IMPROVEMENTS IN WORKING THE EXTRACTORS FOR ĊENTRAL-FIRE GUNS
Year: 1866

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Wheeler Cross, of Birmingham, in the
County of Warwick, Action Filer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN WORKING THE EXTRACTORS FOR ĊENTRAL-FIRE GUNS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Wheeler Cross
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition on
the 7th May 1866.
I, WILLIAM WHEELER CROSS, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick,
Action Filer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN WORKING THE EXTRACTORS FOR CENTRAL-FIRE GUNS," to be as follows,
(that is to say):
This Invention consists in forcing out the cartridge case extractors in central-
fire breech-loading guns in the following manner :-Upon the breech end of
the part of the action termed the fore end I form a stud, and in the rod of
the extractor at the end farthest from the breech I pierce a slot, in which the
stud upon the fore end engages, so that when the break down is brought into
use the stud upon the fore end working in the said slot in the extractor rod
forces the extractor out and with it the empty cartridge case, closing the
parts together forces the extractor home again.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Wheeler Cross in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 6th November 1866.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
WHEELER CROSS, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Action Filer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventh day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, in the twenty-ninth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said William Wheeler Cross, Her special license that I, the said William
Wheeler Cross, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
I, the said William Wheeler Cross, 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, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for " IMPROVE-
MENTS IN WORKING THE EXTRACTORS FOR CENTRAL-FIRE Guns," upon the condition,
amongst others, that I, the said William Wheeler Cross, 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 William Wheeler Cross, 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, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
:-
This Invention consists in forcing out the cartridge case extractors in central-
fire breech-loading guns in the following manner :-Upon the breech end of
the part of the action termed the fore-end I form a movable stud or pinned
lever, and in the rod of the extractor at the end furthest from the breech I
pierce a slot in which the lever stud upon the fore end engages, so that when
the break down is brought into use the lever stud in the fore end working in
the said slot in the extractor. rod forces the extractor out and with it the
empty cartridge case, the closing of the parts together forcing the extractor
home again.

page_text: DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figures 1, 2, and 3 represent in front and end elevations and top view
respectively the stud or lever (a) working upon a pin (6) within a recess
formed in the part of the action termed the fore end. Figure 4 shews in
front and side elevations the form of the stud lever detached.
Figure 5 is a longitudinal section of such parts of a central-fire breech-
loading gun as are necessary to shew my improved means of actuating the
extractors of such guns. It is represented with the parts of the arm
separated and the extractor forced forward; "c" is the extractor, in the longer
arm or rod of which at the end farthest from the breech is cut or pierced a
slot (d) to receive the rounded head (a¹) of the lever stud or pin (a) by
which the extractor is actuated.
The action is as follows:-To withdraw the cartridge cases after discharge
it is requisite that the break down be brought into use and the breech opened
in the ordinary manner, when the portion of the end of the breech nearest the
hinge pin will bear into the curved recess (f) cut in the face of the lever or
stud (a), thus acting as a fulcrum, and thereby causing the said stud lever to
work upon its axis the pin (6), the rounded head (a¹) of the stud lever in the
slot (d) being advanced, and carrying with it the extractor (c), and conse-
quently the empty cartridge cases, so that they may be readily withdrawn by
the hand, the closing together the parts of the break down being all that is
necessary to force the extractor home into its normal position.
Figures 6, 7, and 8 represent in front and end elevations and top view
respectively a modification of the stud lever (a) and recessed fore end before
described; Figure 9 shewing the form of the lever detached from the fore
end.
This modification consists in so forming the recess for the reception of the
lever in the fore end as to leave a solid portion at the base, as seen at "g,"
Figure 9, this increases the strength of the fore end and provides a bearing,
necessary in certain descriptions of actions; the lever stud is by this plan
much shortened, as shewn in Figure 9.
The application to the arm is seen in section at Figure 10; this mode
enables me to materially strengthen the hinge pin (h) and form a solid part
which becomes the bearing or fulcrum, upon which the stud lever turns, for
upon the break down being brought into action this part attached to or
forming part of the binge pin (h) forces upwards the lower end of the lever (a)
working the head (a¹) forwards, and thus producing the same effect upon the
extractor as that already specified and shewn at Figure 5.

page_text: Having thus described the nature of my said Invention and the manner in
which the same may be carried into effect, I claim without limiting myself to
the exact details or profiles of the various parts shewn, the improved method
of actuating the extractors of central-fire breech-loading guns by means of
the mechanical parts, and in the manner herein more fully set forth and
specified.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Wheeler Cross, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Fifth day of November, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six.
WILLIAM WHEELER CROSS. (L.S.)