IMPROVEMENTS IN BREECH-LOADING FIRE-ARMS AND ORDNANCE."
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Joseph Rock Cooper, of Birmingham, in the County
of Warwick, Gun Manufacturer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
BREECH-LOADING FIRE-ARMS AND ORDNANCE."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Joseph Rock Cooper at
tho Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 7th February 1860.
I, JOSEPH ROCK COOPER, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Gun
Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN BREECH-LOADING FIRE-ARMS AND ORDNANCE," to be as
follows:-
My Invention consists of the method or methods herein-after explained of
constructing the breech end of breech-loading fire-arms and ordnance and the
parts connected therewith, for opening and closing the said breech end for
charging and discharging the fire-arm.
I will describe my Invention as applied to a rifle. The breech end of the
barrel is prolonged beyond the point where the ignition of the powder takes
place, the said prolonged part being open at top, but closed at its end with a
solid brocch. A plug sliding in the open prolonged part of the barrel is made
to advance and close the end of the barrel, or retire and leave the said end of

page_text: the barrel open, the motion of the said plug being effected as follows:-A lever
is jointed to the top of the solid breech at the end of the prolongation of the
barrel. The said lever moves in a vertical plane, and when depressed closes
the opening in the prolongation of the barrel, and when raised leaves the said
opening uncovered. The before-mentioned sliding plug is connected to the
said lever by a connecting link, and when the said lever is raised the said
plug is drawn back, and when the said lever is depressed the said plug is
pushed home, and closes the barrel behind the point at which the charge is
ignited. The said plug is held firmly to its bearing during discharge in
the following manner:-On the under side of the lever is projection or
block, which when the lever is shut down fills the space between the solid
breech and the sliding plug, so that the said sliding plug is supported during
discharge by the whole strength of the solid breech. The free end of the
lever is fastened down by a spring catch fastening, and is liberated preparatory
to being raised by a slight side pressure. After the lever has been raised,
the cartridge only requires to be dropped into the opening in the prolongation
of the barrel and the lever depressed, when the rifle is ready for firing, the
cartridge being pushed into its place in the barrel, and the end of the barrel
closed by the pressing down of the lever. I sometimes work the lever from
below instead of above the barrel. In this modification of my Invention the
lever is shortened in front and prolonged behind the solid breech, the pro-
longed arm passing through a slot in the stock, and being acted upon on the
lower side of the stock. I prefer, however, the method of construction first
described. I sometimes place in the interior of the barrel and near the nipple,
a projection having a cutting edge, so that when the cartridge is forced into
the barrel it is cut by passing the said cutting edge, and the risk of missing
fire is wholly or nearly removed. My Invention is applicable to fire-arms in
general and ordnance.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Joseph Rock Cooper in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 3
4th August 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOSEPH
ROCK COOPER, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Gun Manufacturer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters 3.
Patent, bearing date the Seventh day of February, in the year of our Lord

page_text: One thousand eight hundred and sixty, in the twenty-third year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Joseph Rock Cooper, Her special licence that I, the said Joseph Rock
Cooper, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Joseph Rock Cooper, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at
any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after 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 "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN BREECH-LOADING FIRE-ARMS AND ORDNANCE," upon the condition
(amongst others), that I, the said Joseph Rock Cooper, my executors or admi-
nistrators, 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 Joseph Rock Cooper, 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 consists of the method or methods herein-after described and
illustrated in the accompanying Drawings, of constructing the breech ends of
breech-loading fire-arms and ordnance, and the parts connected therewith, for
opening and closing the said breech ends, for charging and discharging the
fire-arms or ordnance..
In the accompanying Drawings I have represented a portion of a rifle con-
structed according to my Invention, Figure 1 being a side elevation of a
portion of the rifle, the several parts being in the positions they respectively
occupy when the rifle is ready for cocking and firing. Figure 2 represents a
vertical longitudinal section of the same. Figure 3 represents a vertical longi-
tudinal section, with the several parts in the positions they respectively occupy
when the breech end is opened for the introduction of the cartridge or charge,
and Figure 4 represents a plan, with the several parts in the same positions as
in Figure 3. Figures 5, 6, and 7, represent vertical transverse sections:
Figure 5 being taken through the line a, Figure 1; Figure 6 being taken
through the line 6 Figure 2; and Figure 7 being taken through the line c,
Figure 3. The other Figures represent detached portions of the rifle, as
herein-after explained. The same letters are employed to indicate corre-

page_text: sponding parts in the several Figures of the Drawings. The breech end of the
barrel d is prolonged backwards beyond the point e, where the ignition of the
powder takes place. The said prolonged part is marked f, and is of somewhat
greater diameter internally than the barrel d. The prolonged part f of the
barrel is closed at its end by a solid breech 9 screwed into the said end as
represented. The prolonged breech end f of the barrel, with the breech
screwed therein, is represented separately in plan in Figure 8, and in vertical
longitudinal section in Figure 9. A slot or opening his formed on the upper
side of the part f of the barrel, the form of which slot or opening will be
readily understood by an examination of the Drawings. A plug i slides in
the part of the barrel, and when made to advance into the position repre-
sented in Figure 2, it closes the breech end e of the barrel d. When the
plug i is withdrawn into the position represented in Figures 3 and 4, the said
breech end e is open, and the cartridge or charge may be introduced into the
part of the barrel through the slot or opening h. In introducing the
cartridge it is only necessary to insert the taper end so far into the part e as is
sufficient to permit the said cartridge to drop into the part f. The cartridge
is forced from the part f into the part e of the barrel by means of the
plug on the shutting down of the lever k, as herein-after explained. In
case of the rifle getting foul, the cartridge is readily forced into the part e of
the barrel by means of the plug i, when it could not be placed there by the
hand. The posterior part of the plug i is of larger diameter than the slot h,
as will be best understood by an examination of Figure 7, so that the said
plug i is incapable of any other motion than a sliding motion in the direction
of the axis of the barrel, and never leaves the prolonged part of the barrel
during the working of the rifle. The plug i is introduced into and may be
removed from the part f of the barrel by unscrewing and removing the solid
breech g, but the said plug i cannot be removed from the part f of the barrel in
any other way when the rifle is constructed in the manner represented in the
Drawing. I sometimes, however, provide for the removal of the plug i for
cleaning or repair, in the following manner, that is to say, I make a portion of
the side of the prolonged part f of the barrel moveable, the said moveable part
being fixed in its place by means of a screw or bolt. By unscrewing the said
screw, or removing the said bolt, the moveable part may be detached, and the
slot sufficiently widened in a portion of its length to permit of the
removal of the plug i. I prefer, however, the method of construction
represented in the Drawings. The plug i is moved and firmly supported
when it closes the breech end e of the barrel d in the following manner :-A

page_text: lever is jointed at 7 to the solid breech g. The said lever moves in a vertical
plane, and when depressed into a horizontal position covers the slot or
opening in the prolonged part f of the barrel, as will be understood by an
examination of Figures 1 and 2, and when raised into a vertical position, as
represented in Figures 3 and 4, it leaves the said slot or opening h uncovered:
On the under side of the lever is a block m, attached to the said lever by
screws n, n. The form of the lever k and block m will be understood by 'an
inspection of Figures 10, 11, and 12, which said Figures represent the said
lever and block separate from the other portions of the rifle, Figure 10 being
a side elevation of the said lever and block; Figure 11, a plan of the under
side of the same; and Figure 12, a plan of the upper side of the same. Tho
sliding plug i is connected with the plug m by a connecting rod or link o, one
end of the said link o being jointed to the plug i at p, and the other end of the
said link o being connected to the block m at g, Figure 3. The connection
at is effected by means of the pin in the slot or division s in the block m
(see Figure 11), passing through or engaging in the slot t in the link o. The
action of the lever k, block m, and link o upon the plug i is as follows:-The
several parts being in the positions in which they are represented in Figures 3
and 4, and a cartridge having been introduced into the part f of the barrel, the
lever is depressed into the position represented in Figures 1 and 2. At the
commencement of its motion the lever k has no action on the plug i, but when
the pin has been depressed to the bottom of the slot t, the said pin r begins
to act upon the link o, and as the descending motion of the lever k is continued
the link o and plug i, pushing the cartridge before it, are carried forward very
nearly into the positions they occupy in Figure 2. As the lever k approaches
a horizontal position the block m enters the part f of the barrel behind the
plug i, and its inclined end m² acting against the posterior part 2 of the plug i
urges the said plug into the position represented in Figure 2, that is, advances
it into the breech end e of the barrel somewhat further than it was advanced
by the action of the link o. The plug i is thus supported during the discharge
of the rifle by the block m, the said block m having a bearing against the solid
breech g, which said solid breech g bears the whole of the pressure on the plug i
during discharge. No pressure is borne by the link o during discharge, as
will be understood by an examination of Figure 2, where it will be seen that the
pin is not in contact with the end of the slot t, when the lever k is shut down.
The lever may be held down during firing by means of the spring.catch
fastening herein-after described.. After firing the lever k is raised, the first
effect of which is to lift the block m from between the plug i and solid breech g.

page_text: The said block m having been lifted the pin r is brought to that end of the
slott most distant from the plug i, and the link o begins to withdraw the plug i.
As the lever k attains the position represented in Figure 3, the plug i is with-
drawn to its fullest extent, as represented in the said Figure 3. When the
rifle is ready for firing the link o lies in the slot s in the block m (see Figures 2
and 11). The construction of the spring catch fastening by which the lever k
is held down is best seen in Figures 5, 10, 11, and 12 of the Drawings. It
consists of a bolt u on the end of the spring v. In the bolt u a slot or opening
wis made, through which the catch x on the barrel passes when the lever k is
pressed down. The inclined edge w² of the slot or opening w engages under
the shoulder of the catch a, as seen in Figure 5, when the lever k is fixed
down. On taking hold of the end of the lever k the pressure of the finger
upon the bolt u disengages the edge w² from the shoulder of the catch a, and
the lever k may be raised. On the bammer side of the lever k is a projection y,
the use of which is as follows:-If, by carelessness, the lever k has not been
properly shut down, the hammer z (shown in dotted lines in Figure 1), strikes
immediately before discharge against the block or projection y, and depresses
the lever k into the required position. There is no need whatever for fastening
down the lever k during firing so far as safety is concerned, as there is not
only no tendency in the lever k to rise in consequence of any pressure that may
be exerted by the plug upon the block m, but if the lever k is in the position
(when the rifle is fired) in which it would be brought by the action of the
hammer upon the projection y, the act of firing causes the said lever to shut
down, and fasten itself by the spring catch fastening. This effect is produced
by the slight inclination of that face of the block m against which the plug i
bears.
Although I have only described my Invention in its application to a rifle,
yet my Invention may be applied to fire-arms in general, and to ordnance, but
as the application of my Invention to fire-arms in general and to ordnance,
differs in no essential respect from its application to a rifle, and as I believe
my Invention will be sufficiently understood by the description herein-before
given, I do not think further details necessary.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of
carrying the same into effect, I wish it to be understood that I do not limit
myself to the precise details herein described and represented, as the same may
be varied without departing from the nature of my Invention; but I claim as
my Invention the improvement in breech-loading fire-arms and ordnance
herein-before described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawings, that is

page_text: to say, the arrangement or combination of parts described and represented for
opening and securely closing the breech ends of breech-loading fire-arms and
ordnance.
In witness whereof, I, the said Joseph Rock Cooper, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this First day of August in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty.
Witness,
GEORGE SHAW,
JOSEPH ROCK COOPER. (L.S.)