Improvements in Drop-down Guns and Rifles.
Year: 1896

page_text: I, JAMES WILLIAM SMALLMAN, of Camp Hill Grange, near Nuneaton, in the
County of Warwick, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to
be as follows:-
The object of the present invention is to simplify the mechanism of guns and
rifles in which both locks can be released by the same trigger.
A horizontal lifter pivoted to the trigger-blade raises the two sears one after the
other. The lifter may be connected to the trigger by a catch engaging with a
hook on the trigger-blade; the hook missing the catch while the parts are being,
assembled. The lifter is forced under the second sear by a spring and is held
under the first sear against the pressure of the spring by a projection on the first
sear-tail. This projection also keeps back the lifter until the trigger after being:
pulled has regained its normal position. For enabling said projection to do this,
the first sear-tail is permitted to return with the lifter after the release of the first
lock and is not held up by the tumbler except to an extent sufficient to allow
the lifter to slip under the said projection when the trigger has reached its normal
position. The lifter is pressed behind the projection on the first sear-tail through.
the instrumentality of the lever pertaining to the fastening mechanism. In
combination with a lifter controlled as described above, I employ a device for
preventing the raising of the lifter during the swinging movement-that is, a device
which prevents the lifter from being raised by a pull on the trigger until said lifter
after leaving the first sear has assumed its extreme position under the second, sear.
This device is preferably a block on the safety-bolt. It may, however, be a bridge
or its equivalent secured to the trigger-plate.
I sometimes use in addition to a trigger for releasing both locks one after the
other a second trigger for releasing the second lock only..
Dated the 15th day of June 1896.
JAMES W. SMALLMAN.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION..
Improvements in Drop-down Guns and Rifles.
I, JAMES WILLIAM SMALLMAN, of Camp Hill. Grange, near Nuneaton, in tnu
County of Warwick, Engineer, 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 object of the present invention is to simplify the mechanism of guns and
rifles in which both locks can be released by the same trigger.

page_text: other. The lifter may be connected to the trigger by a catch engaging with a
hook on the trigger-blade; the hook missing the catch while the parts are being
assembled. The lifter is forced under the second sear by a spring and is held
under the first sear against the pressure of the spring by a projection on the first
sear-tail. This projection also keeps back the lifter until the trigger after being
pulled has regained its normal position. For enabling said projection to do this,
the first sear-tail is permitted to return with the lifter after the release of the first
lock and is not held up by the tumbler except to an extent sufficient to allow the
lifter to slip under the said projection when the trigger has reached its normal
position. The lifter is pressed behind the projection on the first sear-tail through
the instrumentality of the lever pertaining to the fastening mechanism. In
combination with a lifter controlled as described above, I employ a device for
preventing the raising of the lifter during the swinging movement-that is, a device
which prevents the lifter from being raised by a pull on the trigger until said lifter
after leaving the first sear has assumed its extreme position under the second sear.
This device is preferably a block on the safety-bolt. It may, however, be a bridge
or its equivalent secured to the trigger-plate.
I sometimes use in addition to a trigger for releasing both locks one after the
ether a second trigger for releasing the second lock only.
The accompanying drawings illustrate how my invention may be carried into
⚫ffect.
Figs. 1 to 10 relate to the first part of my invention.
Fig. 1 is a side elevation of single-trigger mechanism for a hammerless gun or
rifle; the lifter being in position for releasing the right lock.
Fig. 2 is a corresponding plan.
Fig. 3 is a similar view; the lifter being ready for releasing the left lock.
In Fig. 4, the safety-bolt is in that position in which it bolts the lifter.
Fig. 5 represents the projection on the right sear-tail in the lateral path of the
lifter.
Fig. 6 shows said projection just above the lateral path of the lifter.
Fig. 7 is an elevation of the right side of the safety-bolt.
Fig. 8 is a plan of the lifter.
Fig. 9 is a corresponding side elevation.
Fig. 10 is a side elevation of the trigger.
Figs. 11 to 14 refer to the second part of my invention.
Fig. 11 is a plan of mechanism in which two triggers are used; the first trigger
for releasing the right lock and afterwards the left lock and the second trigger for
releasing the left lock only.
Fig. 12 is a plan of the lifter employed in this construction.
Fig. 13 is a corresponding side elevation.
Fig. 14 is a side elevation of the second trigger; the relat.ve position of the first
trigger being indicated by dotted lines.
A is the trigger pivoted on the pin A*. B is the lifter. a is a pivot on the
trigger-blade for said lifter. B. is a catch at the end of the lifter that engages
with a hook a¹ on the trigger-blade. The hook, by supporting the lifter, allows &
short pivot to be employed, thus requiring less wood than usual to be cut out of the
stock for the reception of the mechanism. This way of supporting the lifter also
enables a nut at the end of the pivot to be dispensed with; and, owing to the short
distance the pivot projects, permits the use of a safety-bolt of the ordinary and
well-tried type mounted on the trigger-plate C. In assembling the parts, the lifter
is turned to an angle with the trigger-blade and is then placed on the pivot a and
turned back until the catch B* engages with the hook a. b is the portion of the
lifter that bears against first one sear and then the other; b' the portion that lies
under the safety-bolt when the lifter is bolted; "an incline upon which the safety-
bolt acts; and 6 the swinging tail of the lifter. D is the right sear and D¹ the

page_text: left sear.
E is a spring exerting a downward pressure for causing the trigger and
the lifter to return to their normal positions and also exerting a side pressure for
forcing the lifter under the sear D'. The free end of the spring E rests in a hole
in the side of the lifter. d is a projection on the sear D that holds the lifter in
position for firing the right barrel. dis the right sear-nose. Fis the safety-bolt;
F* the block on the safety-bolt; fa stud for bolting the lifter when it is under the
right sear; f a stud for bolting the lifter when it is under the left sear}
f(Fig. 7) an incline for pressing the lifter under the right sear; and fill the
portion the fastening bolt comes into contact with. G is the right tumbler.
g is that portion of the tumbler against which the sear-nose d bears when the
projection d is just above the lateral path of the lifter.
Upon the trigger A being pulled the first time, the sear D is turned by the
lifter and the tumbler G fires the right barrel. Directly the pressure of the
finger on the trigger is relaxed, the sear, the lifter and the trigger, under
the pressure of the sear-spring (not shown in the drawings) and under the down-
When the sear-nose d' gets
ward pressure of the spring E, commence to return.
into contact with the portion g of the tumbler, the further movement of the sear
is arrested. The lifter and the trigger then go on under the pressure of the
When the
spring E; the portion b of the lifter sliding down the projection d.
lifter and the trigger have returned to their normal positions, the portion b of
the lifter is low enough to slip under the projection d, whereupon the spring E
forces the lifter below the sear D', the tail & swinging beneath the block F*..
If the recoil of the gun or rifle bring about an involuntary pull on the trigger,
the tail of the lifter comes against the under side (which may be notched) of
the block F*; thus preventing the lifter getting prematurely into engagement
with the sear D'. After the involuntary pull, the tail & lies clear of the block F*
While the thumb-
and a pull on the trigger would then release the left tumbler.
When
lever is being turned and the fastening bolt drawn back preparatively to reloading
the gun or rifle, the safety-bolt is moved from the position represented in Fig. 1
to that represented in Fig. 4, and the incline f" (Fig. 7) on the safety-bolt,
acting upon the incline on the lifter, presses the lifter back, against the side
pressure of the spring E, into its normal position under the sear D.
the tumbler G is cocked, the sear turns under the pressure of the sear-
spring; bringing the sear-nose d' into the notch g* and the projection d into
the lateral path of the lifter. Thus, when the thumb-slide is pushed forward
to take the safety-bolt into the position represented in Fig. 1, the incline fl
is withdrawn from the lifter, but said lifter is held under the first sear
by the projection d. The right barrel may be fired any number of times in
succession..
"
Although no "safety-sears are illustrated, it will be understood they may be
added if considered necessary. When "safety-sears" are employed, the projection
for holding back the lifter may be on the first "safety-sear."
Communication between the fastening mechanism and the lifter may be effected
by an independent slide or lever instead of by the safety-bolt. Or a slide or
lever actuated by the tumbler may be employed either in a hammerless or in a
hammer gun or rifle for taking back the lifter. Instead of the spring E, two
springs may be provided; one spring exerting a downward pressure on the lifter
and the trigger and the other spring a side pressure on the lifter for forcing said
lifter under the left sear. A different kind of safety-bolt to the one shown may'
be fitted if desired.. I do not limit myself to. a block on the safety-bolt for
preventing the premature raising of the lifter after it has become disengaged
from the sear-tail, because for instance a block or bridge on the trigger-plate
might be used instead.
A lifter mounted on the trigger-blade and retained by the sear-tail is a well-
known device in single-trigger guns and rifles, but hitherto owing to faulty
mechanisin all constructions embodying such device have permitted the premature

page_text: discharge of the second barrel or have required three pulls (instead of two only,
as in my mechanism) to fire both barrels..
It frequently happens that a sportsman having a gun the first barrel of which
is a "cylinder" and the second a "choke," or having a rifle with one kind of
bullet in the first barrel and a different kind in the second, desires to discharge
the second barrel only or the second barrel first, and he can not do this with
single-trigger. mechanism, unless said mechanism be what is termed "selective,"
and then he has to move a slide or lever as a preliminary step, and this often
results in such a loss of time as to take away the advantage that would otherwise
have resulted from the closer pattern and longer range or different bullet of the
second barrel. In order to enable a sportsman to discharge both barrels as con-
veniently as with a single trigger, that is, without releasing his grasp of the
stock, and also to enable him to select and fire the second barrel without having
to move a slide or lever in addition to pulling the trigger, I provide two triggers,
the first trigger serving to release both locks one after the other and the second
trigger to release the second lock only. Under ordinary circumstances, the
sportsman manipulates the gun or rifle as though it had a single trigger; the
second trigger being reserved for special occasions.
The first trigger (which is of the kind used in single-trigger guns and rifles)
aud the second trigger H are pivoted on the screw A. The trigger H is pressed
down by an ordinary trigger-spring. The first trigger carries a lifter B' different
in shape from the lifter B though acting in the same way and controlled in the
same manner. The portions and of the trigger H correspond with the
portions band of the lifter. The portion is always under the second sear.
When the lifter is also under that sear, said portions and lie close to the
portions band '.
The second barrel may be fired leaving the first barrel unfired,
or the second barrel may be fired first, by pulling the second trigger. If the
first barrel has been fired, the second barrel may be fired by pulling either the
first trigger or the second trigger, so that if, with this new system of trigger
mechanism, an inexperienced sportsman pulls the second trigger instead of again
pulling the first trigger he would not thereby lose his shot. The safety-bolt
bolts the lifter B¹ no matter which sear it may be under and also bolts the second
trigger by coming over the portion . The second trigger may have a shorter
blade and be pivoted on a separate screw.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this invention
and in what manner the same is to be performed, 1 claim :-
1. For drop-down guns and rifles, trigger mechanism operating substantially as
.described.
2. For drop-down guns and rifles, trigger mechanism constructed substantially
as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
3. In trigger mechanism for drop-down guns and rifles, connecting a pivoted
lifter to the trigger by a catch and hook, substantially, as described.
4. In trigger mechanism for drop-down guns and rifles, employing the safety-
bolt for preventing the lifter from being raised while it is moving from the first
sear to the second sear, substantially as described.
5. In trigger mechanism for drop-down guns and rifles, the combination, with a
lifter held by the first sear-tail in position for firing the first barrel, of a device
which, during the movement of the lifter from the first sear to its extreme
position under the second sear, prevents the raising of the lifter, substantially as
set forth.
6. In trigger mechanism for drop-down guns and rifles, the combination
with a lifter for raising the two sears one after the other, of a projection on
the first sear-tail that keeps back the lifter until the trigger has regained its
norinal position, and a block on the safety-bolt which during the movement
of the lifter from the first sear to its extreme position under the second sear

page_text: prevents said lifter from acting to fire the second barrel, substantially as set
forth.
7. For drop-down guns and rifles, trigger mechanism comprising two triggers,
the first trigger serving to release both locks one after the other and the second
trigger to release the second lock only.
JAMES W. SMALLMAN.