IMPROVEMENTS IN Breech LOADING SMALL ARMS
Year: 1879

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Buckley, of the Firm of Samuel Buckley and
Company, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Merchants, for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN Breech LOADING SMALL ARMS." A com-
munication from abroad by John Grainger, of Graham's Town, Cape of Good
Hope, South Africa.
Sealed the 28th November 1879, and dated the 2nd July 1879.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Buckley at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents on the 2nd July 1879.
HENRY BUCKLEY, of the Firm of Samuel Buckley and Company, of Birmingham,
in the County of Warwick, Merchants. "IMPROVEMENTS IN BREECH LOADING
SMALL ARMS." [A communication from abroad by John Grainger, of Graham's
Town, Cape of Good Hope, South Africa.]
The said Invention has reference to breech loading small arms, in which the
opening and closing of the breech is effected by mechanism of the kind commonly
called Remington's breech mechanism, and the said Invention consists of the im-
provements bereinafter described, whereby the said breech loading small arms can
be made double barrelled, and are also made more portable than those of the
ordinary construction.
The said Invention consists further in making the breech closing mechanism
capable of adjustment, to compensate for wear in the moving parts.
Instead of connecting the barrel to the body of the gun by screwing the former
into the latter as usual, the barrel is connected to the body by means of a hook
shaped lump on the underside of the barrel taking into a corresponding rece-s in
the body. A slightly tapering hole passing through the said lump and the body of
the gun, receives a taper screw pin which, when screwed home, fixes the hooked
lump in the recess, and thereby secures the barrel in its place in the body of the
gun.
This method of connecting the barrel to the body permits of the construction of
double barrel guns having Remington's breech mechanism. The ordinary method
of attaching the barrels to the bodies of guns having Remington's breech actions,
cannot be applied to double barrel guns,

page_text: This method of connecting the barrel or barrels to the body, permits of the ready
removal of the barrel or barrels, and is a great convenience where for transit or
other purpose it is desired to pack the gun in a small compass.
By screwing home more or less the taper screw pin described, the wearing of the
moving parts may be compensated for, the said parts being by the action of the
said taper screw pin kept to their bearings.
According to another part of this Invention, the extractor is dovetailed into the
breech body in such a way, that as the extractor retires from the barrels, it is
supported on the cylindrical surface of the breech block, and it is thereby made to
work more effectually, and is less liablo to derangement than extractors of the
ordinary construction.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Henry Buckley in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 29th December
1879.
HENRY BUCKLEY, of the Firm of Samuel Buckley and Company, of Birmingham, 1
in the County of Warwick, Merchants. "IMPROVEMENTS IN BREECH LOADING
SMALL ARMS,' A communication from abroad by John Grainger, of Graham's
Town, Cape of Good Hope, South Africa.
The said Invention has reference to breech loading small arms, in which the
opening and closing of the breech is effected by mechanism of the kind commonly 2
called Remington's breech mechanism; and my said Invention consists of the im-
provements herein after described, whereby the said breech loading small arms can
be made double barrelled, and are also made more portable than those of the
ordinary construction.
The said Invention consists further in making the breech closing mechanism 2
capable of adjustment, to compensate for wear in the moving parts.
Instead of connecting the barrel to the body of the gun by screwing the former
into the latter as usual, the barrel is connected to the body by means of a hook
shaped lump on the underside of the barrel, taking into a corresponding recess in
the body. A slightly tapering hole passing through the said lump and the body of 3
the gun, receives a taper screw pin which, when screwed home, fixes the hooked
lump in the recess, and thereby secures the barrel in its place in the body of the
gun.
This method of connecting the barrel to the body permits of the construction of
double barrel guns having Remington's breech mechanism. The ordinary method s
of attaching the barrels to the bodies of guns having Remington's breech actions,
cannot be applied to double barrel guns.
This method of connecting the barrel or barrels to the body, permits of the ready
removal of the barrel or barrels, and is a great convenience where for transit or
other purpose it is desired to pack the gun in a small compass,

page_text: By screwing home more or less the taper screw pin described, the wearing of the
moving parts may be compensated for, the said parts being by the action of the
said taper screw pin kept to their bearings.
According to another part of this Invention, the extractor is dovetailed into the
breech body in such a way, that as the extractor retires from the barrels, it is
supported on the cylindrical surface of the breech block, and it is thereby made to
work more effectually, and is less liable to derangement than extractors of the
ordinary construction.
I will now proceed to describe with reference to the accompanying Drawings,
the manner in which the said Invention may be performed.
Figure 1 represents in side elevation, Figure 2, in longitudinal vertical section,
and Figure 3 in plan, the breech end of a double barrel breech loading gun made
according to the said Invention Figure 4 is a side elevation of a portion of the
barrels detached, and Figure 5 represents in plan the body of the gun with the
barrels removed; Figures 6 and 7 are cross sections of the gun, Figure 6 being
taken on the line a, b, Figure 2, looking towards the breech ends of the barrels,
and Figure 7 being taken on the line c, d, Figure 2. In Figure 6 the breech
closing mechanism is removed. Figure 8 represents one of the extractors and
closing blocks.
The longitudinal vertical section, Figure 2, is taken through the axis of one of the
barrels, and the breech closing and discharging mechanisms of the barrel.
In Figures 1, 2, and 3, the breech closing blocks are represented in their closed
positions for discharge, and in Figure 5 in their opened or turned back positions
for the introduction of the cartridges into the barrels.
The same letters of reference indicate the same parts in the several Figures of
the Drawings.
e, e, is the body of the gun carrying the two barrels f, g, and the Remington
breech closing and discharging mechanisms. The said body e, e, has the form best
seen in the plan, Figure 5, and the cross sections, Figures 6 and 7. The rear part
of the body e, e, is divided by the partition e into two chambers. In one chamber
of the breech body, a breech closing hinged block h, and a cock or hammer i are
situated for closing and discharging the barrel g, and in the other chamber of the
breech body a breech closing hinged block h and a cock or hammer i are situated
for closing and discharging the other barrel f. The two hammers i, is, turn on the
same joint pin k, which is passed through the body e, and the two closing blocks
h, h, turn on the same joint pin . The hammers i, 3, are furnished with the
usual sears and sear springs, and considerable resistance is offered to the motion of
the closing blocks h, hs, by strong springs at h³ (see Figure 2). The breech blocks
h, h³, are held firmly in their closed positions during the discharge of the gun by
the curved shoulder of the discharged hammer engaging under the curved bearing
shoulder at h* of the breech block, as in the ordinary Remington breech mechanism;
m, m, are the strikers in the breech blocks, upon which the hammers i, i³, strike to
discharge the gun. The two barrels f, g, are connected to the breech body a, e, by
means of the hook shaped lump n on the underside of the breech ends of the barrels,
taking into and filling up a corresponding shaped recess p in the said breech body
(see Figure 2). In the lump n a hole g is made, and holes are also made in the
body e, e, in a line with the hole g, in the lump n, when the latter is in its place in
the body. After the barrels f, g, have been placed on the body e, e, and the hooked
lump n engaged in the recess p, a cross screw pin is passed through the body e
and lump n, and screwed home so as to fix the said hooked lump in the recess, and
thereby secure the barrels in their places on the body of the gun. The screw pin
is made slightly taper, and the hole in the lump n and the holes in the body for
receiving the said pin r, are also made slightly taper. By screwing home the taper
screw pin r, the under faces of the breech ends of the barrels f, g, are kept closely
to their bearing against the upper face of the body a, e, against which they seat
themselves, and by screwing home more or less the said taper pin r, the wearing of
the bearing faces of the said barrels and body may be compensated. The taper

page_text: screw pin r is turned by its head, the said head being furnished with holes into
any one of which a pin or small rod may be placed for conveniently turning the
said pin through the required angle for adjusting the position of the said pin. By
removing the screw pin r, the barrels f, g, may be removed from the body e for
transit or for packing the gun in a small compass.
t, t, are the extractors working in dovetail grooves u, u, in the body e (see
Figures 5, 6, and 7). The underside of each extractor is furnished with a hook or
lip v, which takes into a recess w made in the cylindrical or knuckle part of the
breech lock. The extractor is thereby connected to the breech block, and when
the said block is raised for reloading the gun, the extractor retires from the body,
the rear end of the extractor being supported on the knuckle or cylindrical part of
the block, as seen in Figures 2 and 8. By this arrangement, the extractors work
more effectually, and are less liable to derangement than extractors of the ordinary
construction.
The construction of parts described and illustrated for connecting the barrels of
double guns having the Remington breech action, to the bodies of tho said guns
may also be applied to the connection of single barrel guns having the Remington
breech action, and the extracting mechanism described and illustrated may also be
applied to single barrel guns.
Having now described the nature of the said Invention, and the manner in which
the same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that I claim as the said
Invention of "Improvements in Breech Loading Small Arms."
First. The construction and combination of the parts herein before described and
illustrated in the accompanying Drawings for adapting the Remington breech
action to double barrel guns, that is to say, the combination of a body of the con-
struction described and illustrated for carrying the barrels, and the breech_closing,
discharging, and extracting mechanisms, with a hooked lump on the barrels, and a
corresponding shaped recess in the body, the barrels being fixed securely in their
places on the body by means of a screw pin taking into the said body, and the said
hooked lump, substantially as described and illustrated.
Secondly. The construction and combination of parts herein before described and
illustrated for connecting single barrel guns having the Remington breech action, to
the bodies of the said guns.
Thirdly. Making the fixing screw pin used for connecting the barrel or barrels to
the body, taper, and the holes in the body and lump on the barrel or barrels, also 3
taper for keeping the bearing face of the barrel or barrels firmly against the bearing
face of the body, and for compensating the wear of the said bearing faces, substan-
tially as herein before described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawings.
Lastly. Making the extractors of single and double barrel guns having the
Remington breech action, work in dovetail or undercut grooves in the body of the
gun, and connecting the rear ends of the extractors to and supporting them upon
the cylindrical or knuckle parts of the breech blocks of the said breech action in the
manner and substantially as herein before described and illustrated in the accom-
panying Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Buckley, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Twenty third day of December, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and seventy-nine.
Witness,
ROBERT GROVE,
Clerk to Samuel Buckley & Co.,
Birmingham.
HENRY BUCKLEY. (L.S.)