IMPROVE- MENTS IN BREECH-LOADING FIRE-ARMS
Year: 1870

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Restell, of Birmingham, in the County
of Warwick, Mechanical Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN BREECH-LOADING FIRE-ARMS."
Sealed the 21st February 1871, and dated the 27th August 1870.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Restell at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
27th August 1870.
I, THOMAS RESTELL, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick,
Mechanical Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said In-
vention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN BREECH-LOADING FIRE-ARMS," to be as
follows:-
In order to obtain additional rapidity and facility in loading and
firing in cases where a horizontal or lifting block (as in the case of the
Snider) is used I add to the hammer an arm or projection suitably
formed with inclines to work between studs or pins placed in such a
position on the block that by raising the hammer the breach is opened

page_text: as the hammer rises and closed as it falls. The arm and notches can
be so shaped and placed that the block may be made to open either to
the right or to the left as may be preferred. A like result may be
obtained by fixing to or connecting with the hammer or trigger a plate
in which is formed a suitable groove or slot, by which groove and a stud
or pin the required movement is obtained.
The above arrangements can be modified by shortening the arm in
the one case and the slot or groove in the other, so as to open only and
not close the breach block by the motion of the hammer. I should
prefer in each case stamping out the hammer with arm or plate as one
piece, and that the stud, pin, or notch should be made with and form
part of the solid block.
In_order_that_the_extractor-may-not-be-operated-upon-too-quickly-
by the moving of the block I use in this arrangement the stud on the
extractor and the slot on the under side of the block instead of on
the face or end as described in the Specification to my Patent 116”.
In order that the arm may be readily charged when in an elevated
position I allow some play to the block, so that it can be forced a little
further open by the cartridge whilst in the act of entering the barrel, but
as soon as the pressure from the rim of the cartridge ceases the extractor
stud brings the block back the full distance it has been displaced whilst
loading and by a slight swell on the side of the block with an incline on
its end surface the cartridge is kept firmly in its place until the breach
is fully closed. This is effected by the pulling of the trigger, which act
alone puts the hammer, arm block, and needle in motion and explodes
the charge. By lowering the hammer to the half bent the breach is
closed and held securely without the assistance of a bolt.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,.
filed by the said Thomas Restell in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 27th February 1871.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I,-THOMAS
RESTELL, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Mechanical
Engineer, send greeting.
3
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-seventh day of August, in the 3

page_text: year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy, in the thirty-
fourth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said Thomas Restell, Her special licence that I,
the said Thomas Restell, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said Thomas Restell, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to
time and at all times thereafter during the term therein expressed, should
and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United
Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle
of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN BREECH-LOADING FIRE-ARMS,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Thomas Restell,
my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under
my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly describe
and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the
same was to be performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great
Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next and immediately
after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Thomas Restell, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement thereof, reference being had to the Drawing
hereunto annexed, that is to say :-
In order to obtain additional rapidity and facility in loading and firing
in cases where a horizontal or lifting block (as in the case of the Snider)
is used I add to the hammer an arm or projection suitably formed with
inclines to work between studs or pins placed in such a position on the
block that by raising the hammer the breech is opened as the hammer
rises and closes as it falls. The arm and notches can be so shaped and
placed that the block may be made to open either to the right or to
the left, as may be preferred. A like result may be obtained by fixing
to or connecting with the hammer or trigger a plate in which is formed
a suitable groove or slot by which groove and a stud or pin the required
movement is obtained.
The above arrangements can be modified by shortening the arm in
the one case and the slot or groove in the other, so as to open only,
and not close the breech block by the motion of hammer. I should'
prefer, in each case, stamping out the hammer with arm or plate as one

page_text: piece, and that the stud, pin, or notch should be made with and form
part of the solid block.
In order that the extractor may not be operated upon until the block
is clear of the bore I use in this arrangement the slot for the stud on
the extractor to work in as in my previous Patent No. 116, of the year
1870, the slot being on the under side of the block.
In order that the arm may be readily charged when in an elevated
position I allow some play to the block, so that it can be forced a little
further open by the cartridge whilst in the act of entering the barrel,
but as soon as the pressure from the rim of the cartridge ceases the
extractor stud brings the block back the full distance it has been
displaced whilst loading and by a slight swell on the side of the block
with an incline_on_its_cnd-surface-the-cartridge-is-kept firmly in its place
until the breech is fully closed. This is effected by the pulling of the
trigger, which act alone puts the hammer, arm, block, and needle in
motion and explodes the charge. By lowering the hammer to the
half bent the breech is closed and held securely without the assistance of
a bolt.
My Invention will be well understood by referring to the accom-
panying Drawings, in which Figure 1 represents a side view of the
breech portion of a rifle with my improvements applied thereto;
Figure 2 being a plan view of the same.
The breech block shown in these two Figures is what is known as
the horizontal side action, that is, the block is pivoted by a pin
at its rear end, and moves to the right or to the left, as the case
may be at the front so as to expose the bore of the barrel for loading
purposes.
The rifle shown is one in which the block moves to the right as I
described in a former Specification. The right side of the block a has
a projection 6 on it. This is slotted or has a notch c therein for
receiving a curved portion of an arm d projecting from the neck of the
hammer e, the arm being carried up to just under or in line with the
nose g so as to strengthen it in its action. The nose itself is on one side
of the arm to allow it to act upon the striker / when it falls upon it by
the pressure of the main spring after the release by the trigger. I a
have only thought it necessary to show one form of arm in the
Drawings, as by it I consider any person acquainted with rifles and,
other breech-loading guns can comprehend my Invention whether the

page_text: projecting arm is made in the curved form and attached to the hammer
in the manner shown, or whether it has a slot for a pin or stud to pass
through, or a link connecting the hammer and the block, my object
being, as before stated, to open the breech by the lift of the hammer and
to close it by its fall.
Figures 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 are detached views of the block, Figure 3
being a plan, Figure 4 a right-hand side view, Figure 5 a front end view,
Figure 6 a left-hand side view, and Figure 7 a sectional plan, while
Figure 8 is a view of the under side, in all of which the same letters of
reference correspond. The fore end of the block at the left-hand side
has a projection i with a curve on its face. The tip of this projection
is acted upon by the nose of the bullet if the gun is a military one, or
by the end of the cartridge case if a sporting one, and is forced rather
more to one side to make a clearance for itself into the bore of the
barrel j; but the instant the rim of the cartridge base passes it springs
back and covers a portion of it, and thus prevents the cartridge coming
back and becoming jammed should the muzzle of the barrel be elevated
from any cause or when the charge is inserted with the barrel elevated.
This spring back action is ensured by a pin % on the extractor arm
bearing against the end of a curved slot in which it rides, the block
being allowed a little play in that direction for the purpose by over-
coming the tension of the spring m enclosed in a space in the breech
screw piece n, as shown in Figure 9, this spring m being also employed
to return the extractor o into the rim of the barrel after it has withdrawn
and ejected the empty cartridge case when the breech is opened.
Detached views of the extractor o and its arm with the pin k are
shewn in Figures 11 and 12. The striker is arranged diagonally in
the block, and its point is kept flush with the face of the block by a
spring p encircling it as seen in the sectional view Figure 7.
Figure 10 is a detached view of the hammer. By this it will be
observed that in cases of converting the present military muzzle-loaders
into breech-loaders on my principle all that I have to do is to fix a
separate arm or curved bar to the ordinary hammer and arrange my
block in position with the pins or studs upon it; thus I am enabled to
retain the ordinary lock intact and without removing it from its place,
a circumstance which enhances the value of my Invention in cases
where conversion is necessary, but for new guns the bar and hammer
should be made in one piece.

page_text: For the sake of clearness, however, I have thought it advisable to
show in Figures 12 and 13 a lift-over or "Snider" block breech in order
that it may be understood how my hammer arm works to lift it out of
the chamber for loading purposes. Here the projection d is formed
with an incline on its end to come foul of a pin on the inside of the
joint pins when the hammer is pulled over by the thumb, the position
of the first-mentioned pin being such that the power exerted upon it
by the lift of the hammer is sufficient to disengage it from the locking
pin and cause it to turn about one-fourth of revolution to give.clearance
into the barrel for the insertion of a fresh cartridge. The extractor is
of the kind mentioned in my previous Patent before referred to and
in which the complete extraction of the empty cases is effected without
drawing_the_block_back_after_opening,-as-is-done-by-the-ordinary-
"
Snider "block.
Another way in which the opening of the breech only or the closing
only can be done by my arrangemaint is by dispensing with one or other
of the pins or studs on the block when the arm would only act in one
direction and then according to the pin or stud left on.
By the use of my Invention breech-loading arms can be rendered.
imore applicable for rapid firing than by any other plan at present
known. The movements also are fewer and of a lighter character,
so that less fatigue is occasioned the soldier or the sportsman when
in the field, in addition to that it has the advantage of preventing the
eye being removed from the object during the progress of opening
and reloading.
In Figures 14 to 24 I have shewn in general and detailed views how
the opening only can be effected by the lift of the hammer. The pro-
jection is formed of hooked shape and the point of it is caused to take
against the front side of the pin t which is in a piece with the striker h;
this it draws back a fixed distance to bring the striking point within the a
face of the block to permit of it turning on its joint pin u, which is
accomplished by the continued lift of the hammer when the breech has
to be opened, the pint still acting as the fulcrum between the block and
the hammer.
•
To prevent the striker pin leaving the aperture in the block I fit a a
screw pin through it which takes into a slot x to limit its movement.
By this means I dispense with the spiral or helical spring usually em-
ployed to return the striker after the blow from the hammer. This

page_text: arrangement is very important both for the breech actions of this and
my previous Patents as well as to those of other inventors and is a
desideratum which I am desirous of importing into other arms besides
those of the side moving block ones, because it has the advantage of
enabling the block to be kept in a more solid state, and therefore much
stronger to resist the recoil from the explosion.
.
In Figures 14 and 25 I have shown another additional improvement
on my previous Patents. This relates to placing the piece at full cock
and yet, preventing the trigger being acted upon by accident when the
soldier or the sportsman is moving over the ground after loading and
cocking the gun. I pin to the trigger plate a lever w with a lump or
finger piece on its free end. This lump finds a. lodgment behind the
trigger when pushed in by the thumb from one side of the stock and
prevents the trigger moving in any way so as to release the hammer or
the striker pin. The pushing of the lump in the reverse direction by
the finger leaves the trigger free to be acted upon in an instant. This
plan enables me to dispense with the "half bent" notch in the
.
In hold conurely at full ook by shifting the
arrangement is very important both for the breech actions of this and
my previous Patents as well as to those of other inventors and is a
desideratum which I am desirous of importing into other arms besides
those of the side moving block ones, because it has the advantage of
enabling the block to be kept in a more solid state, and therefore much
stronger to resist the recoil from the explosion.
.
.
In Figures 14 and 25 I have shown another additional improvement
on my previous Patents. This relates to placing the piece at full cock
and yet, preventing the trigger being acted upon by accident when the
soldier or the sportsman is moving over the ground after loading and
cocking the gun. I pin to the trigger plate a lever w with a lump or
finger piece on its free end. This lump finds a. lodgment behind the
trigger when pushed in by the thumb from one side of the stock and
prevents the trigger moving in any way so as to release the hammer or
the striker pin. The pushing of the lump in the reverse direction by
the finger leaves the trigger free to be acted upon in an instant. This
"half bent" notch in the
plan enables me to dispense with the
tumbler as the gun can be held securely at full cock by shifting the
lever w.
Figure 26 represents a tumbler with the full bent notch only.
According to this arrangement I dispense with the extractor spring
entirely as its motion is controlled by the slot in the bottom of the
block.
I have not shewn in the Drawings how I propose to open the breech
in the reverse direction, as that can be easily understood. This would
be simply by pushing the pin t, or the lump b, by the hammer projection
instead of drawing them by it.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention and in
what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim,―
First. The general construction and arrangement of apparatus to be
applied to breech-loading arms for the purpose of opening and closing
the breech block, substantially as herein-before described and shown in
the several Figures..
Second. The employment of a projection on the front of the block for
the purpose of retaining the cartridge in place, substantially as described
and shown.

page_text: Thirdly. I claim the employment of a pin on the extractor to ride in
a slot in the under side of the block, substantially in the manner and
for the purposes herein-before described.
Fourthly. I claim the employment of a pin or projection on the
striker pin when acted upon by the hammer for drawing it back and for
opening the breech, substantially as described and shown.
Fifthly. I claim the lever for taking behind the trigger as shewn,
for the purpose of retaining the arm in a safe position at full cock
and for enabling me to dispense with the half bent of the tumbler.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Restell, have hereunto set 1
my hand and seal, this Twenty-second day of February One
thousand eight hundred and seventy-one-