IMPROVEMENTS IN BREECH-LOADING SMALL-ARMS
Year: 1878

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Samuel Mills, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick,
Gun-action Filer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN BREECH-LOADING
SMALL-ARMS."
Sealed the 10th September 1878, and dated the 19th March 1878.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Samuel Mills at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents on the 19th March 1878.
SAMUEL MILLS, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Gun-action Filer.
"IMPROVEMENTS IN BREECH-LOADING SMALL-ARMS."
"
My Invention has reference to small arms of the kind commonly called "drop-
down guns, and my said Invention consists of the improvements herein-after
described in the mechanism for bolting down the breech ends of the barrels for
discharge and mechanism for effecting the cocking of the hammers by the act
of raising the breech ends of the barrels for loading.
My improved mechanism for bolting down the breech ends of the barrels for
discharge is constructed as follows:-On the tang of the break off I joint an arm
turning in a horizontal plane, that is, in a plane parallel with the break off; the
front end of this arm is jointed by a joint pin passing through it near one side to
the corresponding side of the tang of the break off; underneath the said arm, and
working in a groove or recess in the tang of the break off, is a sliding bolt, the front
end of which, when the bolt is in its shot position, engages in a slot in the prolonged
end of the rib between the barrels, and fastens down the barrels; at the front end of
the arm and at the side opposite to that which is jointed to the tang of the break
off, is a fixed pin which takes into a slot in the sliding bolt described, so that when
the said arm is turned aside, the said bolt is withdrawn, and when the arm is in ita
normal position on the break off, the said bolt is shot. Another pin in the arm
passes through slots in the sliding bolt and break off, and is jointed to one end of a
rod, around which is a coiled spring; the front end of the said spring urges the said

page_text: rod forward, and its rear end has a bearing at the end of the tang of the break off.
The said spring urges the arm into its normal position and through the said
arm shoots the bolt. The said arm may be made to withdraw the bolt engaging
with the lump on the under side of the barrels by making a vertical bar on
the end of the said bolt engage with the said arm.
My improved mechanism for effecting the cocking of the gun by the raising of
the breech ends of the barrels for charging is constructed as follows:-On the
front of the hammer and near the pin on which the hammer turns is a short,
nearly horizontal arm. On the centre on which the hanımer turns is a longer
arm turning freely on the said centre; this longer arm is situated below the
short arm on the hammer, so that when the said longer arm is raised, it raises the
hammer, but it can return without bringing the hammer with it. To the top of
the rear vertical side of the lump, a vertical arm is jointed, the lower free end
of which has a hook-like termination by which it can engage with the arm on the
hammer axis.
The lower end of this vertical arm is pressed towards the break off by a spring.
After the gun has been discharged, and the breech ends of the barrels are raised for
charging, the vertical arm attached to the lump raises the arm on the hammer axis,
and the raising of this arm, as already explained, raises the hammer.
The hammer is retained in its raised position by the ordinary sear and bent, and
on the shutting down of the breech ends of the barrels the hammer is left in its
cocked position ready for firing.
By means of a slido on the under side of the gun, the arm on the lump can be
forced back out of action, when the gun can be used as an ordinary gun, that is, a
gun in which the hammer is cocked by hand.
My Invention is applicable to single and double barrelled guns.

page_text: t
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Samuel Mills in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 14th September
1878.
SAMUEL MILLS, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Gun-action Filer.
IMPROVEMENTS IN BREECH-LOADING SMALL-ARMS."
My Invention has reference to small-arms of the kind commonly called drop-
down guns; and my said Invention consists of the improvements herein-after
described in the mechanism for bolting down the breech ends of the barrels for dis-
charge, and mechanism for effecting the cocking of the hammers by the act of
raising the breech ends of the barrels for loading.
My improved mechanism for bolting down the breech ends of the barrels for
discharge is constructed as follows:-On the tang on the break off I joint an arm
turning in a horizontal plane, that is, in a plane parallel with the break off. This
arm constitutes the hand lever by which the unbolting is effected. The front end
of this arm is jointed by a joint pin passing through it near one side to the cor-
responding side of the tang of the break off. Underneath the said arm, and working
in a groove or recess in the tang of the break off, is a sliding bolt, the front end of
which, when the bolt is in its shot postion, engages in a slot in the prolonged end of
the rib between the barrels and fastens down the barrels. At the front end of the
arm, and at the side opposite to that which is jointed to the tang of the break off,
is a fixed pin which takes into a slot in the sliding bolt described, so that when the
said arm is turned aside, the said bolt is withdrawn, and when the arm is in its
normal position on the break off, the said bolt is shot. Another pin in the arm
passes through slots in the sliding bolt and break off, and is jointed to one end of a
rod around which is a coiled spring. The front end of the said spring urges the said
rod forward, and its rear end has a.bearing at the end of the tang of the break off.
The said spring urges the arm into its normal position, and through the said arm
shoots the bolt. The said arm may be made to withdraw the bolt engaging with
the lump on the under side of the barrels by making a vertical bar on the end of
the said bolt engage with the said arm.
My improved mechanism for effecting the cocking of the gun by the raising of
the breech ends of the barrels for charging is constructed as follows:-On the front
of the hammer, and near the pin on which the hammer turns, is a short nearly
horizontal arm. On the centre on which the hammer turns is a longer arm turning
freely on the said centre. This longer arm is situated below the short arm on the
hammer, so that when the said longer arm is raised, it raises the hammer, but it can
return without bringing the hammer with it. To the top of the rear vertical side
of the lump a vertical arm is jointed, the lower free end of which has a hook-like
termination by which it can engage with the arm on the hammer axis.
The lower end of this vertical arm is pressed towards the break off by a spring.
After the gun has been discharged and the breech ends of the barrels are raised for
charging, the vertical arm attached to the lump raises the arm on the hammer axis,
and the raising of this arm, as already explained, raises the hammer.
The hammer is retained in its raised position by the ordinary sear and bent, and
on the shutting down of the breech ends of the barrels the hammer is left in its
cocked position ready for firing.
By means of a slide on the under side of the gun, the arm on the lump can be
forced back out of action, when the gun can be used as an ordinary gun, that is, a
gun in which the hammer is cocked by hand.
My Invention is applicable to single and double barrelled guns.
I will now describe, with reference to the accompanying Drawings, the manner
in which my Invention may be performed.
Figure 1 represents, partly in longitudinal section and partly in elevation, and-
Figure 2 in plan of under side, the breech end of a drop-down gun containing

page_text: mechanism constructed according to my Invention for bolting down the barrels at
the prolonged rib, the bolt being represented in its shot position, and the barrels
bolted down; Figure 3 represents the same view as Figure 2 with the bolt with-
drawn, and the barrels unfastened.
Figure 4 represents in side elevation and plan of under side the arm or hand lever
separately.
Figure 5 represents the bolt separately, and Figure 6 represents the rod, around
which a spring is situated for giving the snapping action to the bolt.
The same letters of reference indicate the same parts in Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, 5,
and 6.
a are the barrels, and b is the projecting rib between the barrels, into a slot or
opening in which rib the front end of the sliding bolt c takes; d is the break off,
and e is the tang of the break off. On the said tange is the hand lever f for
withdrawing the bolt c. The said hand lever turns in a horizontal plane, and is
jointed by the pin f" to the said tang. Underneath the hand lever f, and working
in a recess in the tang, is the sliding bolt c. The said bolt is shewn separately in
Figure 5.
The front end of the bolt is concave, and when shot forward in the manner
herein-after described takes into a recess at 63 in the prolonged rib b, as seen in
Figure 1.
The bolt c is provided with two slots g and h for the purposes herein-after
described.
The tange is also furnished with a slot i. At the front end of the band lever f
is a pin f, which takes into the slot g in the bolt c.
The snapping action of the bolt is effected, and the hand lever returned to its
normal position on the tang, by the following arrangement of parts :-Underneath
the tange is a rod ; this rod is connected to the hand lever f by the screw pin l,
which is passed through the said hand lever, and through the inclined slots and i
in the bolt c and tang e, the lower end of the said screw pin serowing into the
said rod h, as seen in Figure 1. The opposite end of the said rod is situated and
works in the tubular bearing p on the tang e. Around the rear part of the rod k is
a coiled spring q, the said spring taking its abutment at one end against the shoulder
on the said rod k, and at the opposite end against the bearing p, the said spring
when at liberty to move urging the said rod forward or in the direction of the
break off.
When the hand lever ƒ is turned aside on its pin 2, as represented iu Figure 3,
the said hand lever by means of the pin and slot f³, g, withdraws the sliding bolt c
from the prolonged rib b, and unbolts the barrels. The same motion of the hand
lever causes the pin to travel in the inclined slots h, i, in the bolt and tang, and
give a motion through a small angle to the rod k fixed to the said pin l. By this
motion of the rod k the spring q is compressed, as represented in Figure 3, and on
releasing the hand lever (or on shutting down the barrels) the said spring acting on
the rod presses the latter towards the break off, thereby causing the hand lever
to take its normal position on the tang, and by the pin on the hand lever acting
upon the bolt through the slot h the said bolt is shot forward, the several parts
now occupying the respective positions represented in Figures 1 and 2.
Figure 7 represents in longitudinal vertical section, Figure 8 in plan of upper
side, and Figure 9 in plan of under side, a breech-loading drop-down gun containing
bolting mechanism constructed according to my Invention for bolting down the
barrels, both at the prolonged rib and at the lumps on the under side of the
barrels.
Figure 10 represents the hand lever separately; Figure 11 represents the top
sliding bolt separately; and Figure 12 represents the spring rod separately.
The parts of the mechanism for bolting down the barrels at the ribs are constructed
somewhat differently from corresponding parts in the gun, Figures 1, 2, and 3.
The sliding top bolt c is formed with a single rectangular slot c³, in which a pro-

page_text: jection f on the under side of the hand lever f works, and the pin which connects the
hand leverf with the rod k carrying the coiled spring a works in the oblique slot i
in the tang e. The action of the top bolting mechanism is the same as that first
described.
For the purpose of working the under bolt r, which takes into the lumps a on
the under side of the barrels at the same time as the top bolt c, the said under bolt r
is furnished with a vertical bar, in the head of which is a cross notch or groove
23, and the spring rod k is prolonged, and its end is furnished with a projection k²,
which takes into the cross notch or groove in the head of the under boit r, as
seen in Figure 7.
When the hand lever fis turned aside the top bolt c and under bolt rare simul-
taneously withdrawn from the rib and lumps respectively, and the spring q com-
pressed; and on loosing the said hand lever the latter is returned to its normal
position on the tang, and the two bolts c, r, shot forward by the action of the said
compressed spring q.
The parts of the arrangement, Figures 7, 8, and 9, which I have not described
are constructed in the manner described with respect to the arrangement.
Figures 1, 2, and 3 and corresponding parts are marked with the same letters of
reference.
Figures 13 and 14 represent longitudinal sections of a double-barrel drop-down gun
provided with cocking mechanism constructed according to my Invention; Figure 13
representing the barrels shut down, and the hammers in their discharged positions ;
and Figure 14 representing the barrels raised from the break off for loading, and the
hammers cocked.
Figure 15 represents in elevation, partly in section, the cocking mechanism thrown
out of action.
Figures 16, 17, and 18 represent separate parts of the cocking mechanism; and
Figure 19 represents one of the locks of the gun detached.
In Figures 13 and 14 the bridle of the lock is represented removed.
The same letters of reference indicate the same parts in Figures 13 to 19, both
inclusive.
For convenience of description I will describe the action of the cocking mechanism in
connection with a single hammer. a is the external hammer carried by the lock plate
b as usual; c is the short horizontal arm on the tumbler c² of the said haminer and
projecting partly across the body of the gun: The said short horizontal arm c is
best seen in the separate view, Figure 19.
The axis d of the hammer a turns in the bearing e carried by the trigger plate,
and on the said axis d is a long arm f; the said arm turning freely on the said
axis d.
The long arm fis shown separately in plan in Figure 17. It has at one of its
ends an eye or knuckle f2, which fits between the bearings at e on the trigger plate,
the eye of the knuckle working on the hammer axis d. The other end of the arm
has a cross pin f³ upon it.
f
It will be seen by an examination of Figures 13 and 14 that the long arm f is.
situated below the cross horizontal arm c on the tumbler, softhat when the said long
arm f is raised it raises the hammer a through the said arm c and tumbler; but the
said arm can return to its lowest position without bringing the hammer
with it.
To the top of the rear vertical side of the lump g on the under side of the
barrels a nearly vertical arm his jointed at h², the said arm h working in a recess
in the said lump g..
The arm h is shewn separately in elevation and section in Figure 18. The lower
free end of the said vertical arm h has a hook-like termination h³, which can be engaged
with the cross pin fs on the lower end of the long arm f on the hammer axis. By
means of a spring i (Figure 13) the vertical arm h is pressed towards the break off,
and its hooked end h³ made to engage with the cross pin ƒ³ on the lower end of the
arm f
.

page_text: The shapes of the engaging ends of the two arms fand h and the way in which
they engage together will be understood by an examination of Figures 13.
and 14.
After the gun has been discharged the several parts occupy the respective
positions represented in Figure 18.
When the breech ends of the barrels are raised from the break off for recharging,
the lump is correspondingly raised, and with it the vertical arm h, the spring i
being compressed. As the vertical arm h is raised it carries with it and raises the
arm f on the hammer axis d, and the raising of the said arm by acting on the cross
horizontal arm c on the tumbler craises the external hammer a to full cock, the
hammer being retained in its cocked position by the sear of the lock engaging with
the bent in the tumbler of the hammer in the usual way.
The several parts of the gun now occupy the respective positions represented in
Figure 14.
On shutting down the barrels after they have been charged the hammer arm f
descends into the position represented in Figure 13, leaving the hammer a in its
cocked position ready for discharge.
In order to throw the cocking mechanism out of action when the gun is to be
cocked by hand I employ a slide / working on the under side of the trigger plate.
The construction of the slide k will be best understood by an examination of
Figures 15 and 16. The front end of the plate of the slide is forked, and in its normal
position is out of contact with the hooked end ³ of the vertical lever h, and the said
vertical lever is kept engaged with the pin fs of the hammer arm ƒ by the action of the.
spring i, as before described. When however it is wished to throw the cocking
mechanism out of use, the slide k is moved towards the joint of the gun. By this
motion its forked end passes over the pin f³ of the hammer arm f, and acting
against the fork h³ of the vertical lever h forces it back, so as to disengage the said
fork from the pin f³ of the hammer arm f, as illustrated in Figure 15. The gun
can now be used as an ordinary gun, the external hammer being cocked by hand,
the opening of the breech for loading having no action on the hammer.
In order to put the cocking mechanism again into use, it is only necessary to
withdraw the slide k to the position represented in Figures 13 and 14. The spring
i now forces outwards the vertical arm h, and causes it to be re-engaged with the
cross pin f³ of the hammer arm f, when the opening of the breech causes the
hammer to be cocked by the mechanism herein-before described.
In double-barrel guns each lock is furnished with a cross arm similar to the arm c
represented, the inner ends of the respective hammer axes passing into the eye or
knuckle f of the hammer arm f, the said eye or knuckle being situated between the
bearings at e on the trigger plate in which the said hammer axes turn.
Having now described the nature of my Invention and the manner in which the
same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that I do not limit myself to
tlie precise details herein described and illustrated, as the same may be varied
without departing from the nature of my Invention, but I claim as my Invention
of improvements in breech-loading small-arms of the kind called drop-down
guns,
First. The arrangement or combination of parts herein-before described, [and
illustrated in Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 of the accompanying Drawings, for
bolting down the barrels of the said guns at the prolonged rib between the said
barrels.
Secondly. The arrangement or combination of parts herein-before described, and
illustrated in Figures 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12 of the accompanying Drawings, for
bolting down the barrels both at the prolonged rib between the barrels and at the
lump on the under side of the barrels.
Thirdly. The improvements in mechanism for cocking the external hammers of
drop-down guns by the act of raising the breech ends of the barrels for loading,
herein-before described, and illustrated in Figures 13 to 19, both inclusive, of the
accompanying Drawings, that is to say, mechanism consisting essentially of

page_text: the cross horizontal arm c on the tumbler of the hammer, the long arm f turning on
the axis of the hammer, and the vertical arm h jointed to the lump on the under
side of the barrels, the said mechanism being constructed, arranged, and operating
substantially as described and illustrated.
Also the adaptation to the said cocking mechanism of a slide for throwing the
said mechanism out of use when the hammers are to be cocked by hand, substantially
as described and illustrated.
In witness whereof, I, the said Samuel Mills, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Thirteenth day of September, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and seventy-eight.
Witness,
RICHARD SKERRETT,
Clerk to George Shaw,
Birmingham.
SAMUEL MILLS. (L.S.)