IMPROVEMENTS IN BREECH-LOADING FIRE-ARMS
Year: 1877

page_text: "
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by George Vincent Fosbery at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents on the 26th June 1877.
GEORGE VINCENT FOSBERY, at present residing at Weston-super-Mare, in the
County of Somerset, Lieutenant-Colonel of Her Majesty's Bengal Staff Corps.
IMPROVEMENTS IN BREECH-LOADING FIRE-ARMS."
My Invention relates to improvements in breech-loading fire-arms of that class in
which the breech block is operated or adjusted to open and close the breech, as in
the well-known "Martini-Henri" rifle, or in a similar manner; and the said Inven-
tion is chiefly designed to be applied to the existing rifles of this class, although my
improvements may be advantageously used in the manufacture of new arms.
The said improvements comprise the following novel and peculiar features,
namely:The formation and arrangement of the mainspring, and of the piece to
which the same is attached; the manner of uniting this piece to the barrel and
breech mechanism; the form and arrangement of the trigger and sear spring, and
of the firing pin and its spring, and the easy manner of setting the arm to full or
half cock. Also the manner of attaching the trigger guard to the aforesaid lever,
and means for protecting the trigger in all positions of the mechanism. It also
comprises the combination of these improvements, or any of them, in and with other
parts of the mechanism of a breech-loading fire-arm.
The aforesaid piece to which the mainspring is attached is a plate, placed at the
under side of the breech between the two side plates of the same.
It is united to
the barrel by means of a perforated block, of steel or other suitable metal, which is
secured by a cross pin to a projection on the under side of the said barrel. A screw
is passed up through the said piece or plate into this perforated block. The said
piece or plate is secured to the breech shoe by an independent screw passing through
the side plates of the latter, and through lugs projecting up from the said piece
within the side plates. The pin or axle of the hammer and the pin of the extractor
also pass through the lugs on this piece. The mainspring is a flat bar of steel,
which is secured by a screw upon the said piece near the end of the same, adjacent
to the barrel, and it lies within the lugs or sides of the said piece, its free end having
a toe passing over the said independent screw, and bearing upon the tumbler. By
this arrangement the fore end of the said piece or plate is very securely held in its
position, and the tumbler axle is rendered comparatively free from friction,

page_text: The trigger is fitted within the breech shoe at the rear of the same, and behind
the hammer and tumbler, and works on a screw pin passed through the side of the
breech shoe. It has a short upward projection, which is acted upon by the sear
spring, and the sear projects forward into the proper position to engage with the
full and half-cock notches of the tumbler. The sear spring is a flat piece of steel
placed vertically in a recess in the breech shoe behind the trigger. A small lever is
fixed on the hammer axle outside of the breech shoe. This arrangement allows the
arm to be very readily set to full and half-cock.
The firing pin projects longitudinally through the breech block. It is fitted to
slide endwise through a small tube or cylinder fixed within the said breech block,
but which does not project beyond the forward end of the said block, this end being
perforated to allow the end of the firing pin to pass through it. The said tube or
cylinder encloses a spiral spring, which actuates the firing pin. The said tube is
secured in the block at its rear end by a hollow screw plug, so formed and arranged
that its under side presents an opening through which the nose of the hammer
projects up into the position to act upon the rear end of the said firing pin.
The trigger guard is secured to the aforesaid lever at its rear end by a screw, and
at its front end has a pin or stud which projects up into the said lever near the
joint or pivot of the latter. This mode of securing the trigger guard renders it
very strong and affords protection to the trigger at all times in the use of the arm.
Among the advantages obtained by the use of my Invention the following are
very important, that is to say-The small number of parts of the arın; the
strength and simplicity of construction; the directness of the action of the
mechanism; the facility of their manipulation; the comparative lightness or small
force of the mainspring required; and the convenience obtained by the arrangement
of the trigger, as above described.