartridge holder into it against the pressure of any suitable cartridge lifter,
and which allow also the pushing forward of the uppermost cartridge by the bolt
into the barrel, substantially as shown and explained.
3. In a cartridge magazine characterized by Claim 1, a locking device for the
magazine bottom (f), which can be opened without any tool by means of a
cartridge belonging to the gun, and which consists substantially of the bottom
plate () in combination with a latch actuated by the spring (e) of the cartridge
lifter, and catching into or behind a suitable indentation provided at the trigger
guard, substantially as shown and described and working as explained.
Dated this Path day of July 180°
Dated this 25th day of July 18OD
PAUL MAUSER,
By Harris & Mills,
23, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents.