IMPROVEMENTS IN BREECH-LOADING FIRE-ARMS, PART OF WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE ALSO APPLICABLE TO THE LOCKS OF ORDINARY FIRE-ARMS.”
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS: PATENT to Alexander Henry, of Edinburgh, in the County
of Mid Lothian, North Britain, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN BREECH-LOADING FIRE-ARMS, PART OF WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE ALSO
APPLICABLE TO THE LOCKS OF ORDINARY FIRE-ARMS.”
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alexander Henry at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
20th June 1873.
I, ALEXANDER HENRY, of Edinburgh, in the County of Mid Lothian,
North Britain, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
" IMPROVEMENTS IN BREECH-LOADING FIRE-ARMS, PART OF WHICH IMPROVEMENTS
ARE ALSO APPLICABLE TO THE LOCKS OF ORDINARY FIRE-ARMS," to be as follows,
that is to say:
This Invention which relates to improvements in breech-loading fire-
arms wherein a vertically sliding breech piece is employed, and also to
improvements in ordinary gun locks consists in attaching the striker
which effects the ignition of the cartridge (when acted upon by the

page_text: hammer of the fire-arm) to the breech piece by means of an axis or pin
on which the striker is free to move, the said striker being situate in a
hollow or opening formed in the breech piece, or a short piston or
striker formed with a shoulder at the central portion thereof is situato in
a horizontal opening formed in the front part of the breech piece in
which it is retained by a nut screwed into the face of the breech piece.
In lieu of placing the piston or striker horizontally it may be inclined at
an angle and retained in position by a pin or nipple. The hammer is
cocked or thrown back into firing position whilst the breech piece is
being depressed by projections formed on the inner sides of a double
link by which the breech piece is attached to the depressing lever acting
upon curved feathers or projections formed on the sides of the hammer,
or the hammer may be cocked by the under side of the breech piece
acting against the breast thereof. The double link is attached to the
breech piece by pins passed through it on each side.
The swivel by which the mainspring is attached to the hammer of the
fire-arm is formed with a slotted or oblong hole, or with a hook at that
part through which the pin attaching it to the hammer passes, whereby
the hammer after being impelled against the striker or piston is allowed
to recede slightly, the main spring being prevented from acting on the
hammer after the cartridge has been fired by coming in contact with the
trigger plate, or with a pin or stud projecting upwards therefrom, or the
hammer may be allowed to recede by making the hook or claw on the
mainspring which bears upon the pins or horns projecting from the sides
of the swivel deeper than hitherto, and stopping the mainspring on the
trigger plate, or on a pin or stud, as herein-before set forth. The arrange-
ment of slotted swivel, or deep claw, or hook, or mainspring may also be
employed for the purpose described in conjunction with ordinary gun
locks.
The hammer and extractor are attached to the trigger plate of the
fire-arm by means of a hollow or tubular axis or pin which passes
through the hammer and extractor, and is fixed into cheeks projecting
upwards from the trigger plate, the trigger plate being attached to the.
body of the fire-arm by a pin which passes through the hollow axis or
bearing of the hammer and extractor into the walls of the breech cavity.
By this arrangement the whole of the mechanism constituting the lock
of the fire-arm is attached to the trigger plate and can be removed

page_text: The trigger is locked so as to prevent the hammer from being fired,
and the lever which operates the action is secured against the under side
of the fire-arm by a combined bolt and catch. At the upper part the
bolt is formed with a heel passing through an opening in the trigger
plate, and at its lower extremity it is terminated in a stud placed loosely
in the upper end of the depressing lever. When it is desired to lock the
trigger and the lever the bolt is pushed to one side, whereby it comes
opposite the trigger, thereby preventing it from being moved, and the heel
of the bolt catches on the trigger plate and retains the lever in position.
Another arrangement of the bolt or catch consists in attaching it to
the under side of the fire-arm. The lever in this case is formed with an
opening at its rearward end, and a projection is made on the trigger
plate and a slot in the trigger into which a heel formed on the bolt
énters. In the projection on the trigger plate an opening or slot is made
into which the end of the bolt passes through a hole in the lever,
whereby the lever is secured and a portion of the bolt or catch at the
same time enters the slot or opening in the trigger and locks it.
The Invention also consists in attaching the barrels of breech-loading
fire-arms to the body of the action with "lugs" in lieu of by screws as
> heretofore.
:
The "lugs" when the barrel has been placed in the opening made to
receive it enter grooves formed in the opening and are turned round
therein, and thereby secure the barrel in position. By means of this
arrangement the transport of the fire-arm is facilitated as the barrel may
5 be readily separated from the body. When desired a plate may be
situated underneath the barrel into which one or more pins pass for
greater security.
The breech piece employed in conjunction with the improvements
herein before set forth may be made rectangular, or it may be made
with a flat side bearing against and closing the end of the cartridge'
chamber, the remainder of the breech piece being formed circular; or it
may be formed with an elliptical, circular, or triangular back, and with
flat or parallel sides.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Alexander Henry in the Great Scal Patent Office
on the 19th December 1873.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALEXANDER
HENRY, of Edinburgh, in the County of Mid Lothian, North Britain,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twentieth day of Junc, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three, in the
37th year of Her reign, did, for. Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said Alexander Henry, Her special license that
I, the said Alexander Henry, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said Alexander Henry, my executors, adminis-
trators, or 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, usc, 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, PART OF WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE ALSO APPLICABLE TO THE LOCKS OF
ORDINARY FIRE-ARMS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said Alexander Henry, by an instrument in writing under my hand and
seal, 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 Alexander Henry, 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, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say :-
My said Invention relates to improvements in breech-loading fire-arms
wherein a vertically sliding breech piece is employed.
And in order that my said Invention, and the system, mode, or
manner of carrying the same into practical effect may be properly

page_text: say :-
On the Sheet of Drawings hereunto appended Figure 1 is a vertical
section, and Figure 2 a plan of a portion of a breech-loading fire-arm
wherein some of the improvements constructed in accordance with my
said Invention are shewn applied.
Under this and under the other modifications of my Invention shewn
on the Drawings a vertically sliding breech picce A is employed; the act
of depressing which cocks or throws back the hammer B to firing
position by the under side of the breech piece whilst descending, acting
on curved feathers or projections a formed on the hammer, and extracts
the spent cartridge case from the cartridge chamber C by the surface b
of the hammer acting against the inclined plane c formed on the
extractor D.
Under the arrangement shown at Figures 1 and 2 of the Drawings, a
striker E is situate in a slot formed in the breech-piece A which is
struck by the hammer B, so as to ignite the cartridge situated in the
chamber C. The striker E is attached to the under side of the breech-
piece by an axis or pin e around which it is free to move. The swivel F
by which the mainspring G is attached to the hammer B is formed with
a slotted or oblong hole at that part through which the pin k attaching
it to the hammer passes, whereby the hammer B after being impelled
against the striker E by the mainspring G, in discharging the fire-arm
is allowed to recede slightly from contact with the striker E, the main-
spring G being prevented from acting on the hammer B after the
ignition of the cartridge has been effected by coming in contact with a pin
or stud projecting upwards from the trigger plate H; or the same effect
may be produced by causing the mainspring to come in contact with the
trigger plate itself immediately after the cartridge has been fired.
The hammer B and extractor D are attached to the trigger plate H of
the fire-arm by means of a hollow or tubular axis or pin m, which passes
through the hammer and extractor and is fixed into cheeks I formed on
and projecting upwards from the trigger plate H, as more particularly
seen at Figure 3 which is a plan of the trigger plate. The trigger plate H
is attached to the body of the fire-arm by a pin n, which passes through
the hollow axle m into the walls of the breech cavity, and also by a
screwed pin o situate in rear of the breech cavity. By this arrangement

page_text: the whole of the mechanism constituting the lock of the fire-arm is
attached to the trigger plate H, and can be removed with it. The
trigger J is locked and the lever K which operates the breech action in
cocking the hammer B, in extracting the case of a spent cartridge from
the cartridge chamber C, and in returning the breech piece to firing
position is secured against the under side of the trigger plate H by a
combined bolt and catch shewn at Figures 1 and 3 of the Drawings.
At its upper part the bolt is formed with a heel p passing through an
opening in the trigger plate, the form of which is shown in plan at
Figure 3. At its lower extremity the bolt is terminated in a stud s
placed loosely in the upper end of the depressing lever K. When it is
desired to lock the trigger J and the lever K, the bolt is pushed to that
side of the opening r of smaller dimensions longitudinally than the
portion of the opening in which the bolt is situated when the lever and
trigger are free. By so pushing the bolt the upper part thereof is
brought opposite the trigger J, thereby preventing it from being moved
and the heel p at the same time catches on the upper side of the trigger
plate H and retains the lever K. The combined bolt and catch is held
in position by means of a spring v.
In preparing to load the fire-arm now under reference the hammer is
allowed to fall back slightly from the piston or striker E, and the point
of the piston or striker is allowed to recede within the hole in the front
part of the breech piece A before the breech piece begins to descend.
This latter operation is effected by forming the swivel F with a slotted
or oblong hole at its upper end as herein-before described. The cooking
of the hammer B is effected by the under side of the breech piece in the
manner herein-before described, and the case of the spent cartridge is
extracted from the chamber C by the surface 6 of the hammer, acting
on the inclined plane c of the extractor D so as to throw the upper end
of the extractor outwards from the barrel of the fire-arm, or the extractor
may be formed with toes to be operated on by the bottom of the brocch
piece in the manner now well understood. The hammer B is retained
at full cock by the elongated sear M.
Under another arrangement of the hinged or jointed striker E, shewn
in vertical section at Figure 4 and in plan at Figure 5 of the Drawings,
the said striker in lieu of being hinged or jointed to the breech picce A
1 11

page_text: and more particularly in longitudinal and transverse sections at Figures 10
and 11 respectively.
'
The "lugs" x, when the barrel has been placed in the opening made
to receive it in the body of the action, enter grooves formed in the
opening, as shewn at w, Figure 11, and aro turned round therein, and by
reason of the decreasing depth of the grooves at the parts marked y,
Figure 11, the lugs x are jambed in the grooves, and thereby retain
the barrel in position.
In order to give a greater holding power to the lugs x the grooves w
may be slightly twisted or "skewed" from the truly vertical position.
By means of this arrangement of fixing the barrels the transport of fire-
arms is facilitated, as the barrel may be readily separated from the body.
A plate V, constructed as shewn in side elevation at Figure 12, in end
clevation at Figure 13, and in plan at Figure 14, is or may be attached
to the forward end of the breech chamber underneath the barrel, into
which one or more studs formed on or fixed in the barrel passes or pass,
aş shewn at W, for greater security.
The breech piece employed in conjunction with the improvements.
hercin-before described and shown on the Drawings may be made rec-
tangular, or nearly so, as shewn at Figures 2 and 9, or it may be made
with a flat side bearing against and closing the end of the cartridge
chamber, and with a semicircular back as shewn at Figure 5, or it may
be made with an elliptical back, as shewn at Figure 7, or it may be
formed with a triangular back, as shewn at Figure 15, or the breech piece
may be constructed with a flat side bearing against and closing the end
of the cartridge chamber, the remainder of the breech piece being
formed circular, as shewn in plan as at Figure 16 and in front elevation
at Figure 17 of the Drawings.
It is to be here understood that in lieu of cocking the hammer B of
the different modifications of breech-loading fire-arms shewn on the
Drawings in the manner hercin-before described, that is by the breech
piece acting on curved feathers or projections, the cocking of the hammer
may be effected by the breech piece whilst descending acting on the
breast of the hammer itself, or the cocking may be effected by projec-
tions formed on the double link attaching the breech piece to the
depressing lever acting on the curved feathers or projections of the
hammer B.

page_text: shewn at Figures 1, 4, 6, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, and 15 of the Drawings
hereunto appended.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alexander Henry, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Seventeenth day of December, One
thousand eight hundred and seventy-three.
ALEXANDER HENRY. (L.S.)