IMPROVE MENTS IN BREECH-LOADING SMALL-ARMS
Year: 1872

page_text: Filed 5th August 1879.
In the Matter of Letters Patent granted to WILLIAM ANSON, of Birmingham,
in the County of Warwick, Gun Maker, for the Invention of "IMPROVE
MENTS IN BREECH-LOADING SMALL-ARMS," bearing date the Fourteenth
day of December 1872, No. 3791.
DISCLAIMER AND MEMORANDUM OF ALTERATION as proposed to be
entered by the said William Anson, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick,
pursuant to the Statutes in that case made and provided.
WHEREAS Her Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters Patent under the
Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, bearing date at
Westminster, the Fourteenth day of December 1872, No. 3791, in the thirty-sixth
year of Her reign, did give and grant unto the said William Anson, his
executors, administrators, and assigns, the sole privilege for the term of fourteen
years thence next ensuing, of making, using, exercising, and vending within the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of
Man, the said Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN BREECH-LOADING SMALL-ARMS:
13
And whereas in pursuance of a proviso in the said Letters Patent contained, I,
the said William Anson, did within six calendar months next after the date of the
said Letters Patent cause a Specification or instrument in writing under my hand
and seal, purporting to describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and
in what manner the same was to be performed, to be duly filed in the Great Seal
Patent Office:
And whereas since the filing of the said Specification I have ascertained that
certain parts of the Invention which at the date of my said Letters Patent I
believed to be new had been used before the said date, and I now desire to confine
in the manner hereinafter indicated my claim in respect of the said Invention to
those parts thereof that had not been so used;

page_text: 16
serves
line 26, between the words "end" and in" I insert the words " with its
fastening" at the end of line 27 of the saine page I omit the words "part of" and
I substitute therefor the word "for;" in line 31 of the same page between the words
"1" and "braze" I insert the word "sometimes;" in line 35 of the same page I
omit the word "as," occurring between the words "machinery" and "the" and
also the word "only," occurring between tho words "
and "as;" in the
sume page, line 36, I insert the word "but" between the letter "g" and the word
the;" in page 6, lines 3 to 5, I omit the words "limit myself to the precise details
herein described and illustrated, as the same may be varied without departing from
the nature of my Invention," and I substitute therefor the words "claim generally
the use of a sliding spring bolt for securing the fore-ends of drop down guns to the
barrels;" on the same page, line 9, I omit the words "of which are," and between
the words "bolt" and "the" I insert the words "such as e sliding in a tubular
guide such as d."
"
And the said Specification when so disclaimed, altered, and amended, will read as
follows:-
..
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
ANSON, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Gun-Maker, send greeting.
WHEREAS Hor most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters Patent
bearing date the Fourteenth day of December, in the year of our Lord One thou-
sand, eight. hundred and seventy two, in the thirty-sixth year of Her reign, did
for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said William
Anson, Her special license, that I, the said William Anson, my executors, admi-
nistrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William Anson, 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 "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN BREECH-LOADING SMALL-ARMS," upon the condition (ainongst others) that
I, the said William Anson, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in
writing under ny, 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 William Anson, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, to
be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement thereof,
that is to say:-
My Invention relates to breech-loading small-arms of the kind called drop down
guns, that is, guns in which the barrels turn in a vertical plane upon a joint at the
fore end of the body for the purpose of lifting their open breech onds from the face
of the break off for charging, and for shutting down the said barrels against the
face of the break off for firing.
My said Invention consists in constructing and connecting to the said drop down
guns that part of the said guns called the "fore-end" in the manner berein-after
described. The said "fore-end" consists of a prolongation of the body, which
prolongation is fixed to the underside of the barrels and completes the joint on
which the barrels turn, and also secures the barrels to the body. I dispense with the
cross bolt and escutcheons ordinarily employed to connect the fore end to the body
and barrels, and in place of the ordinary loop which is fixed to the under side and
between the barrels I make an undercut notch or hook, and I also mäkė the extreme

page_text: end of the fore end tubular. A bolt or rod working in the said tubular part of the
fore end is provided at its outer end with a thumb plate or head, and at its inner
end with a frame carrying a transverse bar, the said frame working in guides on
either side a cavity near the middle of the fore-end. A coiled spring around the
bolt described tends to press it outwards or towards the muzzle of the gun. The
rear part of the fore end is provided with the usual stop and abutment for
completing the joint and securing the barrels to the body of the gun.
In putting
the said fore end in its place in its place its rear end is brought against the joint of
the barrels in the ordinary manner, and the said fore end is pressed against the
underside of the barrels. The undercut projecting notch or hook enters the cavity
in the fore-end, the cross bar coming in contact with the inclined side of the said
notch or hook; the said cross bar is thereby forced back until the fore end is fully
pressed to its seat when the said cross bar snaps upon the notch or hook by the
action of the coiled spring, and the foro end is thereby secured in its place.
In order to remove the fore end it is only necessary to press upon the thumb
plate at the extreme end of the fore end, when the cross bar is pressed back from
the notch or hook, and the fore end being thereby released may be lifted from the
body of the gun.
Having explained the nature of my Invention I will proceed to describe, with
reference to the accompanying Drawing, the manner in which the same is to be
performed.
Figure 1 represents in side elevation partly in longitudinal section, and Figure ?
in plan of underside, a drop down gun, the fore end of which is connected to the
barrels according to my Invention; Figure. 3 represents a side elevation of the
fore-end separately without the wooden cover; and Figures 4, 5, and 6 represent
the metallic parts of which the fore end is made. In Figure 2 the wooden cover of
the fore end is removed. The same letters indicate the same parts in the several
Figures of the Drawing.
a is the loop on the under side of the barrels provided with an under cut
notch or hook b; c is the wooden part or cover of the fore end. The muzzle end
of the part c is made tubular, and in the said tubular part the metallic tube d is
fitted. In the tube d a sliding bolt or rod e works. The said rod e has at its outer
end a milled head e, and at its inner end a frame f; the part få of the said frame
constituting a cross bar for engaging with the hook or notch b of the loop a within
the tubular part d of the fore end, and around the bolt or rod e is a coiled spring g,
by means of which the bolt is pressed outwards or towards the muzzle end of the
gun. The coiled spring g takes a bearing at one end against the internal shoulder d³
of the tubular part d, and at the other end against the collar e³ on the end of the
bolt & The frame f, f, of the bolt slides on the under side of the bar h, the
screwed eye fs on the said frame working in the slot h in the bar h. The bar h
carries at its rear end the usual abutment and stop at h³. In fixing the fore end to
the under side of the barrels its rear end ³ is placed against the joint on the barrels,
and the said fore end is pressed against the underside of the barrels. As the fore
end approaches the barrels the notch or hook 6 passes through the opening in the
frame f, and the bolt is pressed towards the breech end of the gun by the inner
side of the bar f of the said frame f, bearing against the inclined sido of the notch
or hook b. On the fore end being fully pressed to its seat the cross bar f³ snaps
upon the notch or hook 6 of the loop a by the action of the coiled spring g, and the
fore end is thereby securely connected to the barrels as illustrated in Figures 1
and 2. To remove the fore end the milled head e² of the bolt is pressed inwards or
towards the breech end of the gun. The cross bolt f is thereby removed from off
the notch or hook b, and the fore end is released, and may be lifted from the under-
side of the barrels.
I manufacture the metallic parts of the fore end with its fastening in the manner
represented in Figures 4, 5, and 6 of the Drawing. I make the bolt for the fore
end of the rod e with its collar e³ and milled head e² in one piece, and I secure to
the said rode the separate frame f,ƒ³, the end of the said rod e being screwed into

page_text: the screwed eye f³ on the said frame. I make the tubular part & of a separate picce,
which I sometimes braze to the bar h, the end h* of the said bar taking into a cross
slot d in the end of the tubular part d. By building up the parts of the bolt in
this way great simplicity of manufacture is secured, and the parts may conveniently
be made by machinery. The tube d serves as a guide for the rod e and an abutment
for the spring g, but the said tube & may be dispensed with, and the wooden cover c
of the fore end may have in it the requisite tubular opening and shoulder to
serve as a guide for the rod e and an abutment for the spring g.
4
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the manner in which the
same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that I do not claim generally
the use of a sliding spring bolt for securing the fore-ends of drop down guns to the
barrels, but I claim as my Invention the improvements in brecch-loading small-arms.
herein-before described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawing, that is to say,
connecting the fore ends of the said small-arms to the barrels and disconnecting
them from the said barrels by means of a sliding bolt, such as e, sliding in a tubular
guide such as d, the parts constructed, arranged, and combined substantially as
described and illustrated.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Anson, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Seventh day of June, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and seventy three.
Witness,
GEORGE SHAW.
WILLIAM ANSON. (L.S.)
In witness whereof, I, the said William Anson, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Seventh day of July, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and seventy-nine.

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Anson, of Birmingham, in the County
of Warwick, Gun Maker, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
BREECH-LOADING SMALL-ARMS.”
Sealed the 30th May 1873, and dated the 14th December 1872.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Anson at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
14th December 1872.
I, WILLIAM ANSON, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Gun
Maker, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN BREECH-LOADING SMALL-ARMS," to be as follows:
My Invention relates to breech-loading small-arms of the kind called
drop down guns; that is, guns in which the barrels turn in a vertical
plane upon a joint at the fore end of the body for the purpose of lifting
their open breech ends from the face of the break off for charging, and
for shutting down the said barrels against the face of the break off for.
firing.

page_text: My said Invention consists in constructing and connecting to the said
drop down guns that part of the said guns called the "fore end" in the
manner herein-after described. The said "fore end" consists of a
prolongation of the body, which prolongation is fixed to the under side
of the barrels and completes the joint on which the barrels turn, and
also secures the barrels to the body. I dispense with the cross bolt and
cscutcheons ordinarily employed to connect the fore end to the body and
barrels, and in place of the ordinary loop which is fixed at the under
side of and between the barrels I make an undercut notch or hook, and
I also make the extreme end of the "fore end" tubular. A bolt or rod
working in the said tubular part of the fore end is provided at its outer
end with a thumb plate, and at its inner end with a frame carrying a
transverse bar, the said frame working in guides on either side a cavity
near the middle of the fore end. A coiled spring around the bolt
described tends to press it outwards or towards the muzzle of the gun.
The rear part of the fore end is provided with the usual stop and
abutment for completing the joint and securing the barrels to the body
of the gun. In putting the said fore end in its place, its rear end is
brought against the joint of the barrels in the ordinary manner, and the
said fore end is pressed against the under side of the barrels. The
undercut projecting notch or hook enters the cavity in the fore end, the
cross bar coming in contact with the inclined side of the said notch or
hook. The said cross bar is thereby forced back until the fore end is
fully pressed to its seat, when the said cross bar snaps under the notch or
hook by the action of the coiled spring, and the fore end is thereby
secured in its placed.
In order to remove the fore end it is only necessary to press upon the
thumb plate at the extreme end of the "fore end," when the cross bar is
pressed back from under the notch or hook, and the fore end being
thereby released may be lifted from the body of the gun.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Anson in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 10th June 1873.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
ANSON, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Gun Maker, send a
greeting.

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fourteenth day of December, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in the thirty-
sixth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
5 and grant unto me, the said William Anson, Her special license that I,
the said William Anson, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said William Anson, 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 SMALL-ARMS,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William Anson, my
executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my or
their, or one of their hands and scals, should particularly describe and
ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner tho
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 William Anson, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement thereof, that is to say:-
My Invention relates to breech-loading small-arms of the kind called
drop down guns; that is, guns in which the barrels turn in a vertical
plane upon a joint at the fore end of the body for the purpose of lifting
their open breech ends from the face of the break off for charging, and
for shutting down the said barrels against the face of the break off for
firing.
56
My said Invention consists in constructing and connecting to the said
drop down guns that part of the said guns called the "fore end" in the
manner herein-after described. The said fore end" consists of a
prolongation of the body, which prolongation is fixed to the under side
of the barrels and completes the joint on which the barrels turn, and
also secures the barrels to the body. I dispense with the cross bolt and
escutcheons ordinarily employed to connect the fore end to the body
and barrels, and in place of the ordinary loop which is fixed at the under

page_text: side and between the barrels I make an undercut notch or hook, and
I also make the extreme end of the fore end tubular. A bolt or rod
working in the said tubular part of the fore end is provided at its outer
end with a thumb plate or head, and at its inner end with a framo
carrying a transverse bar, the said frame working in guides on either
sidę a cavity near the middle of the fore end. A coiled spring around
the bolt described tends to press it outwards or towards the muzzle of
the gun. The rear part of the fore end is provided with the usual stop
and abutment for completing the joint and securing the barrels to the
body of the gun. In putting the said fore end in its place, its rear end
is brought against the joint of the barrels in the ordinary manner, and
the said fore end is pressed against the under side of the barrels. The
undercut projecting notch or hook enters the cavity in the fore end, the
cross bar coming. in contact with the inclined side of the said notch or
hook. The said cross bar is thereby forced back until the fore end is fully
pressed to its scat, when the said cross bar snaps upon the notch or book
by the action of the coiled spring, and the fore end is thereby secured in
its place.
In order to remove the fore end it is only necessary to press upon the
thumb plate at the extreme end of the fore end, when the cross bar is
pressed back from the notch or hook, and the fore end being thereby
released may be lifted from the body of the gun.
Having explained the nature of my Invention, I will proceed to
describe with reference to the accompanying Drawing the manner in
which the same is to be performed.
Figure 1 represents in side elevation partly in longitudinal section;
and Figure 2 in plan of under side a drop down gun, the fore end of
which is connected to the barrels according to my Invention; Figure 3
represents a side elevation of the fore end separately without the wooden
cover; and Figures 4, 5, and 6 represent the metallic parts of which
the forc end is made. In Figure 2, the wooden cover of the fore end is
removed. The same letters indicate the same parts in the several
Figures of the Drawing.
a is the loop on the under side of the barrels provided with an undercut
notch or hook b; c is the wooden part or cover of the fore end. The
muzzle end of the part c is made tubular, and in the said tubular part
the metallic tube d is fitted. In the tube d a sliding bolt or rod e

page_text: I
works. The said rode has at its outer end a milled head e², and at its
inner end a frame f, the part ƒ of the said frame constituting a cross
bar for engaging with the hook or notch 6 of the loop a. Within the
tubular part d of the fore end, and around the bolt or rod e is a coiled
spring g, by means of which the bolt is pressed outwards or towards the
muzzle end of the gun. The coiled spring takes a bearing at one end
against the internal shoulder d² of the tubular part d, and at the other
end against the collar e³ on the end of the bolt c. The frame f, f³, of
the bolt slides on the under side of the bar h, the screwed eye ƒ³ on the
said frame working in the slot h³ in the bar h. The bar h carries at its
rear end the usual abutment and stop. at ³. In fixing the fore and to
the under side of tlie barrels its rear end ³ is placed against the joint
on the barrels, and the said fore end is pressed against the under side of
the barrels. As the fore end approaches the barrels the notch or hook b
passes through the opening in the frame f, and the bolt is pressed
towards the breech end of the gun by the inner side of the bar f³ of the
said frame f, bearing against the inclined side of the notch or hook b.
On the fore end being fully pressed to its seat the cross bar f² snaps
upon the notch or hook 6 of the loop a by the action of the coiled
spring, and the fore end is thereby securely connected to the barrels as
illustrated in Figures 1 and 2. To remove the fore end the milled
head of the bolt is pressed inwards or towards the breech end of the
gun. The cross bolt f* is thereby removed from off the notch or hook b,
and the fore end is released and may be lifted from the under side of the
barrels.
1
I manufacture the metallic parts of the fore end in the manner repre-
sented in Figures 4, 5, and 6 of the Drawing. I make the bolt part of
the fore end of the rode with its collar e³ and milled head e³.in one
piece, and I secure to the said rod e the separate frame ƒ, ƒ³, the end of
the said rod e being screwed into the screwed eye fs on the said frame.
I make the tubular part d of a separate piece which I braze to the bar h,
the end of the said bar taking into a cross slot d³ in the end of the
tubular part d. By building up the parts of the bolt in this way great
simplicity of manufacture is secured, and the parts may conveniently be
made by machinery. As the tube d serves only as a guide for the rod e
and an abutment for the spring g, the said tube d may be dispensed
with, and the wooden cover c of the fore end may have in it the requisite
tubular opening and shoulder to serve as a guide for the rod e, and an
abutment for the spring g.

page_text: Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the manner
in which the same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that I
do not limit myself to the precise details herein described and illustrated,
as the same may be varied without departing from' the nature of my
Invention, but I claim as my Invention the improvements in breech-
loading small-arms herein-before described and illustrated in the accom-
panying Drawing, that is to say, connecting the 'fore ends of the said
small-arms to the barrels, and disconnecting them from the said barrels
by means of a sliding bolt, the parts of which are constructed, arranged,
and combined, substantially as described and illustrated.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Anson, have hereunto set
my hand and scal, this Seventh day of June, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three.
Witness,
GEORGE SHAW.
WILLIAM ANSON. (L.S.)