IMPROVEMENTS IN BREECH-LOADING SMALL-ARMS
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Simeon Edge, the younger, of Yardley,
in the County of Worcester, Mechanical Engineer, for the Inven-
tion of "IMPROVEMENTS IN BREECH-LOADING SMALL-ARMS."
Sealed the 12th April 1876, and dated the 20th October 1875.

page_text: described for the purpose of converting the said guns into magazine or
repeating guns, that is, guns carrying a store of cartridges which are
automatically supplied as required to the breech chambers of the guns.
Underneath the breech end of the barrel of the bolt gun the magazine
is made, the cartridges in the said magazine being pressed forward by a
coiled spring as usual.
Beneath the breech chamber into which the cartridge is passed prior to
being pushed into the breech of the barrel by the sliding bolt, is a rising
and falling platform or lift, the said platform or lift when in its raised
position constituting a temporary bottom to the said breech chamber.
When the said platform or lift is in its depressed position it forms as it
were a continuation of the magazine under the breech end of the barrel.
The said platform is jointed at its front end by a link to the breech shoe,
and at its rear end by a lever to the said breech shoe, the combined
platform or lift lever and link forming a parallel motion. By means of
a spring bearing upon the axis of the link described the platform or lift
is held with considerable force in its raised and depressed positions
respectively. The tail end of the platform lever is acted upon by a
second lever, the upper hooked end of which projects above the bottom
of the breech shoe, and is acted upon by the shoulder of an inclined
projection on the nose end of the bolt. When the sliding bolt is with-
drawn after the discharge of the gun it extracts the empty cartridge
case from the barrel, and brings it into the breech chamber and over the
cartridge which has been pushed from the magazine on to the depressed
platform or lift. By the continued motion of the bolt the inclined
shoulder on its nose end bears against the hooked end of the lever
projecting into the breech chamber, and turns the said lever on its joint.
The lower end of this lever is thereby made to bear against the tail of
the platform lever, and lift the said platform into its raised position.
The cartridge on the said platform or lift is thereby brought into a line
with the barrel, and the empty cartridge case is at the same time ejected
from the breech chamber. On pushing home the bolt to close the
breech it carries before it the cartridge which has thus been supplied to
the breech chamber into the barrel, and by the nose end of the bolt
striking against the platform or lift the latter descends by the action of
the spring described, and another cartridge is pushed from the magazine
on to the said depressed platform or lift, and the motions described are
repeated.

page_text: Underneath the said platform or lift is a stop lever, the front end of
which on the rising of the platform or lift is lifted and maintained in
front of the magazine, and the store of cartridges therein prevented from
being pressed forward. This lifting of the stop lever is effected by the
tail of the platform lever bearing against a projection on the rear end
of the said stop lever. When the platform or lift descends to its
lowest position the front end of the stop lever also descends and permits
a cartridge to pass from the magazine on to the platform or lift.
The stop lever may be made independent of the lifting mechanism
described, and be worked by a cam acted upon by hand from the side or
under side of the gun. When the cam is in one position it prevents the
advance of the cartridges from the magazine, and when in the other
position it permits a cartridge to be advanced on to the platform or lift.
By the use of the said cam the gun can be used at pleasure as a
repeating or magazine gun or as an ordinary gun.
This part of my Invention is applicable to magazine guns in which
the magazine is situated either under the barrel or in the butt of the
stock.
My Invention consists further in placing the trigger by which the
striking pin in the bolt of the gun is released to discharge the gun on
the upper side of the rear end of the breech shoe instead of on the lower
side as usual. The sear by which the striking pin of the bolt is held
back is situated in the breech shoe, and is acted upon to discharge the
gun by pressure on the said top trigger.
5 SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said James Simeon Edge in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 19th April 1876.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
SIMEON EDGE, the younger, of Yardley, in the County of Worcester,
0 Mechanical Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twentieth day of October, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in the thirty-

page_text: ninth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said James Simeon Edge, Her special license,
that I, the said James Simeon Edge, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said James Simeon Edge, 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 SMALL-ARMS," upon the condition (amongst others) that
I, the said James Simeon Edge, 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 James Simeon Edge, 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 has reference to breech-loading small-arms of the kind
called bolt guns, that is guns in which the breech is opened and closed
by a sliding bolt working in the breech shoe of the gun, and the
principal part of my Invention consists in adapting to or combining
with the said bolt guns mechanism constructed and arranged as herein-
after described for the purpose of converting the said guns into
magazine or repeating guns, that is guns carrying a store of cartridges
which are automatically supplied as required to the breech chambers of
the guns.
Underneath the breech end of the barrel of the bolt gun the
magazine is made, the cartridges in the said magazine being pressed
forward by a coiled spring as usual.
Beneath the breech chamber into which the cartridge is passed prior
to being pushed into the breech of the barrel by the sliding bolt is a
rising and falling platform or lift, the said platform or lift when in its

page_text: raised position constituting a temporary bottom to the said breech
chamber. When the said platform or lift is in its depressed position it
forms as it were a continuation of the magazine under the breech end of
the barrel. The said platform is jointed at its front end by a link to
the breech shoe, and at its rear end by a lever to the said breech shoe,
the combined platform or lift lever and link forming a parallel motion.
By means of a spring bearing upon the axis of the link described the
platform or lift is held with considerable force in its raised and depressed
positions respectively. The tail end of the platform lever is acted upon
by a second lever, the upper hooked end of which projects above the
bottom of the breech shoe, and is acted upon by the shoulder of an
inclined projection on the nose end of the bolt. When the sliding bolt
is withdrawn after the discharge of the gun it extracts the empty
cartridge case from the barrel and brings it into the breech chamber
and over the cartridge which has been pushed from the magazine on to
the depressed platform or lift. By the continued motion of the bolt
the inclined shoulder on its nose end bears against the hooked end of
the lever projecting into the breech chamber and turns the said lever on
its joint. The lower end of this lever is thereby made to bear against
the tail of the platform lever and lift the said platform into its raised
position. The cartridge on the said platform or lift is thereby brought
into a line with the barrel, and the empty cartridge case is at the same
time ejected from the breech chamber. On pushing home the bolt to
close the breech it carries before it the cartridge which has thus been
supplied to the breech chamber into the barrel, and by the nose end of
the bolt striking against the platform or lift the latter descends by the
action of the spring described and another cartridge is pushed from the
magazine on to the said depressed platform or lift, and the motions
described are repeated.
Underneath the said platform or lift is a stop lever, the front end of
which on the rising of the platform or lift is lifted and maintained in
front of the magazine, and the store of cartridges therein prevented
from being pressed forward. This lifting of the stop lever is effected by
the tail of the platform lever bearing against a projection on the rear
end of the said stop lever. When the platform or lift descends to its
lowest position the front end of the stop lever also descends and permits
a cartridge to pass from the magazine on to the platform or lift.
This part of my Invention is applicable to magazine guns, in which

page_text: the magazine is situated either under the barrel or in the butt of the
stock.
My Invention consists further in placing the trigger by which the
striking pin in the bolt of the gun is released to discharge the gun on
the upper part of the rear end of the breech shoe instead of on the
lower side or bottom as usual. The sear by which the striking pin of
the bolt is held back is situated in the breech shoe and is acted upon to
discharge the gun by pressure on the said top trigger.
Having explained the nature of my Invention I will proceed to
describe with reference to the accompanying Drawing the manner in
which the same is to be performed.
Figures 1 and 2 represent longitudinal vertical sections, and Figure 3
a plan of under side of a bolt gun, containing mechanism constructed
according to my Invention for conveying the cartridges from the
magazine to the brcecli chamber, the said gun also having combined
with it trigger mechanism constructed according to my Invention. In
Figure 1 the several parts of the gun are represented in the respective
positions which they occupy when the gun has been discharged and the
bolt is about to be withdrawn to open the breech, a fresh cartridge being
represented on the platform or lift ready to be raised into the breech
chamber; and in Figure 2 the several parts are represented in the
respective positions which they occupy after the bolt has been nearly
withdrawn, and a fresh cartridge has been raised by the platform or lift
into the breech chamber, ready on the advance of the bolt for closing the
breech to be pushed into the discharge chamber of the gun.
Figures 4 and 5 represent parts of the lifting and stop mechanism
detached.
The same letters of reference indicate the same parts in the several
Figures of the Drawing.
« is the barrel of the of the magazine gun, and is the tubular
magazine containing the store of cartridges c, c, c, the said cartridges
being pressed forward by the coiled spring d, as usual; e is the sliding
bolt of the gun, by which the breech is opened and closed and the
gun cocked, and fis the open breech chamber of the gun.
The opening, closing, and extracting mechanism of the gun constitute
no part of this Invention.

page_text: Underneath the breech chamber f is a bottom chamber g in which
the lifting mechanism for lifting the cartridges from the said bottom
chamber into the breech chamber f works freely. The said lifting
mechanism consists of a rising and falling platform or lift h, the said
platform or lift h when in its raised position, as illustrated in Figure 2,
constituting a temporary bottom to the breech chamber f. When the
said platform h is in its depressed position, as illustrated in Figure 1, it
forms as it were a continuation of the magazine b. The said platform h
is jointed at its front end by a link i to the breech shoe, the joint of the
said link being marked ², and the said platform is jointed at its rear
end by a lever k to the breech shoe, the joint of the said lever / being
marked k¹.
By an examination of Figures 1 and 2 it will be seen that the lift or
platform h, lever k, and link i, combined and jointed together as repre-
sented, form a parallel motion. By means of the spring 7 bearing upon
the tail end of the link i the platform or lift h is held with considerable
force in its raised and depressed positions respectively. The position of
the spring when it holds the platform or lift in its raised position is
seen in Figure 2, and its position when it holds the platform or lift in
its depressed state is represented in Figure 1. Behind the platform
lever k is a second lever m for operating upon the said lever k, and at
the proper time lifting the platform / into its raised position. The said
second lever m is pressed upon by the spring n, and its lower arm bears
against the tail end or short arm ³ of the platform lever k to operate
the said lever k. This second or back lever m is itself acted upon by
the sliding bolt e of the gun in the manner herein-after explained. The
upper end m² of the second or back lever m projects in its normal
position above the bottom of the breech shoe f, as seen in Figure 1.
On the nose end of the sliding bolt e is an inclined projection e², the
shoulder of which on withdrawing the said bolt to open the gun acts
against the upper end m² of the back lever m, and operates the said
lever, and through it the lifting mechanism.
Underneath the platform or lift is a stop lever p turning on the
centre. The front end of the stop lever is provided with a nose p³
which at the proper time is situated in front of the magazine b, and
prevents the store of cartridges c, c, c, in the said magazine being
pressed forward into the lower chamber g of the breech shoe.

page_text: The rising of the nose end p² of the stop lever p for the purpose of
cutting-off the supply of cartridges, and the depression of the said nose
end for permitting of the cartridges one at a time passing on to the
platform when the latter is in its depressed position, are effected in
the following manner :--The tail end of the platform lever k is cut
away at k³, and against the cam-shaped piece thus left a projection p³
on the end of the stop lever p bears, as best seen in the separate views
drawn to a larger scale in Figures 4 and 5.
When the platform lever k is turned on its centre into the position
represented in Figure 1 for the purpose of depressing the platform or
lift the side cut away part on the tail ³ of the platform lever k
is brought opposite (when the platform has reached its lowest position)
the end of the stop lever p and the said cnd is free to rise and permit
of the descent of the nose end p². The descent of the nose end p² of
the stop lever p is effected by the projecting joint pin of the link i
acting upon the hollow part 2 of the said stop lever. The front
cartridge in the magazine which has been held back by the nose end
of the lever p is now released, and is forced forward by the coiled spring
on to the platform h, as seen in Figure 1, the head end of the cartridge
in the magazine bearing against the bullet end of the cartridge on the
platform.
When the platform lever k is in the act of being turned into the
vertical position represented in Figure 2 for the purpose of lifting the
cartridge on the said platform into the breech chamber f, its tail end
or short arm 2 takes such a position that the cam end at ³ acts against
the projection p³ on the stop lever p, and depresses the said end at p³
and lifts the opposite or nose end p² in front of the magazine, and
thereby cuts off the cartridges from the lower chamber g, the front of
the platform as it rises pushing back the front cartridge into the
magazine. When the platform is raised the stop lever p is held firmly
in its stopping position by its projecting end p³ bearing against the
extreme end of the tail piece k² of the lever k. The two positions of the
tail end of the lever k and the end of the stop lever p are seen in the
separate views, Figures 4 and 5.
The action of the parts is as follows:-The gun having been dis-
charged the parts occupy the respective positions represented in
Figure 1, that is to say, the platform or lift is in its lowest position

page_text: with a cartridge cresting on it ready to be lifted into the breech
chamber f. The sliding bolt e having been unfastened it is withdrawn
to open the breech.
In withdrawing the bolt e it first extracts in the ordinary way the
empty cartridge case c³ from the barrel a, and brings it into the breech
chamber and over the cartridge c² in the bottom chamber g. By the
continued motion of the bolt e the shoulder of the inclined projection e²
on the nose end of the bolt bears against the upper projecting end m² of
the back lever m, and turns the said lever m on its joint into the position
represented in Figure 2. The lower arm of the back lever m is thereby
made to bear against the tail or short arm k³ of the platform lever k and
lift the platform into the raised position represented in Figure 2.
The cartridge on the platform h is thereby brought into a line with
the barrel a, and the empty cartridge case c³ is at the same time ejected
from the breech chamber f, the parts occupying the respective positions
represented in Figure 2. On pushing home the bolt e to close the
breech it carries before it the cartridge c³, Figure 2, into the barrel a,
and by the nose end of the said bolt e striking against the rear end of
the platform or lift the latter descends by the action of the spring 1,
and another cartridge is pushed from the magazine 6 on to the depressed
platform h, as illustrated in Figure 1, when the gun is ready for
discharge.
The stop lever p may be made independent of the lifting mechanism
described, and be worked by a cam acted upon by hand from the side or
under side of the gun. When the cam is in one position it prevents the
advance of the cartridges from the magazine, and when in the other
position it permits a cartridge to be advanced on to the platform
or lift. By the use of the said cam the gun can be used at pleasure as a
repeating or magazine gun, or as an ordinary gun.
The gun is held in its cocked position and liberated by means of the
trigger or trigger lever q situated on the upper part of the rear end of
the breech shoe. The said trigger or trigger lever q turns on the
centre q, and is lifted into its normal position by the spring 1. The
thumb plate end 9 of the trigger projects through an opening in the
breech shoe. On the upper side of the trigger or trigger lever q is
the scar q', which when the bolt is pushed home engages with the
shoulder s² of the cocking piece 8, carrying the striking pin of the gun,

page_text: and holds the said cocking piece in its cocked position for discharge.
By pressing in the direction of the arrow, Figure 1, upon the thumb
plate q³ of the trigger lever q the sear q¹ is removed from the shoulder &²
of the cocking piece s, and the said cocking piece is released and the gun
discharged in the ordinary way.
The construction of trigger or trigger lever described and represented
may be applied to bolt guns generally.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the manner
in which the same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that I
do not limit myself to the precise details herein described and illus-
trated, as the same may be varied without departing from the nature
of my Invention; but I claim as my Invention of improvements in
breech-loading small-arms,-
First. The construction and arrangement of parts herein-before
described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawing for converting
bolt guns into magazine or repeating guns, that is to say, the com-
bination with or adaptation to the said guns of a rising and falling
platform or lift operated by the withdrawal and advance of the bolt, the
said platform or lift and the other parts connected therewith being con-
structed, combined, and worked substantially as described and illustrated.
Secondly. Holding and releasing the cocking pieces of bolt guns by
means of a trigger or trigger lever, constructed and applied to and
working in the upper part of the breech shoe, as described and illustrated
in the accompanying Drawing.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Simeon Edge, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Thirteenth day of April, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
ai
Witness,
GEORGE SHAW.
JAMES SIMEON EDGE, J³. (L.S.)