IMPROVEMENTS IN BREECH-LOADING FIRE-ARMS AND IN CARTRIDGES
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Edward Gedge, of the Firm of John
Gedge and Son, of No. 11, Wellington Street, Strand, in the County
of Middlesex, Patent Agent, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN BREECH-LOADING FIRE-ARMS AND IN CARTRIDGES."-A communication
from abroad by Georges Le Baron, of Caen, Calvados, France.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Edward Gedge
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 1st March 1869.
I, WILLIAM EDWARD GEDGE, of the Firm of John Gedge and Son,
of No. 11, Wellington Street, Strand, in the County of Middlesex,
Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN BREECH-LOADING FIRE-ARMS AND IN CARTRIDGES," a com-
munication to me from abroad by Georges Le Baron, of Caen, Calvados,
France, to be as follows:-
This Invention rests upon three essentials points, the loading by the
breech, which is effected by making the moveable chamber to turn, and

page_text: thereby cause the striker to retire, when by sliding the chamber the
piece is cocked, and the breech of the barrel presented for the
introduction of the cartridge; the percussion of the fire-arm, which is
produced in the centre of the cartridge by the pressure of a tumbler
acting like a cock on the striker; the cartridge carrying at its base a
double metallic concave washer, which, when the explosion takes place,
rises, and being caught in catches on the moveable chamber serves for
the extraction of the spent cartridge from the barrel. These three points
are attained by three special mechanical arrangements, one for the
moveable chamber, one for the lock, and one for the cartridge.
On the accompanying Sheet of Drawing forming part of this Pro-
visional Specification, Fig. 1 represents the moveable chamber and its
striker, its moveable valve, and its cartridge drawer. Fig. 2 is a view of
the box of the breech furnished with stop spring to hold the moveable
chamber; Fig. 3 shows the lock with its guard and the two screws
which serve to fix it; Fig. 4 is a section of the cartridge.
The mechanism of the moveable chamber is composed of five pieces.
A piece A with its lever kept in position by a spring P (Fig. 2), and in
which passes the striker D provided with a spiral spring stopped by a
nut; the function of the spiral spring is to keep the striker always on
the cartridge; to this striker D is fixed a moveable valve E which acts
on the cock tumbler to cock it; the picce C on which the striker is set
is sloped and terminates in a point, so that in the rotary movement the
lever acts on the striker and serves to set the tumbler in the safety
notch. B, B, is the cartridge drawer.
The mechanism of the lock comprises a trigger plate F, forming
one piece with the lock, a cock tumbler G, and a trigger H. The cock
tumbler G, carried by the stay N which forms part of the lock plate F,
is tied by a small chain I to the mainspring with arm j, and the trigger
His actuated by a spring with an arm K; M, O, the two screws which
secure it. The cartridge, Fig. 4, has at its base a concave metal ring,
which is set in the bottom of the cartridge. The fire-arm is loaded and
discharged in three movements. The piece is cocked by turning the
moveable chamber and sliding it backwards. The cartridge is then
inserted, and the moveable chamber brought back into position. The
explosion results from the shock of the striker. By pulling on the
trigger the tumbler cock is freed, and coming on to the striker discharges
the piece.

page_text: These improvements may be applied to the Chassepot gun of 1866 by
modifying the shape and dimensions of some of the parts.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Edward Gedge in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 28th August 1869..
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE. PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
EDWARD GEDGE, of the Firm of John Gedge and Son, of No.. 11,
Wellington Street, Strand, in the County of Middlesex, Patent Agent,
scud greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the First day of March, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in the. thirty-
second year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said William Edward Gedge, Her
special licence that I, the said William Edward Gedge, my executors,.
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William
Edward Gedge, my exccutors, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN BREECH-LOADING FIRE-ARMS AND IN CARTRIDGES," a.
communication to me from abroad by Georges Le Baron, of Caen,.
Calvados, France, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said.
William Edward Gedge, my executors or administrators, by an instrument.
in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should
particularly discribe 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 Scal 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 Edward Gedge, 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, reference being had to the

page_text: reference placed thereon:-
The central-fire breech-loading fire-arms of this Invention are based
upon three essential points, which are, the loading by the breech, the
percussion, and the compression and extraction of the cartridge case.
Three special mechanical arrangements of novel application give the
surprising results herein-after described. The loading by the breech is
effected by the aid of a main piece termed the moveable chamber
("tonnerre mobile") shown Fig. 5 of the Drawing, and the use, details,
and object of which are herein-after defined. In use this piece serves
in the first place to close at the actual moment of firing the opening of
the loading chamber, which is made towards the breech, while it has also
for object in the contrary position to facilitate the introduction of the
cartridge. It also serves according to the position given to the lever to
determine or annul the action of the trigger. Finally it fires the charge
by the action of the striker on the cap of the cartridge. The working
of the moveable chamber is very simple. To load the arm it is only
necessary to raise the lever which must be habitually kept down on the
right side, place it perpendicular to the axis of the barrel, and draw the
hand and consequently the said piece backward, so as completely to
expose the loading chamber. This backward movement is arrested at a
fixed point as will herein-after be explained. The charge being inserted
push the said piece forward again so as to hermetically close the loading
chamber, give a circular movement to the lever towards the right, then
bring down the cock to the safety bend, or place it at full cock accordingly
as it may or may not be desired to use the fresh charge at once. The firing,
which as above stated, is the result of the shock of the striker against the
cap of the cartridge is determined by the following mechanism:-The
cylindrical part placed immediately beneath the lever, of which, in fact,
it forms part is perforated throughout its length and receives a metal rod
or pin D (Fig. 6) which is the above-named "striker," its casing, and a
spiral spring herein-after mentioned. This striker being independent
and having free play receives impulsion from the cock tumbler, which
drives it sharply forward and causes the shock from which results the
firing of the charge. It is furnished with a boss which comes against
the picce, serving as its casing and guide, and receiving the spiral spring
intended to facilitate the play of the striker. All these details are the
result of modifications of the original Invention, as will be apparent on

page_text: reference to Figs. 1, 2, 3, and 4 of the Drawing, which represent my
improvements as set forth in my Provisional Specification.
The head of the moveable chamber has also undergone various
modifications. The Figs. 1, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 represent the original plan,
and Figs. 11, 12, and 13 show the details of the actual head of the
moveable chamber as modified. It is therefore easy to follow the
various phases and to judge of the real importance of the new play of
the pieces. The said head, Fig. 11, letters M, P, preserves at the
point A its original diameter, from this part to the body of the piece its
diameter has been lessened to the extent requisite to receive a moveable
ring P of the same metal, which exactly fills the space left by the
material removed, while leaving in height a space sufficient to permit
the come-and-go motion, and the object of which will be herein-after
shown. The slide R, terminated originally by a stop piece coming
against the stop screw, is continued without a break to the head of the
said moveable chamber. Finally, on the lateral fore part of the aforesaid
head is a hollow space intended to receive the cartridge at the moment
of the explosion, but a catch B (Fig. 6) which was originally fitted to
one of the flanges resulting from the formation of the space just alluded.
to has been dispensed with, experience having shown that it was not
indispensably required, inasmuch as the edges alone are sufficient for
the purpose. A bolt or pin V (Fig. 12), termed the cartridge driver
("pousse cartouche "), has been set along this same head of the moveable
chamber, and on its right it is moveable, and by the aid of an opening
made for the purpose it traverses the head of the moveable chamber
when actuated. The cartridge driver is strengthened at its lower part
so as to give it a resistance explained by the following operation. Now
the result of these various arrangements is that after the explosion of
the gases the cartridge, driven back and expanded by the force of the
projection, is compressed in the opening reserved for this purpose at the
extremity of the head of the moveable chamber, where it is held by the
surrounding surfaces. It being necessary to the reloading of the arm
that the moveable chamber be drawn backward, and the slide R having
no longer any stop picce, the result is that the stop screw strikes against
the ring P, which in its turn causes the bolt V to penetrate with force
into and a little beyond the head of the moveable chamber. This violent
movement acting as lever brings about a see-saw motion which detaches
and sharply ejects the said cartridge case from the barrel, this action
taking place quite naturally, and no special attention being required.

page_text: Fig. 13 shows these various details in section. It should be observed
that the section cut from the barrel near the loading chamber is not cut
perpendicularly to its axis, but on the contrary describes at P (Fig. 10)
a certain degree of elliptical projection. This special section facilitates
the exit of the cartridge case by producing a movement similar to that
which is to be observed at the end of a screw when being drawn from
its nut. It is clear that the cartridge becoming after the explosion
firmly fixed to the moveable head, which is obliged to revolve round its.
axis being drawn by the lever in its circular movement from right to left,
the case necessarily follows this impulsion, and is all the better prepared
to leave the loading chamber.
Although I have shown a particular form of cartridge at Fig. 4 I
would have it understood that I do not confine myself thereto, and that
the improved fire-arm of this construction is well adapted for various
kinds of cartridges.
It will be easy to gather from the preceding that the mechanism of
the various pieces is not complicated, and has been explained as clearly
as possible; however to leave no doubt I will now give the nomenclature
of each piece.
1º. The moveable chamber, composed (see Fig. 6) of seven pieces,
namely, the piece A and its lever; the spring originally used to keep
it in place is dispensed with. The striker, which originally formed part
of the overlapping piece C, but is now completely independent of it; it
is composed of the striker, properly so called, D (Fig. 6) and of a spiral
spring E' stopped by a nut and shown on the same Figure. The piece
(clappet") E previously moveable but now fixed. The head of the
said moveable chamber which gives passage to the striker. The
cartridge drawer L and its cartridge driver V (see Fig. 12). Finally,
the overlapping piece C (Fig. 6) which forms one of the ends of the
moveable chamber, it terminates in a point by a succession of inclined
planes in order to permit the lever in its circular movement to act on
the striker and also to facilitate the placing of the tumbler in the safety
notch.
2. The lock which comprises a trigger piece F (Fig. 3) forming
lock plate, a tumbler cock G, and a trigger H. The tumbler cock G is a
carried by a stay N forming part of the lock plate, it is connected to
the single arm mainspring J by a small chain I; the trigger H is

page_text: actuated by another spring K, also with a single arm; the trigger piece
is fixed to the wood by two screws M and O.
Claim is made to the novel system of central-fire breech-loading fire-
arm herein described and illustrated on the annexed Sheet of Drawing
characterized as above stated by the special mechanism of moveable
chamber and lock as well as by the particular arrangement of the other
parts.
In witness whereof, 1, the said William Edward Gedge, have here-
unto set my hand and scal, this Twenty-eighth day of August, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-
nine.