IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF BREECH LOADING SNAP GUNS
Year: 1878

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by William Rogers at the Office of the
Commissioners of Patents on the 15th November 1878.
WILLIAM ROGERS, of Princes Road, Kennington Cross, in the County of Surrey,
Gun Maker. "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF BREECH LOADING SNAP
GUNS."
This Invention relates to that class of snap guns which are locked and unlocked
by means of a lever connected with the sliding snap bolt. In one form of these
guns the lever is situated below the stock and lies against the trigger guard when
out of action.
This lever has been used to cock the hammers and at the same time slide back
the locking bolt; considerable force is, however, required to be exerted to perform
this double operation and it is the object of the first part of this Invention to remove
this difficulty and to lighten the pull of the lever.
For this purpose I form the lever with a short arm or finger provided with an
antifriction roller, which bears against the underside of a tumbler pivotted to the
centre of the back of the action. The tumbler immediately below its pivot pin is
furnished with a hook which takes into the snap bolt for the purpose of withdrawing
the bolt when the barrels are required to be dropped for loading or cleaning the
gun. This tumbler is held down by the pressure of a spring, so as to maintain the
bolt in its locking position and the lever in its raised or normal position.
The tumbler is also provided with a pair of antifriction rollers which bear against
the bottom of a pair of hammers set opposite the strikers. These hammers are
pivotted to the finger plate and are provided with notches for receiving the respective
trigger catches, which hold them back in their locked position.
When it is desired to open the breech for loading, the lever is pulled down and
the effect of this will be to rock the tumbler and cause it to force up the hammer
into the cocked position and at the same time draw the snap bolt clear of the catches
on the barrel. The barrel will then be free to drop on its pivot and expose the
breech openings. Upon the lever near its fulcrum I provide a stud or projection,
which, as the lever is brought up to its quiescent position, will follow the return
motion of the tumbler. The use of this projection is to ensure the proper return

page_text: motion of the tumbler and the consequent locking on the barrel by the sliding bolt
in the case of the tumbler spring breaking.
The lightening of the pull of the lever in this arrangement is due mainly to the
fact that as the tumbler is rocked and the pressure of the spring increases the
leverage also increases, the antifriction roller of the lever sliding away from the
fulcrum pin of tumbler.
The second part of this Invention relates to those snap guns which have a top
lever. This lever as hitherto fitted has been set on an inclined spindle which
carries at its lower end a finger for acting upon the snap bolt, the canting
of the spindle serving to set the fulcrum of the finger on one side of the
bolt. By mounting the lever on the inclined spindle the lever when moved is
canted upwards and it thus comes into the plane of one of the hammers, which to
clear the lever requires to be reduced in thickness to an undue extent. To avoid
this defect I form the lever with a tubular socket at its fulcrum, which I slot to
embrace the upper end of a swinging arm situate on one side of the fulcrum pin of
a lever.
This swinging arm reaches down to a notch in one side of the snap bolt,
and by the rocking of the lever this swinging arm is caused to draw back the snap
bolt. In this case the lever will move in a horizontal plane and will thus keep
clear of the hammer; at the same time a longer throw of the snap bolt than is now
usual may be obtained, thus ensuring a firm locking of the barrel.
In this latter case the hammers are usually placed outside the lock plate, but in
the former case the hammers may be either inside or outside the lock plate as may
be desired.