{S THEDDAWNMENTS IN BREECH-LOADING SMALL FIRE-ARMS
Year: 1871

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Theophilus Murcott, of 68, Haymarket, in the
County of Middlesex, Gun Manufacturer, for the Invention of
{S THEDDAWNMENTS IN BREECH-LOADING SMALL FIRE-ARMS.”
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Theophilus Murcott
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 15th April 1871.
I, THEOPHILUS MURCOTT, of 68, Haymarket, in the County of Mid-
dlesex, Gun Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN BREECH-LOADING SMALL FIRE-ARMS," to be
as follows:-
This Invention relates mainly to a new arrangement of the lock or
locks, and their appendages of those arms (central or rim-fire) in which
the barrels move either to the front or fall down for loading purposes,
whereby,-
Firstly. I obtain fewer motions and greater ease in opening and
closing the breech that is usual to facilitate rapidity in firing.

page_text: Secondly. Greater strength at the breech proper.
Thirdly. Greater security against accidents and misfires.
Fourthly. Moro freedom and handiness of the arm by dispensing with
exposed hammers or projections at the breech portion.
And, fifthly. To means of fixing the striker or strikers in a safe con-
dition when cocked.
The breech proper is composed of the break-off, the tang, an inner
box for receiving the lock or locks, a recess with grooves in the side
walls for a bolt picce to slide in for releasing the barrels, and to permit
of the opening lever cocking the arm; it has also the hinge joint for
allowing the barrels to fall if drop-down barrels are employed. The
tang carries a small lever which can be shifted from right to left on
the head for the purpose of allowing the arm to be carried safely at full
cock, by this means the usual half bents in the tumblers are dispensed
with. The rear end of this lever has a locking bolt or stem depending
from it with a thin portion or blade to take at the side of or between
the triggers, when moved in one direction and across them when moved
in another direction. In opening the breech the head of the lever or
the arm from it is caused to bear against projecting pins or studs on the
tumblers to compress the main springs, the strikers which are in a picce
with or jointed to the tumblers being drawn back at the same time,
when they are held at full-cock by the scars taking into the full bents,
I prefer to use one pin only to hold both locks in place, it passing
through one and taking into the other in a manner well known, but
separate screw pins can be employed if desired, and in that case they
would take into the walls of the lock recesses. The lever is pinned to the
trigger plate and has a projecting claw for a spring to act against.
By the use of my Invention the hammers being dispensed with a
clear line of sight along the barrels can be obtained, and the usual
projections at the breech are obviated. The tumblers may have pins
passing through slots in the lock plates to serve for indicating which
lock has been released or barrel discharged; or projecting studs may pass
through the breech tang. The safety bolt is preferably formed with a
very fine screw thread, and screwed into place in the tang, this prevents
it working loose as would be the case if a coarse threaded screw be used a
or a detached screw pin.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Theophilus Murcott in the Great Seal-Patent Office
on the 14th October 1871.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, TheopIILLUS
MURCOTT, of 68, Haymarket, in the County of Middlesex, Gun Manu-
facturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fifteenth day of April, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, in the thirty-
fourth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said Theophilus Murcott, Her special licence
that I, the said Theophilus Murcott, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Theophilus Murcott, 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 Ircland, the
Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
BREECH-LOADING SMALL FIRE-ARMS," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said Theophilus Murcott, 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 Theophilus Murcott, 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 Drawings here-
unto annexed, that is to say :-
This Invention relates to improvements in certain parts of the breech
action of rim and central fire small arms, and consists,-
First. In arranging a pin or stud upon the tumbler.
Second. In extending the opening lever upwards so that its end can
act upon the pin and thereby cock the gun.

page_text: Third. In the employment of a safety bolt or stem for securing the
trigger and striker at full cock.
Fourth. In the dispensation of all projections on the exterior and also
of the hammer or hammers.
And, fifth. In a general arrangement of the action in order to fit the
above-mentioned pieces in their several places for accomplishing what
I consider necessary for rendering breech-loading fire-arms of a safe and
an efficient character.
The Invention will be well understood by reference to the annexed
Drawings and to the following detailed description thereof, the arm which
I have shown in the Drawings is of the class known as the "drop down"
but with certain modified arrangements of the parts of the action, the
Invention is applicable to other classes of small arms such as those in
which the barrel or barrels move to the front or move laterally in or on
the stock, the objects of the Invention being to obtain greater ease and
less labour in opening, closing, and cocking the gun, greater security
against accidents when the arm is loaded and cocked, greater freedom
for handling, and lastly, a better arrangement of the mechanism than
in the arms at present constructed.
Figure 1 is a clevation of an portion of a gun in which the barrels drop
down on a hinge pin j when the lever i has been moved to the front to
release the locking bolt g which is free to slide to and fro in a slot made
for it in the breech piece. The lever i is extended above the locking
bolt and is caused to act upon a pin or stud r projecting from the
side of the tumbler m, so that when the locking bolt or bolts is or are
moved to release the barrels h, h, the tumbler, and with it the striker t,
is pushed back sufficiently far for the nose of the sear to take into
the full bent and hold the tumbler m in the cocked position under the
pressure of the main spring 8, Figure 4, which at the same time becomes
compressed by the link in the usual manner. The lever i which has a
claw a near its fulcrum pin is then free to return to its normal position
under the pressure of a spring y, this spring being secured upon the
upper surface of the trigger plate w, as shown, or in some other suitable
position.
In Fig. 2 I have represented a breech action for a double-barrelled
small arm detached, and in partial section, to show the parts just referred
to in a clear manner. The head or more properly speaking the tang b

page_text: of the breech has a threaded hole in it for a stem n of a safety bolt o
o pass through, which bolt is either thinned down, as shown in Figures 2-
and 6, or notched as in Figure 10 to permit of the trigger blades passing
ap freely when the triggers p, p, are pulled to discharge the arm or to
rest across the blades to prevent them rising according to the direction to
which the lever k is moved by the operator when acting upon the thumb
piece. The thumb piece has a catch under it to spring into a recess at
each end of a groove in the tang, as will be seen by reference to Figure 5
to retain the safety bolt o in the required position. In the Drawings I
have shown the mainspring 8 as of the flat kind, and this I drop into
a recess e cut in the side of the breech, so that it and the whole of the
mechanism can be enclosed by a lock plate on which the lock is
mounted, the lock being secured in its place by a screw pin v, the striker
pint can be made in a piece with the tumbler m, as shown in the.
detached view Figure 7, or it may be jointed to it, as shown in Figure 8,
in either case the pin or stud r would be upon the side of the tumbler.
Չ
Figure 12 is a perspective view of the lock complete showing the
pin r on the tumbler m and the other parts in connection therewith;
Figure 11 represents a modified arrangement of the lock mechanism.
Here the mainspring & is formed with a claw A to take over the catch B
on the head of the tumbler when the tail o̟ of the lever i pushes it, and
the striker pin to the rear to open the barrel and to cock the arm by
acting upon the pin or stud r as before explained; Figure 11 shows that
the tail q has an additional locking bolt C on the head which moves to
and fro in the break-off a against which the rear end of the barrels
impinges when it is brought down to lock the barrels in place. This
movement forces the tail 9 to the rear and prevents a sudden shock
being given to the bolt g when the barrels are brought into the horizontal
position. The pin r on the tumbler m can in some cases be acted upon
by a lever D on the top of the stock as in Figure 13 or by a lever fitted
to the side of the arm or even under the breech with a side action lever
actuating crank, cam, or eccentric. I do not confine myself to fitting
the additional bolt to be worked by the head of the tail q as before
referred to, as it may be part thereof as in Figure 14, neither do I
5 confine myself to arranging the safety bolt on the head of the breech as
the stem can be arranged through the lock plate as in Figure 15, in
which case the notch or the thinned portion would be arranged in a
reverse position to that shown in Figure 2.

page_text: And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed,
declare that I claim,―
Firstly. The employment of a pin or stud on the lock tumblers of
breech-loading fire-arms, in the manner and for the purposes described.
Secondly. I claim extending the opening lever above the locking bolt
of breech-loading fire-arms, in the manner and for the purposes set
forth.
Thirdly. I claim the employment of a safety bolt in breech-loading
fire-arms, constructed in the manner and for the purposes set forth.
Fourthly. I claim the modifications of the above-mentioned parts as 1
herein-before described and shown.
Fifthly. I claim the general arrangements of apparatus herein-before
referred to by which all projections and exterior hammers to breech-
loading fire-arms are dispensed with as described and shown.
In witness whereof, I, the said Theophilus Murcott, have hereunto 1
set my hand and scal, this Fourteenth day of October, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one.
AUTODIIT TO