IMPROVEMENTS IN REVOLVER FIRE-ARMS AND IN APPARATUS FOR MANUFACTURING PROJECTILES."
Year: 1858

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Harding, of Forest Hill, in the County of
Kent, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN REVOLVER FIRE-ARMS AND
IN APPARATUS FOR MANUFACTURING PROJECTILES."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Harding at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
29th March 1858.
I, WILLIAM HARDING, of Forest Hill, in the County of Kent, do hereby
declare the nature of the Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN REVOLVER FIRE-
ARMS AND IN APPARATUS FOR MANUFACTURING PROJECTILES," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in revolver fire-arms and in
apparatus for manufacturing projectiles; and relates, first, to the arrangement
of the locks of revolver fire-arms, with a lock arranged, according to my
Invention; the fire-arm to which it is attached may be discharged either by
raising the hammer by hand so as to cock the piece previous to discharging
it by pulling the trigger, or the piece may be discharged without previously
cocking it, or by a continuous pull on the trigger. This object is attained in
some locks now commonly manufactured, but according to my Invention it is
obtained in a more simple manner by the following arrangements of parts:-
The hammer is raised by a claw attached to the upper end of the trigger
lever and passing under the hammer to a notch formed therein, into which it
drops, and when the trigger is pulled the hammer is raised until the notch in

page_text: the hammer arrives at such a position that it slips off the claw and the
hammer descends. When the hammer is raised by hand it is retained either
at half or full cock by another claw or inverted sear, which is mounted on a
pin or axis in front of the axis of the hammer, and which drops into notches
formed on the hammer. When the trigger is pulled to discharge the piece
the tail end of the claw which raises the hammer comes in contact with the
retaining claw or inverted sear and raises it out of the notch on the hammer.
The Invention also consists in an improved method of arranging the rammers
of revolver fire-arms. For this purpose the plunger, to enter the revolving
chambers, slides in a hole formed in the frame immediately under the barrel,
and it is actuated by a lever pin jointed to the frame at a point just over the
plunger. The lever is continued beyond its axis, and is at this point bent at
an acute angle, so as to act suitably on the back of the plunger. For the
purpose of manufacturing projectiles of lead or other soft metal, I employ
apparatus consisting of a chamber of the form of the projectile to be formed.
From the side of this chamber a portion is removed and at this point a steel
cutter is fixed to it tangentially. To produce a projectile the end of a rod of
lead is introduced into the chamber, and by revolving it, the cutter is caused to
remove the superfluous metal; when the end of the rod is brought to the proper
form, another cutter, projected forwards by a spring, is allowed to descend
to separate the projectile from the rod.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Harding in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
29th September 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
HARDING, of Forest Hill, in the County of Kent, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-ninth day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, in the twenty-first year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said William Harding, Her special licence that I, the said William Harding,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
William Harding, 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, exer-
cise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland,

page_text: the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
REVOLVER FIRE-ARMS AND IN APPARATUS FOR MANUFACTURING PROJECTILES,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William Harding, my
executors or administrators, by an 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 per-
formed, 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 William Harding do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, that is to say:
This Invention has for its object improvements in revolver fire-arms, and in
apparatus for manufacturing projectiles; and relates, first, to the arrangement
of the locks of revolver fire-arms, with a lock arranged according to my In-
vention; the fire-arm to which it is attached may be discharged, either by
raising the hammer by hand, so as to cock the piece previous to discharging it
by pulling the trigger, or the piece may be discharged without previously
cocking it, by a continuous pull on the trigger. This object is attained in some
locks now commonly manufactured, but according to my Invention it is
obtained in a more simple manner by the following arrangement of parts:―The
hammer is raised by a claw attached to the upper end of the trigger lever, and
passing under the hammer to a notch formed therein, into which it drops, and
when the trigger is pulled, the hammer is raised until the notch in the hammer
arrives at such a position that it slips off the claw, and the hammer descends.
When the hammer is raised by hand, it is retained either at half or full cock
by another claw or inverted scar, which is mounted on a pin or axis in front of
the axis of the hammer, and which drops into notches formed on the hammer;
when the trigger is pulled to discharge the piece, the tail end of the claw
which raises the hammer comes in contact with the retaining claw or inverted
sear, and raises it out of the notch on the hammer.
The Invention also consists in an improved method of arranging the rammers
of revolver fire-arms. For this purpose the plunger, to enter the revolving
chambers, slides in a hole formed in the frame immediately under the barrel,
and it is actuated by a lever pin jointed to the frame at a point just over the
plunger, the lever is continued beyond its axis, and is at this point bent at an
acute angle, so as to act suitably on the back of the plunger. For the purpose
of manufacturing projectiles of lead or other soft metal, I employ apparatus

page_text: consisting of a chamber of the form of the projectile to be formed. From the
side of this chamber a portion is removed, and at this point a steel cutter is
fixed to it tangentially. To produce a projectile, the end of a rod of lead is
introduced into the chamber, and by revolving it, the cutter is caused to remove
the superfluous metal; when the end of the rod is brought to the proper form,
another cutter, projected forwards by a spring, is allowed to descend to separate
the projectile from the rod.
Having thus stated the nature of my said Invention, I will proceed more
fully to describe the manner of performing the same.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.
Figure 1 is a longitudinal section of a revolver pistol, constructed according
to my Invention; Figure 2 shows an external side view of the same. a is the
hammer, 6 is the mainspring connected to the hammer by the link c. The ham-
mer is arranged to be cocked by pressing back the hammer by the thumb, and
then discharged by the trigger; the hammer may be raised and discharged by
simply pulling back the trigger. I would however remark, that revolver pistols
and other revolver fire-arms, have before been constructed capable of being so
used. I do not therefore claim to make revolver fire-arms capable of such double
use, but only a peculiar combination of mechanical parts, by which such double
action on the hammer may be obtained with greater simplicity. d is the
trigger to which is attached a claw e by which the hammer is moved back,
when claw e takes into a recess in the hammer below its axis. I would state
that the use of a claw attached to the trigger for pulling back the hammer
has before been used; I do not therefore claim the same, but at the tail end of
this claw beyond (where it is attached by a pin joint), it will be seen that it
has a projection beyond its axis, which by coming against an incline f, as the
trigger is pulled back, the claw is tilted out of the recess in the hammer and
so releases the hammer. The trigger is pressed on by a spring g, by which
the trigger and claw is moved back immediately the trigger is released;
h is a hanging claw or inverted sear, which is pressed towards the hammer
by the spring i, and there are notches in the hammer into which such
claw or sear h enters, when the hammer is pulled back by the thumb,
and the hammer may be held either at half or whole cock by the sear h.
When the hammer has been cocked, it will be released by the pulling back
of the trigger by the tail of the claw e removing the claw or sear out of
the notch in the hammer. In order to ram the charges into the several
barrels a peculiar arrangement or combination of parts is used. j is a plunger
which when moved enters the barrel, which for the time is opposite its end;

page_text: the plunger slides in a hole formed in the body of the fire-arm, immediately
below the barrel, and it is actuated by a lever k, pin-jointed to the frame or
body just over the plunger. The lever is continued beyond its axis, and is bent
at an angle so as to act suitably on the plunger, for this purpose the bent
portion of the lever is slit or forked, so as to pass on either side of the projecting
web of the plunger and by the back of lever being curved it presses on the
projecting shoulders formed on the sliding plunger; or in lieu thereof, the
plunger instead of the lever may be forked.
Another part of my Invention consists of a means of forming soft metal
projectiles. For this purpose a block or tool is used, having formed within it
a chamber coinciding with the form of the conical or other form of the intended
projectile. In a suitable opening or slit on one side is fixed a knife or cutter,
the cutting edge of which is made to the profile or outline of one half of the
projectile. The end of a rod of lead or soft metal, somewhat larger in diameter
than the finished projectile, is introduced, and the tool (thus formed) is caused
to rotate quickly, or it may be the rod of metal by which the end as it enters
the chamber will be cut into the form corresponding with the interior of the
chamber, and when this is accomplished, a second cutter is pressed forward at
right angles to the rod of metal, and cuts off the portion within the chamber
of the tool. On the going back of the cutter, and the removal of the rod of
metal, the finished projectile will drop out if the tool be used vertically, or the
finished projectile may be driven out by a suitable stud or pin pressed into the
chamber of the tool at its inner end.
Having thus described the nature of iny Invention and the manner of per-
forming the same, I would have it understood that what I claim is,-
First, the combination of mechanical parts herein described for actuating
the hammer of a revolver fire-arm.
Secondly, I claim the combined apparatus for ramming in the charges of
revolver fire-arms.
And, thirdly, I claim the mode herein-described of manufacturing projectiles.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Harding, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-ninth day of September, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight.
Witness,
FRED HARRIS.
WILLIAM HARDING. (L.S.)