IMPROVEMENTS IN FIRE- ARMS
Year: 1867

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Tranter, of Birmingham, in the County of³
Warwick, Gun Maker, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN FIRE-
ARMS."
Sealed the 10th December 1868, and dated the 1st, August 1867.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Tranter at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Pétition, on the 1st
August 1867.
I, WILLIAM TRANTER, of Birmingham, in the County, of Warwick, Gun
Maker, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN FIRE-ARMS," to be as follows:-
My Invention relates to breech-loading fire-arms, and has reference to the
Inventions described in the Specifications of two Patents granted to me; and
bearing date respectively 20th July 1865, No. 1889, and 17th August 1866,
No. 2113, and consists, in the first place, in elongating the 'screw' for closing
the rear end of the plunger by forming a tube with a hook at the front end
thereof, for the purpose of retaining the striking, pin: in order to prevent-its-
falling accidentally and igniting the cartridge after it has been inserted in the

page_text: barrel. By means of this arrangement the gun can be carried with safety
when loaded, and when required to be fired it is only necessary to turn a pro-
jection formed on the said screw into its position towards the right hand,
thereby removing all impediment to the action of the striking pin; the said
projection is furnished with a spring and stud for the purpose of retaining it
in either of its positions. The front part of the stud on the striking pin is
suitably formed for entering the hook and sliding out of it when required.
My Invention consists, in the second place, in a modification of the thrower
for throwing out the cartridge case, and also of the plunger for acting in con-
nection therewith. For this purpose the plunger has a groove formed in the
under side to within a short distance of the end, thereby forming a projection
or shoulder adapted to catch upon the short end of the thrower, which has its
fulcrum in the lower part of the breech piece. The short arm of the thrower
is filed away on one or both sides for the purpose of enabling it to slide in the
groove of the plunger. A portion of the metal of the plunger is removed at
the rear end of the groove in order to admit of its turning on its axis free of
the short arm of the thrower. By withdrawing the plunger the projection or
shoulder thereon is brought in contact with the short arm of the thrower and
causes the long arm to rise in front of the plunger and throw out the
cartridge case.
And my Invention consists, in the third place, in the adaptation and appli-
cation to breech-loading revolving. pistols of a lever with its fulcrum placed at
the lower part of the frame, the upper part of such lever being formed so that
it may be projected forward by the falling of the hammer and the cartridge
exploded and retained in its position in the chamber until the hammer is.
slightly lifted, when the chamber will be free to rotate as required. There is
a stud formed on the front of the upper part of this lever for the purpose of
exploding the cartridge. The upper part of this lever will prevent the
cartridge case from being blown back against the frame of the pistol.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Tranter in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
1st February 1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME,. I, WILLIAM
TRANTER, of 'Birmingham, in, the County, of Warwick, Gun Maker, send
greeting.

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty.Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the First day of August, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven, in the thirty-first year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said William Tranter,. Her special licence that I, the said. Williain
Tranter, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such: others as I,
the said William Tranter, 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, "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN FIRE-ARMS," upon the condition (amongst others). that I, the
said William Tranter, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in
writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and. seals, should par-
ticularly 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 William. Tranter, 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 Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the
letters and figures maked thereon (that is to say) :-
:-,
My Invention of "Improvements in Fire-arms" has reference to the
Inventions described in the Specifications of two Patents granted. to me, and
bearing date respectively Twentieth July, One thousand eight hundred, and
sixty-five, No. 1889, and Seventeenth August, One thousand, eight hundred
and sixty-six, No. 2113, and consists, in the first place, in elongating the
screw for closing the rear end of the plunger by forming a tube with a hook
at the front end thereof for the purpose of retaining the striking pin in order
to prevent its falling accidentally and igniting the cartridge-after it has been
inserted in the barrel. By means of this arrangement the gun can be carried
with safety when loaded, and when required to be fired it is only necessary to
turn a projection formed on-the said screw into its position towards the right
band, thereby removing all impediment to the action of the striking pin. The
said-projection is furnished with-a-spring-and-stud-for-the-purpose of retaining
it in either of its positions. The front part of the stud or block on the striking
pin. is suitably formed for entering the hook and sliding-out of it.when required.

page_text: And my Invention consists, in the second place, in a modification of the
thrower for throwing out the cartridge case, and also of the plunger for acting
in connection therewith. For this purpose the plunger has a groove formed in
the under side to within a short distance of the end, thereby forming a pro-
jection or shoulder adapted to catch upon the short end of the thrower, which
has its fulcrum in the lower part of the breech piece. The short arm of
the thrower is filed away on one or both sides for the purpose of enabling it to
slide in the groove of the plunger. A portion of the metal of the plunger is
removed at the rear end of the groove in order to admit of its turning on its
axis free of the short arm of the thrower.
Having thus stated the nature of the said Invention I will proceed to
describe more particularly in what manner the same is to be performed by
reference to the accompanying Drawings, in which are represented the parts
of a gun above referred to.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Fig. 1 is a longitudinal section of the shoe or breech piece, shewing the
plunger drawn back but not pulled down into its position of being locked for
firing; Fig. 2 shews the rear end of the breech piece, and Fig. 3 the front
end of the same; Fig. 4 is an underneath plan of the breech piece; Fig. 5 is
a similar view of the plunger; Fig. 6 represents the elongated screw. or
retainer for the striking pin detached. In these several Figures the same
letters of reference indicate corresponding parts.
A is the shoe or breech piece with a block B on its under side, in which is
inserted the fulcrum C of the sear connected with the trigger, and also the
fulcrum D of the thrower, which block serves alsó as a means of fixing the
breech piece to the stock by a screw; E is a stop for the plunger F, jointed
to the top of the breech piece, which stop is snapped into its place by a spring,
and can be lifted up for the removal of the plunger as required; G is a spring
to act upon the sear; H is another spring to act on the rin formed on the
end of the plunger; I is a slot in the hollow of the plunger along which the
striking pin J is enabled to work freely; K is an inclined plane for the stud
or block L of the striking pin to act against in order to prevent the discharge
of the gun before the plunger is turned into its position for firing. By the
form of the slot represented the striking pin and spiral spring may be removed
by the fingers only. M is a groove formed in the under side of the plunger,
which is widened to admit of the bandle being turned down without coming in
contact with the short arm of the thrower; N is a screw formed at the rear

page_text: end of the plunger, in which is screwed the guide.or closer O, which is formed
with a tube P, a portion thereof being removed to form a hook or retainer P*
for the striking pin; Qisa spring to act upon a stud in order to retain the
screw N in its required. position; R is the thrower for throwing out the
cartridge case, having its fulcrum at D; the short arm of this thrower passes
along the
groove M in the under side of the plunger until it comes in contact
with the end of the same, when it is drawn back and the long arm thrown
upwards so as to throw out the cartridge case.
The action of the gun is as follows:-Assuming that, a cartridge has been
inserted in the breech there are only two mechanical motions required for
loading and firing the gun. The cartridge is pushed into its proper place and
the striking pin drawn back for firing by the operation of closing the breech,
and the empty cartridge case is withdrawn and thrown out of the breech by
the operation of opening the breech. The block B of the shoe or breech
piece A is lengthened for the purpose of carrying the fulcra of the sear and
thrower to suit the present modification of the same, and is fixed to the stock
and connected with the guard by means of screw pins, as in my former Patent.
By this arrangement the breech piece, the plunger, and the stop for the latter
can be made shorter than by the arrangement in my former Patent. The
guide or closer O enables the gun to be carried with safety when loaded by
merely turning the projection formed on it towards the left hand, thereby
bringing the hook P* at the end of the tube P in front of the stud or
block L of the striking pin. When the projection is turned towards the
right hand the gun can be fired without any impediment to the action of the
striking pin. After the cartridge case has been withdrawn by the extractor
the long arm of the thrower R is thrown upwards by the short arm thereof
coming in contact with the solid part of the plunger at the end of the
groove M in the under side thereof when the plunger is drawn backwards
for reloading.
Having thus described the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I would remark that I do not claim under
this present Patent any of the parts above referred to which are contained
in my former Patents; but what I do claim as of my Invention under the
above in part recited Letters Patent is,-
First, the elongated screw for closing the rear end of the plunger formed
so as to be capable of acting as a safety-hook-or stop for the striking pin.
Secondly, the thrower acting in connection with the plunger, as represented

page_text: And, lastly, the combination of the elongated screw and thrower with the
breech piece and plunger modified to suit the same.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Tranter, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, the Thirtieth day of January, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight.
Witness,
WILLIAM SPENCE,
8, Quality Court,
Chancery Lane,
London, W.C.
WILLIAM TRANTER. (L.S.)