Improvements in Breech Loading Small Arms.
Year: 1891

page_text: Date of Application, 17th Sept., 1891
Complete Specification Left, 12th May, 1892-Accepted, 17th Sept., 1892
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Breech Loading Small Arms.
I, PAUL BRUN-LATRIGE, Manufacturer of Fire-arms, of St. Etienne (Loire),
in the Republic of France, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
The gun which forms the subject of the present invention is provided with
stationary barrels and a movable breech; it has the advantage of cocking auto-
matically by opening the gun and besides permits the extraction of the cartridges
or of the empty case by the same operation.
This gun comprises a breech movable around a pin and provided with a hooked
lever to fix the movable breech.
A hook on the lever when the gun is closed and the lever uncorked engages in a
groove provided for the purpose in the false breech.
In the movable breech are placed two firing pins each of which is surrounded by
a spiral spring which gives the force of impulsion to the firing-pins. These firing-
pins are provided with a cylindrical portion with a notch and a semi-cylindrical
portion provided with a stud. This semi-cylindrical portion engages in a groove
which is also semi-cylindrical and which is provided in the tail of the breech.
The studs of the firing pins project beyond the movable breech and engage in
two hollow lock-plates which form an inclined plane and are placed on each side of
a recess provided for the purpose to allow of the passage of the tail of the breech
block when the movable breech is opened.
A lock-plate is provided in the breech block which allows a spring provided with
two branches to be lodged therein and which by means of its branches rests on the
sear in such a manner as to retain the ends of the sear against the firing-pins and to
cause it to fall in the notches thereof when these notches present themselves before
the ends of the sear.
There is also a lever which acts in conjunction with the trigger which lifts the
tail of the lever and bending the spring causes the end of the sear to disengage
from the notch in the firing pin and thus determine the firing of the shot.
On
All these parts being described I will now explain the operation of the gun ;-
Let us suppose the gun is closed, the shots fired, and the lever lowered.
raising the lever the hook which fixes the breech block to the false breech being
drawn back and disengaged from its groove, nothing now retains the breech block
in its closed position.
When, after the lever is drawn in order to open the breech block the latter turns
upon its pivot, the following operations take place. 1). The arming of the gun;
2) the extraction of the empty cartridge cases.
1). When the movable breech in turning comes behind the stud of each firing pin
which is engaged in each of the lock-plates the stud reascends the inclined plane
formed by these lock-plates and stretches the spiral spring placed around the
firing-pin until the end of the sear engages in the notch of the firing-pin, the gun
is cocked and the shot is fired.
2). The lower portion of the tail of the breech-block is provided with a small
pivotted catch or arm and held in position by a spring which limits the extent of
its movement on one side while the metal of the tail of the breech-block retains it
on the other side. When the breech-block is opened the end of the arm encounters
a projection upon a slide and imparts to it a forward movement and through a
suitable link draws back the tail of the extractor and consequently imparts the:
same backward movement to the extractor which moves the cases or the cartridges
and draws them a little out of the barrel.

page_text: The movement of the breech-block continuing, the end of the arm encounters the
end of the extractor and on pushing the latter imparts to it a forward movement
(that is to say contrary to the movement that this picce had just performed) and
causes it to enter in its groove leaving the cartridges or the cases outside the barrel
in such a manner that they can be easily grasped by the hand.
The breech-block being open, the cocked firing-pins and the cartridges in the
barrel, the gun is closed by lowering the breech-block.
The tail of the extractor instead of engaging in the space comprised between the
two barrels is placed in the false breech and moves therein in a dove-tailed groove.
Lastly the firing-pins engage in the front of the breech-block and are held by a
plate which slides in another dove-tailed groove.
Dated this 17th day of September 1891.
W. P. THOMPSON & BOULT,
Agents for the Applicant.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Breech Loading Small Arms.
I, PAUL BRUN-LATRIGE, of St. Etienne (Loire) in the Republic of France,
Manufacturer of Fire-arms, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in
what manner the same is to be performed to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement :-
The gun which forms the subject of the present invention is provided with one or
more stationary barrels and a movable breech block, and it has the advantage of
cocking automatically when the breech is opened at which operation the cartridges
or empty cartridge cases are also automatically withdrawn from the barrels into a
position convenient for their being removed by hand.
The invention will be best understood by reference to the accompanying drawings
in which
Fig. 1 is a view partly in side elevation and partly in longitudinal section of the
part of a gun to which this invention pertains, the breech block in this view being
represented as in its raised or open position.
Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section on the line 2-2 of Fig. 5 showing one of the
firing pins in the position it occupies after it has been "fired."
Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section on line 3—2 of Fig. ♬ showing one of the firing
pins "cocked" and ready for firing.
Fig. 4 is a plan of the top side and
Fig. 5 a plan of the underside of the movable breech block Fig. 4 showing the
hooked lever in position for securing the breech block in its closed position, and
Fig. 5 showing it as when raised for unlocking the breech.
Fig. 6 is a face view of the movable breech block and
Fig. 7 a face view of the dovetailed plate which fits into it.
Fig. 8 is an underside view of one of the firing pins.
Fig. 9 is a transverse section on line 9-9 of Fig. 8.
Fig. 10 is a side view of the hooked lever, and
Fig. 11 is a transverse section through the breech block on the line 10-10 of
Fig. 3.
Like letters represent like parts throughout the drawings.
The gun shown in the accompanying drawings is provided with two barrels and
as the two sets of mechanism applied to both are similar the following description
of one will apply to both.
A is the barrel which is rigidly secured to the false breech B and stock C. D is
the breech block the tail or narrowed portion d of which is pivotted by a pin d² to
the false breech B and fits between the cheeks (Figs. 1 and 11) of said false
breech.
The breech block D has a slot d' extending vertically through it for accommodating

page_text: the hooked lever or breech-locking lever E which is pivotted therein by pin e and
has a laterally extending arm e¹ by means of which it may conveniently be moved
by hand from the position in which it is shown in Fig. 2, 3 and 4 in which its
hook e engages with the underside of projection 6' so as to lock it to the false
breech B, to the position in which it is shown in Figs. 1 and 5 when the hook e¹
being released from b¹ the breech block may be turned back as shown in Fig. 1.
The breech block D is bored out to receive the firing pin F which as shown is
preferably formed of two different thicknesses at fand f, the head or larger part,
against the back of which the spring G bears, working in the chamber d³ in which
is also located the spring G which encircles the part fl of firing pin F and at its
back end bears against the shoulder dª.
or
The rear end of the firing pin extends as far back as the breech block tail & the
vertical or side face of which is formed with a semi-cylindrical groove for receiving
it and allowing the firing pin to move longitudinally when being "cocked"
"fired." At this back part the firing pin F is recessed or formed semi-cylindrical
for a portion of its length as at as shown most clearly in Figs. 8 and 9 a
projection being left at the end to enable the firing pin to be drawn back by the
cam into its "cocked" position, when the breech-block is opened as hereinafter
described.
The underside of the firing pin F is formed with a notch for the engagement
therewith of the sear H which is pivotted by pin h in a slot or recess in the
underside of the breech block D. A sear spring H' acting on the sear tail h
constantly presses the operative end of the sear against the firing pin F so that as
soon as the notch f* is presented in proper position the sear will engage with it and
retain the firing pin in its "cocked" position.
In the accompanying drawings the sear spring H' is shown in the form of a fork
secured to the underside of the breech block D by a screw hand each branch or
arm of which acts on one of the two sears represented in the drawings.
The firing pin bead is provided with the usual pin fo for striking the cartridge-
detonator or cap and it is moreover formed with a projection which slides in a
recess d Fig. 6 formed in the side of the chamber which prevents the firing F
from turning on its axis.
D' is a dovetailed plate which is fitted into a dovetailed groove in the face of the
breech block D and retains the firing pin in the chamber a hole de being provided
in the plate D for the passage therethrough of the pin fo. The plate D¹ is
secured in position by a screw (not shown in the drawings) which passes through
the hole in plate D¹ (Fig. 7) and screws into hole (Fig. 6) in the face of the
breech block D.
I is the cartridge extractor which is mounted in any convenient manner so as to
slide longitudinally in or on the false breech B and the vertical part of which fits
into a recess in the back end of the barrels A in the ordinary manner. J is a lever
pivotted at j in the false breech Bits upper end engaging with a slot in the extractor I
and its lower end with a slot in the rod or plate which is capable of sliding
longitudinally in the false breech. The lever J causes any movement imparted to
the plate in one direction to be transmitted in the opposite direction to the
extractor and vice versa.
In a recess in the end of the breech block tail d is pivotted a lever K the
lower end of which is pressed outwards from d by a spring k while the upper end,
by abutting against d limits the extent to which the spring can press the lower end
outwards. While the breech block D is being raised into the position shown in
Fig. 1 the end k¹ of lever K first comes in contact with the projection.j2 of the
plate j' and moves the plate forward, and through the lever J moves the extractor
backward and afterwards by the continued movement of the breech block in the
same direction k¹ comes in contact with the back end of the extractor I and pushes
it forward, and, through the lever J, moves the plate backward. By these means
the cartridge is left projecting beyond the back end of the barrel A and may be
readily grasped by the hand and removed.

page_text: The before described projection 3 of the firing pin extends into the adjacent
recessed face of the breech block so that when said block is raised the projection
works against the cam 62 and is thereby drawn back and with it the firing pin
until the point of the sear H is pressed by its spring H' into the notch to retain
the firing pin F in the "cocked" position to which it is thus automatically
brought.
The empty cartridge case made to project from the breech end of the barrel as
before described may then be removed and a fresh cartridge inserted in its place,
after which the breech block D is lowered and locked in its closed position by the
hook-lever E. During the closing down of the breech-block the lever K pivotted
therein will come in contact with the projection of plate but will turn on its
pivot against the pressure of the spring k to allow of its movement past said
projection.
The gun is now ready for "firing" and all that is necessary to "fire" it is to
pull the trigger in the ordinary manner (the trigger is not represented on the
drawings) which acts on the lever L so that its arm raises the sear tail h¹
against the pressure of the sear spring H¹ and liberates the sear point from the
notch of the firing pin which is then instantly shot forward by its spring G so
that the pin f passing through the hole de strikes the cartridge cap or detonator
and explodes the cartridge.
e is a spring fitted in the side of the hook-lever E for pressing against the
adjacent wall of the slot d to prevent the lever E moving too freely in it, and
M is a pin located in a hole in the breech-block D in such position in relation to
the lever E that when said lever is raised for unlocking the breech block the
projection of the lever presses on the upper end of the pin and presses the pin
on the false breech B so as to force the breech-block and false breech apart to
facilitate the opening of the breech.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion, as communicated to me by my foreign correspondent, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim is,-
1. In a gun such as described a lever such as E the end or hook of which
directly engages with the false breech substantially as described and illustrated in
the accompanying drawings.
2. In a gun such as described a cartridge extractor such as I arranged and
operating within the false breech substantially as described and illustrated in the
accompanying drawings.
3. In a gun such as described the combination with a pivotted breech block such
as D and cartridge extractor such as I of a spring-controlled catch arm such as K
mounted in the breech block and lever and plate such as J j substantially as
described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
4. In a gun such as described the combination with a movable breech block D of
a firing pin such as F having a projection such as " and a false breech having a
cam such as 2 for acting on the projection substantially as described and
illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
5. The combination and arrangement of parts constituting the complete breech
loading and cartridge extracting device substantially as described and illustrated in
the accompanying drawings.
Dated this 12th day of Nov 1800
W. P. THOMPSON & BOULT,
Chartered Patent Agents.