Year: 1896

page_text: being date of first Foreign Application (in (rth Nov., 1895
Belgium),
15th
Date of Application (in United Kingdom), 13th May, 1896
Complete Specification Left, 13th May, 1896-Accepted, 13th June, 1898
Date of Application (in United Kingdom), 13th May, 1896
Complete Specification Left, 13th May, 1896-Accepted, 13th June, 1896
I, HENRI PIEPER, of 16 Rue des Bayards, Liége, Belgium, Manufacturer of
Fire-arms, 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 :-
This invention relates to an improved cartridge holder for use with repeating
or magazine fire-arms, for the purpose of holding a number of cartridges securely
in a compact group so that they may be readily delivered as and when required
into the magazine of the fire-arm.
Cartridge holders of this description are divided into two classes, viz. :-
(1) Those intended to be placed in the magazine together with the cartridges
they contain; and
(2) Those from which the cartridges are projected into the magazine,-the
holder itself remaining in a guide outside of the magazine.
My improved holder belongs to this latter class, and it is so constructed that it
is impossible to push the cartridges out of it merely by pressure on the uppermost
cartridge; it requires at the same time the withdrawal of the retaining spring by
means of a special device. By placing the holder in the breech chamber above
the magazine to be charged, and exerting pressure on the uppermost cartridge, the
retaining spring is at the same moment withdrawn by means of a suitably inclined
surface formed in the breech, while the cartridges being free from any other
restraint are delivered into the magazine. The improved holder is further
distinguished from existing forms of cartridge holders of this class in another
respect. In holders hitherto constructed, the guide or slot which directs the base
of the cartridges-whether provided with a projecting or other rim-is formed
partly by a fixed edge on the frame of the holder, and partly by a spring pressing
on the base of the cartridges; in my invention however the holder has an absolutely
fixed guide both sides of which are formed by the frame and it sustains no pressure
from the spring.
When filled with cartridges the improved holder makes a firmly compressed
packet, from which the cartridges cannot become detached during transport either
in wagons or in cartridge-boxes.
Upon the accompanying drawings representing my invention
Figures 1 and 2 are plans of two cartridges of different forms, shewing the
holder in section;
Figures 3 and 4 are side elevations of two different forms of retaining spring;
Figure 4 is a back elevation of same;
Figure 5, a cross section of a modification of same;

page_text: and
igure 6, a side elevation of the holder shewing the cartridges in position;
Figure 7, a side elevation of the frame of the holder;
Figure 8, a side elevation of the holder and cartridges in position on the breech;
Figure 9 is a cross section of the holder.
The frame a of the cartridge holder is made of sheet steel or other suitable
material, in the form shewn in Figs. 1, 2, 6, 7, 8 and 9, with inwardly projecting
ribs b on each side forming with the back of the holder a channel or guide in which
the cartridges are free to move.
The cartridges are retained in the holder by a spring c each end of which is bent
to form a clip, c¹ and c 2, so as to overlap the base of the uppermost and lowermost
cartridges. The spring is secured by rivets or other suitable attachment devices
either to the inner side of the frame a, as shewn on the drawings, or to the outer
side of the same. In either of these cases the spring presses upon only the top and
bottom cartridges, and is entirely out of contact with the guide in which
the cartridges move. By this arrangement the cartridges are firmly held
within the holder by the two clips, cl and c2, of the retaining spring and can
only be detached therefrom by withdrawing one or other of the clips by a separate
device.
When it is desired to introduce the cartridges into the magazine of the fire-arm,
the withdrawal of the retaining spring c may be effected in different ways:-For
instance the spring may be provided with lateral lugs d projecting beyond the
frame, (Figure 4) so arranged that when the holder is placed on the breech
chamber over the magazine, these lugs are brought into contact with two inclined
surfaces p, Fig. 8, formed on the breech, so that ordinary pressure exerted on the
uppermost cartridge will cause the withdrawal of the lower end of the retaining
spring from the cartridges, which being then free from restraint, fall into the
magazine.
The contact surface or stop for withdrawing the retaining spring and thus
causing the introduction of the cartridges into the magazine, may otherwise be
formed by the head of the bolt or other convenient part of the gun-mechanism.
The spring c instead of having the retaining clips c1, c2, may be constructed
without them, as shewn on Fig. 3, so as to operate simply by its pressure on the
outer surface of the bases of the top and bottom cartridges. In this case it
answers the same purpose as in holders of existing forms.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of iny said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. A cartridge holder so constructed that the cartridges are securely held
therein and cannot be removed by ordinary pressure, until the retaining spring is
withdrawn by a separate device, as herein described and as shown on accompanying
drawings.
2. In a cartridge holder, the arrangement of a retaining spring e independent
from the guide b, in which the cartridges slide, said guide being integral with the
frame a, in such a manner that a'ter the withdrawal of the retaining clip of the
spring the cartridges are free to pass into the magazine, as described.
3. A cartridge holder arranged to be operated in combination with the gun-
mechanism, so as to effect by pressure on the uppermost cartridge the withdrawal
of the retaining spring over a stop in the mechanism, and leaving the cartridges
free to pass into the magazine, as described with reference to accompanying
drawings.
4. In a cartridge holder, the particular construction of the retaining spring c
with lugs d projecting laterally beyond the frame a, for the purpose of acting
as a stop and thereby effecting the withdrawal of said retaining spring, as
described.

page_text: 5. In a cartridge holder the arrangement of a retaining spring without clips
or bent ends operating simply by its pressure on the edge of the uppermost-
and on that of the lowermost cartridge, as described and for the purposes
specified.
Dated this 13th day of May 1896.
For the Applicant,
GEDGE & FEENY,
60 Queen Victoria Street, London, E.C., Chartered Patent Agents.