A NEW KIND OF CASING INTENDED. TO PROTECT THE.STOCK AND, LOCK OF FIRE-ARMS, WITH GUIDING CAPS TO TAKE AIM."
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS: PATENT to André-Gustave Bigorie, of No. 60, Boulevart de
Strasbourg, Paris, in the Empire of France, Merchant, for the Invention
of "A NEW KIND OF CASING INTENDED. TO PROTECT THE. STOCK AND, LOCK
OF FIRE-ARMS, WITH GUIDING CAPS TO TAKE AIM."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said André Gustave Bigorie at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
22nd May 1865.
I,. ANDRÉ GUSTAVE BIGORIE, of No. 60, Boulevart de Strasbourg, Paris, in.
the Empire of France, Merchant, do hereby declare the nature of the said.
Invention for "A NEW KIND OF CASING INTENDED TO PROTECT THE STOCK AND
LOCK OF FIRE-ARMS WITH GUIDING CAPS TO TAKE AIM," to be as follows:-
The Invention consists in making a case or sheath for protecting the stock.
and lock of a fire-arm against blows or damp, and also caps for covering the
cocks and preserving the locks from rain. The stock sheath and the lock caps
which are attached to it may be made of leather, skin, carved wood, stamped
sheet metal, or any other suitable material, but I prefer vulcanized india-
rubber, as being more easily put on and fitting with more nicety. The sheath
being passed on to the stock from the butt end is fastened at its upper part
by strings, hooks, buttons, or otherwise, and the caps which are buttoned on
to the sheath are passed over the cocks and held by a band passing in front of
the trigger guard. In double-barreled guns a space is left between the caps
for sighting, single-barreled guns require of course but one cap. The difference

page_text: between these sheaths and those hitherto used is, that while the latter were
only used to preserve the gun for travelling, ny sheath and cap are kept on
for shooting in rainy weather.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said André Gustave. Bigorie in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 21st November 1865.
.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ANDRÉ
GUSTAVE BIGORIE, of No. 60, Boulevart de Strasbourg, Paris, in the Empire
of France, Merchant, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-second day of May, 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 André Gustave Bigorie, Her special licence that I, the said André
Gustave Bigorie, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
I, the said André Gustave Bigorie, 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 "A NEW
KIND OF CASING INTENDED TO PROTECT THE STOCK AND LOCK OF FIRE-ARMS, WITH
GUIDING CAPS TO TAKE AIM," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said André Gustave Bigorie, my executors or administrators, by an instrument
in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should par-
ticularly 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 André Gustave. Bigorie, 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:-
My Invention produces two important results, first, the complete suppression
of several inconveniences herein-after pointed out; second, the creation of a
perfectly new advantage, facility for taking aim. Every.sportsman knows
that the parts of fire-arms most liable to accidents, particularly in fowling

page_text: pieces, are the locks and stocks, the latter get chipped and bruised by branches,
bushes, and rocks, which is very disagreable and considerably diminishes the
value of a gun; but the rain has other inconveniences, it rusts the locks,
impairs them, and necessitates frequent cleanings and repairs. Rainy weather
is acknowledged to be excellent for sport, but it is almost impossible to go
out shooting in rainy weather on account of the injury occasioned by it to the
fowling pieces, and because the rain penetrates everywhere into the lock and
causes the gun to hang fire; it is, above all, in breech-loading guns that the
latter inconvenience is to be feared, because the water oozing little by little
the pin serves as a conductor to it, and the powder becomes at last completely
saturated.
My Invention has for its aim and result to ward off the inconveniences just
pointed out. My apparatus is composed of a sheath or casing closely fitting
to the stock of the gun, leaving neither a crease nor a hollow; each sheath
must be adapted to the size of the stock it is to cover, it is kept in its place
by buttons, clasps, buckles, or any other means; those in india-rubber by
their elasticity. They may be of leather, skin, or any other supple material;
but I prefer those of india-rubber vulcanized, or otherwise rendered supple,
for their elasticity allows of their fitting closely to stocks of every size, they
are also more completely waterproof than those of any other material. They
are manufactured without any seam, closed like a pocket, and present an
opening only towards the top to admit of the introduction of the stock of the
gun; this opening is closed by means of four small double buttons which
bring the edges of the sheath close together, as may be seen in Figures 1, 2,
and 3, of the annexed Sheet of Drawing, forming part of this my Specification.
The edge of the opening is of double thickness b to prevent its tearing'; lower
down a small hole is made in the sheath to admit of the sling ring c. Now,
concerning the caps or lock protectors, I prefer making them in a single piece.
I make them in a mould of india-rubber, which is afterwards vulcanized;
they present a soft and yielding surface to the locks and barrels; their volume
may be reduced by compressing them so as to be easily and without any
inconvenience put into one's waistcoat pocket. Figures 1, 2, and 4, represent
this cap placed on a gun; Figure 5 is a perspective view of it alone, real size.
This cap has two cells h, h, adapted to receive the two locks of a double-
barreled gnn, and I could equally employ two separate and independent caps,
and of a different shape, such as those represented Figures 9 and 10, each of
them exactly fitting one of the cocks of the gun, and each mounted on one of
the buttons placed for the purpose at the top of the sheath. These caps have
a little brim at the lower part, destined to carry the water off from the lock;

page_text: each cap may have a clasp or a button hole for the reception of a small elastic
string, which is placed before the trigger guard; this string, from its elasticity,
allows the caps to be lifted, together or separately, for the purposes of loading,
priming, and cocking. Figure 11 represents a cap, real size, destined for n
rifle or a single-barreled gun.
J
Two other great advantages result from 'the use of these caps; first, the
sportsman may, without uncovering the lock, cock and uncock his gun;
second, he may at any moment ascertain by a single touch the position of
the cocks sheltered under their covering, and verify without lifting up the
caps if the gun is at cock or at half-cock. This suppleness of the caps does
not, however, exclude a rigidity sufficient to protect the locks from the effects
of any shock, even that caused by the dropping of the gun. I cause the
outside of my caps to be made of a certain thickness to make them stiff,
whilst I cause the inside and the part connecting the two cells to be made
thinner in order to leave a space as wide as possible for the visual ray. I can
even make the 'two cells or caps separate and join them together by a very
thin metallic plate by means of rivets, or otherwise, as may be seen Figure 6,
which is a section of Figure 8 through the line X, Y, which is a perspective
view of the cap, real size.
Figure 7 represents another arrangement that I can give to the caps, which
would form but a single cell for the two cocks, but the sides of which, before
and behind, would have an opening V for the passage of the visual ray when
taking aim; but I greatly prefer the caps with double cells, as those repre-
sented, Figures 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, and 6. The latter one is longer, that is to say,
it advances more upon the barrel and reaches on the opposite side as far as
the lower end of the barrel, thus covering a larger surface. I have two ways
of fastening my caps on the gun; I employ either of them at will. The first
consists of two small steel springs, which I shall herein-after describe; the
second of four small double buttons and two kinds of india-rubber curbs, with
which I provide my caps, and which serve to fix them on the gun, whether
it be covered with the sheath, as in Figures 1 and 2, or uncovered, as in
Figure 4. When it is necessary to lift the cap in order to load or prime the
arm, one has but to unbutton the front curb on one side, as is seen in Figure 1.
"The caps of my Invention applied to double-barreled guns not only succeed
in preserving the lock from shocks and protecting them against the rain; they
also possess another great advantage, resulting from their peculiar shape,
which guides the eye, enables one to take a true aim, and affords an incon-
testable facility for taking sight and aiming truly. Were I to make my caps
of any other material than india-rubber, which right I reserve to myself, and

page_text: there being no elasticity in the material, I should, to join them together,
employ two small flat springs of tempered steel, placed at each extremity and
serving as a bridge.
To sum up, my Invention being completely described, I claim,-
First, the application to fire-arms, and principally to fowling pieces, of a
sheath of leather or any other supple material, or thin metal, or even of wood,
but preferably of supple vulcanized india-rubber, to cover up the stock and
preserve it from the shocks that might injure it.
Second, of a cap covering the cock and lock, and fastened to the sheath by
means of small buttons, and kept on the gun by a strip of india-rubber or
small steel springs, as already described, these caps forming no impediment
to the action of the cock, and in case of double-barreled guns, enabling the
sportsman to take truer aim.
In witness whereof, I, the said André Gustave Bigorie, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Eleventh day of November, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five.
Witness,
L. D'AUBREVILLE, C. E.
G. BIGORIE. (L.S.)