IMPROVEMENTS IN BREECH LOADING AND REPEATING FIRE ARMS
Year: 1879

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alfred Swingle, of the City and County of San Francisco,..
State of California, United States of America, Machinist, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN BREECH LOADING AND REPEATING FIRE ARMS."
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said Alfred Swingle at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents on the 22nd July 1879.
ALFRED SWINGLE, of the City and County of San Francisco, State of California,
United States of America, Machinist. "IMPROVEMENTS IN BREECH LOADING AND
REPEATING FIRE ARMS."
My Invention relates to an improvement in fire arms or guns of that class known
as breech loaders and repeaters, and it consists in the employment of a chambered
magazine which is fitted to rotate behind the barrel upon a longitudinal axis, so
that each chamber is successively brought into line with the barrel.
In combination with these parts, I employ a piston or plunger which has a
reciprocating motion in a line behind the barrel, so that it will force a cartridge
from the magazine into the barrel after the chamber has been brought into line
with it, and will withdraw the empty shell after it has been discharged. A vertically
moving breech block is dropped down behind the piston after the cartridge has
been forced into the barrel, thus locking it firmly and providing a solid breech to
receive the recoil and prevent the plunger from being forced out by the discharge.
The firing pin or bolt passes through the plunger and extends out behind, so that
when the plunger is withdrawn, the rear end of this bolt will force the haminer
back until it is at full cock.
A ratchet at the rear end of the magazine, having as many teeth as there are
chambers, is acted upon by a lever arm so as to rotate the magazine, and bring a
fresh cartridge in line with the barrel after each discharge. The magazine has an
enclosing and protecting case within which it rotates, and the discharged shells
may be ejected through an opening in the bottom of the case, or through the front
end of the case by the act of introducing fresh cartridges into the chambers of the
magazine.
The cartridges are introduced into the chambers successively from the rear of the
case through a suitably protected opening, and the whole of the mechanism is
operated by means of a guard lever below the stock.

page_text: Invention,
Fig. 1 is an exterior view of the gun.
Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section-showing the parts in readiness-for-firing:-
Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section-showing the lever thrown down.
Fig. 4-is a detached view of the block which locks the plunger in place.
Eig.-5-is a view of the magazine and frame or case.
Fig. 6 is a view of the piston or plunger.
A-is-the-barrel-of-my-gun. B_is_the_frame which receives the operating
mechanism, and to which, when used as a small arm, the stock is secured. Between
this frame and the rear end of the barrel, is a cylindrical case C formed with or
attached to the frame, and having the barrel screwed into its front end. This case
is made of a size sufficient to receive the magazine D, which is chambered to receive
as many cartridges as may be desired. In the present case I have shown it as
fitted to receive six, and it is mounted upon a central longitudinal pin E, so that
when rotated each of the chainbers may be brought successively into line with the
barrel. A groove is formed around the inner rear end of the case into which the
rims or flanges of the cartridges pass, and this groove prevents them from rattling
in the magazine. It also enables me to use a cartridge shorter than the magazine,
as the groove keeps them in place.
The cartridges are introduced into the magazine through an opening F at the
rear of the case and at one side, this opening being protected by a guard G which
will be pushed to one side by the entering cartridge, and will be .closed again by
the action of a spring H.
The case C may have a longitudinal opening I at the lower part, which will
allow the discharged shells to fall out when the chambers containing them reach
that point, but any shell which contains a bullet can not be taken out through this
opening.
In lieu of this method, I have formed an opening in the front of the case just in
line with the charging opening F, so that whenever a shell is introduced through
this opening, the one already in the magazine will be forced out. Each cartridge
in the magazine as it reaches a position in line with the barrel, is forced into the
chamber of the barrel by a plunger J, which is caused to reciprocate in line with
the barrel by mechanism to be more fully described hereafter.
This plunger has two steel hooks K attached to its front end, top and bottom, to
serve as an extractor, and when the plunger is drawn back, it will be seen that the
rotation of the magazine will carry the flange of each shell into a position between
these hooks and the head of the plunger. When this plunger is forced forward, it
carries the cartridge into the chamber of the barrel, and when it is drawn back, it
brings the shell with it, so that it again lies in the magazine ready to be carried
around to the point of discharge by the rotation of the magazine. The case is
slotted-on-the_top_to_allow_the_interior to be inspected, and the upper hook K
closes the slot by moving into it when the plunger is thrown forward.
The firing bolt or pin L passes directly through the plunger and extends back,
so that when the plunger is drawn back the rear end of the pin will act upon the
hammer and throw it back to full cock.
The movement of the plunger is produced by the action of the guard lever M,
which moves about a fulcrum pin N, and has an arm 0 which extends into the
chamber of the frame B, having a pin P upon its upper end. A plate Q extends
back from the rear end of the plunger, and this plate has the slot R formed in it
within which the pin P works. It will thus be seen that when the guard lever is
thrown down, its inner end acts to draw the plunger back, and when the lever is
again brought to place, the plunger is forced forward. The slot R has parallel sides
in the upper part which diverge at the bottom, to allow the pin P to pass out at
each end of the movement of the guard lever, so that the other movements may be
completed after the plunger has reached the end of its stroke in either direction.
The rotation of the magazine is effected by a ratchet S which is secured to the rear

page_text: end of its shaft or axis E, and is provided with as many lugs or teeth as there may
be chambers to the magazine.
A lever T has its fulcrum at U, and the front end of the lever is in the form of a
flat spring, the side of which presses against the flat part of the ratchet between
each pair of teeth as they arrive at that point, and the magazine is thus steadied
and held firmly after each rotation until the plunger enters it.
The rear end of this lever is bent downward, and has a peculiarly shaped cam or
lug V upon it. A pin W upon the side of the arm O of the guard lever acts upon
this lug when the guard lever is thrown down, and as the edge of the arm T is at
that time above a tooth of the ratchet, it will act upon it and turn the magazine so
as to bring the next chamber forward. Another pin X acts upon the top of the
lug V when the guard lever is brought back again, and thus throws the arm T up
above the next notch in the ratchet ready for the next movement.
After the plunger has forced a cartridge from the magazine into the barrel of the
gun, it is locked into place, and prevented from being forced back ward by the
discharge of the shell by means of the block Y, which is. caused to drop behind the
plunger in a groove in the frame.
This block has an arm Z projecting back and turning on a pin a within the
frame B, so that the block moves about this as a pivot in rising and falling; the
groove into which it falls is formed on a curve having the same radius, so that the
block when seated in the groove rests against the rear shoulders, and the frame
thus receives the whole recoil.
A notch b is cut in a plate d in the opposite side of the block, and by the action
of the pin P in this notch just at the moment when the guard lever and its arm O
begin or finish the movement of opening or closing, this pin will raise or depress
the block. The guard lever with its arms and pins actuates all the parts, first
drawing back the plunger, then leaving it until the magazine has been rotated,
after which it forces the plunger forward, and leaves it again while the locking
block Y is drawn down to place.
The guard lever serves as a trigger guard, as in many other forms of breech
loaders, and has its rear portion formed into an elongated loop to receive the fingers
of the hand, and form a convenient method of operating. A spring latch m serves
to lock it in place, and it is easily unlatched by a simple pressure of the fingers.
It will be seen that all the movements necessary to charge and discharge the
arın are positive, and none of them depend upon any spring except the hammer
and trigger which are actuated in a manner similar to those in other arms.
arm consists of very few simple and strong parts which are easily dismounted or
assembled.
Having thus described my Invention, what
I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent is,-
The
1st. The rotating magazine D, having its periphery recessed to receive a number
of cartridges, and turning within the enclosing case C, in combination with the
barrel A of a gun, and an operating mechanism, substantially as and for the purpose
herein described.
2nd. The case C, having the barrel A secured to its front, and containing a
chambered rotary magazine D, whereby the contained cartridges may be successively
brought in line with the bore of the barrel, said case having the opening F and
guard G, and the discharge opening I, substantially as and for the purpose herein
described.
3rd. The chambered magazine D rotating within the case C in rear of the
barrel A, in combination with the plunger J, whereby each cartridge may be forced
from the magazine into the barrel when in line therewith, substantially as herein
described.
4th. The rotary chambered magazine D, turning within the stationary case C in
rear of the barrel A, and the reciprocating piston or plunger J, in combination with
the extractor consisting of the rigid hooks K secured to the plunger, so as to receive

page_text: the flange of each shell as it is brought in line with the barrel, substantially as
herein described.
5th. The plunger J, with its retractor K. fitted to carry the cartridge from the
magazine D into the barrel, and withdraw-the-empty-shell as shown in combination
with the slotted plate Q, arm O of the guard lever, and the pin P, whereby the
plunger is caused to reciprocate, substantially as herein described.
6th. The rotary chambered magazine D turning within the case C and the
reciprocating plunger J, by which the cartridges are carried from the magazine to
-the-barrel,-in-combination with the vertically moving locking block Y, whereby the
plunger is held firmly against the reactionary force of the explosion, substantially
as herein described..
7th. The reciprocating plunger J, moving forward and back through the chambered
rotary magazine D and the locking block Y, in combination with the notched
plate d and the arm of the guard lever with its pin P, whereby the block is
drawn down after the plunger has moved forward and elevated to allow it to be
drawn back, substantially as herein described.
8th. The rotary chambered magazine D, with its ratchet S, in combination with
the lever T, with its cam shaped lug V, and the arm O of the guard lever, with its
pins W and X, whereby the lever T is moved up and down, and the magazine is
rotated, substantially as herein described.
9th. The lever T with its lug V fitted to be operated by the arm 0 of the guard
lever as shown, the forward portion of the arm T forming a flat spring which
presses against the ratchet and steadies the magazine, until the plunger has entered
it, substantially as herein described.
10th. The rotary chambered magazine D turning within the case C, said case
having an interior groove at its rear end, whereby the flanges of the shells are
received, and the cartridges kept in place, substantially as herein described.
11th. The case C with its rotating chambered magazine D and the reciprocating
plunger J, with its retractor K extending along the top, said retractor moving in
an open slot n in the top of the case, so as to open the same when the plunger is
drawn back, and close it when the arm is ready for firing, substantially as herein
described.
12th. The guard lever with its projecting arm and pins in combination with the
locking block, the lever for rotating the magazine and the plunger J, whereby the
movements of all the parts are effected by the guard lever, and the plunger is
entirely released from the action of the lever while the other movements are being
completed, substantially as herein described,
In witness whereof, I, the said Alfred Swingle, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Sixteenth day of June, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and seventy nine.
Witnesses
FRANK A. BROOKS.
T. H. NOURSE,
ALFRED SWINGLE. (L.S.)