Year: 1886

page_text: Date of Application, 25th Feb., 1886.
Complete Left, 8th Oct., 1886.
Complete Accepted, 7th Jan., 1887.
We, WILLIAM PALMER JONES of Bath Street Birmingham in the County of
Warwick, Gun Manufacturer, and HARRY ALFRED SMITH of Whittall Street,
Birmingham, aforesaid, Gun Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of this
invention to be as follows:-
Our invention relates to small arms of the kind commonly called drop down guns,
rifles and pistols; or small arms particularly of the kind in which the breech ends of
the barrels turn upon a body pin on the fore-part of the body of the arm; and our
said invention consists in means whereby the tumblers or hammers are raised or
cocked for the purpose of discharging the arm. Thus the body pin which constitutes
the joint upon which the barrels turn, is made to partially revolve or rotate by the
action of a snug or projection on the inside joint face of the fore-end iron, acting upon
the shoulder, cam formation, or independent bush carried by or working around the
said body pin.
Our new or improved means for the cocking of the arm is as follows; and we will
describe our invention in connection with a double gun.
The joint pin upon which the barrels turn, on the opening and closing of the arm,
is made to move or rotate in the body, instead of being fixed, as is common with arms
of the ordinary construction; that is, the body pin for the purpose of cocking, is made
to partake of the same motion as the barrels, through the intervention of the fore end.
Within the middle part of the inside face of the fore end iron, a hanging lug or
projection is formed, depending from the upper or top part which is in a plane with
the top side of the strap. This lug or projection is rounded off on its underside, and
extends to a nearly midway position in front of the joint face of the fore end iron
before named. The rounded end of this said lug seats itself within a cavity or shoulder
formed in or upon the middle of the joint pin; that is, the joint pin is provided with a
D or other shaped shoulder cut from the front or fore end side of the body pin, and
coming opposite the slotted fore part of the body. The other side of the joint pin has
upon its front side, or that side facing the break off, two recessed or cut away parts
forming abutments or shoulders which operate or press forward cocking rods, the front
ends of which rods impress themselves upon the hind part of a hanging lever, and
LD 877

page_text: so cock the arm by the hanging end of the lever pressing upon a standing out or
curved part on the bottom of the breasts of the hammers.
The raising of the barrels for the cocking of the arm, causes the lug on the fore end
which is carried with the barrels, to forcibly impress itself upon the shoulder or seat
of the body pin, thereby turning or partially rotating it, and so operating or pressing
back the cocking rods.
The body pin instead of being acted directly upon by the lug on the fore-end iron,
the said lug may press or act upon a cam formation fixed to the pin, or a cam turning
upon the pin, which latter is fixed, while the former is movable, and turns or moves
with the fore end and the barrels ; so that the turning of the barrels compels the fore
end to both rotate the cam on the body pin for cocking, and also brings the fore end
back to its proper position. The cam is shaped at its front to operate the cocking
rods, while at its back to receive or engage the fore end or a part of the fore end, or a
fixed rod attached to the barrels.
When the cam on the body pin is made in the form of a bush or ring, the back and
front shoulders or seats are suitably recessed or cut away, for the purposes before
stated. The bush or sleeve in this case moves independent of the body pin and
operated upon by the fore-end lug.
WILLIAM PALMER JONES.
HARRY ALFRED SMITH.
By Henry Skerrett,
6, Livery Street, Birmingham,
Agent to the Applicants.

page_text: Improvements in Breech Loading Small Arms.
We WILLIAM PALMER JONES of Bath Street Birmingham in the County of
Warwick, Gun Manufacturer, and HARRY ALFRED SMITH of Whittall Street
Birmingham, aforesaid, Gun Manufacturer do hereby declare the nature of said
invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN BREECH LOADING SMALL ARMS," and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement :-
Our invention relates to small arms of the kind commonly called drop down guns,
rifles and pistols; or small arms in which the breech ends of the barrels turn upon a
body pin on the fore part of the body of the arm; and our said invention consists in
means whereby the tumblers or hammers are raised or cocked for the purpose of dis-
charging the arm. Thus the body pin which constitutes the joint upon which the
barrels turn, is made to partially revolve or rotate, by the action of a snug or projection
on the inside joint face of the fore-end iron, acting upon a shoulder, cam formation, or
independent bush carried by or working around the said body pin.
Our new or improved means for the cocking of the arm is as follows; and we will
describe our invention in connection with a double gun.
The joint pin upon which the barrels turn on the opening and closing of the arm, is
inade to move or rotate in the body, instead of being fixed as is common with arms of
the ordinary construction; that is, the body pin for the purpose of cocking, is made to
partake of the same motion as the barrels, through the intervention of the fore-end.
Within the middle part of the inside face of the joint of the fore-end iron, a hanging
lug or projection is formed, depending from the upper or top part which is in a plane
with the top side of the strap. This lug or projection is rounded off on its underside,
and extends to a nearly midway position, in front of the joint face of the fore end
iron before named. The rounded end of this said lug seats itself within a cavity or
shoulder formed in or upon the middle of the joint pin; that is, the joint pin is
provided with a D or other shaped shoulder, cut from the front or fore-end side of the
body pin, and coming opposite the slotted fore part of the body. The other side of
the joint pin has upon its front side, or that side facing the break off, two recessed or
cut away parts forming abutments or shoulders which operate or press forward cocking
rods, the rear ends of which rods impress themselves upon the hind part of a hanging
lever, and so cock the arm by the hanging end of the lever pressing upon a standing
out or curved part on the bottom of the breasts of the hammers.
The raising of the breach ends of the barrels for the cocking of the arm, causes the
lug on the fore-end which is carried with the barrels, to forcibly impress itself upon
the shoulder or seat of the body pin, thereby turning or partially rotating it and so
operating or pressing back the cocking rods.
The body pin instead of being acted directly upon by the lug on the fore end iron,
the said lug may press or act upon a cam formation fixed to the pin, or a cam turning
upon the pin which latter is fixed, while the former is movable, and turns or moves
with the fore-end and the barrels; so that the turning of the barrels compels the fore
end to both rotate the cam on the body pin for cocking, and also brings the fore-end

page_text: back to its proper position. The cam is shaped at its front to operate the cocking
rods, while at its back to receive or engage the fore end or a part of the fore-end, or a
fixed rod attached to the barrels.
When the cam on the body pin is made in the form of a bush or ring, the back and
front shoulders or seats are suitably recessed or cut away for the purposes before
stated. The bush or sleeve in this case moves independent of the body pin, and acted
upon by the fore-end lug.
We will now proceed to describe with reference to the accompanying Drawings the
manner in which the same is to be performed.
Figure 1 represents in longitudinal vertical section a breech loading drop down
double gun made according to our invention. Figure 2 represents an inside front
view of the fore end iron, and figure 3 represents the movable body pin separately.
This pin is the joint upon which the barrels turn, and by the intervention of which,
the hammers are raised.
The same letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in figures 1, 2 and 3 of
the accompanying Drawings.
aa are the barrels, and the break off, c is the body of the said arm, and d the
forepart, which latter is connected to the barrels by a movable body pin e. f is the
fore-end iron of the fore-end g and 2 is a hanging lug on the inside face of the joint
of the said iron. This lug or projection is rounded off on its underside, and extends
outwardly from the face of the joint, with a rounded underside f³ seating itself within
a cavity or upon a shoulder e² in the middle part of the joint pin e; that is, the
movable joint pin is provided with a D like shoulder cut from the front side of the
body pin, and which said front side comes opposite the slotted fore-part of the body.
The other or inner side of the joint pin e, that is, the side facing the break off is
provided with recessed or cut away shoulders or abutments e³ e, which operate or
press forward the sliding cocking rods h. These cocking rods press at their rear ends
upon the hind part of a hanging lever i, (hereinafter called the hammer lifter) which
is jointed at 13, while the front end of this said lever, presses upwards upon the
underside of a standing out or curved part 2 on the bottom of the breast of the
hammer. The main spring k, link k², sear 1, sear spring 1², triggers m m and trigger
blades m² m² are elements common to ordinary lock mechanism.
n are stops, for limiting the fall of the hammers, and o are springs for returning
each of the hammer lifters i (which are in the form of hanging levers) to their normal
positions, (on the closing of the gun) and also for taking back the cocking rod, to its
bearing shoulder in, or on the joint pin.
Although we have represented a double barrelled gun, yet we have only described
one side of the hammer raising and lock mechanism, from the fact that the two sides
are alike.
The raising of the breech ends of the barrels for the cocking of the arm causes the
joint pin e to be turned or partially rotated, by the underside of the lug 2 of the
fore end iron coming in direct contact or taking a direct bearing upon the shoulder
or cut away part e², so that the joint pin and fore-end turn together. The forward or
downward movement of the said joint pin causes a back movement to be given to the
shoulders against which the fore or front parts of the cocking rods / take their
bearings; so that the opening of the barrels urges back the cocking rods through the
intervention of the shoulders of the joint pin, thereby raising the long ends of the
hanging levers and raising the hammers to cock.
The closing of the barrels takes the joint pin back to its former position, while the
coiled springs o depress the long arms of the hammer lifters, and also slide back the
rods to their abutment shoulders again ready for cocking on the opening of the
barrels.
Figure 4 represents in longitudinal vertical section another drop down gun con-
structed according to our invention, but provided with a fixed joint pin, (or a wire
passing through the axis of the joint pin) around which a movable bush or cam
formation turns, which cam or bush is simply an equivalent of a movable joint pin
with shoulder formations on opposite sides. The arm is shown with its barrels open

page_text: or with its ends removed from the face of the break off. Figure 5 represents the same
with the barrels closed, and the arm discharged. Figure 6 represents an inside view
of the fore-end iron.
The same letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in figures 4, 5 and 6.
a a are the barrels, and 6 the break off; c is the body of the said arm, and d the
fore part, which latter is connected to the barrels by a fixed body pin e, around which
a bush or cam formation el rotates or partially turns; and which said bush is provided
with shoulders e²e upon the former of which, one of the hanging lugs of the fore-
end iron f of the fore end g, takes its bearing, for the cocking of the arm on the falling
of the barrels, while its other or back shoulder e³ acts upon a cocking rod h, which in
its turn presses upon the back 2 of a hammer lifter i, whose long arm acts upon the
underside of a standing out part 2 on the lower part of the front of the breast of the
hammer j. The return movement of the hammer lifter is effected by a spring o inter-
posed between its upper side and the top of the recess formed in the body wherein it
works. The downward movement of the hammer is limited by a stop n, while the
lock mechanism consists of main spring k, link k², sear 1, sear spring 12 and triggers
m m with trigger blades m² m² of the ordinary construction.
The falling of the barrels (on the turning aside of the lever on the tang) causes the
lugs of the fore-end iron to rotate the bushes or cam formations e¹, thereby
causing them to partially turn or rotate around the joint pin e as a centre, and which
said partial rotation urges back the shoulders e³, and so presses forward the rods h
which act in their turn upon the backs of the lifters (below their centres) and so raise
the said hammer lifters into the position represented in figure 4, thereby raising the
hammers to full cock which are retained in their thrown back positions, by the nose
ends of the sears of the lock mechanism engaging within the bents of the hammers in
the usual way.
On the closing of the barrels, the parts resume their normal positions exactly in the
same manner as described with respect to the first described arrangement.
Figure 7 shows a modification of the rotating bush e¹ as shown at figures 4 and 5.
Instead of providing the fore-end iron with hanging lugs, we form a seat on the
inside face, which impinges or rests against a corresponding flattened front of the
turning bush; so that on the opening of the barrels, or the turning of the barrels
upon their joint pin, this bush and fore-end iron turn together-fis the fore-end iron,
is the seat of the flattened part, e¹ is the bush, and e² is its abuting face-The
action of the parts is the same as previously described with regard to the other figures.
Figure 8 shows a modification in which the bush e¹ and cocking rod h are made
in one piece.
Figure 9 represents a modification in which the inner end of the bush is made into
the form of a foot, instead of a shoulder, so that the extreme end of this foot acts
directly upon the underside of the hammer lifter without employing cocking rods.
el is the bush, e² its shoulder or seat acted upon by the fore-end, and is the back
or foot end of the said bush, which on the barrels being opened, acts directly upon the
underside of the hammer lifter i, and so raises the hammers to cock.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said invention,
and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that we claim is-
First. Cocking the hammers of breech loading small-arms by means of a hanging
lever i and cocking rod h, which latter receives its motion either from the joint pin,
the barrels or from the fore-end-The said hanging lever and rods are restored to
their normal positions on the closing of the barrels, by a coiled or flat spring o, sub-
stantially as described and illustrated in figures 1, 4, 5, 7, 8 and 9.
Secondly. Cocking the hammers of breech loading small-arms through the interven-
tion of a rotating body pin e provided with front and back shoulders or depressions
eee; and upon which former shoulder, a hanging snug f2 on the fore-end iron
takes its bearing or seats itself, on the opening and closing of the barrels, substantially
as described and set forth in figures 1, 2 and 3 of the accompanying Drawings.
Thirdly. Cocking the hammers of breech loading small arms by means of a bush or

page_text: cam formation e¹ rotating or turning upon a wire rod e passing through the body pin
proper; and which said bush or cam is provided with shoulders e², e³, e³, which work
in conjunction with hanging snugs f2 on the fore-end iron, and in combination with
rods h, hanging levers i as in figures 4, 5 and 8; or a bush or cam formation with
seats e² and shoulders e³ as in figures 7 and 9, substantially as described and set forth.
Lastly. A hammerless gun, the general construction and combination of the above
specified parts or novel features, and which operate as herein set forth.
WILLIAM PALMER JONES.
HARRY ALFRED SMITH.
By Henry Skerrett,
6, Livery Street, Birmingham,
Agent for the Applicants.
WILLIAM PALMER JONES.
HARRY ALFRED SMITH.
By Henry Skerrett,
6, Livery Street, Birmingham,
Agent for the Applicants.