AN IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS IN BREECH-LOADING SMALL-ARMS
Year: 1876

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Field Swinburn, of Birmingham, in the County of
Warwick, Gun Manufacturer, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVEMENT OR
IMPROVEMENTS IN BREECH-LOADING SMALL-ARMS."
Sealed the 23rd February 1877, and dated the 20th September 1876.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Field Swinburn at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 20th September 1876.
JOHN FIELD SWINBURN, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Gun Manu-
facturer. "AN IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS IN BREECH-LOADING SMALL-ARMS."
My Invention has reference to breech-loading small-arms in which a divided
stock is used, that is, small arms in which the breech action is contained in a metal
shoe, the said shoe separating the fore end of the stock from the butt or back end
of the said stock, and my said Invention consists of the improvement or improve-
ments hercin-after described in attaching the fore end of the said divided stock to
and holding it firmly against that part of the barrel in contact with the shoe.
The breeches of guns of the kind referred to are generally opened and closed by a
hinged falling block, or by a vertically sliding block.
The fore end of the stock is ordinarily attached to the barrel by means of a loop
on the under side of the barrel, through which loop and through the fore end of the
stock a cross pin is passed. By my Invention the said loop on the barrel is
dispensed with, and the manufacture of the barrels is thereby facilitated and
economized.
In connecting the fore end of the stock to the barrel according to my Invention,
I apply and fix to the rear part of the said stock a metal bar, one end of the said
bar being bent or turned at right angles to the other part, the extreme end of the
bent part constituting a lip or hook. This bar is fixed to the stock by cross pins
passed through the stock, and also through eyes in the horizontal part of the bar.
The end face of the back part of the stock has a nearly circular projection upon it,
the bent end of the bar described crossing and being flush with the said projection.
The front plate of the metal shoe of the gun below that part into which the barrel
is screwed is provided with a nearly circular recess of a shape and size proper to
receive the projection on the end face of the stock. In the middle of the bottom of
the said recess in the front plate of the shoe is a rectangular hole or opening into
which the lip or hook on the stock is capable of being hooked or engaged.
[Price 8d.1

page_text: In attaching the fore end of the stock to the barrel the hook or lip at its back
face is brought opposite the hole or opening in the bottom of the front plate of the
shoe, and the said fore end is then raised against the barrel, the hook or lip is
thereby made to engage with or hook itself to the shoe, the circular projection on the
face of the fore end of the stock seating itself in the recess in the front plate of the
shoe. The fore end of the stock is thus very firmly fixed to the barrel and shoe,
the hooking of the bar on the fore end to the shoe combined with the securing of
the fore end in its raised position by the ordinary bands effectually preventing both
longitudinal and lateral motion in the fore end.
I do not limit myself to any particular position of the hooking or engaging bar
on the fore end of the stock, nor to the parts on the shoe with which the said bar
engages, as these details may be varied, the essence of my Invention consisting in
connecting the fore end of the stock to the breech shoe by means of a fastening,
connecting or hooking piece or bar on the fore end engaging with the said shoe.
In breech-loading guns having rising and falling blocks for closing and opening
the breeches I prolong the free end of the hand lever by which the said blocks and
the cocking and extracting mechanisms are actuated, and cause the said free end of
the land lever to work in a recess in the butt end of the stock, the said prolonged
free end of the hand lever having a curved figure, the curve being struck from the
centre on which the hand lever turns. By this arrangement the free end of the
hand lever, whether the gun is in its opened or closed position, is situated within
the stock, and hence the entangling of the clothes or other articles worn by the user
in the hand lever is avoided. .
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said John Field Swinburn in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 15th
March 1877.
<<
JOHN FIELD SWINBURN, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Gun
Manufacturer. AN IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS IN BREECH-LOADING SMALL-
ARMS."
My Invention has reference to breech-loading small-arms in which a divided
stock is used, that is, small arms in which the shoe separates the fore end of the
stock from the butt or back end of the said stock, and my said Invention consists of
the improvement or improvements herein-after described in attaching the fore end
of the said divided stock to and holding it firmly against that part of the barrel in
contact with the shoe.
The breeches of guns of the kind referred to are generally opened and closed by
a hinged falling block or by a vertically sliding block.
The fore end of the stock is ordinarily attached to the barrel by means of a loop
on the under side of the barrel, through which loop and through the fore end of
the stock a cross pin is passed. By my Invention the said loop on the barrel is
dispensed with, and the manufacture of the barrels is thereby facilitated and
economized.
In connecting the fore end of the stock to the barrel according to my Invention
I apply and fix to the rear part of the said stock a metal bar, one end of the said
bar being bent or turned at right angles to the other part, the extreme end of
the bent part constituting a lip or hook. This bar is fixed to the stock by cross
pins passed through the stock, and also through eyes in the horizontal part of the
bar.
The end face of the back part of the stock has a nearly circular projection
upon it, the bent end of the bar described crossing and being flush with the said
projection. The front plate of the metal shoe of the gun below that part into which
the barrel is screwed is provided with a nearly circular recess of a shape and size
proper to receive the projection on the end face of the stock. In the bottom of the

page_text: said recess in the front plate of the shoe is a rectangular hole or opening into which
the lip or hook on the stock is capable of being hooked or engaged.
In attaching the fore end of the stock to the barrel the hook or lip at its back
face is brought opposite the hole or opening in the bottom of the front plate of the
shoe, and the said fore end is then raised against the barrel, the hook or lip is
thereby made to engage with or hook itself to the shoe, the circular projection on
the face of the fore end of the stock seating itself in the recess in the front plate of
the shoe. The fore end of the stock is thus very firmly fixed to the barrel and
shoe, the hooking of the bar on the fore end to the shoe combined with the securing
of the fore end in its raised position by the ordinary bands effectually preventing
both longitudinal and lateral motion in the fore end.
I do not limit myself to any particular position of the hooking or engaging bar
on the fore end of the stock, nor to the parts on the shoe with which the said bar
engages, as these details may be varied, the essence of my Invention consisting in
connecting the fore end of the stock to the breech shoe by means of a fastening,
connecting, or hooking piece or bar on the fore end engaging with the said shoe.
In breech-loading guns having rising and falling blocks for closing and opening
the breeches, I prolong the free end of the hand lever by which the said blocks and
the cocking and extracting mechanisms are actuated, and cause the said free end of
the hand lever to work in a recess in the butt end of the stock, the said prolonged
free end of the hand lever having a curved figure, the curve being struck from the
centre on which the hand lever turns. By this arrangement the free end of the
hand lever, whether the gun is in its opened or closed position, is situated within
the stock, and hence the entangling of the clothes or other articles worn by the user
in the hand lever is avoided.
I will now proceed to describe, with reference to the accompanying Drawings, the
manner in which my Invention may be performed.
Figure 1 represents in longitudinal vertical section and Figure 2 in side elevation
the breech end of a hinged falling block gun containing my improvements. The
hand lever by which the breech is opened and closed and the cocking and extracting
mechanisms worked is represented raised in Figure 1 and depressed in Figure 2;
Figure 3, in plan of upper side; Figure 4, in side clevation; and Figure 5, in end
elevation, the fore end of the divided stock detached, provided with fastening
mechanism constructed according to my Invention; Figure 6 represents the fastening
parts detached; Figure 7 is an end elevation of the rear part of the breech shoe;
and Figure 8 represents in side elevation and end elevation the barrel detached
from the shoe.
The same letters of reference indicate the same parts in Figures 1 to 8.
a is the metal shoe of the gun, containing the hinged falling block b, hammer c,
striker d, and extracting mechanism at e; fis the hand lever on the under side of
the gun, by which the said block b is raised and lowered and the cocking and
extracting mechanisms worked, the said hand lever turning on the same centre y as
the hammer c; h is the barrel, the screwed end of which has a collar or continuous
or annular shoulder 2 (see Figure 8) which bears against the front end of the
metal shoe a, and thereby facilitates the connecting of the barrel to the shoe and
provides a continuous bearing all round the end of the barrel; i is the divided fore
end of the stock connected to the barrel h and shoe a according to my Invention.
To the rear part of the fore end i of the stock I fix a metal bar or tail piece k
having at its rear end a heel piece / bent or turned at right angles to the piece k, as
Been in Figures 1, 4, and 6. The bottom or extreme edge of the heel piece of the
fastening is inclined and constitutes a hook or lip m. The upper face of the rear
part of the fore end i of the stock is recessed to receive the bar or tail piece k and
the end face of the said fore end i has a nearly circular projection n made upon it
corresponding in configuration to the heel plate of the fastening. The said heel
plate being placed on the projection n of the fore end i the tail piece is connected
to the fore end by the cross pin p passed through a hole in the stock and through a
hole in the said tail piece, as represented.

page_text: At
In the front plate q of the breech shoe a and below that part into which the
barrel h is screwed is a nearly circular recess 7 (see Figure 7) corresponding in
figure to the heel plate and projection n on the rear end of the fore end i.
the bottom of the recess is a shoulder or rib s inclined from the front to the back
of the recess in the shoe, as best seen in the section, Figure 1.
In attaching the fore end i of the stock to the barrel h and breech shoe a the
said fore end is inclined to the barrel and the parts l, m, n, are introduced into the
recess in the shoe a, the lip m on the bottom of the heel plate 7 being first passed
over the inclined shoulders of the said recess 7. The fore end i is then raised
against the barrel; the hook or lip m is thereby made to engage with or hook itself
upon the inclined shoulder 8 at the bottom of the recess r, the projection n and
heel plate seating themselves in the said recess 1. The fore end is thus fixed to
the barrel, and so long as the said fore end is parallel with the barrel it cannot be
withdrawn from the shoe a and is incapable of longitudinal motion. The fore end i
is secured in its raised position against the barrel and lateral motion in the fore
end prevented by the ordinary bands.
In order to detach the fore end from the barrel and breech shoe it is only neces-
Bary, after removing the bands, to slightly depress the fore end from the barrel
when the lip or hook m is disengaged from the shoulder 8 of the shoe, and the fore
end may be removed. The ramrod t is screwed into the heel part 1 of the fore end
fastening (see Figure 1).
Figure 9 represents a side elevation, partly in longitudinal section of the breech
end of a hinged falling block carbine, the divided fore end of which is connected to
the barrel and breech shoe, according to my Invention; Figure 9^ represents an
end elevation and plan of under side of the breech shoe; Figure 10 is a side elevation
of the fore end and barrel; Figure 11 is an end elevation and cross section of the
same; and Figure 12 is a plan of under side of the same; Figure 13 represents the
fastening separately.
The hinged falling block and cocking and extracting mechanisms are worked in
this gun by a lever or thumb plate u on the side of the gun instead of by a hand
lever on the under side of the gun as in the arrangement first described.
l
In the arrangement Figures 9 to 13 the heel part of the fastening is of the
same width as the bar or tail piece k, and the said heel part crosses and is flush
with the nearly circular projection or block n on the fore end i, the extreme end of
the said crossing heel part 1 which projects from the block n constituting the lip or
hook Instead of an inclined shoulder at the bottom of the recess in the front
plate of the shoe a, for receiving the inclined lip or hook, as before described, a
rectangular hole or opening v (see Figure 94) is made in the bottom of the recess
in the shoe to receive the hook or lip l².
In attaching the fore end i it is inclined as herein-before described, and its
projection is introduced into the recess in the shoe, and the hook or lip 13
brought opposite the hole or opening v in the bottom of the recess ?". The fore end
is then raised against the barrel; the hook or lip 2 is thereby made to engage with
or hook itself to the said hole b in the shoe, the block or projection n seating itself
in the recess r, as seen in Figure. 9. The fore end is then secured by the ordinary
band w.
The free end f2 of the hand lever f of the gun, represented in Figures 1 and 2,
is prolonged upwards, and curved and made to work in a curved recess made in the
butt end of the stock. The curve of the end ƒ2 of the hand lever is struck from
the centre g, on which the hand lever turns. The said curved end 2 of the hand
lever passes through and works in the tubular guide y on the lock plate. The
hand lever fis fixed in its raised position by the projection 2 on the tubular guide
taking into the notch f³ in the said hand lever. When the gun is closed and ready
for firing the free end f2 of the hand lever occupies the position in the stock
represented in Figure 1, and when the gun is opened for recharging the free end of
the hand lever is nearly, but not wholly, withdrawn from the stock and guide tube
y as represented in Figure 2. The free end of the hand lever is by this arrange-

page_text: ment never exposed, being confined either in the stock or guiding tube, and hence
there is no projecting end in which the clothes or other articles worn by the user
can become entangled.
Although I have only described and illustrated my improvements in connection
with a gun and carbine having hinged falling blocks, yet my said improvements
are equally applicable to other guns having divided stocks.
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 claim as my Invention
the improvement or improvements herein-before described and illustrated in the
accompanying Drawings in attaching the fore ends of the divided stocks of breech-
loading small-arms to and holding them firmly against the barrels in contact with
the breech shoes, that is to say, connecting the fore end of the divided stock to the
breech shoe and barrel by means of a fastening or connecting or hooking piece or
bar on the fore end taking into and engaging with the front end of the breech shoe,
the said fastening or connecting or hooking piece or bar and the front end of the
breech shoe being constructed substantially as and for the purpose described and
illustrated.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Field Swinburn, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Thirteenth day of March, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and seventy-seven.
Witness,
GEORGE SHAW.
JOHN FIELD SWINBURN. (L.S.)