IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CON- STRUCTION OF SPORTING AND ALL OTHER GUNS."
Year: 1858

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Joseph Blackwood Beasley, of Cashel, County
Tipperary, Ireland, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CON-
STRUCTION OF SPORTING AND ALL OTHER GUNS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Joseph Blackwood Beasley
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 18th September 1858.
I, JOSEPH BLACKWOOD BEASLEY, of Cashel, County: Tipperary, Ireland,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE CONSTRUCTION OF SPORTING AND ALL OTHER GUNS," to be as follows:-
My Invention consists of certain improvements in the construction of
sporting and all other guns, such as rifles and muskets, by which the utmost
safety is obtained by those useing such guns, and the. liability to accident
entirely prevented. The way in which I effect this improvement is by
attaching to the stock of the gun, rifle, or musket, a sliding bolt or stop
which I call a traversing rod, which is always kept forward by a spring of any
material of an elastic nature. The end of this sliding bolt projects forward
sufficiently far to catch the hammer of the lock of the gun, rifle, or musket,
to which it is attached, and thus prevents the hammer from striking, the cap

page_text: upon the nipple, when by accident or neglect it falls when not required to do
In connection with the sliding bolt or catch before referred to is a
depressing lever or plate made of any convenient shape to suit the stock of
the gun or the fancy of the maker. This lever or plate is let into that portion
of the stock which is held by the hand, the first finger of which pulls the
trigger, and is so arranged that when the hand grasps the stock it is depressed;
the consequence of which is that the bolt or catch is withdrawn, and the
hammer is free to strike the cap placed on the nipple. Directly the grasp is
relaxed, the depressing lever or plate rises, & the bolt or catch again shoots
forward ready to receive the hammer, should it by accident or neglect fall
when not required to do so.
In carrying out my Invention no alteration is made in any portion of the
gun, rifle, or musket to that which now exists, my improvements being an
addition which may be attached to the stock of any such guns, and my
Invention may be readily applied to all guns at present made without any
alteration of their existing parts.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Joseph Blackwood Beasley in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 18th March 1859.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOSEPH
BLACKWOOD BEASLEY, of Cashel, County Tipperary, Ireland, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eighteenth day of September, in the year of our Lord
Dne thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, in the twenty-second year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
raid Joseph Blackwood Beasley, Her special licence that I, the said Joseph
Blackwood Beasley, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said Joseph Blackwood Beasley, 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 THE CONSTRUCTION OF SPORTING AND ALL OTHER GUNS," upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Joseph Blackwood Beasley,
my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or

page_text: -
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 Joseph Blackwood Beasley, do hereby
declare the nature of the 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, that is to say:-
My Invention consists of certain improvements in the construction of
sporting and all other guns, such as rifles and muskets, by which the utmost
safety is obtained by those using, such guns, and the liability to accident
entirely prevented. The way in which I effect this improvement is by
attaching to the stock of the gun, rifle, or musket, a sliding bolt or stop which
I call a traversing rod, which is always kept forward by a spring or any
material of an elastic nature. The end of this sliding bolt or stop projects
forward sufficiently far to catch the hammer of the lock of the gun, rifle, or
musket to which it is attached, and thus prevents the hammer from striking
the cap upon the nipple, when by accident or neglect it falls when not required
to do so. In connection with the sliding bolt or stop before referred to, is a
depressing lever or plate made of any convenient shape to suit the stock of the
gun or the fancy of the maker. This lever or plate is let into that portion of
the stock which is held by the hand, the first finger of which pulls the trigger,
and is so arranged that when the hand grasps the stock it is depressed; the
consequence of which is, that the bolt or stop is withdrawn, and the hammer
is free to strike the cap placed on the nipple. Directly the grasp is released
the depressing lever or plate rises, and the bolt or stop again shoots forward
ready to receive the hammer, should it by accident or neglect fall when not
required to do so.
In carrying out my Invention no alteration is made in any portion of the
gun, rifle, or musket to that which now exists, my improvement being an
addition which may be attached to the stock of all guns at present made
without any alteration of their existing parts.
In order to explain my said Invention as completely as possible, I now
proceed to describe the best means I am acquainted with for carrying the
same into practical effect, reference being had to the illustrative Sheet of
Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the numeral figures and letters of reference
marked thereon respectively as follows:-

page_text: :
.
Figures.1, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, respectively exhibit different views of my
said improvements or mechanism drawn to a scale of full size, the several parts
thereof being herein-after particularly described and referred to; Figure 8 is a
side.elevation of the stock of a gun (partly in section), shewing my said improve-
nients adapted thereto; Figure 9 is a top plan view of Figure 8; Figure 10
is a longitudinal and vertical section of the stock of a gun, shewing my afore-
said improvements let into the upper part of the stock; Figure 11 is a top
plan view of the stock, shewing the recess formed therein to receive the
mechanism constituting my said improvements.
At each of the foregoing Figures I employ similar letters of reference to
denote.corresponding parts, in so far as such parts appear or can be seen at
each of such said Figures respectively. A, A, is the stock of the gun; B, the
hammer thereof; C, the lock plate; D, the "break-off;" E, a portion. of the
barrel of the gun; F, the nipple.; G, G, the triggers; all of the aforesaid parts
are of the ordinary kind, with the exception of a portion of the "break-off,"
which is constructed as herein-after described, and represented at Figure 1.
The Drawing exhibits my improvements adapted to a double-barrel gun.
I now proceed to describe the construction and arrangement. of the
mechanism exhibited more particularly at Figures 1, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, as
follows: a marks a piece of white metal, or it may be copper silvered, or
other metal; b, b, are cross pieces fixed to or formed therewith; c, a rib formed
with ledges, as at *,*, Figures 3 and 4, on which rest and slide the bent ends
of the wires e, e; these wires slide in notches formed in the pieces b, b, and
there are collars f, f, and g, g, on each of such said wires; the collars f, f, are
securely fixed thereon, but the collars g, g, are loose, so that by placing a
helical spring of metal h between each pair of the aforesaid collars, the elastic
pressure of such springs is intended to have the effect of always keeping the
aforesaid wires pushed outwards in the direction of the arrow's flight, as at
Figures 3 and 4; at which said Figures i, i, mark pieces of steel constituting
the stops or catches before mentioned, which are securely fixed to or formed
upon the wires e, e; the stops or catches i, i, pass through holes formed in
those parts of the "break-off" where the hammer descends in the act of
striking, the cap on the nipple of the gun. The piece of metal a may be
attached by one end to the stock of the gun by a screw at X, Figure 4, and
by a strap or band of metal k at the other end, which encircles the stock to
which it is screwed, as at Figure 8. The drawing back of the stops or

page_text: catches i, i, is effected by the following means:-A cap or cover l, shewn in
section at Figure 5, has two inclined pieces m, m, (only one of which is
represented,) fixed to or formed at the under or inside thereof, which said
inclines should be so formed and disposed as that when the said cover / is
connected to the piece a (which may be effected by slits i, i, being passed over
pins 2 fixed in the piece a, as at Figure 4), the points of the aforesaid inclines
shall just come inside the hooked part of each of the wires, when the bolts
thereof are forced outwards or in their locking position. n is a piece of metal
fixed to the end of the piece a, and connected thereto bý a screw 3, as at
Figure 7. There is a projection 4 formed on the piece 1, which comes under
a corresponding projection formed on the piece-n, and thus the cover l is kept
in its proper place. The action of the above mechanism is as follows:-
Suppose the gun to be cocked, and the bolts or stops i, i, in the position
exhibited at Figure 8. In the act of firing or discharging the gun the
sportsman instinctively grasps the part X of the stock of the gun, the effect of
which is to depress the cover, and by so doing the inclines m, m, pressing
against the hooked parts 5 of the wires e, e, pull said wires and their bolts
back, thus allowing the hammer to descend and strike the cap on the nipple,
and discharge the contents of one of the barrels. Upon the pressure being
removed from the cover l, a spring at 6, Figure 3, forces the said cover
upwards ready to be again acted upon, as before stated, and at the same time
allows the other bolt or stop to move forward and present an impediment to
the descent of the other hammer on to its respective nipple, thus preventing
the accidental discharge of the contents of the other barrel of the gun; the
intention of this Invention being to render it necessary, in order to discharge
the contents of the barrels of guns, to perform two mechanical movements
simultaneously and in opposite directions, namely, to pull back the trigger
and press down the cover at the same instant.
I would here remark, that whereas numerous accidents occur from the in-
judicious system of keeping loaded guns in domestic dwelling houses, I propose
as a preventive against such accidents to adapt a locking piece to the above-
described mechanism, so as to prevent the cover from being depressed, and
consequently the stops or bolts i, i, from being drawn back. The Drawing at
Figures 3 & 4 exhibits an arrangement for that purpose, where o denotes a
piece of metal working on a pivot p, the outer end whereof is formed square
or otherwise for a key to fit on to, a hole being made in the piece a for the
introduction of said key, as at g, Figures 1 & 8. It will appear evident that
by turning the piece o into the position exhibited by dotted lines at Figure 1,

page_text: the cover will be propped or held up, and thus prevent the contents of the
gun from being discharged.
Having now fully described and set forth the nature and object of my said
Invention of "Improvements in the Construction of Sporting and all other
Guns," together with the best means I am acquainted with for carrying the
same into practical effect, I would remark, in conclusion, that I hereby declare
my Invention to consist in, and I claim, the mechanism above particularly
described, set forth, and represented at the several Figures of the Drawing
hereunto annexed, and the adaptation thereof to fire-arms, for the purpose of
preventing the accidental discharge of the contents thereof, as above stated."
In witness whereof, I, the said Joseph Blackwood Beasley, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Eighteenth day of March, One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine.
J. B. BEASLEY. (LS.)
Witness,
BENJ BROWNE, Patent Agent,
52, King William Street, London Bridge.