IMPROVEMENTS IN BREECH-LOADING FIRE-ARMS, AND IN CARTRIDGES FOR THE SAME
Year: 1867

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by William Armand Gilbee at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
5th April 1867.-A communication from abroad by Jérome Flachat, of
Saint Etienne, Loire, in the Empire of France.
I, WILLIAM ARMAND GILBEE, trading under the name or style of L. do
Fontainemoreau, of the General Patent Office, 4, Sonth Street, Finsbury, 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 FOR THE SAME," to be as follows, that is to say :-
The Invention communicated to me consists in an improved construction of
breech-loading fire-arm and cartridge. This improved system of breech-loading
fire-arm allows of two arrangements having the same elements; the stopper
carrying the lock does not turn, as in the needle gun, in one of these arrange-
ments. In the other arrangement the stopper turns, but the part containing
the lock remains fixed, and produces a to-and-fro movement.
The lock is composed of three parts, firstly, the rod on which is fixed
(forming part of the nut carrying the rest and discharge notches) the rocking
trigger, and the sliding bolt for arming, which is connected to the nut by a
cap and a spiral spring which pushes back the rod when the trigger is
pressed, and allows the nut to escape. The cylinder is closed at its two
extremities by screw pieces which are perforated to allow the passage and free
play of the rod.

page_text: The stopper consists of a hollow cylinder, in which the rod or neeure prays
and passes into the spiral spring; this rod is so acted upon by this spring as
not to go beyond the level of the circle forming the breech plate; it only
exceeds it when it is pushed forward, or rather struck by the rod of the lock,
which acts as a second rod or needle which strikes the rod, producing ignition
of the fulminate of the cartridge. The key or handle forming one piece with
its ring is countersunk in such a way that the cylinder carrying a screw thread
at the part where the ring covers it may, by turning a small key, advance or
recede so as to disengage its extremity from the interior of the barrel. When
the stopper is closed a part of it is in the barrel, and serves as a stop to the
turning action of the stopper which turns on a hinge; the circle serving as a
breech plate forms a screw head, as it is adapted to the cylinder by means of
a perforated screw which allows the small rod or needle to pass through.
Thus by unscrewing the stopper half a revolution in the ring of the handle the
opening of the breech is effected, and which then turns and opens the place
for the cartridge, which is then pushed into the barrel. It will be observed
that the discharge cannot take place before the closing of the breech.
In the second arrangement of the system, the cylinder carrying the trigger
instead of being fixed is moveable, and has a to-and-fro movement to allow of
the introduction of the cartridge into the barrel, and thus doing away with
the turning stopper, before described. The cylinder being rather longer than
the preceding one is constructed in the same way, inasmuch as it contains the
same lock forming a nut, rod, or needle acting on the fulminate and the bolt;
this lock is itself the stopper, and the head of the rod strikes the fulminate of
the cartridge; this piece can slide in the sheath forming part of the barrel,
and its sliding motion is regulated by the screw placed over the sheath, and
the extremity of which enters a channel made in the side of the cylinder.
The lock stopper is drawn back for the introduction of the cartridge, which
only requires to be slightly introduced, and the lock stopper cylinder being
pushed forward forces the cartridge into its chamber. The forward and back-
ward or opening and closing motions are effected by means of a handle which
serves as a propeller and a key; this key is moveable, it turns perpendicularly
to the axis of the barrel, and by being turned the key enters a notch and is
firmly closed, and by opening or turning the key and thus disengaging it from
the notch the stopper can be drawn from the barrel. The stopper is provided
with a cartridge extractor for withdrawing the cartridge by its bottom, which
extractor consists of a small flat spring with a notched head which enters a
notch made in the barrel and which catches the metal rim of the cartridge

page_text: bottom. By causing the stopper to play in order to charge the cartridges fall
by the action of the extractor.
The improved cartridge is made by placing on the ball a felt washer with
wadding forced into the centre and pasted on with good paste; the wadding
passes into the middle so as to render it adherent to the socket of the car-
tridge (either paper or cardboard); I place the powder over it; over the
powder a ligature, and above this wadding, containing in the centre a square
piece of paper coated with fulminate, and above this I place a bottom or india-
rubber washer. This socket or cartridge is fixed to the ball by two ligatures
so as to obtain with more certainty the projection of the paper tube from the
barrel; when the ignition takes place the powder acting immediately on the
bottom will cause the cartridge to leave the barrel.