IMPROVEMENTS IN FIRE-ARMS
Year: 1878

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Robert Lake, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake,
& Co., Patent Agents, Southampton Buildings, London, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN FIRE-ARMS." A communication from abroad by Daniel
Baird Wesson, of Springfield, Massachusetts, United States of America,
Manufacturer of Fire-arms.
Sealed the 10th January 1879, and dated the 13th November 1878.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said William Robert Lake at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 13th November 1878.
WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co., Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, London. IMPROVEMENTS IN FIRE-ARMS." A communi-
cation from abroad by Daniel Baird Wesson, of Springfield, Massachusetts, United
States of America, Manufacturer of Fire-arms.
The object of this Invention is first to pack the joint between the forward end
of the cylinder and the rear end of the barrel in a revolving cylinder fire-arm, to
prevent the escape of gas through the joint at the time of explosion of the
cartridge.
The said Invention has for its object, secondly, the withdrawal of the shell after
the explosion of the cartridge from its position at the time of the explosion, and
its ejection from the chamber as the cylinder is revolved to the proper position for
that purpose.
And the Invention has for its object, thirdly, a new supply of cartridges for the
cylinder to a limited extent, which cartridges are forced into the latter from a
magazine attachment as fast as the shells are ejected from the cylinder.
The said Invention consists in a movable piece for forcing each cartridge forward
slightly as they are brought in succession in front of the hammer just before the
discharge, so that when the cartridge is exploded its forward end will project
slightly beyond the front end of the cylinder into the rear end of the barrel and
its forward part will cover the joint and effectually pack the same.

page_text: forced into the chambers of the cylinder as the latter revolves after the empty
shells have been ejected, all as fully herein-after described.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.
Figure 1 is a side view of a revolving cylinder fire-arm illustrating my Inven-
tion and showing the slide of the magazine moved forward.
Figure 2 is a plan of the same.
Figure 3 is a reverse plan showing the slide of the magazine moved forward.
Figure 4 is a vertical longitudinal section of the same at the axis of the barrel.
Figure 5 is a transverse vertical section on the line 1, 1, of Figure 1.
Figure 6 is a side view of the hammer and mechanism which operates the
movable breech piece of the said fire-arm.
Figure 7 is a horizontal section of the frame at the axis of the movable breech
showing the latter in place, and the pieces which operate the same.
Figure 8 is a horizontal section of the socket in which the ejector moves in the
plane of its axis, showing the said ejector and the pin which connects it with the
hammer.
And Figure 9 is a front view of the recoil shield of the said fire-arm.
A represents the barrel, D the frame, and B the cylinder of a revolving cylinder
fire-arm with a piece A¹ extending along beneath the barrel, and the cylinder
revolves upon a rod x, which may be inserted or withdrawn at the forward end of
the piece A'.
The said cylinder may be revolved in the ordinary manner by a series of teeth
on the rear end of the cylinder, and a pawl or hand m pivotted to the tumbler of
the hammer; but the cylinder is inade considerably shorter than the space in the
frame in which it revolves, as shown clearly at e, for reasons which will be herein-
after set forth.
A space or recess is made in the upper part of the frame and in a line with the
bore of the barrel, into which space is fitted to move freely a block a, which I
denominate the movable breech; its forward end on its lower side is provided with
a hook a¹ as seen clearly in Figures 1 and 6, and to this movable breech piece a
are pivotted the side pieces c which are jointed or toggled to the pieces b. These
pieces bare so pivotted at c' to the frame D as to allow then a swinging movement
in a vertical direction, and a projection is made on their lower part which engages
into a recess n made in the hammer as shown clearly in Figures 4 and 6, so that as
the hammer is drawn back the pieces b are drawn down at their forward part and
the movable breech piece a is drawn back a little, but if the hammer is moved
forward the piece a is moved forward. The latter is made of such a length that
when the hammer is in its most forward position the forward end of the piece a
protrudes through the face of the recoil shield a little, as shown clearly in Figure 1,
but if the hammer is drawn back the plane of the forward end of the piece a is a
little in the rear of the plane of the face of the recoil shield.
The firing-pin e is arranged in the piece a with its ordinary spring and stop, its
rear end extending back between the pieces b so that it can be struck by the
hammer when the latter moves forward, as shown in Figure 4.
A slot or recess 8 is made in the side of the hammer, into which engages a pin ƒ¹
formed on the inside of a bolt f, sliding longitudinally in a socket or recess made in
the frame, so that when the said hammer moves forward the bolt f is forced
forward, and when the hammer is moved back the bolt f is thereby drawn back
also, and this bolt is of such length that when the hammer is in its most rearward
position or at full cock the forward end of the bolt is nearly on the vertical plane
of the recoil shield, and when the hammer is in its most forward position or against
the firing pin e, the forward end of the bolt extends forward nearly to the rear
face of the cylinder, as shown in Figures 1, 2, and 3.,

page_text: The magazine E is arranged beneath the barrel and is provided with the ordinary
spring F2 and a plunger F; and a cover E' or slide is clasped around the magazine
E to cover the tubes L of the magazine, or is otherwise arranged to slide length-
wise thereon, but so as to remain firmly in any position in which it may be left.
I make a shoulder o on the plunger and attach a spring catch s¹ on the inside of
the slide E, so that if the slide be moved forward the spring catch s¹ engages
against the shoulder o and moves the plunger F forward, also compressing the
spring F
In connection with this arm I use a cartridge whose shell is longer than the
cylinder and nearly as long as the space in the frame in which the cylinder
revolves, and the ball of which is inserted its entire length into the shell, the
flange of the said shell being of the same diameter as the body of the shell, so that
the cartridge may pass entirely through the chamber of the cylinder and out at its
forward end, the flange being made by an annular groove at the head, as shown
clearly in the Drawing.
Instead of using a single tube for the magazine I use any desired number of such
tubes.
In the Drawing I have shown a series of three tubes arranged side by side
beneath the barrel.
The operation of the said Invention is as follows, that is to say:-The cartridges
are inserted into the front end of the chambers of the cylinder at the side of the
barrel, and when one is inserted the cylinder is rotated slightly to bring the next
chamber into position to receive a cartridge, and so on, until all the cartridges have
been inserted, and as the cylinder is rotated each time the flange of each cart-
ridge is brought into a position immediately behind the hook a¹, and the cart-
ridge is then in a position to be discharged, the hammer being at a position of
half cock while the cylinder is being charged.
The hammer being drawn back to the "full cock" position, the toggle pieces band
c are drawn down, and the movable breech piece a is also drawn back to a position
slightly in rear of the face of the recoil shield H, and the bolt f is also drawn back
by the hammer.
When the hammer C is driven forward again by the action of the trigger the toggle
pieces b and c are thrown up quickly, and the piece a is forced forward and forces
the cartridge forward so that its front enters the rear end of the barrel, and the
joint between the rear end of the barrel and the forward end of the cylinder is
thoroughly and effectually packed, so that no gas from the explosion can escape
through that joint, and the whole force of the explosion is utilized to expel the
ball from the barrel.
When the hammer is again moved back to a full cock the movable piece a is
also drawn back, drawing back with it the empty shell to its original position in
the chamber; the cylinder is revolved by the hand or pawl m, and the next cart-
ridge is thus brought into position with its flange behind the hook a', and the
forward movement of the hammer drives that cartridge forward with its front end
projecting into the barrel, packing the joint between the rear end of the barrel and
front end of the cylinder as before. This shell is in turn drawn back by the next back-
ward movement of the hammer and the cylinder is rotated as before; the first empty
shell is then in a position immediately in front of the bolt f, and when the hammer
next moves forward to explode the cartridge then in position for firing, the bolt f
is carried forward with a quick movement, striking the first emptied shell, forcing
it out of the forward end of the cylinder and clear from the gun. This firing of the
cartridges and ejecting of the empty shells may be continued as long as any cart-
ridges remain in the cylinder, and may be effected very rapidly by the simple
movement of the hammer in cocking and firing.
If it should be desired to continue this rapid firing longer than would be prac-
ticable by the use of one round of cartridges in the cylinder alone the slide E¹
beneath the barrel is moved forward, which also moves forward the plungers E, so
that cartridges may be placed in the tubes until the magazine is filled.

page_text: i
The tubes L of the magazine are in direct line with the corresponding chambers
of the cylinder, and when thus loaded, when the chambers of the cylinder aro
loaded also the cartridges in the magazine cannot enter the chambers of the cylinder;
but the first chamber that is emptied by the ejection of the shell in firing is quickly
reloaded by a cartridge passing back into it as soon as the said empty chamber gets
into line with the first tube of the magazine. This magazine being provided with
a series of tubes may be made to contain any desired number of cartridges, so that
when the chambers of the cylinder are all loaded and the magazine is loaded also
the rapid discharge of cartridges may be kept up by the simple movements of the
hammer in firing as long as any cartridges remain in the magazine.
This Invention may be applied to small revolving fire-arms as well as to larger
arms with equal facility and with great advantage.
It will be seen that the above-described movemeut forward of every cartridge as
it comes into line partially into the barrel and is discharged, is a very important
feature of my Invention, as the joint between the rear. end of the barrel and the
forward end of the cylinder is most effectually packed to prevent the escape of gas,
which escape has been one of the most serious objections to the use of large revolving
fire-arms for long and accurate shooting, which objection this part of my Invention
entirely obviates.
Inasmuch as none of the gas produced by the explosion comes in contact with
the interior surface of the cylinder chambers or with the exterior surface of the
cylinder at the joint between the latter and the barrel, it is evident that the
ordinary "fouling" of the cylinder is entirely obviated, and all the difficulties
arising from that cause in the proper working of the parts are also obviated by my
Invention.
It is obvious that the piece a may be operated or caused to move to and fro by
a cam or other mechanism as well as by the toggle joint shown in the Drawing.
Having thus fully described the said Invention as communicated to me by my
foreign correspondent, and the manner of performing the same, I wish it under-
stood that I claim,―
First. In a revolving cylinder fire-arm a movable piece arranged to operate in
the frame at the rear of the cylinder by means of which the cartridges are forced
forward to pack the joint between the rear end of the barrel and the forward end
of the cylinder, as and for the purposes described.
Second. A revolving cylinder fire-arm in which the cartridges are forced forward
into a position to pack the joint between the cylinder and barrel while the explo-
sion occurs, as above set forth.
Third. The moveable piece a provided with the hook a' in combination with the
chambered cylinder of a revolving cylinder fire-arm, as and for the purpose set
forth.
Fourth. In a revolving cylinder fire-arm the combination of the cylinder with a
magazine consisting of two or moro tubes, each provided with a spring to force the
cartridges into the chambers of the cylinder, as above set forth.
Fifth. In a magazine fire-arm the combination of the slide, the tube, the plunger,
and a spring catch, as and for the purpose set forth.
Sixth. A revolving cylinder fire-arm in which the above specified improvements
are combined with the other parts, as shewn in the accompanying Drawing, and
operate as and for the purposes set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Robert Lake, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Thirteenth day of November, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and seventy-eight.
DAD