IMPROVE- MENTS IN BREECH-LOADING FIRE-ARMS
Year: 1866

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas William Webley, of 84, Weaman Street,
Birminghain, in the County of Warwick, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN BREECH-LOADING FIRE-ARMS."
Sealed the 29th March 1867, and dated the 17th November 1866.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas William Webley
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the.
17th November 1866.
I, THOMAS WILLIAM WEBLEY, of 84, Weaman Street, Birmingham, in the.
County of Warwick, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN BREECH-LOADING FIRE-ARMS," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in breech-loading fire-arms,
and is applicable to that class of fire-arms in which the breeches of the barrel :
or barrels are opened to receive cartridges by turning down the barrels on a
horizontal axis, that is, at right angles to their length and at a short distance
from their breech ends, so that their breech ends are raised up above tho
breech piece. The barrels when in position for firing have in some cases been
secured by a catch, known as the Le Fanchet or double grip action catch,
which is composed of a locking bolt on the axis of a lever which is formed to
fit against the trigger guard.
The first part of my Invention consists in applying a spring to this action
to cause the lever, after it has been moved to the centre of its travel, to fly

page_text: over in either direction to completely open or completely close the catch, by
this means the gun is made bandier to open, and self-locking when closed
by forcing the barrels home. In the class of fire-arms above described the
barrels have also, in some cases, been held in position for firing by a bolt or
catch pressed forward by a spring entering a recess in the rear end of a lump
below the barrels.
The second part of my Invention consists in arrangements of mechanism
for giving motion to these bolts from levers placed above the tang at the rear
of the breech plate. For this purpose the lever is carried on a spindle or
axis which passes down through the breech plate, and the lower end of the
spindle or axis has a crank formed on it, the pin of which crank works in a
slot or recess in the sliding bolt, so that by turning the lever on one side the
bolt or catch will be withdrawn; or in place of this arrangement the spindle
or axis of the lever may pass through the tang and have a cam upon it to act
on a small intermediate lever that lies in a recess in the breech plate, and is
at its lower end connected to the sliding bolt.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Thomas William Webley in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 16th May 1867.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
WILLIAM WEBLEY, of 84, Weaman Street, Birmingham, in the County of
Warwick, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventeenth day of November, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, in the thirtieth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Thomas William Webley, Her special licence that I, the said
Thomas William Webley, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said Thomas William Webley, 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 Thomas William Webley, my executors or adminis-
trators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands

page_text: and seals, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said
Invention, and in what manner the same was to be performed, and causo
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 Thomas William Webley, 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 :-
This Invention has for object improvements in breech-loading fire-arms,
and is applicable to that class of fire-arms in which the breeches of the barre!
or barrels are opened to receive cartridges by turning down the barrels on a
horizontal axis, that is, at right angles to their length, and at a short distance
from their breech ends, so that their breech ends are raised up above the
breech piece. The barrels when in position for firing have in some cases been
secured by a catch, known as the Lefaucheux or double grip-action catch,
which is composed of a locking bolt on the axis of a lever which is formed to
fit against the trigger guard.
My Invention consists in applying a spring to this action to cause the lever
after it has been moved to the centre of its travel to fly over in either
direction to completely open or completely close the catch. By this means the
gun is made handier to open, and self-locking when closed, by forcing the
barrels bome.
In the Drawings hereunto annexed I have shown the manner in which I
prefer to apply a spring to the locking bolt of the Lefaucheux or double-grip
action catch, but I would have it understood that I do not confine myself to
this arrangement as other modes of applying a spring may be adopted, as, for
example, a portion of the advantage derived from this arrangement may be
obtained by so combining the spring with the bolt as to make it self-locking,
only in place of acting both to completely open as well as completely to close
the catch; the arrangement shewn is, however, the one that I prefer to
employ.
Figure 1 shows a longitudinal section of so much of a breech-loading
double-barrel gun as is necessary to illustrate my Invention; Figure 2 is an
under side view of the breech piece, the locking bolt or catch being removed;
and Figure 3 is a plan view of the locking bolt separately.
a are the barrels capable of turning on the pin 6b, carried by the pro-
jection on the under side of the breech piece c, as is usual; d is the
cylindrical locking bolt, provided with a lever handle d, and turning on the
pin e carried by the projection e' of the breech piece; f is a lump on the

page_text: under side of the barrels in which is formed the slot or recess into which
the locking bolt engages; small projections f¹ on opposite sides of the mouth
of the slot being received into spiral grooves formed around opposite sides of
the periphery of the locking bolt in the ordinary manner; 9 is a bent spring
received in a vertical recess in the centre of the back of the breech piece,
one end of the spring is fixed by screws to the breech piece, and its other
end enters a hole in the back end of a connecting rod or slide h, on the forward
end of which is a pin that enters a hole k in the locking bolt, this hole being
formed at the bottom of one of the spiral grooves in the locking bolt, as seen
at Figures 1 and 3. When the locking bolt is turned by its lever handle to
release the barrels the spring is first pressed back by the rod h until the pin
has passed the centre line between the end of the spring and the pin on
which the locking bolt turns, the spring then presses the rod h forwards and
aids in turning the locking bolt until the barrels are released and free to turn
down on their pin joint. When the barrels are again turned up to close the
gun the projections f¹ on the lump below the barrels by acting on the spiral
grooves in the locking bolt turn the bolt round towards its former position, as
is usual, but in place of having by hand to complete the motion of the lever
the spring presses forward the rod and forces round the bolt so as
completely to lock the gun.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of
performing the same, I would have it understood that what I claim is, the
applying a spring to the locking bolt of what is known as the Lefaucheux or
double-grip action catch of breech-loading fire-arms so as to cause the gun to
be self-locking when closed by forcing the barrels home.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Thomas Webley, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Thirteenth day of May, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven.
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