IMPROVEMENTS IN BREECH- LOADING FIRE-ARMS
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edward Cottam, of Battersea, in the County of
Surrey, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN BREECH-
LOADING FIRE-ARMS."
Sealed the 14th August 1868, and dated the 15th February 1868.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edward Cottam at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Pétition, on
the 15th February 1868.
I, EDWARD COTTAM, of Battersea, in the County of Surrey, Engineer,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN BREECH-LOADING FIRE-ARMS," to be as follows:-
My Invention relates to those arms in which the opening and closing
of the breech is effected by a turning breech block, the axis of which is
parallel with the barrel.
My improvements consist in an improved mode or arrangement for
working the cartridge extractor, in an improved mode or arrangement
or arrangements for setting or moving back into position the rammer or
piece for impelling the exploding pin, and in an improved mode or

page_text: arrangement for getting a central blow upon the rammer or piece for
impelling the exploding pin.
My Invention is carried into effect as follows:-Upon the pin or arbor
on which the breech block turns I fit a tube which I call a quill; this
quill is within the joint or knuckle of the breech block, or within the
body of the block; it carries a bent or cranked arm which forms the
extractor; the cranked arm fits into a longitudinal groove so that
the quill is prevented turning on the arbor. The quill is formed with a
slot into which either a small pin or a roller passed through. the knuckle
of the breech block takes; this slot is transverse at one part and spiral
or oblique at another part. On opening the breech block the pin moves
in the transverse part until the thumb piece of the block attains the
vertical position or nearly so; the spiral part of the slot then comes into
action so that the quill is drawn back together with the extractor, the
reverse movements take place in the return of the block, the fresh
cartridge being inserted when the thumb piece of the block is vertical
or nearly so. In order to cock the gun the quill in its movement draws
back the rammer or piece for impelling the exploding pin, and at the
same time condenses the spring for giving the necessary impulse to the
rammer or piece, the rammer or piece being retained in the backward
position by a catch connected with the trigger. The spring just
mentioned may be fitted either in the knuckle of the breech block or
in the body of the block, and it may be a spiral spring, or a flat spring
of tongs shape, or a compound spring, that is to say, a flat tong-shaped
spring having twists passing round the arbor or joint pin in order to
avoid the necessity of its being carried above or below this pin. The
piece acted upon by this spring may be a rammer or bolt in a line with
the exploding pin herein-before explained, or a horizontal hammer made
to act on the rammer or bolt or directly upon the exploding pin.
:
:
In some cases I form an additional quill with a spiral slot or projecting
inclined cheeks for compressing the spring and acting on the piece for
impelling the exploding pin. The operations herein-before described
for extracting the cartridge case and those for compressing the main-
spring and firing the piece may be employed either separately or
conjointly, or instead of employing a quill. with a slot or slots in it for
the purpose or purposes explained I form a corresponding groove or
grooves in the joint pin itself for the same purpose or purposes; this pin
being in this case free to move longitudinally.

page_text: It will be seen that the operation of extracting the cartridge case, and
of compressing the mainspring is performed by the act of opening the
breech block. In order to be enabled to release the spring and put
the piece upon half-cock without opening the breech block I further add
when required a lever which I fix to the compressing quill or otherwise,
either through the medium of the arbor joint pin or in any convenient
manner..
In arms with the ordinary lock in its. present position I get a central
blow upon the rammer or piece for impelling the exploding pin by
clongating the tumbler and fitting a hammer thereon so as to give a
central blow, the present cock or a. lever being used for cocking the gun.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent
filed by the said Edward Cottam in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 15th August 1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, EDWARD
COTTAM, of Battersea, in the County of Surrey, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fifteenth day of February, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, in the thirty-
first year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said Edward Cottam, Her special licence, that
I, the said Edward Cottam, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said Edward Cottam, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from
time to time and at all times thercafter 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 FIRE-ARMS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said Edward Cottam, 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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Edward Cottam, do hereby
declare the nature of my 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, reference being had to the
Drawings hereunto annexed, that is to say :-
My Invention relates to those armis in which the opening and closing
of the breech is effected by a turning breech block, the axis of which is
parallel with the barrel.
My improvements consist in an improved mode or arrangement for
working the cartridge extractor, in an improved mode or arrangement
or arrangements for setting or moving back into position the rammer or
piece for impelling the exploding pin.
My Invention is carried into effect as follows:-Upon the pin or arbor
on which the brecch block turns I fit a tube which I call a quill; this
quill is within the joint or knuckle of the breech block; it carries a
bent or cranked arm which forms the extractor; the cranked arm fits
into a longitudinal groove so that the quill is prevented turning on the
arbor. The quill is formed with a slot into which either a small pin or a
roller passed through the knuckle of the breech block takes; this slot is
transverse at one part, and spiral or oblique at another part. On opening
the breech block the pin moves in the transverse part until the thumb
piece of the block attains the vertical position or nearly so; the spiral part
of the slot then comes into action so that the quill is drawn back together
with the extractor; the reverse movements take place with the return
of the block, the fresh cartridge being inserted when the thumb piece of
the block is vertical or nearly so. In order to cock the gun the quill
in its movement draws back the rammer or piece for impelling the
exploding pin, and at the same time condenses the spring for giving
the necessary impulse to the rammer or piece, the rammer or piece being.
retained in the backward position by a catch connected with the trigger.
The spring just mentioned may be fitted either in the knuckle of the
breech block, or in the body of the block, and it may be a spiral spring,
or a flat spring of tongs shape, or a compound spring, that is to say, a
flat tong-shaped spring having twists passing round the arbor or joint pin-
in order to avoid the necessity of its being carried above or below this pin.
The piece acted upon by this spring may be a rammer or bolt in a linc
with the exploding pin, hercin-before explained, or a horizontal lammer
made to act on the rammer or bolt, or directly upon the exploding pin.

page_text: In some cases I form an additional quill with a spiral slot or projecting
inclined checks for compressing the spring and acting on the piece for
impelling the exploding pin. The operations herein-before described
for extracting the cartridge cases and those for compressing the main-
spring and firing the piece may be employed either separately or
conjointly; or instead of employing a quill with a slot or slots in it for
the purpose or purposes explained, I form a corresponding groove or
grooves in the joint pin itself for the same purpose or purposes; this pin
being in this case free to move longitudinally.
It will be seen that the operation of extracting the cartridge case and
of compressing the mainspring is performed by the act of opening the
breech block. In order to be enabled to release the spring and put the
piece upon half-cock without opening the breech block I further add,
when required, a lover which I fix to the compressing quill or otherwise,
either through the medium of the arbor or joint pin, or in any convenient
manner.
Figure 1 of the accompanying Drawings is a longitudinal section of a
breech-loading fire-arm fitted with a spiral spring for exploding the
cartridge, and shewing the tube or quill within the knuckle or joint of
the breech block to which is attached the extractor; Figure 2 is a plan
of the same; Figure 3, a cross section on the line A, B, of Figure 2, and
Figure 4 a cross section on the line C, D.
Figure 5 shows a cross section, and Figure 6 a sectional plan of another
arrangement fitted with the ordinary V-shaped lock spring, and showing
the mode of condensing said spring or springs by means of inclined
chiccks on an additional quill fixed to the pin or arbor on which the
breech block turns.
Figure 7 is an end view of the extractor and quill, as shown in
Figures 1 to 6.
Figure 8 shews a sectional plan, of an arrangement whereby the
extractor quill is fixed to the pin or arbor, or is part of sumc, the
extractor and pin being free to move longitudinally, and by its move-
ment drawing back the rammer or exploding pin, and at the same time
condensing the spring. The several parts shown may be employed either
separately or conjointly. The same letters refer to similar parts in .all
the Figures.
Upon the pin or arbor a on which the breech block b turus I fit a
tube e carrying a bent or cranked arm which forms the extractor & for

page_text: withdrawing the empty cartridge casc. The tube is provided with a
slot c", into which a pin or roller d works, as shown in Figure 6, or as
shown in Figures 2 and 8, where the extractor is formed as part of the
pin upon which the breech block turns. On opening the breech block b
the pin or roller & moves in the transverse part of the slot effecting
no movement of the extractor until the thumb picce e of the block
attains a vertical position, or one sufficiently so to be clear of the
cartridge case when the pin taking into the spiral part of the slot c" draws
back the tube together with the extractor, the reverse movement takes
place on re-closing the breech, the fresh cartridge being inserted when the
thumb piece is vertical, or nearly so. Within the thumb piece e, or the
brecch block b, I form a chamber to contain the spring f, which is shown
as a spiral in Figure 1, and as a flat V-shaped, or tong-shaped spring in
Figures 5, 6, and 8, or a spring of any suitable form may be employed.
In Figure 8 g is the rammer or bolt carrying the exploding pin h,
upon opening the breech the back end of the extractor tube, herein-
before described, draws back the rammer g, and at the same time
condenses the spring f of the rammer, both of which are retained in
the backward position by a catch or sear i which comes into connection
with the trigger k on closing the breech; or instead of using the
extractor tube to compress the spring, as herein-before described, I fix
an additional tube or quill on the arbor or pin a, or I form an inclined.
groove or inclined cheeks 7, as shown in Figures 2 and 6. m is a lever
which I fix when required to the compressing tube, or otherwise to the
arbor or pin. In order to be enabled to cock the piece without opening
the breech I clevate the lever m which turns the tube l, or otherwise
the arbor a, thereby compressing the spring, and while the lever is thus
clevated the gun is in a position of perfect safety, or on half-cock, by
returning the lever to its original position the piece is left on full-cock,
or the spring may be gently let down by pressing the trigger and
lowering the lever at the same time.
In order to lock the breech block when closed, and at the same time
to ensure the withdrawal of the exploding pin within the body of the
block before opening the breech I attach a spring lever n to the thumb
picce or any convenient part, the breech can only be opened on the
spring lever being pressed, and the exploding pin is at the same time
drawn back clear of the cartridge case. I may also place the main-
spring in the joint of the breech instead of in the block, in which case
a horizontal hammer is made to act upon the exploding pin, the spring

page_text: being condensed by the extractor tube, or by a spiral groove or slot in
the arbor or otherwise, as herein-before described.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and
shown several modes of carrying the same into effect, I would have
it understood that the several parts may be employed separately or
conjointly, and that I do not confine myself to the exact details herein-
before described, but what I claim is,―
First. The general arrangement and combination of parts of breech-
loading fire-arms whereby the exploding pin is set and the empty
cartridge case withdrawn by the raising or opening of the breech block
as hercin-before described and represented in the several Figures of
the accompanying Drawings.
Second. The construction of a tube or quill with the extractor forming
part of or attached thereto, for the purposes hercin-before described, and
fitting the same within the joint or knuckle of the breech block, as
herein-before described and represented in the annexed Drawings.
Third. The construction of an additional tube or quill formed with a
spiral slot or inclined cheeks on it and fitting the same on the pin
upon which the breech block turns for compressing or setting the
mainspring, in the manner described and shewn in the Drawings.
Fourth. Constructing and arranging a lever on the tube, or on the
pin of the breech block, so that the spring and rammer may be set at
half-cock without the necessity of opening the breech, as herein-before
described and represented in the Drawings annexed.
And, fifth, I claim fitting the mainspring within the body of the
breech block or within the thumb piece, in the manner shown and for
the purposes hercin-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Edward Cottam, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this
thousand night hundred and sixte night
day of August, One
EDWARD COTTAM. (L.S.)