AN IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS IN PROTECTING THE LOCKS AND SIGHTS OF FIRE- ARMS
Year: 1861

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said Henry Hickman at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition and Decla-
ration, on the 30th September 1861, pursuant to the 9th Section of the
Patent Law Amendment Act, 1852.
I, HENRY HICKMAN, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Drill
Sergeant, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN
IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS IN PROTECTING THE LOCKS AND SIGHTS OF FIRE-
ARMS," and the manner in which 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 :-
My Invention consists in providing a protective cover or cap for the locks
and sights of fire-arms, more particularly for rifles and sporting guns, which
cover or cap is of such form and material as to afford a thorough waterproof
protection, readily applied and as readily removed, whilst at the same time
its form admits of being conveniently carried in the pocket when not in use.
It is well known that the locks, especially of fire-arms, are greatly injured
by wet driving into the parts of the lock, producing rust, injuring the action
of the spring, and thus causing the hammer to hang fire by not striking a
blow sufficiently sharp to explode the cap. It is an equally well-known fact,
that many accidents occur to sportsmen from the hammer of the piece catching
in branches or twigs whilst in the field, and thus discharging the gun. My
object is to provide a remedy for these evils. And in order that my Invention

page_text: may be better understood I will proceed to refer to the accompanying
Drawings, in which Figure 1 represents a portion of a rifle with one of my
covers or caps over the lock and sight; Figure 2, a plan of the cover detached
and open, seen from the under side; Figure 3, a view of the cover folded for
the pocket when not in use.
(A) is a portion of the cover made of waterproof material, cut to something
like the form for the upper leather of a shoe, and bound over a metal wire
frame (6). This frame (b) is jointed as at (c) to allow of the cover being
folded, as seen in Fig. 3. The form of this frame, curved inwards at the
part where it comes under the rifle lock, affords a sufficient amount of spring
to retain the cover in position, but an additional security is provided by the
link and hook (d), which may be used to clasp the cover under the lock.
(E) shews a raised hollow to cover the hammer, and as the material of which
the other part of the cover is formed would in all probability not possess
sufficient strength to resist the abrasion which would be caused by the top of
the hammer, I make this portion, namely, over the hammer, of gutta percha,
or other sufficiently strong material that will admit of being conveniently
attached to the waterproof fabric of the cover. It will be seen that I thus
provide a ready means of protecting the aforesaid parts of the arms from
wet or from accidental discharge, whilst the cover or cap when not in
use can be folded, as seen in Figure 3, and carried in the pocket without
inconvenience.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and the manner
in which the same is to be performed, I claim, without limiting myself to these
precise details, the improvement or improvements in protecting the locks
and sights of fire-arms, substantially in manner herein more fully set forth
and specified.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Hickman, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-sixth day of September, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one.
HENRY HICKMAN. (L.8.)