CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN BATTERIES OF GUNS AND PISTOLS
Year: 1855

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Pierre Bernardet de Lucenay, of Paris, France,
Retired Officer, for the Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN
BATTERIES OF GUNS AND PISTOLS."
Sealed the 11th March 1856, and dated the 13th September 1855.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Pierre Bernardet de
Lucenay at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 13th September 1855.
I, PIERRE BERNARDET DE LUCENAY, of Paris, France, Retired Officer, do
hereby declare the nature of the Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
BATTERIES OF GUNS AND PISTOLS" to be as follows, that is to say:-
My Invention consists in modifying the construction of the percussion
mechanism of guns & pistols, as shewn in the accompanying Drawing.
The hammer A is provided at its lower part with half & full cock notches,
in which the trigger C gears; D, a spring for actuating the hammer. The
hammer A & spring D works in a groove B made in the stock. The spring
D & hammer A may be of one piece, & the spring D may be made of any
suitable form. The nipple F is placed in the centre of the chamber. The
top of the hammer has a slot E, Figures 1 & 2, for taking aim. The spring
may be placed underneath parallel to the under guard, the hammer having an
excentric formed on the same piece, which causes the spring to act by the
motion of the hammer.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Pierre Bernardet de Lucenay in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 13th March 1856.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, PIERRE
BERNARDET DE LUCENAY, of Paris, France, Retired Officer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirteenth day of September, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, in the nineteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Pierre Bernardet de Lucenay, Her special license that I, the said.
Pierre Bernardet de Lucenay, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said Pierre Bernardet de Lucenay, 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 of years
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 of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
BATTERIES OF GUNS AND PISTOLS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I,
the said Pierre Bernardet de Lucenay, by an instrument in writing under my
hand and seal, 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 Pierre Bernardet de Lucenay, 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, reference being had to the Drawing hereto
annexed, and to the figures and letters marked thereon, that is to say :-
My Invention consists in modifying the construction of the percussion
mechanism or battery of guns and pistols, as shewn in the accompanying
Drawing.
Figure 1 represents a section of the improvements applied to a gun, and
Figure 2 is a plan of the same. A is the cock or hammer, composed of steel,
and working on the pin A'; F is a slot in the upper part, which forms a sight
for taking aim. The hammer is provided with detents at the lower part, one
of which B' presses upon the steel spring M when the cock is drawn back.
The trigger C, by means of the spring C, then catches in the other detents,
to keep the hammer at full or half cock. The spring M and hammer A are

page_text: placed in a groove B, made in the upper part of the stock G. The spring M
is fixed by means of the screw M'. The nipple D is of the ordinary con-
struction, and is screwed into the breech of the barrel E, firmly secured to
the stock by the screw B. The trigger C is furnished with the usual brass
guard H.
Another modification of the improvements is shewn in section at Figure 3;
and in plan, Figure 4. The steel hammer A in this case is made thin at the
part M, so as to act as a spring, thus dispensing with the usual cock spring. The
part A is formed with detents for half and full cock, as in the ordinary mode.
In other respects the construction of the gun is similar to that above described.
The hammer spring may be placed underneath and parallel to the trigger
guard; the hammer in this case is formed with an excentric, which puts in
action the spring when the hammer is pulled. This arrangement is specially
adapted to double-barreled guns, the cocks of which are placed on each side
of the stock as usual.
Having thus described the nature of my said Invention, and the manner in
which the same is to be performed, I would have it understood that what I
claim is, the construction of the percussion mechanism or battery of guns
and pistols, as herein-before described, and referred to in the accompanying
Drawing.
In witness whereof, I, the said Pierre Bernardet de Lucenay, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Eleventh day of March, One thousand
eight hundred and fifty-six.
PIERRE BERNARDET DE LUCENAY. (L.S.)