IMPROVE- MENTS IN BREECH-LOADING FIRE-ARMS." MENTS IN BREECH-LOADING FIRE-ARMS
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Andrew Muir, of the City of Manchester, in the
County of Lancaster, Civil Engineer, for the Invention of “IMPROVE-
MENTS IN BREECH-LOADING FIRE-ARMS."
MENTS IN BREECH-LOADING FIRE-ARMS."
Sealed the 3rd October 1865, and dated the 7th April 1865.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Andrew Muir at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
7th April 1865.
I, ANDREW MUIR, of the City of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster,
Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN BREECH-LOADING FIRE-ARMS," to be as follows:-
These improvements relate to that description of breech-loading fire-arms
in which the opening. of the breech end of the barrels is effected by
able breech plug or charge chamber working in a suitable open-topped recess,.
being caused to slightly recede and then to rise upon a transverse pin or joint
at its rear end so as to expose the breech end of the barrel or muzzle of the
charge chamber for the insertion of the charge; and consist in mounting the
breech plug or charge chamber at its rear end upon an eccentric or cam
spindle working in fixed bearings at each end in the sides of the recess; one

page_text: end of the eccentric or cam spindle projecting beyond the outer side of the
recess may there have a lever joined to it for the purpose of actuating the
eccentric or cam, and so imparting the requisite motion to the breech plug or
charge chamber. The actuating lever may be disposed under the stock or at
the side of the fire-arm, and, by having a spring catch or its mechanical
equivalent applied to its end, may be secured in the closed position, which
spring is released at the moment that it is desired to open the breech. The
peculiar action of the eccentric or cam is that when it is at one end of its
stroke (or "over the centres") the breech plug or charge chamber being
formed with a shoulder, cone, or other suitable nose or fire end, is caused to
abut tightly up against a corresponding recess formed in the breech end of the
barrel, and so makes a perfectly tight immovable joint; whilst by imparting
a circular motion to the actuating lever the breech plug or charge chamber is
first caused to slightly recede to free itself from the recess, and then the
breech plug to fall or the charge chamber to rise upon its rear end to any
required angle by means of the said rear end having a flat surface, which
abuts against a corresponding surface in the recess, and so exposes the breech
end of the barrel or the muzzle of the charge chamber. The simplicity of the
action of the eccentric or cam consists in one motion only being required to
relieve the breech plug or charge chamber, and then to cause it to rise or fall,
and in no springs or other working parts being required.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Andrew Muir in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 7th
October 1865.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ANDREW
MUIR, of the City of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, Civil Engineer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria; by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventh day of April, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, in the twenty-eighth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Andrew Muir, Her special license that I, the said Andrew Muir, my:
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Andrew
Muir, 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,

page_text: 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 FIRE-ARMS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said Andrew Muir, my executor's or administrators, by an instrument in
writing under my, 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 Andrew Muir, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement (that is to say)
This Invention relates to that description of breech-loading fire-arms in'
which the opening and closing of the breech end of the barrels are effected by
moveable breech plugs or charge chambers working in suitable recesses open
at the top or bottom.
My improvements consist in mounting each breech plug or charge
über
at its rear end upon a spindle-formed eccentric with pivots or pins working in
holes in metal straps forming the sides of the recess. One of the pivots
extends beyond the metal through which it passes, and has an actuating lever
fixed to it for the purpose of turning the eccentric and imparting the
requisite movement to the breech plug or charge chamber, there being a
spring catch or its equivalent for maintaining the lever in its proper position.
The breech plug or charge chamber has at the back a flat inclined surface,
and is formed at the front with the ordinary shoulder or nose end, which is
caused when the actuating lever and eccentric are turned one way to 'abut
tightly against a corresponding recess formed in the breech end of the barrel;
and thereby make a perfectly tight joint, and when the lever and eccentric are
turned the reverse way the breech plug or charge chamber is first caused
slightly to recede to free the nose or fire end from the recess in the barrel,
and then to rise or fall to any required angle for the purpose of exposing the
breech end of the barrel or the muzzle of the charge chamber.
L
This Invention will be clearly understood by referring to the figures and
letters on the accompanying Sheet of Drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a longi-
tudinal elevation of the back part of a breech-loading fire-arm provided with
my improved mechanism for working a breech plug; Figs. 2 and 3 are a
section and plan of part of the same; and Fig. 4 a section of a charge
chamber and mode of working it.

page_text: To the back part of the barrel a, Figs. 1, 2, and 3, are welded straps b
having an end piece c; and in the straps there are holes or bearings for
receiving the pivots d of the eccentric e fitted in the back part of the breech
plug, the rear surface of which plug is inclined as at g, and its front end
rounded or coned as at h. To one of the pivots d is fixed the lever i for
turning the eccentric, and for maintaining the lever steady it is held by a spring
catch k.
In Fig. 1 the breech plug is shewn with its fire end or nose close up to the
recess in the rear end of the barrel, but when the lever is being turned up
to the position shewn in Fig. 2 the eccentric first causes the plug to recede
until the nose is clear of the recess in the barrel, and then the inclined end g
comes in contact with the surface cand depresses the plug, as shewn in Fig. 2,
for allowing the ball and cartridge to be placed in the breech of the barrel.
"The lever is now turned down, and the eccentric pushes forward the plug,
the front and bottom edge of which rides upon the curve or incline 1, Fig. 2,
formed in the gun stock so as to raise the front or nose of the plug central
with the recess in the barrel; and by continuing the downward movement of
the lever the eccentric forces the nose into the said 'recess as shewn in Fig. 1,
and makes a tight joint.
:
In Fig. 4 the barrel a is provided with straps b and end piece c similar to
those shewn in Figs. 1, 2, and 3; but as the charge chamber m has to be
raised for admitting the charge the eccentric e must be placed in an opposite
position, and the inclined surface at its rear end reversed. When the
actuating lever is turned up the eccentric removes the chamber from the
recess in the barrel, and then presses the inclined end against the end surface c
and raises the chamber, but when the lever is turned down the chamber falls;
and its nose is pressed into the recess in the barrel. If it be desired that the
plug should be raised instead of lowered the eccentric and inclined surface at
the rear end of the plug must be similar to those for the charge chamber, and
when required the inclined surfaces may be formed on the end pieces c. It
will be seen that the action of the eccentric and inclined surface is exceedingly
simple and efficient, and when the breech is closed the eccentric is over the
"dead point," and therefore it is impossible for the plug or chamber to be
forced back by the recoil, and only one motion is required to release and
then raise or lower the breech plug or charge chamber, and then another
motion to reverse its movement and press its nose into the recess in the
barrel.
Although the Drawings only shew my improved system as applied to arms
discharged by means of a nipple and percussion cap it is evident that the

page_text: same principle may be adapted to fire-arms carrying cartridges containing
their own ignition. The Drawings represent a single-barrelled rifle, but
this system is also equally applicable to both double-barrelled rifles and
sporting guns.
Having now described the nature and particulars of my said Invention, and
the manner in which the same is to be performed, I desire it to be understood
that I claim in breech-loading fire-arms the employment of eccentrics and
inclined surfaces for working the breech plugs or charge chambers, as all such
improvements are herein described and illustrated in the accompanying Sheet
of Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Andrew Muir, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Sixth day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five.
Signed, sealed, and delivered by the
within-named Andrew Muir, in
the presence of
G. SEPTIMUS HUGHES,
Patent Agent,
ANDREW MUIR. (L.8.)
Manchester.