IMPROVEMENTS IN BREECH-LOADING SMALL-ARMS
Year: 1874

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Simeon Edge, the younger, of Yardley,
in the County of Worcester, Mechanical Engineer, for the Inven-
"
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Simeon Edge
at the Office of the Commissioners of latents, with his Petition,
on the 25th November 1874.
I, JAMES SIMEON EDGE, the younger, of Yardley, in the County of
Worcester, Mechanical Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN BREECH-LOADING SMALL-ARMS," to be
as follows:
My Invention has reference to that class of breech-loading small-arms
in which the breech chamber is opened and closed by a hinged falling
block, commonly called the Martini action, and my said Invention
consists of improvements on certain parts of an Invention for which
Letters Patent were granted to Charles Kuhu Prioleau, on the 31st day
of October 1871. No. 2925.

page_text: In the Specification of the said Patent there is described (among
other things) an arrangement of the lock mechanism of the said Martini
action, in which a separate tumbler rest turning on a pin or axis is
introduced between the tumbler lever and the trigger arm, and my
Invention consists of the following improvements in the said tumbler
rest and parts connected therewith, whereby the "pulling off" or
releasing of the tumbler for discharge is effected by an easier pull of the
trigger than by the use of the arrangement described and claimed in the
said Patent.
'In the said Patented Invention the tumbler rcst has arms of nearly
equal length, with which arms the tumbler arm and trigger arm
respectively engage when the rifle is ready for firing.
According to my Invention I make the arms of the said tumbler rest
of very unequal lengths, that is, I make that arm of the tumbler rest
upon which the tumbler bears of the usual length, but I make that arm
of the tumbler rest with which the trigger engages of about four times
the length of the first-mentioned arm. The trigger arm of the tumbler
rest is provided with a bent with which the short arm of the trigger
engages. In order to make the arm of the trigger engage with the
lengthened arm of the tumbler rest the trigger is correspondingly
lengthened, and the free end of the trigger arm is made of a hook shape,
the hooked end of the trigger arm being situated beyond the centreo n
which the trigger turns instead of between the said centre and the said
tumbler rest as in the said Patented Invention.
When the gun is cocked ready for discharge the pressure of the
mainspring is exerted through the tumbler arm upon the tumbler rest,
and through the long arm of the tumbler rest upon the trigger, and this
pressure has to be overcome before the arm of the trigger can escape
from the bent in the said long arm of the tumbler rest. By means of
the said long arm of the tumbler rest with which the trigger arm
engages, and the position of the centre of the trigger, the "pulling off"
of the trigger, and the discharge of the rifle are effected with the same
ease as in an ordinary gun lock.
The grip of the gun is much shortened by the bringing of the finger
part of the trigger nearer to the rear end of the shoe.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said James Simeon Edge in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 15th May 1875.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
SIMEON EDGE, the younger, of Yardley, in the County of Worcester,
Mechanical Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fifth day of November, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four, in the
thirty-eighth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said James Simeon Edge, Her
special license that I, the said James Simeon Edge, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said James Simeon
Edge, 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 BREECH-LOADING SMALL-ARMS," upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said James Simeon Edge, 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 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 James Simeon Edge, 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, that is to say :-
My Invention has reference to that class of breech-loading small-arms
in which the breech chamber is opened and closed by a hinged falling
block, commonly called the Martini action, and my said Invention
consists of improvements on certain parts of an Invention, for which
Letters Patent were granted to Charles Kuhn Prioleau, on the 31st day
of October 1871, No. 2925.

page_text: In the Specification of the said Patent there is described (among
other things) an arrangement of the lock mechanism of the said Martini
action, in which a separate tumbler rests, turning on a pin or axis, is
introduced between the tumbler lever and the trigger arm, and my
Invention consists of the following improvements in the said tumbler
rest and parts connected therewith, whereby the "pulling off" or
releasing of the tumbler for discharge is effected by an easier pull of the
trigger than by the use of the arrangement described and claimed in the
said Patent.
In the said Patented Invention the tumbler rest has arms of nearly
equal length, with which arm the tumbler arm and trigger arm
respectively engage when the rifle is ready for firing.
According to my Invention I make the arms of the said tumbler rest
of very unequal lengths, that is, I make that arm of the tumbler rest
upon which the tumbler bears of the usual length, but I make that arm
of the tumbler rest with which the trigger engages of about four times
the length of the first-mentioned arm. The trigger arm of the tumbler
rest is provided with a bent with which the short arm of the trigger
engages. In order to make the arm of the trigger engage with the
lengthened arm of the tumbler rest, the trigger is correspondingly
lengthened, and the free end of the trigger arm is made of a hook shape,
the hooked end of the trigger arm being situated beyond the centre on
which the trigger turns instead of between the said centre and the said
tumbler rest as in the said Patented Invention.
When the gun is cocked ready for discharge the pressure of the
mainspring is exerted through the tumbler arm upon the tumbler rest,
and through the long arm of the tumbler rest upon the trigger, and this
pressure has to be overcome before the arm of the trigger can escape
from the bent in the said long arm of the tumbler rest. By my Inven-
tion the pulling off of the trigger, and the discharge of the rifle arc
effected with the same case as in an ordinary gun lock.
Having explained the nature of my Invention I will proceed to
describe with reference to the accompanying Drawings, the manner in
which the same is to be performed.
Figures 1 and 2 represent partly in longitudinal vertical section and
partly in elevation, the breech end of a Martini rifle provided with lock
mechanism constructed according to my Invention; Figure 1 representing

page_text: )
the rifle cocked ready for discharge, and Figure 2 representing the same
after it has been discharged.
Figure 3 represents the tumbler or tumbler lever of the rifle in back,
side, and front elevation, and Figure 4 represents a plan of the tumbler
rest of the lock mechanism constructed according to my Invention
detached from the lock.
Figure 5 and 6 represent my improved lock mechanism in combination
with a safety bolt for fixing the trigger when required, so as to prevent
the discharge of the rifle.
Figure 7 represents in side elevation and plan of upper side, the guard
plate carrying the lock mechanism and safety bolt.
. The same letters of reference indicate the same parts in the several
Figures of the Drawings.
a is the body or shoc of the rifle in which the hinged falling block b
works. The said hinged falling block contains the discharging or
striking pin, which pin is pressed in the direction of the barrel by the
action of a main coiled spring around the said pin as is well understood;
c, c, is the tumbler or tumbler lever turning on the centre d, the upper
end of the tumbler arm c engaging in a slot in the rear end of the
discharging or striking pin, the pressure of the said striking pin when
the latter is at liberty to move, pressing the tumbler lever into the
position represented in Figure 2; c is the short arm of the tumbler lever
by means of which the rifle is held in a cocked position by the lock
mechanism herein-after described; e, e², is the tumbler rest turning on
the pin or centre f. On the short arm c² of the tumbler rest the short
arm c² of the tumbler lever c bears, and with the long arme of the said
tumbler lever the short hooked arm of the trigger g, g³, engages.
The arms e, e, of the tumbler rest are of very unequal lengths, as
represented in the Drawing, the tumbler arme of the said tumbler rest
being of about the usual length, but the other or trigger arm e is about
four times the length of the arm c². The trigger arm c of the tumbler
rest is provided with a bent e³ with which the short hooked arm g² of the
trigger engages. A spring / bears against the short arm of the
trigger and tends to press it against the arm e of the tumbler rest, so as
to cause it to engage with the bent e³ in the said arm e.
The trigger g, g³,
has the construction represented to fit it to engage with the lengthened
arme of the tumbler rest. The end of the short hooked arm g² of the
g²

page_text: the
trigger is situated beyond the centre on which the trigger turns.
A tail piece e' on the tumbler rest acts as a stop to limit the motion of
the tumbler rest when the latter is turned on its centre by the action of
the tumbler lever c, c', when the rifle is discharged (see Figure 2). When
the rifle is cocked ready for discharge, as represented in Figure 1, the
pressure of the mainspring in the falling block b is exerted through the
striking pin and the tumbler c, c³, upon the short arm e² of the tumbler
rest and through the long arm e of the said tumbler rest upon
trigger g; g³, and this pressure has to be overcome before the short
hooked end ² of the trigger can escape from the bent in the long arm e
of the tumbler rest. When the finger part g of the trigger is pulled the
short arm g² of the said trigger is disengaged from the bent in the
arme of the tumbler rest, when the tumbler lever c, c², is released and
the rifle discharged by the action of the mainspring and striking pin, the
parts of the lock mechanism now occupying the respective positions
represented in Figure 2.
* In order to cock the rifle the hand lever i is pulled down in the usual
manner so as to depress the falling block b, and at the same time to
withdraw the striking pin and compress the mainspring in the said block.
As the block breaches its lowest position in the body the short arm c² of
the tumbler lever is made to bear upon the tumbler arm e² of the
tumbler rest. The long arm e of the said tumbler rest is thereby raised
and the hooked end g² of the trigger pressed up to the long arm e of the
tumbler rest by its spring h, is made to engage with the bent e³ in the
said long arm e, as represented in Figure 1. The rifle is. thereby cocked
and the discharging mechanisms held in its cocked position, and after the
falling block has been raised the rifle is ready for discharge. By means
of the long arm e of the tumbler rest with which the trigger arm
engages, and the position of the centre of the trigger, the pulling off of
the trigger, and the discharge of the rifle are effected with the same case
as in an ordinary gun lock. The grip of the gun is much shortened by
the bringing of the finger part of the trigger nearer to the rear end of
the shoe.
I will now describe the safety bolt whereby the trigger of my improved
lock mechanism is prevented when required from being pulled to
discharge the rifle. The said bolt is marked k, k², in Figures 5, 6, and 7,
and is situated at the back of the hooked end 92 of the trigger, as best
scen in Figures 5 and 6, that face of the said hooked end g* which is

page_text: presented to the bolt being hollowed out or made concave for receiving
the said bolt. The middle part of the bolt his cut away at one side (see
the cross sections), but the acting part of the bolt is left of its original
Figure, and has a size proper to take into the hollow or concave part of
the hooked end g² of the trigger. A spring bearing on the said bolt
holds it securely in its bolting and unbolting positions respectively.
The said bolt k, k³, is moved through a semicircle by means of the head
or handle situated on the outer side of the trigger guard of the rifle.
When after the rifle has been cocked it is wished to fix it in a position
of safety, the bolt k is turned by its handle * into the position represented
in Figure 5, so as to cause its uncut away part to enter the hollow or
concave part in the hooked end g² of the trigger. The trigger is thereby
locked and the rifle cannot be discharged. When it is wished to dis-
charge the rifle the bolt k is turned by its handle k through a semicircle.
By this motion the cut away part of the bolt / is presented to the hooked
end of the trigger, and the said trigger is unfastened, as represented in
Figure 6, and the rifle may be discharged by pulling the said trigger in
the ordinary way.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the manner in
which the same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that I
do not limit myself to the precise details herein described and illus-
trated, as the same may be varied without departing from the nature
of my Invention; but I claim as my Invention,-
First. The improvements herein-before described and illustrated in
the accompanying Drawings, in the lock mechanism of breech-loading
small-arms of the kind described, that is to say, the combination with
the lock mechanism of the said small-arms of a tumbler rest having arms
of very unequal lengths, that arm of the tumbler rest with which the
trigger engages being of about four times the length of the arm, upon
which the tumbler or tumbler lever bears when the gun or rifle is
cocked, and combining with the said lengthened tumbler rest a trigger
of the construction described and represented for engaging with the
trigger arm of the said tumbler rest, the several parts being constructed,
arranged, and operating substantially as and for the purposes described
and illustrated.
11 Combining with look machoniam of the bind decorihed

page_text: consequent discharge of the gun or rifle, as herein-before described and
illustrated in the accompanying Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Simcon Edge, have here-
unto set my hand and scal, this Fourth day of May, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
five.
JAMES SIMEON EDGE, J"". (L.S:)¯
Witness,
RICHARD SKERRETT,
Clerk to George Shaw,
Birmingham.