IMPROVEMENTS IN BREECH-LOADING FIRE-ARMS, PARTLY APPLICABLE TO OTHER ARMS
Year: 1867

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by James Fox Bland at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 21st February
1867.
I, JAMES FOX BLAND, of Sandgate, in the County of Kent, Captain in Her
Majesty's 76th Regiment, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN BREECH-LOADING FIRE-ARMS, PARTLY APPLICABLE TO OTHER
ARMS," to be as follows:-
My Invention chiefly relates to breech-loading fire-arms in which the breech
chamber is turned upon a front hinge or pivot when the empty cartridge case
is to be extracted and a fresh cartridge inserted.
The Invention consists, first, in an improved arrangement of extractor;
secondly, in an improved arrangement for locking the breech chamber in
place; thirdly, in an improvement in the hammer and in the block or bolt
in which the pin hole is formed; and, fourthly, in an improved back sight for
fire-arms, all as hereafter described.
My fire-arms are constructed as follows:-To a lump on the upper side of
the rear of the barrel I hinge or pivot the breech chamber, which when in
place fits into a corresponding recess in the stock. The breech chamber is
bored to correspond with the bore of the gun, and its back face at the right-
hand side is recessed to receive a curved extractor. The extractor is carried
on the rear end of a bar which works in a' longitudinal groove in the side of
the breech chamber. The extractor is limited in its play by a pin which
takes into a slot or groove in the bar. The rear of the barrel is recessed to

page_text: receive a corresponding circular projection on the front of the breech chamber,
and I prefer to cover this projection with soft metal which will by its expan-
sion form a hermetie closing. Behind the recess which receives the breech
chamber is a lump with an aperture threaded internally to receive a threaded
bolt, which is provided with a thumb piece behind the lump. The extractor
is likewise fitted with a thumb piece, which may be protected at back by
a swelling on the stock. The bolt has a central aperture for the exploding
pin.
The action is as follows:-Supposing the gun has been fired, the bolt is
turned to the left by means of its thumb piece, the breech chamber is then
raised on its hinge by the thumb piece of the extractor, and the extractor is
at the same time drawn back by the thumb piece so as to draw the empty
case partly out. The breech chamber is kept raised by the extractor resting
on the lump behind, while the empty case is being drawn out and a fresh
cartridge is being inserted into the breech chamber; the insertion of the
cartridge pushes forward the extractor, and the breech chamber is then
returned to position, the bolt is next turned to the right by its thumb piece,
and its fore end enters a corresponding recess in the breech chamber, and
presses against the base of the cartridge so as to lock all in place.
My improvement in the hammer and in the block or bolt is for the object
of preventing the explosion in case the hammer should come down when the
parts are not quite locked. I form a recess round the pin hole in the rear of
the block of irregular form, preferably like a keyhole, and the nose of the
bammer has a corresponding projection, so that should the hammer come
down when the parts are not quite locked the projection will not enter the
recess and the exploding pin will not be acted upon.
My Invention further consists in constructing a fixed back sight for short
distances as follows:-The sight consists of an upright piece of ☐ shape; the
inner edge of each upright arm of this piece is formed like a rack or stepped.
the upper side of the base of the piece gives the elevation for, say, 100 yards,
the first step gives 200 yards, the second, step 300 yards, and so on. This
improved sight applies to both breech and muzzle loaders.