IMPROVE- MENTS IN FIRE-ARMS
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Joseph Needham, of Overstone Road, Hammer-
smith, in the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of " IMPROVE-
MENTS IN FIRE-ARMS."
Sealed the 9th December 1875, and dated the 7th August 1875.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Joseph Needham at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 7th August 1875.
I, JOSEPH NEEDHAM, of Overstone Road, Hammersmith, in the
County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for " IMPROVEMENTS IN FIRE-ARMS," to be as follows:-
The Invention relates to improvements upon an Invention for which
Letters Patent were granted to me, dated April 7, 1874, No. 1205. For
this purpose I according to one arrangement dispense with the internal
hammers or tumblers and with the levers mounted on the axes thereof
for cocking the hammers and for actuating the extractors, and in lieu
thereof I employ ordinary "locks" and mount upon an axis in the

page_text: 66
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"action" at the back of the locking piece or cam a lever having
projections extending at right angles from the upper end thereof to act
upon the hammers to cock them on opening, the breech of the gun,
for which purpose the said lever is provided with a nose or projection
which is acted upon by the "lump" in the opening of the breech, and I
cause the back of the locking piece or cam on the opening of the
breech to act upon the said lever to start it. Or in lieu of said lever I
form the locking piece or cam" longer than usual and mount it on a
squared shaft, the outer ends of which have fixed thereon short levers
or " lifters "in position to act upon the hammers, to lift or cock them
on the opening of the breech, the locking piece or cam having a
projection fixed thereon which is acted upon by a projection on the
lump on the opening of the breech. Or instead of employing short
levers or lifters fixed on the axis of the locking piece or cam as above
described, a cross bar fixed to the locking piece or "cam "and projecting
on each side thereof may be employed for cocking the hammērs,
This last described arrangement is equally applicable when either
external or internal hammers or strikers are employed.
I also dispense with the arrangements described in the Specification
of my said former Patent for actuating the extractors, and instead of
employing two separate extractors, as therein described, I now employ
only a single extractor for both cartridges as is commonly the case; but
according to my present Invention I act on the extractor by means of a
spring, so that the extractor on the opening of the breech shall have a
sudden motion given thereto to throw out the cartridges; but in order
to prevent the spring acting until the breech ends of the barrels are
clear of the face of the action, I pin joint to the lower part of the
extractor a stop, which on opening the breech presses against the face
of the action and thereby prevents the extractor moving until said stop
has risen above the top of the face of the action. This stop is capable
of turning on its pin joint to permit of the closing of the breech, but is
rigid in the contrary direction.
In order to prevent the extractor throwing out a live cartridge I connect
to any moving part of each of the locks (the main spring by preference)
a wire or rod which is held up in position to stop the live cartridge
being thrown out by the extractor, and which also acts upon the striker
to draw it back out of the way of the cartridge; or in cases where the

page_text: "
"strikers are pin jointed to internal hammers or tumblers I cause the
strikers to act on the said stop wires or rods.
The extractor may be started by means of a projection on or near the
joint of the action of a similar character to that ordinarily employed for
effecting the entire motion of the extractor, but according to my present
Invention instead of such projection acting upon the end of the shank
of the extractor, as heretoforc, it works in a recess in said shank which
is suitably lengthened for the purpose, by which means I dispense with
the stop herein-before described as being pin jointed to the extractor.
Or the extractor may be operated by means of a lever of a similar
character to those shown and described in my said former Specification,
said lever being acted upon according to my present Invention by the
nose or projection on the locking piece or cam herein-before described as
being employed in cocking the hammers or by the under side of the face
of the action.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Joseph Needham in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 7th February 1876.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOSEPH
NEEDHAM, of Overstone Road, Hammersmith, in the County of
Middlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Seventh day of August, in the year.
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in the.
thirty-ninth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said Joseph Needham, Her special
license, that I, the said Joseph Needham, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said Joseph Needham, 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
"IMPROVEMENTS IN FIRE-ARMS," upon the condition (amongst others) that.
I, the said Joseph Needham, my executors or administrators, by an

page_text: instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and
seals, should particularly 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 Joseph Needham, 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 thereof, reference being had to the Drawings here-
unto annexed, and to the figures and letters marked thereon, that is
to say :-
In the various Figures of the Drawings like parts are marked with
similar letters of reference.
66
The Invention relates to improvements upon an Invention for which
Letters Patent were granted to me, dated April 7th, 1874, No. 1205. For
this purpose I according to the arrangement shown at Figure 1 dispense
with the internal hammers or tumblers and with the levers mounted on
the axis or axes thereof described in the Specification of my aforesaid
Patent for cocking the hammers and for actuating the extractors, and in
lieu thereof I employ ordinary "locks," the plate of one of which is
shown by the dotted lines a, a, and I mount upon an axis b' in the
"action" at the back of the locking piece or
"
cam c a lever 6 having
projections 6 extending at right angles therefrom at or near the upper
end thereof to act upon the hammers, not shown, to cock them on
opening the breech of the gun, for which purpose the said lever bis
provided with a nose or projection 73 which is acted upon by the
"lump" d in the opening of the breech, and I cause the back of the
locking piece or
" cam c on the opening of the breech to act upon the
said lever to start it. Or in lieu of said lever b I form the locking
piece or cam c, see Figure 2, longer than usual, and mount it on a
squared shaft, the outer ends of which have fixed thereon short levers
or "lifters e (shown by dotted lines) in position to act upon the
hammers to lift or "cock" them on the opening of the breech, the
locking piece or cam c having a projection e' formed thereon, which is
acted upon by the lump d on the opening of the breech to push the said
locking piece or cam c backwards. Or instead of employing short levers
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cam c, as
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cam C
or "lifters " e fixed on the axis of the locking piece or
above described, a cross bar c² fixed to the locking piece or
and projecting on each side thereof may be employed for cocking the
hammers, a suitable slot or opening being left in the action to permit of
the motion of the cross bar.
This last described arrangement is equally applicable when either
external or internal hammers or strikers are employed.
I also dispense with the arrangements described in the Specification
of my said former Patent for actuating the extractors, and instead of
employing two separate extractors, as therein described, I now employ
only a single extractor for both cartridges, as is commonly the case;
but according to this part of my present Invention, as shown at Figure 2,
I actuate the extractor by means of a spring y, so that the extractor on
the opening of the breech shall have a sudden motion given thereto to
throw out the cartridges; but in order to prevent the spring acting
until the breech ends of the barrels are clear of the face of the action I
pin joint to the lower part of the extractor a stop f¹, which on opening
the breech presses against the face of the action or a recess therein and
thereby prevents the extractor fmoving until said stop f¹ has risen above
the top of the face of the action. This stop f¹ is capable of turning on
its pin joint to permit of the closing of the brecch, but is rigid in the
contrary direction..
In order to prevent the extractor throwing out a live cartridge, I
connect to any moving part of each of the locks (the main spring, by
preference shown by dotted lines) a wire or rod which is held up in
position to stop the live cartridge being thrown out by the extractor,
and which, as shown at Figure 3, may also be caused to act upon the
striker i to draw it back out of the way of the cartridge in cases where
such strikers are not pin jointed to the hammers. For convenience of
construction I form the striker as shown in side view and plan at
Figures 4, and I form the wire or rod h, as shown in side elevations at
Figures 5, by which means when placing these parts in position in the
gun the nose of the striker will freely pass the recess ' in the wire or
rod h, and then when such rod is lowered the notch
nection with the part 2 of the wire or rod h, by which means whilst the
rod or wire is capable of freely rising and falling and thereby acting
upon the striker i the latter cannot become detached and lost.
will act in con-

page_text: At Figure 6 I have shown a modified arrangement of parts for
actuating the extractor f. In this case I dispense with the stop f¹, and
in licu thereof I form the spring g, as shown in position in section at
Figure 6, and in side view and plan separately at Figures 7 and 8; and
in order to prevent the spring acting on the extractor at the first
portion of the motion of the parts in opening the breech I form the
joint lump j, as shown at Figure 6, so that the spring g shall be retained
on and by the said lump ; until the barrels have been turned nearly fully
down, when by slipping suddenly off said lump the part g¹ of the spring g
will give a sudden motion to the extractor.
The extractor may be started by means of a projection / on or near
the joint of the action of a somewhat similar character to that ordinarily
employed for effecting the entire motion of the extractor, but according
to my present Invention instead of such projection & acting upon the
end of the shank of the extractor f, as heretofore, it works in a recess in
said shank which is suitably lengthened for the purpose, as shown by
dotted lines in Figure 1; and as shown also at Figure 1 the extractor
may be operated by means of a lever 7. of a similar character to those
shown and described in my said former Specification, and therein
marked i. Said lever may be acted upon according to my present
Invention by the nose or projection c¹ on the locking piece or cam c, or
as shown at Figure 1, it may be operated by the projection 6 on the
lever b, or it may be operated by the under side of the face of the
action.
I would here remark that the causing, as described in my Provisional
Specification, the stop wires or rods / to be acted upon by the strikers i
when the latter are pin jointed to the hammers or tumblers does not
possess such an amount of utility as to render it advisable to retain a
claim thereto, and for this reason I desire to disclaim, and I do hereby
disclaim such arrangement.
Having thus described the nature of my said Invention, and the mode
in which I carry the same into effect, I would have it understood that
what I claim is,―
First. The modes of cocking the hammers, substantially as herein
shown and described.
Secondly. I claim the modes of operating the extractors and of, pre.

page_text: venting the live cartridges being thrown out, substantially as nerei
shown and described.
And, Thirdly. I claim the mode of drawing back the strikers i when
such are not pin jointed to the hammers, out of the way of the cartridges
by the action of the wires or rods 7, substantially as herein shown and
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Joseph Needham, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Seventh day of February, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-six.
JOSEPH NEEDHAM. (L.S.)