IMPROVEMENTS IN BREECH-LOADING FIRE- ARMS "
Year: 1881

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Philip Thomas Godsal, of the 52nd Regiment Light
Infantry, for an Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN BREECH-LOADING FIRE-
ARMS "
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Philip Thomas Godsal at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 7th April 1881.
PHILIP THOMAS GODSAL, of the 52nd Regiment Light Infantry.
IN BREECH-LOADING FIRE-ARMS.'
"
"IMPROVEMENTS
This Invention relates to certain improvements in the breech loading fire arm,
for which I obtained Letters Patent bearing date March 6th, 1880, No. 979.
In the Specification of the above Patent I have described the fire-arm as furnished
with a rising and falling breech block for closing the rear end of the barrel, and
provided with a central slot through which the hammer plays in order to reach the
cartridge. This block slides between the sides of the breech case, and is raised
and lowered by means of a forked extension of the forward end of the trigger
guard lever.
The prongs of this forked extension pass through recesses made in opposite sides
of the breech block, and serve as the lever is rocked to draw down the breech block
or to force it up into the closed position.
I now propose instead of the forked extension of the trigger guard lever acting
on the breech block from its sides to make it act on the block through the central
Blot which is widened for the purpose, the hammer playing between the prongs of
the fork. By this means I avoid cutting away the sides of the breech block, and
thus provide it with better bearing surfaces.
In order to prevent the breech block from falling out of the gun one of the sides
of the block is extended downwards and a vertical slot or groove is formed in it.
The point of a screw which is tapped through the side of the breech case enters
this slot, and whilst allowing free play up or down will limit the extent of
that play.
If. thought desirable both sides of the breech block may be extended downwards
so as to fill up the open spaces underneath the gun, or a plate may be fitted to the
underside of the gun for the same purpose.

page_text: In the Specification above referred to I. have described the hammer as being
cocked in the act of opening the gun through the trigger guard lever acting upon
an accelerating lever or finger which bears against the hammer. This finger was
provided with a tail piece, which when the gun was again closed was pressed upon
by the trigger guard lever, and the finger was thereby returned to its normal
position leaving the hammer cocked and ready for firing. I now propose to make
this finger without the tail piece, and to so modify its form and also the form of
the hammer tail that when the trigger guard lever is depressed to open the gun
it will cock the hammer as before, but when the trigger guard lever is returned
to its normal position to close the gun the finger will be retained in its raised
position, and acting as a strut will lock the hammer and prevent the discharge of
the gun.
To provide for the unlocking of the hammer the pivot pin of the finger is
furnished with a feather which takes into a key-way formed in the finger, so that
the finger and pivot pin will move together.
The pivot pin passes through the sides of the breech case, and on one of its
outside ends a short lever is securely rivetted. By depressing this lever therefore
the pivot pin will be rocked in its bearings, carrying with it the finger out of the
way of the hammer, leaving the latter in its cocked position.
By means of this lever and finger also the hammer may be let down gently to
ease the springs, and may be re-cocked should it be found desirable without opening
the action. In order to provide a simple means for keeping the cocking and locking
finger in place, the hole for the passage of the pin on one side of the breech case
through which the pivot pin passes is provided with a key way which, as it will
only allow the pin with its feather to pass when the finger is turned into a position
which it can only assume before the trigger guard and its accessories are inserted
into their place, will form a sufficient security against the displacement or with-
drawal of the pin.
The finger may be made with a square butt end, against which a flat spring
may bear so as to maintain the finger either in the raised or lowered positions.
To secure the stock in its place I employ an iron tie piece which I screw into
the wood. The outer. end of this tie-piece is formed with a boss which projects
into the breech case. The boss is bored to receive a pin which passes also through
the sides of the breech case, and thus the breech case and stock are held firmly
together. The boss may be also so formed as to regulate the movement of the
accelerating and safety bolting levers.
The main pin may be fixed in its place by a feather acting in a similar manner
to the cocking lever feather.
It may also be desirable to use a striker in addition to the hammer, in which
case I may retain the striker in position by means of a transverse spring piece.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
"
by the said Philip Thomas Godsal in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
7th October 1881.
PHILIP THOMAS GODSAL, of the 52nd Regiment Light Infantry. "IMPROVEMENTS
IN BREECH LOADING FIRE ARMS."
This Invention relates to certain improvements in the breech loading fire-arm,
for which I obtained Letters Patent bearing date March sixth, One thousand eight
hundred and eighty, No. 970.
In the Specification of the above Patent I have described the fire arm as furnished
with a rising and falling breech block for closing the rear end of the barrel, and
provided with a central slot through which the hammer plays in order to reach
the cartridge. This block slides between the sides of the breech case, and is raised
and lowered by means of a forked extension of the forward end of the trigger guard
lever.
The prongs of this forked extension pass through recesses made in opposite sides
of the breech block, and serve as the lever is rocked to draw down the breech
block or to force it up into the closed position.
The hammer I have described as being cocked in the act of opening the gun,
through this trigger guard lever acting upon an accelerating lever or finger which
bears against the hammer. This finger was provided with a tail-piece which when
the gun was again closed was pressed upon by the trigger guard lever, and the
finger was thereby returned to its normal position leaving the hammer cocked and
ready for firing. I now propose to make this finger without the tail-piece, and to
so modify its form and also the form of the hammer tail that when the trigger
guard lever is depressed to open the gun it will cock the hammer as before, but
when the trigger guard lever is returned to its normal position to close the gun the
finger will be retained in its raised position, and acting as a strut will lock the
hammer and prevent the discharge of the gun.
In the accompanying Drawing, Fig. 1 shews in longitudinal section the action
of a rifle constructed according to my Invention; Fig. 2 is a cross section taken in
the line 1, 2, of Fig. 1, and Fig. 3 is a partial side view of the rifle.
In these Figures A is the breech block moving vertically between the cheeks B, B,
of the breech case; C is the trigger guard lever having its fulcrum at C³, and
formed with a forked extension c which enters a central slot a formed in the breech
block, as shewn in the detached views, Fig. 4; D is the hammer mounted loosely
on the pin C; D' is the main spring, and E the cartridge extractor, also mounted
loosely on the pin C and operated by the trigger guard lever; F' is the accelerating
lever or finger for cocking the hammer. This finger is mounted upon a pivot pin F¹
which has its bearings in the cheeks of the gun, and is formed with a feather for
locking the lever F thereto, as shewn best in the detached views, Figures 5. The
extremity of this lever when out of action rests upon a shoulder c' on the inside
of the fork c of the trigger guard lever (see the detached views, Figs. 6), and under-
lying the tail-piece d of the hammer, it will when raised rock the hammer on its
fulcrum pin and throw it into the cocked position.
This movement, it will be understood, is effected by drawing down the trigger
guard lever. On its return to the position shewn at Fig. 1 it leaves the lever F in
the position to which it has moved it by reason of the contact of its shoulder c¹
with the extremity of the lever F.
During its rise this lever F acted as a propelling force as heretofore, but on
attaining to the position of Fig. 1 it became converted into a strut, thereby
presenting an effectual bar to the forward movement of the hammer.
To provide for the unlocking of the hammer the pivot pin of the finger is
extended through the sides of the breech case to receive a short lever F2. By
depressing this lever the pivot pin will be rocked in its bearings carrying with it
the finger out of the way of the hammer, and leaving the latter in its cocked
position.

page_text: By means of this lever and finger also the hammer may be let down gently to
ease the main spring, and may be recocked should it be found desirable without
opening the action.
In order to provide a simple means for keeping the cocking and locking finger
in place the hole for the passage of the pin on one side of the breech case, through
which the pivot pin passes, is provided with a key-way (as shewn in Fig. 3.) This
arrangement, as it will only allow the pin with its feather to pass when the finger
is turned into a position which it can only assume before the trigger guard and its
accessories are inserted into their place will form a sufficient security against the
displacement or withdrawal of the pin.
The accelerating lever or finger F may if desired be made with a squared butt
end, as shewn at Fig. 7, to receive the pressure of a flat spring that will retain the
finger either in the raised or lowered positions.
The main pin C¹ I also fix in its place by providing it with a feather which will
act in a similar manner to the feather of the pin F¹. This enables me to use a side
lever, as shewn in dotted lines in Fig. 3, if I prefer it instead of a lever formed by
the trigger guard. The bearing for this pin is formed with a keyway, as shewn at
Fig. 3, to permit of the insertion of the pin C¹ and its withdrawal when the feather
and keyway are brought into coincidence.
It will be understood that in this case the trigger guard lever has a keyway
formed in one prong of the fork for the reception of the feather which extends
only from the adjacent cheek of the breech case so far as to fill the keyway of that
prong, and that the hammer and the cartridge extractor are mounted loosely on
the pin C¹. It may also be desirable to use a striker in addition to the
hammer.
The forked extension c of the trigger guard lever C it will be seen instead of
acting as heretofore on the breech block A from its sides acts on the block through
the central slot a, which is widened for the purpose, the hammer D playing
between the prongs of the fork. By this means I avoid cutting away the sides of
the breech block, and thus provide it with better bearing surfaces.
In order to prevent the breech block from falling out of the gun one of the sides
of the block may be extended downwards, as shewn at Fig. 8, and have a vertical
slot or groove formed in it to receive the point of a screw which is tapped through
the side of the breech case. The point of the screw entering this slot will,
whilst allowing free play up or down, act as a stop and limit the extent of that
play.
If thought desirable both sides of the breech block may be extended downwards
so as to fill up the open spaces underneath the gun, or a plate may be fitted to the
underside of the gun for the same purpose.
Having now set forth the nature of my Invention of "Improvements in Breech
Loading Fire-arms," and explained the manner of carrying the same into effect, I
wish it to be understood that under the above in part recited Letters Patent I
claim,―
First. The means above described for locking and unlocking the cocked hammer
and for cocking the hammer without opening the action.
Secondly. The means described for securing the fulcrum pins F¹ and C¹ in place
without interfering with their facile withdrawal from the lock case.
In witness whereof, I, the said Philip Thomas Godsal, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, the Fifth day of October, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and eighty one.
PHILIP THOMAS GODSAL. (LS.)