Improvements in Revolver Firearms..
Year: 1891

page_text: Date of Application, 25th Feb., 1891
Complete Specification Left, 9th Nov., 1891-Accepted, 5th Dec., 1891
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Revolver Firearms..
I, WILLIAM JOHN WHITING of 153, Linwood Road, Handsworth, in the County
of Stafford, Foreman of Works, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to
be as follows :--
My invention relates to improvements in mechanism for holding and releasing
the cylinders of revolving firearms of those types which open on a hinged joint for
loading and extracting.
The objects of the improvements are, (1) to securely hold the cylinder during
the action of the extractor; (2) to allow free rotation of the cylinder when
shooting; and (3) to enable the user to easily dismount the cylinder from the axis
and remount it on the same when required.
These requirements are fulfilled as follows:-
The cylinder is mounted on a plain axis, which is firmly fixed into the lump of
the barrel. A shoulder inside the cylinder abuts against the rear end of this axis to
prevent the undue forward movement of the cylinder; and its backward movement
is prevented by a teat which comes nearly into contact with the standing breech
when the arm is closed. The cylinder is not otherwise fastened to the axis.
On the front end of the cylinder is a short tubular projection or sleeve sur-
rounding the axis; and around this sleeve a groove is cut for the purposes
hereinafter described, namely the holding and releasing of the cylinder as
required.
On the lump of the barrel a lever is pivoted and this lever has a claw to gear
into the groove in the sleeve piece on the front end of the cylinder.
This claw, when in gear with the groove, holds the cylinder on its axis against
any longitudinal movement, and, when withdrawn from the groove, allows such
movement.
The engagement and disengagement of this claw of the lever are effected in one
or other of the following ways.
The lever may be actuated by a spring, pressing the lever so as to cause the
claw to gear with the groove in the sleeve piece of the cylinder, and the claw
withdrawn by the action of cam on the joint of the body.
In this case the cam acts as follows.
When the arm is closed the cam presses the lever against the spring and draws
the claw of the lever free from the groove in the sleeve piece of the cylinder. The
cylinder is thus free to revolve for shooting without any drag from the claw.
On opening the arm the cam presses the lever into gear with the cylinder during
the action of the extractor, and so secures the holding of the cylinder on its axis
even if the spring should fail to act.
After extraction, and while the arm is open, the lever may be pressed out of
gear by hand and the cylinder slid off its axis.
This method of construction may be varied by forming a cam on the lever itself
and acting on this cam by a stud on the joint: the cam being so shaped as to hold
the lever out of gear when the arm is closed; in gear when the extractor is acting;
and leave it in gear when the arm is open, but free to be released by hand when
the cylinder is to be withdrawn from the axis.
The spring may be dispensed with and all the three necessary actions of the
lever for holding and releasing the cylinder may be effected by the following
means.
A cam may be formed on the lever and acted upon by a stud on the joint. The

page_text: curves of the cam must be such as to cause the lever to engage with or disengage
from the sleeve piece of the cylinder as required.
A cam may be formed on, or fixed.to. the joint of the body and act upon the
lever as the arm is opened, and closed to hold and release the cylinder as required.
Or the lever may have a cam, and 'a supplementary lever, pivoted on the body
joint, may act on this cam.
In all cases it is necessary that the freeing of the claw of the lever from the
groove in the sleeve piece of the cylinder when the arm is closed shall be positive
and automatic; that the engagement of the claw in the groove, during the action
of the extractor shall also be positive and automatic; and that, when the arm.is
fully open, the claw must be in gear with the groove to hold the cylinder in place,
but free to be disengaged by hand when it is required to dismount the cylinder from
its axis.
Dated this 24th day of February 1891
WILLIAM JOHN WHITING.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Revolver Firearms.
I, WILLIAM JOHN WHITING, of 153, Linwood Road, Handsworth, in the
County of Stafford, Foreman of Works, do hereby declare the nature of this
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement:-
My invention relates to improvements in mechanism for holding and releasing
the cylinders of revolving fircarins of those types which open on a hinged joint
for loading and extracting.
The objects of the improvements are:-(1) To securely hold the cylinder.during
the action of the extractor. (2) To allow free rotation of the cylinder when
shooting. (3) To enable the user to easily dismount the cylinder from the axis
and remount it on,the same when required.
The following description and the accompanying drawings will sufficiently
explain my invention and how the same is to be performed.
Figure 1 shewsia side.elevation of a Webley revolver closed ready for firing,
and having my invention applied thereto.
Figure II.shews details, and
Eigure I shews the revolver opened ready for loading, the extractor having
made its outward traverse and returned home.
Figure IV shews the dismounting of the cylinder from its.axis.
Figures V, Vil, MH, VIII, IX, X, XI and XII shew various modifications.of
my improvements.
The cylinder a is mounted on a plain axis b, which is firmly fixed into the lump.c
of the barrel.d. A shoulder formed in the axis hole of the cylinder abuts against
the rear end of the axis to prevent, undue forward movement of the cylinder a;
and its backward movement is prevented by a teat e, which comes nearly in. contact
with the standing breech when the revolver is closed. The cylinder is not
otherwise fastened to the axis.
On the front end of the cylinder is a short tubular projection or sleeve g,
surrounding the axis b; and around this sleeve a groove i is cut for the purposes
hereinafter described, namely the holding and releasing of the cylinder as required.
On the lump of the barrel a lever i is pivoted, and this lever has a claw,
Figure 11, to gear into the groove in-the sleeve piece y on the front end of the
cylinder a.
This claw, when in gear with the groove, holds the cylinder on its axis against
any longitudinal movement; and when withdrawn from the groove allows such.
movement.

page_text: As shewn in Figures I to IV the engagement and disengagement of the claw (¹
in and from the groove h are effected in the following ways.
A lever is pivoted on the axis of the joint of the body of the revolver, and
acts upon the lever.i. When the revolver is closed, as in Figure I, the lever k
presses against the arm of the lever i, and so withdraws the claw ¹ from the
groove . The cylinder is thus left free to revolve for shooting without any
friction of the claw.and groove.
The cylinder is efficiently held between the end of the axis and the teate
abutting on the standing breech as before.mentioned.
As the revolver is being opened the arm 2 of the lever & acts upon the cam³,
formed on the under side of the lever i, and holds the claw firmly in gear.with
the groove h.
It is thus impossible for the cylinder to slide off the axis while the extractor is
making its traverse, nor can it slide off even when the revolver is fully open as is
shewn in Figure III.
If the revolver be now closed all the parts will assume the positions shewn in
Figure I.
But, if it be desired to dismount the cylinder from its axis, the lever kis
pushed round to the position shewn in Figure IV, and the claw is thus with-
drawn from the groove h, and the cylinder is drawn off the axis. When the
cylinder is remounted on the axis the revolver may be closed without touching the
lever k, as the mere act of closing the revolver will carry k to its normal position
as in Figure 1.
It will thus be seen that this method of holding and releasing the cylinder fulfils
the conditions required, namely (1) A free cylinder when the revolver is closed.
(2) The cylinder securely held during the act of opening and extraction, and
when fully open. (3) An easy means of dismounting the cylinder from its axis,
and remounting it on the same.
And it is to be noted that all the motions are positive and automatic, except
releasing the cylinder for dismounting.
Figure V shows another form, where a lever is pressed by a spring m so as to.
cause a claw to gear in the groove h. A cam non the joint of the body acts on
the under side of the lever to engage the same with the groove / when required,
and also to cause its disengagement as required.
When the revolver is fully open the pressure of the spring only. holds the claw /
in the groove, and hand pressure on the lump 12 enables the cylinder to be
dismounted or remounted.
P
Figure V1 shews another form. Here the lever o is acted upon by a limb
which causes its engagement and disengagement according as the revolver is open
or closed.
When fully open, as shewn in Figure VII, the cylinder may be dismounted by
pushing the lump p¹ so as to free pando from each other, thus allowing to be
disengaged from the cylinder.
Figure VIII shews a form where the lever is pivoted so as to act at a right
angle to those levers previously described.
The spring holds the lever in gear with the cylinder, and the two studs s
and carried on the body joint effect the necessary automatic engagement and
disengagement of the lever according as the revolver is closed, opening or opened.
To dismount or remount the cylinder the stud is brought to the gate q' in the
lever y, and the lever is then pressed by hand.
Those parts of the lever on which the two studs s¹ and s² act are formed on
inclines.
Figure IX shews a form of my invention having a levert and a curved spring ",
the latter being fixed on the joint of the body.
parts are in the position shewn in the drawing.
presses the lever by means of the shoulder
cylinder free.
When the revolver, is closed the
The end of the spring u therefore
t-out of gear and leaves the

page_text: in gear. The
But as the revolver is opened the spring holds the lever
cylinder can be dismounted and remounted by pressing on the lump t³.
Figures X, XI and XII shew a further modification of my improvements.
In this case the joint pin is provided with a head 2 having on the same a stud
or lump to act on the cam of the lever i.
The stud or lump fits into a groove & in the joint of the body and hence the
said stud or lump becomes a fixture so far as the joint of the body is concerned,
but as the revolver is opened or closed the stud or lump has a traversing motion
along the curve of the cam 3 of the lever i and so fulfils the greater part of the
functions of the arm Figures I, II and III.
The difference is that when the revolver is fully opened the stud or lump ³ is
cleared from the cam and the cylinder might be drawn off the axis. To prevent
this the lever w closely resembling the lever is placed over 2 and this lever
performs exactly similar functions to the lever k in Figures I, II and III.
The action of a revolver constructed as in Fig. X so far as concerns my present
invention is as follows; when closed the parts occupy the positions shewn by
Fig. X, that is to say the lump w² of the lever w lies directly over the lumps and
both lumps unite in holding the lever i clear of the groove h. If now the revolver
be opened the lever w will be in the position occupied by k in Figure 111, and the
lump will be under w² and the cylinder will be securely held in position because
the lump keeps the lever i in gear with the groove h. If it be desired to
dismount the cylinder the lever is pushed into the position shewn in Figure XII,
so as to free the lever i from the groove h. The lump of course remains in the
position shewn in Figure XII, but as before explained in this position it is free
from contact with the cam which is partly cut away for this purpose as shewn
at Figure XI. The shoulder on the limb and the shoulder on the lever w
are to insure that when the revolver is being closed the lever w shall be brought
into the position shewn in Figure X no matter what position it may occupy when
the revolver is open.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is
1. The holding and releasing of the cylinders of revolving firearms by means
of the mechanism set forth described and illustrated.
2. The mechanism described and illustrated by Figures I, II, II and IV for
holding and releasing revolver cylinders.
3. The mechanism described and illustrated by Figure V, for the like purposes.
4. The mechanism described and illustrated by Figures VI and VII, for the like
purposes.
5. The mechanism described and illustrated by Figure VIII, for the like
purposes.
6. The mechanism described and illustrated by Figure IX, for the like purposes.
7. The mechanism described and illustrated by Figures X, XI. and XII, for the
like purposes.
Dated this 4th day of November 1891.