IMPROVEMENTS IN BREECH-LOADING FIRE-ARMS
Year: 1867

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by William Wellington Greener at
the Office of the, Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
7th May 1867.
I, WILLIAM WELLINGTON GREENER, of Birmingham, in the County of
Warwick, Gunmaker, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN BREECH-LOADING FIRE-ARMS," to be as follows:-
My Invention relates to breech-loading fire-arms called drop-down guns,
that is to say, breech-loading fire-arms in which the breech ends of the
barrels are opened and closed by the said barrels turning in a verticle plane
on a joint on the body of the gun, the open ends of the barrels being raised
from the face of the break-off for the introduction of the charge and brought
down and fixed against the face of the break-off for firing.
My said Invention consists of the improvements herein-after described in the
mechanism for locking down the breech ends of the barrels against the break-
off. I make a lump or projecting piece on the under side of the breech ends
of the barrels, which said lump takes into a recess in the body of the break-
off when the barrels are shut down for firing; in that side the lump which is
turned towards the face of the break-off is a notch or recess in which a bolt
sliding horizontally in the body of the break-off is made to engage; in order
to fix down the barrels, the said bolt being withdrawn from the said notch or

page_text: recess in order to verate the barrels, the upper-side of the
is inclined, and the said bolt-is-pressed-into-the-recess_into_which the lump
enters by means of a spring making it self-locking; when the barrels are shut
down the lump presses back the bolt untill the notch in the lump is brought
opposite the end of the bolt, when the said bolt springs forward into the said
notch and the barrels are locked down.
My Invention, consists in the withdrawal of the said bolt. I make a hole
in the standing breech on the top of the break-off a little on the right side
carried down as-far or-below. the bolt; I then insert a cam or lever with a
cog or cross piece which engages in a slot at the side of the bolt; the said
cross piece and slot are fixed horizontally, the upper end of the cam or thumb
piece or lever is made to lay on one side of the tang of the break-off, I
prefer the right side; the said lever extends towards the butt of the gun; the
end of the said lever is shaped into a thumb piece by pressing the lever over
the right side of the gun, the bolt is withdrawn by means of the cross piece
or cog, the barrels may be then raised for loading. I also effect the securing
of the barrels by another plan, viz., by a screw bolt, the end of which is plain.
.I make a hole in the side of the body of the gun, I tap the said hole to take
the screw bolt; the point of the said screw bolt is made to engage in a steel
lump which is fixed on the under side of barrels, entering the said steel lump
on the right side; the bolt is worked by a small lever or handle.fixed
horizontally, the end being directly under the right hammer when secured for
firing; by turning this lever in the opposite direction toward the muzzle of
the gun the screw bolt receives half a turn, the barrels are thus released and
can be raised for loading.
My Invention also relates to breech-loading pistols. I make a hinge on
the under side of the break-off connecting the barrels at the extreme breech
end. When the barrels are open for loading they fall into a verticle position;
the cartridges can then be droped into the chambers. The barrels are
secured for firing by a staple projecting from the end of the barrels fixed
between or made out. of the solid part. of the said barrels, the said staple
being.iminediately over the said hinge joint; when the barrels are closed for
firing the said staple engages in a slot in the break-off, and is secured in that
position by a screw bolt or spring bolt engaging in the said staple, the said
bolt being withdrawn by a thumb piece or lever on the side of the pistol.
This Invention is applied to double-barrel pistol with barrels side by side, as
in a double gun, to take pin or central-fire cartridges. I also make the pistols
with the barrels under-and over-;-this is effected by turning the pistol over and
fixing the hinge joint on the left side and the staple on the right, the tang of

page_text: the break-off being placed opposite to the top barrel; this plan is intended
for central-fire only. The bottom barrel is fired by a long needle or piston
placed in an oblique direction, the top barrel is fired with a shorter needle
of the same description. These pistols can be made with locks in the body
or separate, same as gun locks; this plan is also adapted for carbines or guns.