Improvements in Drop Down Small Arms.
Year: 1888

page_text: Date of Application, 9th Nov., 1888
Complete Specification Left, 27th July, 1889-Accepted, 21st Sept., 1889
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Drop Down Small Arms.
I LAMBERT NEUMANN of the firm of Neumann frerès of No. 5 Rue St. Remi Liége
in the Kingdom of Belgium Gun Makers do hereby declare the nature of this
Invention to be as follows:-
My said invention consists of the construction and combination of parts hereinafter
described for cocking the hammers of drop down guns or small arms having internal
hammers commonly called hammerless guns and further of the automatic safety
mechanism hereinafter described for preventing the discharge of the gun by
accidental pressure on the triggers.
The cocking of the hammers is effected by means of a cocking lever situated
between them and turning on the same axis as the said hammers the said cocking
lever being operated from the lump on the underside of the barrels on opening the
gun. The said cocking lever extends forward through the break off of the gun and its
extreme forward end enters when the barrels are shut down a recess in the lump in
front of and above that into which the locking bolt enters. The front end of the
locking bolt is bevilled and the axis of the hand lever by which the locking bolt is
worked is also bevilled or cut away to permit of the forward arm of the cocking lever
occupying its proper position in the recess in the lump when the barrels are shut
down. On opposite sides of the cocking lever and above the axis on which it turns
are projecting pins or studs which act upon the front of the hammers and lift them
into their cocked position.
The action is as follows:-When the gun is discharged the extreme end of the for-
ward part of the cocking lever is in the recess in the lump and when the barrels are
lifted for recharging the gun the lump lifts the said end of the cocking lever and turns
it on its pin or centre. The pins or studs on the cocking lever are thereby made to lift
the hammers into their cocked positions in which positions they are retained by the
sears in the ordinary way. On closing the barrels the cocking lever falls and its
extreme end reentering the recess in the lump is ready on the reopening of the
gun to cock the hammers.
Instead of operating the cocking lever on the opening of the gun by the lump on
the underside of the barrels the said cocking lever may be operated by a screw on the
axis or rod of the hand lever which withdraws the locking bolt.
The safety mechanism which is automatically operated by the cocking lever herein-
before described on the opening of the gun consists of a slide situated on the trigger
plate. The rear end of the said slide works in a slot or cut away part at the rear
of the trigger plate and is guided in its sliding motion by pins and slots. The front
part of the safety slide is bow shaped or curved and is narrower than the middle flat
part.
The extreme front end is hooked and engages with a bent like projection on the
heel of the cocking lever. When the gun is opened for recharging it the cocking
lever besides cocking the hammers also draws forward the safety slide and brings the
Hat broad part of the said slide over the blades of the triggers and prevents
the said triggers from rising. Thus the act of cocking the gun locks the triggers.
On closing the gun the bent like projection on the cocking lever rises from the safety
lide leaving the latter in its position of safety. The safety slide is pushed backwards
o as to release the triggers by means of a hand worked sliding push piece on
he tang connected by a vertical rod with the safety slide.
Dated this 9th day of November 1888.
W. T. WHITEMAN,
Agent for the Applicant.

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Drop Down Small Arms.
I LAMBERT NEUMANN of the firm of Neumann Frères of No. 5 Rue St. Remi Liége
in the Kingdom of Belgium Gun Makers do hereby declare the nature of my Invention
and in what manner the same is to be performed to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement :-
My said invention consists of the construction and combination of parts hereinafter
described for cocking the hammers of drop down guns or small arms having internal
hammers commonly called hammerless guns and further of the automatic safety
mechanism hereinafter described for preventing the discharge of the gun by accidental
pressure on the triggers.
The cocking of the hammers is effected by means of a cocking lever situated between
them and turning on the same axis as the said hammers the said cocking lever being
operated from the lump on the underside of the barrels on opening the gun. The
said cocking lever extends forward through the break off of the gun and its extreme
forward end enters when the barrels are shut down a recess in the lump in front of
and above that into which the locking bolt enters. The front end of the locking bolt
is bevilled and the axis of the hand lever by which the locking bolt is worked is also
bevilled or cut away to permit of the forward arm of the cocking lever occupying its
proper position in the recess in the lump when the barrels are shut down. On
opposite sides of the cocking lever and above the axis on which it turns are projecting
pins or studs which act upon the front of the hammers and lift them into their cocked
position.
The safety mechanism which is automatically operated by the cocking lever herein-
before described on the opening of the gun consists of a slide situated on the trigger
plate. The rear end of the said slide works in a slot or cut away part at the rear of
the trigger plate and is guided in its sliding motion by pins and slots. The front part
of the safety slide is bow shaped or curved and is narrower than the middle flat part.
The extreme front end is hooked and engages with a bent like projection on the
heel of the cocking lever. When the gun is opened for recharging it the cocking
lever besides cocking the hammers also draws forward the safety slide and brings the
flat broad part of the said slide over the blades of the triggers and prevents the said
triggers from rising. Thus the act of cocking the gun locks the triggers. On closing
the gun the bent like projection on the cocking lever rises from the safety slide
leaving the latter in its position of safety. The safety slide is pushed backwards so as
to release the triggers by means of a hand worked sliding push-piece on the tang
connected by a vertical rod with the safety slide.
I will now proceed to describe with reference to the accompanying Drawings the
manner in which my invention is to be performed.
Figures 1 and 2 represent longitudinal sections of the breech end of a double
barrel drop down gun containing cocking and safety mechanisms the parts of which
are constructed and arranged according to my invention Figure 1 representing the
gun discharged and the safety slide out of action and Figure 2 representing the
hammers cocked and the safety slide automatically brought into its acting or safety
position by the lifting of the breech end of the barrels for cocking and opening the
gun Figure 3 represents a plan of upper side partly in section of the trigger plate and
safety slide and Figure 4 represents a plan of the safety slide separately Figure 5
represents a side elevation and edge view of the cocking lever separately and Figure 6
represents a plan and edge view of the locking bolt separately.
The same letters of reference indicate the same parts in the several Figures of the
Drawings.
a a³ is the cocking lever situated between the two hammers of the lock one only of the
said hammers marked 6 being represented in the Drawings. The said hammers turn
on the axis c and the cocking lever a a³ turns on the same axis c. On opposite sides
of the cocking lever a a' and above the axis c on which it turns are projecting pins or

page_text: studs d d (see Figure 5) which act upon the fronts of the hammers and lift them into
their cocked positions as herein after described. It will be seen by an examination of
the Drawings that the arm a³ of the cocking lever a a' extends forward through the
break off of the gun and its extreme forward end when the barrels are shut down as
illustrated in Figure 1 enters the recess e in the front lumpf the said recess e having
the size and shape represented g is the smaller recess in the lump in which the locking
bolt h engages to lock down the barrels the said locking bolt h being operated by the
hand lever and its axis in the ordinary way. The front and rear of the bolt h are
bevilled at i and for the purpose of permitting the forward arm a of the cocking
lever occupying its proper place in the recess e in the lumpf when the barrels are shut
down (see Figure 1) but the said arm a² may be so shaped that the bevilling of the bolt
is rendered unnecessary.
The action of the gun is as follows:-When the gun has been discharged as
illustrated in Figure 1 the extreme end of the forward arm a³ of the cocking lever a a
lies in the recesse in the lump fand when the breech ends of the barrels are raised
from the break-off for recharging the gun the said lump flifts the said end of the
arm a of the cocking lever and turns the said lever on its pin or centre c.
The pins
or studs d d on the cocking lever are thereby made to lift the hammers 6 into their
cocked positions as illustrated in Figure 2 in which positions they are held by the
engagement of the sears of the lock (one of which sears is marked k) with the bents
in the said hammers in the ordinary way. On closing the barrels the cocking
lever a a' falls or is carried down and its extreme end reëntering the recess e in the
lump fis ready on the reopening of the gun to cock the hammers.
I will now describe the safety mechanism of the gun. is the safety slide on the
the trigger plate m the rear end of the slide working in a slot or cut away part in
the rear of the trigger plate. The slide is guided in its sliding motion by the pins
and slots at n n. The safety slide is put into its safety position automatically by the
cocking of the gun and is taken out of action by the band worked push piece p on the
tang connected by the rod or stem p² with the said safety slide. The front part of the
slide is curved and the curved end is hooked at 13. On the heel part of the cocking
lever a a is a bent like projection at with which the hooked end of the safety
slide engages. On opening the gun the cocking lever a a² besides cocking the
hammers also draws forward the safety slide from the position represented in
Figure 1 to that represented in Figure 2. By the forward motion of the safety slide
its broad part is brought over the blades qq of the two triggers and prevents the
said triggers from rising to discharge the gun as illustrated in Figures 2 and 3. In
this way the cocking of the gun also causes the triggers to be locked and the acci-
dental discharge of the gun is prevented.
When the gun
closed the bent like projection a* on the cocking lever a a³ rises
from the hooked end of the safety slide (see Figure 1) and leaves the said slide in
the safety position Figure 2. In order to release the triggers for discharging the
gun the safety slide is pushed backwards or withdrawn out of action into the
position irepresented in Figure 1 by means of the hand worked push piece p. When
in this position the broad part of the safety slide is no longer over the blades q q of
the triggers and the said blades can rise to effect the discharge of the gun.
Figures 7 and 8 represent a modification of the cocking and safety mechanisms
hereinbefore described Figure 7 representing the gun discharged and the safety slide
out of action and Figure 8 representing the gun opened the hammers cocked and the
safety slide in its acting or safety position.
In this modification the cocking of the hammers b is facilitated by making the for-
ward arm a of the cocking lever a a' when the breech ends of the barrels are raised
work upon the anti-friction roller in the lump fand the safety slide instead of
being put into the safety position by a forward motion is put into the safety position
by a backward motion and taken out of action by a forward motion. To automatically
put the safety slide into its acting or safety position through the cocking lever a a³
the latter is modified as well as the safety slide in the manner represented in the
Drawing. That is to say the front part of the safety slide is bent upwards at 1 and

page_text: the part of the cocking lever for acting upon the bent, forward part 14 of the safety
slide is marked as and is situated above the centre of the cocking lever instead of below
it. The result of these modifications is that when the gun is cocked by the cocking
lever a a² the safety slide in the forward position Figure 7 is acted upon by the pro-
jection a on the cocking lever and pushed back into the acting position represented
in Figure 8. This back motion of the safety slide brings the cross pieces 1 1 on it
over the projecting ends at q2 of the trigger blades as represented in Figure 8 and the
triggers are prevented from rising to discharge the gun. By pushing the safety
slide into the forward position Figure 7 by the push piece p the cross pieces ³ ³ on
it are brought over depressions at q' in the trigger blades as represented in the said
Figure 7 and the said trigger blades can no longer rise sufficiently high to discharge
the gun.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my invention and
the manner in which the same is to be performed I declare that I claim as my
invention of "Improvements in drop down small arms
وو
First. Cocking the hammer or hammers of the said small arms by the use of a
cocking lever of the special construction described and illustrated the said lever turning
on the same axis as the hammer or hammers and being operated upon on opening the
gun by a recess in the front lump substantially as hereinbefore described and illus-
trated in the accompanying Drawings.
Secondly. The combination with the cocking lever claimed in the first claim of the
safety slide and modified safety slide described and illustrated in the accompanying
Drawings the said safety slide by a forward or backward motion being put automati-
cally into a position of safety by the operation of the cocking lever on the said slide as
the gun or small arm is opened and cocked substantially as described and illustrated.
Dated the Twenty-seventh day of July 1889.
W. T. WHITEMAN,
Agent for the Applicant.