IMPROVEMENTS IN FIRE-ARMS
Year: 1849

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, 1.
JOSEPH ROCK COOPER, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick,
Gun and Pistol Maker, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by
Her Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom
of Great Britain and. Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Twen;
tieth day of September, One thousand eight hundred and forty-nine, in
the thirteenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and
successors, give and grant unto me, the said Joseph Rock Cooper,
my exors, adiiors, and assigns, Her especial license, full power, sole
privilege and authority, that I, the said Joseph Rock Cooper, my
exors, admiors, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Joseph Rock
Cooper, my exors, adors, or assigns, should at any time agree with.
and no others, from time to time and at all times during the term
of years therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use,
exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the town of Berwick-
upon-Tweed, my Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN FIRE-ARMS," in which

page_text: said Letters Patent is contained a proviso. that I, the said Joseph
Rock Cooper, shall cause a particular description of the nature of my
said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, by
an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, to be inrolled in
Her Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar months
next and immediately after the date of the said in part recited Letters
Patent, as in and by the same, reference being thereunto had, will
more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the
said Joseph Rocke Cooper, do hereby declare that the nature of my
said Invention, and the manner in which the same is to be performed,
are fully described and ascertained in and by the following statement
thereof, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto, and to the
figures and letters marked thereon, that is to say:
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
cap
Figure 1, shows a side view, Figure 2, a front or end view, and
Figure 3, an under side view of a pistol having part of my improve-
ments applied thereto a, is the barrel; b, the stock; c; a spring,
which acts as a hammer to discharge a cap when on the nipple, and
at other times is the means of keeping the cover d, over the nipple;
this cover d, is hollow, and closely covers the cap on the nipple. The
cover & moves on an axis c, and in fact forms one end of a bent lever,
the ring d for the finger-forming the other end of this lever. When
the pistol is not to be discharged the nipple and
thereon are
covered by the cover d, and the same is kept pressed on by the spring c
When the fire-arm is to be discharged the simple act of drawing back
the ring, or, it might be, other formed end.of the lever d, d, (as shewn
by the red lines;) will cause the cover d, to be moved beyond the end of
the spring e, which will then re-act and strike against the cap; and
in order to get the spring hammer cout of the way when another.cap
is to be put on the nipple, the barrel is to be turned partly round; the
cover de being then placed over the nipple, the barrel is to be again
turned into position, which will bring the end of the spring c, so that
it will press on the cover d. This arrangement; although only shewn
1

page_text: applied to a pistol, may, with slight modifications of the parts, be applied
to guns and fowling pieces. Figure 4 shows an under side-view,
Figures -5,-and-6; show a side-and-end view of a pistol having a
similar improvement to that. above described applied thereto, together
with other improvements. In this arrangement in place of having
the spring c-fixed to the barrel, as in the former pistol; the "spring"
forms the one end of the ramrod, and there is a guardeused to the
ring d', (or other formed end of the lever dd) Sucli guard-preventing
the ring being moved back, unless the guarde, be first moved so as to
unlock the guard. Figure 7, shows two views of the ramrod separately,
by which it will be seen that the one end thereof-acts as a spring
hammer, and also the means of keeping the cover d close.. The
ramrod passes through the sling f, so that when it is drawn out: (to
ădmit of the cover d being placed in position over the nipple) it can
be used for ramming down, but the sling' prevents it being separated
from the fire-arm: The ramrod passes through the socket g, and when
pressed home, as shewn at Figures 4, and 5, it rests on and retains the
cover' d secure, till that cover is moved away, as shewn by the red lines
in Figure 5; then the end of the spring c, acts as a spring hammer, and
strikes the cap on the nipple, and the cover'd call only be moved away
by pressing the lower end of the guard out of the ring, which will move
the notch or catch e, so as to allow of the lever d'd', moving on its
axis, as will be readily traced by examining the Drawing, more parti-
cularly the several detached views of these parts shewn at Figure 8.
This apparatus, like that first described, may be applied to fowling
pieces and other fire-arms. I have not, however, thought-it necessary
to show the same so applied, as a workman will readily apply the
several improvements thereto
My Invention is also applicable to revolving pistols; Figure 9,
shows a plan, and Figure 10, a side view of a revolving pistol having
iny Invention applied thereto. Figue 11, shows: a section, Figure 12,
shows a side and two end views of the barrels; Eigure 13, shews
another section Figure-14, is part of an end view, Figure.15, shews
separate views of the hammer and Figure 16, shows separate views of
the trigger and working parts in each of which Figures the same letters

page_text: indicate similar parts. c, is the hammer formed on the spring c',
which is fastened to the stock at ; and the hammer e, is lifted by the
pendant finger a, which is connected by a pin joint to the under side of
the hammer c, and is pressed on by the spring a', as shown, so that it
has at all times a tendency to stand off from the under side of the
hammer, so that the end, of the lever b, constituting the trigger may
come under the finger a; and lift the hammer c. The lever or trigger 6,
turns on an axis 6, and is constantly pressed on by a spring : The
barrels are caused to revolve by means of the fingers d, d, attached by
pin joints to the lever b, and these fingers act alternately on the series
of inclined planes e, e, at the butt end of the series of barrels, as shown.
e', e, is the guard, similar to what has before been described. When
this pistol is discharged the simple repetition of pulling the trigger will
cause the series of barrels to be turned; and the hammer to be lifted
and let go. When it is desired to revolve the series of barrels without
-lifting the hammer, then, by sliding a slide f, a projection f', therefrom
will move the finger a out of the way of the end 6' of the lever b,
so that the series of barrels may be revolved without acting on the
hammer.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the means of
performing the same, I would remark that I do not confine myself to
the exact forms or details of the parts, so long as the peculiar character
of any part of my improvements be retained. But what I claim is, the
so constructing triggers and spring hammers that the act of pulling a
trigger shall remove the hammer from the cap on the nipple, and then
allow the hammer to strike. I also claim the making part of the
ramrod into a spring hammer. I also claim the use of a guard e', e².
I also claim the so arranging a trigger that it shall cover or guard the
cap. And I also claim the mode of turning the barrels of revolving
fire-arms by means of fingers d, acting on inclines as explained.
In witness whereof, I, the said Joseph Rock Cooper, have here-
unto set my hand and scal, this Nineteenth day of March,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty..
JOSEPH ROCK (1.8.) COOPER.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Nineteenth day of March,
in the year of our Lord 1850, the aforesaid Joseph Rock Cooper came
before our said Lady the Queen, in Her Chancery, and acknowledged
the Specification aforesaid, and all and everything therein contained and
specified, in form above written. And also the Specification aforesaid
was stamped according to the tenor of the Statute made for that
purpose.
Enrolled the Twentieth day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty.