IMPROVEMENTS IN MAGAZINE FIRE-ARMS
Year: 1873

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Edward Thomas Hughes at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 23rd April 1873.-A communication from abroad by Louis
Cléaphas Rodier and Francis Gordon Bates, both of Springfield,
in the County of Hampden, in the State of Massachusetts, United
States of America.
I, EDWARD THOMAS HUGHES, of the Firm of Hughes and Son,
Patent Agents, 123, Chancery Lane, London, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MAGAZINE FIRE-ARMS,"
a communication to me from abroad by Louis Cléaphas Rodier and
Francis Gordon Bates, both of Springfield, in the County of Hampden,
in the State of Massachusetts, United States of America, to be as
follows:-
This Invention relates to improvements in that class of fire-arms
commonly termed volcanic or repeating fire-arms, that is to say, such as
contain several charges in a magazine within the arm from which the
charges are successively taken and inserted into the arm automatically
or by the movement of the mechanism of the arm.

page_text: The Invention consists, first, in the arrangement of the magazine in
the rear of and at right angles with the barrel and in the rear of the
mechanism of the arm combined with a lever in connection with a
finger lever, whereby the cartridges are transferred from the magazine
directly to the barrel, as more fully herein-after described.
Second, in the arrangement of the hammer upon the same pivot with
the operating finger lever combined with and having its mainspring
arranged longitudinally beneath the barrel of the arm.
Also in combining with the operation lever a vertically moving
breech block and the hammer, whereby the descent of the breech block
cocks the hammer, all as more fully herin-after described.
In the accompanying Sheet of Drawings Fig. 1 is a top view, Fig. 2
a longitudinal central section, Fig. 3 the same illustrating the operations
of the parts, and Fig. 4 is a detached view.
A is the barrel attached to the frame B, which said frame encloses the
mechanism of the arm. Vertically or nearly so at the rear of the said
frame a magazine C is arranged inserted proferably from the lower end
of the frame and inclosed by a slide C¹ in the bottom. The magazine is
provided with a spring C³ upon which the several cartridges are placed
and bears them up, the upper cartridge D being in line with the bore
of the barrel. E is the actuating lever which is pivoted to the frame
and provided with a ring E¹ or its equivalent, so that a person holding
the frame or stock in the hand may actuate the said lever by inserting
his finger within the ring to throw it forward as in Fig. 3 or draw it
back as in Fig. 1. Within the frame a lever F is pivoted at f or below
the lever E. This lever extends up to and in the rear of the upper end
of the magazine C.
In the upper end of the magazine a slot is formed as seen in Fig. 1;
so that the upper end or nose of the lever E may swing forward, passing
transversely across the magazine to the position denoted by broken lines,
Fig. 3. The nose of the lever extends so far inward that in thus
passing forward it will take the upper cartridge and force it into the
barrel as denoted in broken lines, Fig. 3. The lever F is thus actuated
by means of the lever E in the following manner :-To the lever E a
finger a is hung, and as the lever E is forced forward to the position
ά
dénoted in Fig. 3, this finger a rises and strikes the shoulder d'on the
lever F below the pivot f; then as the lever E. is drawn back, this finger,

page_text: forces the upper end of the lever F. forward and with it the cartridge,
and when it has reached its extreme forward movement the finger a
escapes from the. notch d, and. this occurs before the lever E has been
fully drawn back. The nose of the lever E then strikes the cheek b
on the lever F above the pivot, and in completing its movement the
lever E forces the lever F back to the position denoted in Fig. 2, the
elasticity of the lever F allowing it to pass the then upper cartridge and
fall behind it preparatory to throwing it (the second cartridge) into
the barrel. The spring C² forces the cartridges up so soon as the upper
one is removed. G is a breech block arranged to move vertically so as
to close the breech end as seen in Fig, 2 or drop down to open the
breech, as seen in Fig. 3. To thus move the breech block an arm E²
extends from the lever E inward and works in a groove G¹ in the said
breech block so that as the lever E is thrown forward the arm E2 draws
down the breech block, and when the lever is drawn back the said arm
throws up the breech block; L is the hammer hung upon the same
pivot as the lever E, the pivot being denoted in solid black in Figs. 2,
3, and 4. The hammer extends rearward and is of hooked form passing
through the breech block Ģ and turning upward so that when the
breech block is up the nose of the hammer will extend through a slot in
the breech block, as scen in Fig. 2, to strike the cartridge head. When
the lever E is thrown forward as before described it strikes the hammer
forward of the pivot upon a shoulder and carries the hammer with it to
full cock if desirable, but we prefer that the completion of the movement
of the hammer should be made by the descending breech block, which
is done by the block striking the hammer before its movement is
completed, and the movement of the block being more rapid than the
lever forces the hammer a little in advance of the lever, as seen in
Fig. 3, and in which position the hammer is caught by the spring m.
The main spring n extends forward beneath the barrel in a chamber. N
formed in the frame enclosing the mainspring beneath the barrel. The
trigger I is pivoted to the lever E at i and swings with it. The upper
end of the trigger extends up above the pivot on which the hammer and
lever are hung, and so as to strike the spring m. When the lever is
drawn down to throw back the breech block, leaving the hammer cocked,
the finger picce of the trigger will be thrown forward, as denoted in
Figs. 3 and 4, by coming in contact with the hammer at full cock, then
by drawing the trigger back as denoted in Fig. 6, the spring m is raised
from and so as to free the hammer, the mainspring n then acts to throw

page_text: the hammer from the position in Fig. 3 to that in Fig. 2, striking the
cartridge head with sufficient force to cause explosion.
In order to withdraw the exploded shell and throw it from the arm a
plate or shute P is hung in the rear of the barrel at r, and which rests
on the breech block when it is up, as seen in Fig. 3, but when the
breech block moves downward this plate P falls to the position denoted
in Fig. 3, exposing the rear end of the barrel. Below the breech block
and upon a pivot in the frame a retractor lever T is hung. This
extends up
and is constructed with a nose T', which when the breech
block is up lies forward of the rear end of the barrel and the rim of the
cartridge as denoted in broken lines, Fig. 3. When the breech block
descends and immediately after it has opened the rear end of the barrel
and allowed the plate P to drop, the lower end of the breech block
strikes an arm T3 on the lever T and in the rear of the pivot I, so that
the further descent of the breech block causes the retractor to be thrown
quickly back, as shown in Fig. 3, and in its backward movement it takes
the exploded shell (or cartridge if it be not exploded) the movement
of the lever being sufficiently quick to cause the shell to run up the
inclined plate P and eject it from the arm. A suitable spring S returns
the retractor when the breech block rises and in advance of the cartridge
which is being inserted.
If at any time it be desirable to introduce a cartridge at the rear end
of the barrel, and hold in reserve those in the magazine, it is only
necessary to arrest the forward movement of the lever E so soon as the
breech block and plate P have dropped and the hammer is cocked, and
before the finger a engages the lever F. In that condition a cartridge
may be inserted from above the inclined plate P into the barrel. Then
the parts return as before described, the lever F not being moved
because the lever E is not thrown sufficiently far forward to have the
finger a engage the lever F. Thus this arm possesses all the advantages
of a breech-loader combined with those of the magazine.