IMPROVEMENTS IN BREECH-LOADING FIRE-ARMS AND IN CARTRIDGES TO BE USED THEREWITH.” IN BREECH-LOADING FIRE-ARMS AND IN CARTRIDGES TO BE USED THEREWITH
Year: 1866

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Restell, of the Laurels, Palace Square,
Norwood, in the County of Surrey, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN BREECH-LOADING FIRE-ARMS AND IN CARTRIDGES TO BE USED THEREWITH.”
IN BREECH-LOADING FIRE-ARMS AND IN CARTRIDGES TO BE USED THEREWITH."
Sealed the 7th September 1866, and dated the 9th March 1866.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Restell at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
9th March 1866.
I, THOMAS RESTELL, of the Laurels, Palace Square, Norwood, in the County
of Surrey, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN BREECH-LOADING FIRE-ARMS AND IN CARTRIDGES TO BE USED THEREWITH,"
to be as follows:-
According to this Invention I form a breech plug, and affix thereto a long
rod (which serves as a guide) upon its under side.
upon its under side. This guide or rod may
be either round, square, dovetailed, or any convenient shape; by the use of
this I am enabled to dispense with a chamber or breech box, which heretoforo
has been necessary in the construction of breech-loading arms, and constitutes
the principal difficulty of their manufacture and the increase of their cost above

page_text: the ordinary muzzle-loader. By the side of this plug is placed the ordinary and
usual military locks, but having an incline formed upon the hammer moving
in a vertical plane, as in my former Patent of 1864, dated 15 December,
No. 2855, but in that case the incline is upon the opposite side to that adopted
in this Patent, viz., on the front instead of the rear of the hammer, this
hammer moving a bolt exactly in the same manner with the needle impelled
thereby, and having a hole through the plug in which the needle is struck.
By the above arrangement I am enabled to convert the present muzzle-
loading military rifles without removing or altering any of their parts, keeping
them all intact, exactly in their present situation. I sometimes employ the
above plan for the purpose of making a walking-stick gun; but in this case
the bolt has a slot cut into its head, and within which an arm having the half
and full cock bents at its rear is placed, in which the trigger snaps. This is
only new as regards the arm to move a bolt, it being usual to make a hammer
strike a cap. Sometimes I use, instead of a guide as described, a piece of
sheet steel made to clasp over the barrel, embracing more than half its
circumference, and made to slide upon the surface, serving as a guide in lieu
of the long rod.
The cartridge I use for this weapon I intend to use for fire-arms in general;
it consists in making a cylindrical piece of any substance sufficiently firm to
form a strong rear to a cartridge, either wood, papier maché, or any other
substance, as I do not confine myself to the material it is made from. In this
piece I form an annular recess nearly through the boxwood or other material,
and in the centre of the boxwood I place one of the cap plugs now used in
central-firo birding guns. Thus there is a recess in which I can place powder
round the centre box piece, which holds the cap firm. Upon drilling two or
more holes at the base of the recess the powder (when ignited in the usual
way) in these cartridges becomes connected with the powder in the recess,
therefore causing the whole of the cartridge and its case to be carried out of
the gun when fired, leaving nothing but lubrication of any suitable nature
behind, rendering the breech easy to work and preventing any fouling. At
the back of the powder in the recess I place a piece of explosive paper or skin,
which upon the ignition of the powder is instantly destroyed, melting effectually
the lubrication which fills up the upper part of the annular recess heretofore
described, and which forms the rear of the cartridge.
In making the cartridge I form and place in its rear one of these pieces of
wood which contains the powder, explosive paper, and lubricating material,
and fix it securely upon the rear of the other part of the powder contained in

page_text: the cartridge, forming a very strong back, and at all times keeping the cartridge
of a uniform shape.
As a modification I sometimes make the back of the cartridges to contain
an india-rubber ring besides the boxwood (with its centre cap for ignition),
but the annular recess is omitted in this case, therefore the rear of the cart-
ridge is blown off and left behind at each discharge, the succeeding cartridge
pushing this forward; should I use the ordinary percussion caps upon a nipple,
as in guns not having a needle, I then dispense with the boxwood or other
material altogether, but in both cases I use the explosive paper or skin, and
apply the lubricant as before described.
One of my appliances to fire-arms when percussion caps are used is to have
á trough with a spring lying along inside the same, of strength to retain eight,
ten, or twelve caps in the trough; a hole is drilled at each end of the trough,
one hole larger than the other. Upon unscrewing the nipple of a rifle or gun
it is placed in the larger hole and screwed again to its place; the trough then
assumes an inclined position, the other end of it having a hole serving to place
à small screw or tack into the stock, thereby holding the caps firmly to the
weapon, and rendering them when in this position so that they can be used
with great rapidity in the coldest weather.
My other appliance to the stock is a sliding piece affixed to the bands
securing the barrel, which receives the end of an adjustable screw; this screw
wedging the sliding piece. The bands are made by this arrangement without
having a slot cut in them, which hitherto has otherwise been tho case.
Another appliance where caps are used consists in making a stud or strip
of steel to be dovetailed in the usual percussioning lump in front of the nipple;
this stud projects upwards in à curvilinear form above the level of the nipple,
and protects the cap from an accidental blow. Rifles or other fire-arms are
frequently discharged by the accidental striking of the cap, which ought not
to be the case, for the hammer alone ought to produce the explosion of the
cap. In warfaro this frequently happens through a blow from a sword or
other extraneous force. The stud above described being higher than the cap
and placed in the front of the percussioning lump effectually prevents the
discharge of the arm unless the trigger be pulled.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Thomas Restell in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
8th September 1866.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
RESTELL, of the Laurels, Palace Square, Norwood, in the County of Surrey,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Ninth day of March, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, in the twenty-ninth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Thomas Restell, Her special licence that I, the said Thomas Restell, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Thomas
Restell, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN BREECH-LOADING
FIRE-ARMS AND IN CARTRIDGES TO BE USED THEREWITH," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Thomas Restell, my executors or adminis-
trators, 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Thomas Restell, do hereby declare
the nature of my 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, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the
letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say) :-
This Invention relates, firstly, to improvements on my Patent of One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, No. 2855, in the Specification of which
I described a mode of converting my improved breech-loader into a needle
gun.
According to the present Invention I form a breech plug, and affix thereto
a long rod (which serves as a guide) upon its under side. This guide rod may
be round, square, or any other convenient shape, and by its use I am enabled

page_text: to dispense with a chamber or breech box for the plug to stick in, which box
has heretofore been deemed necessary in the construction of breech-loading
arms, and constitutes the principal difficulty of their manufacture and the
increase of their cost above the ordinary muzzle-loader. By the side of the
barrel is placed the ordinary and usual military lock, but having an incline
formed upon the hammer for the purpose of operating a transverse bolt, which
when driven home not only locks the breech plug, but at the same time propels
the needle and causes it to pierce and ignite the cartridge.
.
By the above arrangement I am enabled to convert the present muzzle-
loading military rifles into efficient breech-loaders at a comparatively small
cost.
In Sheet I. of the accompanying Drawings, Fig. 1 is a plan view, and
Fig. 2 a side view of so much of a converted rifle as will serve to explain
this part of my Invention with the hammer down, and the plug held in place
by the transverse bolt; and Figure 3 is a side view shewing the hammer at
full-cock and the plug withdrawn from the barrel ready for the insertion of a
cartridge.
A is the plug, constructed precisely on the same principle as described
with reference to Sheet III. of the Drawings in the before-mentioned
Specification, that is, with its forward end fitting the barrel; and being
pierced at its centre to receive the needle or pin B for striking the cartridge.
It has also a transverse hole to receive the transverse bolt C, by which the
locking of the plug and the propulsion of the pin B is effected. The plug is
furnished at its rear end with a knob or button for sliding it in and out of the
barrel, and it has also attached to it a rod D, which slides in a recess formed
for it under the barrel, or between it and the stock. This rod serves as a
guide for the endway movement of the plug, and it may also be used for
cleaning out the barrel of the gun. If a slight spring is given to the rod it
will also serve to prevent the plug when not locked from falling out or getting
detached from the arm. The transverse bolt C is shewn detached at Figures 4.
Its outer end has an inclined cross cut a made in it to receive an inclined
segment-shaped feather 6 carried by the hammer E, which feather as the
hammer is moved on its fulcrum draws out or forces in the bolt. Besides the
cross cut a in the bolt a recess c is formed in it in the direction of its length.
The bottom of this recess is inclined, and it acts as a wedge to strike against
the rear end of the pin B and drive it forward while the hammer is in the act
of falling. To prevent the rifle when the hammer is at full-cock being
accidentally discharged I provide a locking arrangement, which consists of a

page_text: rock lever F mounted on the side of the lock plate. The forward end of this
lever enters a notch cut in the hammer boss, and its rear end carries a stud
projection, so situated that the pressure of the finger when placed in position
to operate the trigger will serve to lift the rock lever F clear of the notch, and
leave the hammer free to answer to the trigger.
A modification of this improved arrangement for closing and opening the
breech is shown in plan view at Fig. 5, where the guide rod D instead of
sliding in a recess between the barrel and the stock is attached to the plug, so
as to slide in a guide on the side of the barrel. A screw or knob on the
forward end of this rod will prevent the plug from becoming detached from
the arm.
This Invention relates, secondly, to improvements in guns which are fitted
with a nipple for receiving percussion caps.
The first improvement is intended to facilitate the capping of such guns,
more especially when the fingers of the soldier or sportsman are benumbed
with cold.
This improvement is illustrated in Sheet II. Fig. 1 shews in side view a
gun fitted with a guide for receiving and retaining any given number of per-
cussion caps in a position ready for their removal to the nipple of the gun,
and Fig. 2 is a plan view of the guide detached. This guide consists of a
plate A formed with two overlapping flanges a, a, under which the flanges of
the caps b, b, are slipped to secure them to the guide. This guide is attached
to the gun by screws, one of which enters the lump on the barrel, and the
other enters the stock, and it forms an inclined plane for guiding the caps to
the nipple. A pin c at the forward end of the guide prevents the inserted
caps from dropping out at that end, and a spring d affixed to the under side
of the guide, and bent upwards, as shewn at Fig. 1, closes the rear end of tho
guide. In order to apply a cap, it is only necessary to slide it towards the
nipple, and the spring will then yield and allow it to pass from the guide to
the nipple.
The second improvement connected with nipple guns is shewn at Fig. 3, the
object being to protect the cap from being accidentally discharged by a blow
other than that delivered by the hammer. To protect the cap a stud e pro-
jecting upwards above the level of the nipple is affixed to the lump on the
barrel by a screw or otherwise. This stud stands at a distance from the
nipple just sufficient to be clear of the falling hammer.
As an improvement on the bands which hold the barrels of fire-arms to the
stocks I form them with a clamping piece, as shewn at Figs. 4.
The

page_text: clamping piece fƒ embraces the lower part of the band, and takes its profile
form. The band is formed without a joint, and the clamping piece is secured
to a swivel screw 9, which enters a tapped hole in the band. The band when
slipped into its place is made fast by turning the screw g, which causes the
clamping piece f to bind against the under side of the stock and hold the
barrel firmly in place.
The last part of my Invention relates to improvements in the construction
of percussion cartridges, which are illustrated in Sheet II.
Figure 5 is a longitudinal section of a cartridge which is intended to be
self-discharging. h is the sabot, made of boxwood, papier mâché, or any
other suitable substance. It is cylindrical in form, and is recessed at its
hinder end to receive a percussion box i of metal, and to form also a re-
ceptacle for explosive material, by preference gun cotton, the ignition of which
is intended to discharge the sabot from the gun. The sabot is inserted in the
cartridge case, which may be formed of paper, and it serves to close one end,
while the bullet k closes the other end, the charge of powder being contained
in the space between them. To allow of the fire from the percussion box
reaching the charge a central hole is bored in the sabot, and holes mare
also made therein to lead back the fire from the ignited charge to the explosive
material in the rear of the sabot. The front of the sabot is rebated to
receive a ring of india-rubber, which forms a packing for the cartridge. At
the rear of the cartridge m a piece of explosive paper or skin covers the
explosive material n, and lubricating matter is inserted in the rear thereof,
and the whole is covered by the cartridge case. On the ignition of the powder
the explosive paper or skin is instantly destroyed, and the lubricating matter
is melted and left in the barrel, while the sabot is discharged therefrom.
Fig. 6 shows the sabot detached with its packing ring of india-rubber, and
Fig. 7 shows a sabot with two packing rings.
A modification of this cartridge is shown in section at Fig. 8, where (as
before) the sabot is recessed to receive the percussion box i, but no provision
is made for receiving the gun cotton. In this instance the sabot is intended
to be driven out by the force of the next succeeding explosion. The rear end
of the sabot is turned down to form an annular cup shape, and the end is
covered by a spherical india-rubber cap o, the elasticity of which will form a
packing for the cartridge. This form of sabot is shown detached at Fig. 9, it
is to be enveloped in the paper case.
Having now set forth the nature of my Invention of "Improvements in
Breech-loading Fire-arms and in Cartridges to be used therewith," I wish it

page_text: THOMAS RESTELL. (L.S.)