IMPROVEMENTS IN BREECH-LOADING FIRE-ARMS
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Jones, of Birmingham, in the County of
Warwick, Gun Manufacturer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
BREECH-LOADING FIRE-ARMS."
Sealed the 17th February 1860, and dated the 7th September 1859.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Jones at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 7th
September 1859.
I, HENRY JONES, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Gun
Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN BREECH-LOADING FIRE-ARMS," to be as follows:-
My Invention has for its object the effectual closing of the breech end
of the barrel or barrels of breech-loading fire-arms, during discharge, by
accurately securing the end of the barrel against the face of the body of the
gun. I carry my Invention into effect, in the following manner :-On the
under side of the barrel is a block having a transverse opening, in which said
opening the lever bolts, by which the barrel is held down, engage when the
barrel is shut down upon the body of the gun. I make the cross piece in the
body, which enters the opening in the block on the barrel of steel, and fix it
by making it enter a dovetail, and fasten it by means of a screw. When
the barrel is shut down, the edge of the steel cross piece acting against the
side of the opening in the block under the barrel, forces or wedges the end

page_text: of the barrel against the face of the body. The said steel plate can be
adjusted, as it wears, and be thereby constantly kept in working order.
Underneath the said steel plate I place stops to limit the range of motion
of the lever bolts. In order the more effectually to cutt off communication
between one barrel and the the other, in the case of double-barrelled guns, I
make a rib on the face of the body engage in a groove between the barrels.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Henry Jones, in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 3rd
March 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
JONES, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Gun Manufacturer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventh day of September, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-third year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Henry Jones, Her special licence that I, the said Henry Jones, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others, as I, the said Henry
Jones, 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 FIRE-ARMS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I,
the said Henry Jones, 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 Henry Jones, 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 relates to such breech-loading fire-arms as are opened and
closed at the breech end by the barrel turning in a vertical plane upon a

page_text: centre. The breech end of the barrel being opened when the said end is
raised, and closed when the said end is depressed, the closing of the barrel
being effected by the open end of the barrel being brought against the face of
the body of the gun.
My Invention has for its object principally the effectual closing of the
breech end of the barrel during discharge by securing it accurately against
the face of the body of the gun.
My Invention is illustrated in the accompanying Drawings in its application
to a double-barrelled gun. Figure 1 represents in elevation the body of the
gun and the barrels, the several parts being in the positions they occupy when
the gun
is ready for discharge; Figure 2 represents an elevation of the same,
the several parts being in the positions they occupy when the gun is about to
be charged; Figure 3 is a plan of the under side of the breech end of the
barrels and Figure 4 is an elevation of the breech end of the barrels. The
same letters are employed to indicate the same parts in the various Figures.
The barrels a turn upon the centre 6. On the under side of the barrels is a
block or blocks c, c², in or between which is a transverse opening d. When
the barrels are shut down so as to bring their open or breech ends against the
face e of the body f of the gun, the blocks c, d, enter the lower part of the
body of the gun as will be best understood by reference to Figures 5 and 6;
Figure 5 representing in vertical section the body of the gun and the parts
situated therein, the position of the barrels being indicated in dotted lines,
and Figure 6 representing a plan of the body of the gun. In the opening d,
the lever bolts g, g, enter, and by turning the lever h which is connected with
the said bolts g, g, the said bolts g, g, may be made to engage with the
blocks c, c, and hold the barrels firmly against the face e of the body f. The
bolts g, g, and lever h are shewn separately in elevation in Figure 7, and the
bolts are shewn in plan in Figure 8. On the top of the pin i which is fixed
to the body of the gun, and upon which the bolts g, g, turn, is a steel piece or
plate k, which said steel plate is fixed in the groove between the parts f³, ƒ³‚
of the body of the gun, by means of a screw 7. When the barrels are shut
down, the edge of the steel piece k acting against the inclined side c³ of the
block c under the said barrels, forces or wedges the ends of the barrels against
the face e of the body of the gun. The steel piece or plate k can be adjusted
as it wears, and thereby constantly kept in working order; it can also readily
be replaced by a new one. The range of motion of the lever h is limited by
means of a stop m fixed on the collar n, the said collar n being secured on the
square end of the pin i by the screw o. The said collar n is shewn separately
in elevation, in vertical section, and in plan in Figure 9. A plan of the under-

page_text: side of the lever bolts 9, 9, is represented in Figure 10; the groove in which
the stop m engages is marked p in the said Figure 10. The length of the
said groove p which the stop m traverses limits the range of motion of the
bolts g, g. In order the more effectually to cut off communication between the
two barrels (in the case of double-barrelled guns), I make a rib q between
the barrels engage in a groove r on the face of the body of the gun. Or the
said rib may be on the face of the body of the gun, and the groove between
the barrels. In order to keep the joint 6 of the barrels a tight, a spring
piece s shewn separately in elevation in Figure 11, and in plan in Figure 12
is employed. The said spring piece s is held in its place by the projection t
on the barrel passing through the slot u in the said spring piece s. A pin v,
fixes the projection t in the slot u. The spring w bearing against the projec-
tion t, presses the part a against the pin 6 of the joint, and preserves the said
joint tight. I sometimes cause the part of the spring piece s, to be pressed
against the pin b of the joint in the manner represented in elevation in
Figure 13 of the Drawings. Upon the said pieces are two brackets y, y³,
through holes in which a bolt = slides. A coiled spring 1 upon the said bolt =
bears at one end against the bracket y, and at the other end against the
collar on the bolts. The said bolt is thereby pressed against the projection t,
and the part is made to bear against the pin 6 of the joint:
b
Although for convenience of description I have described my Invention with
reference to a double-barrelled gun, I wish it to be distinctly understood that
my Invention is equally applicable to single-barrelled fire-arms.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of
carrying the same into effect, I wish it to be understood that I do not limit
myself to the precise details herein described and represented, as the same
may be varied without departing from the nature of my Invention; but I
claim as my Invention,...
Firstly, the improvement herein-before described and represented in the
accompanying Drawings, in closing the breech ends of breech-loading fire-
arms of the kind herein-before described, that is to say, by the use of a steel
plate or cross piece in the body of the gun, against which the inclined face of
the block or of one of the blocks underneath the breech end of the barrel
wedges as the barrel or barrels are shut down, to bring their open ends
against the face of the body of the gun, which said steel plate or cross piece
may be adjusted or replaced when worn.
Secondly, cutting-off communication between the barrels of double-barrelled
breech-loading fire-arms of the kind herein-before described and represented
in the accompanying Drawings, by means of a rib between the ends of the

page_text: barrels engaging in a groove on the face of the body of the gun, or the reverse
as herein-before described.
Thirdly, keeping the joint on which the barrel or barrels turn of breech-
loading fire-arms of the kind herein-before described, by means of spring pieces
of the kinds described with reference especially to Figures 11, 12, and 13, of
the accompanying Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Jones, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this First day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty.
HENRY JONES. (L.B.)
Witness,
JOHN WILLIAM FELVUS.