IMPROVEMENTS IN BREECH-LOADING FIRE-ARMS AND CARTRIDGES
Year: 1869

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Westley Richards at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 29th
December 1869.
I, WESTLEY RICHARDS, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN BREECH-LOADING FIRE-ARMS AND CARTRIDGES," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in breech-loading
fire-arms and cartridges.
My Invention relates to breech-loading guns in which the breech
block is jointed at its hinder end to the frame or body, and in which the
block descends by turning about this joint in order to open the breech
for loading. I employ in order to actuate the breech block an arm
turning on an axis in front of the trigger guard, and on the same axis
I mount the hammer, and so far the gun is similar to that described in
the Provisional Specification filed by me, and dated the 13th August
1869 (No. 2427), but in place of forming the hand lever in one piece
with the arm which works the block, as is there described, I use a
separate hand lever turning on a centre immediately behind the axis of

page_text: the arm and hammer. Or according to another modification, in place of
mounting the hammer on the same axis as the arm and hand lever I
mount it on a separate axis in rear thereof and behind the trigger. The
hammer nose or striker which passes through the block is not formed in
one piece with the hammer, but is jointed or connected to it, so as to
allow of its working in a horizontal position and rectilinear direction.
The hammer nose has a projection upon it, on which the arm which
works the block operates to raise the hammer to the cocked position.
The spring is of the ordinary mainspring form, and is placed behind
the hammer. In some cases I employ a striker such as that above
described, but entirely detached from the hammer, the blow of which,
however, it receives, and when the breech is opened the hinder end of
the striker abutting on the hammer forces it back to the cocked position,
where the sear retains it whilst the striker returns with the breech block,
when the breech is closed. I prefer to mount both the mainspring and
hammer upon the trigger guard. In some cases I make drop block guns
with the hammer turning on a centre in the block. The mainspring is
within the block and in rear of the hammer. The sear also is upon
the block.
The extractor which I employ is a finger turning on the axis of the
arm which supports the breech, and moved by projections in connection
with this arm. I according to my present Invention provide it with a
spring acting upon it in such manner that when it is started by the
projection above mentioned the spring operates so as to cause it to.
recede from the breech end of the barrel with a rapid motion; it thus
projects the cartridge case out of the chamber of the gun, and leaves it
free to be reloaded. In order to protect the trigger from being pulled
when the arm is at full-cock a cam is fixed upon an axis at the back of
the trigger, and worked by an arm on the side of the stock or iron body
or frame. The cam may be worked in a slot in the trigger plate or
guard, or it may be outside, and bent so as to enter behind the trigger.
The arm of the lever working the cam can be varied in shape to suit
the various forms of different guns and rifles. The cam can also be
worked on a separate centre to that on which the lever works.
In breech-loading fire-arms which are used with central-fire cartridges
the cap of the cartridge which receives the blow of the hammer or
striker is liable by the explosion to be forced into the hole in the block
through which the hammer or striker passes.

page_text: Now according to my Invention I blockade the hole in the centre of
the block through which the hammer or striker passes. In order to do
this I employ an anvil and cap combined and made in one solid piece.
The anvil is a solid piece of metal formed in the crown of the cap, and
having a coned or pointed top whereby to ignite the percussion powder
which is placed in the top of the cap chamber, either in a recess there
made to receive it, or in a separate ring or patch of fulminate, as may be
most convenient. The base of the anvil is so large as effectually to
prevent it and the crown of the cap which is in one piece with it being
blown back into the hole in the centre of the block through which the
striker passes when the discharge takes place; this means admits of a
striker or hammer of a larger diameter being used, and it also prevents
the gun from becoming disabled by the hole in the block getting too
large from wear or other causes; this cone may be made hollow at the
base, so as to form an arch over the hole in the block.
The construction may be modified, still retaining the principle of
blockading the hole in the centre of the block. If a separate anvil
be used I prefer to form it of a solid disc larger than the hole in the
breech block, and having three grooves in the sides and a countersunk
hole at the top or at the bottom, or at both top and bottom, to receive
the priming.