IMPROVEMENTS IN BREECH- LOADING FIRE-ARMS
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Frederick Tolhausen,. Patent Agent, of No. 149,
Boulevard Magenta, Paris, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN BREECH-
LOADING FIRE-ARMS."A communication from John Webster Cochran,
residing at New York, United States of America.
Sealed the 29th August 1865, and dated the 8th March 1865.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Frederick Tolhausen at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
8th March 1865.
I, FREDERICK TOLHAUSEN, of No. 149, Boulevart Magegta, Paris, in the
Empire of France, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN BREECH-LOADING FIRE-ARMS," to be as follows:-.
This Invention consists in a novel construction of and mode of applying
and operating the moveable breech block of a breech-loading fire-arm, to
provide for the use of flanged or other metallic cartridges, whereby great
strength, simplicity, and compactness of form are obtained. It also consists in
a novel construction, of a trigger-guard lever for opening the breech, whereby
provision is made for the locking of the breech block in a closed condition,
and for preventing the said block from rising too high when brought to a
position for loading, and an opening between the rear end of the said lever
and stock when the breech is open is avoided.
It also consists in a novel construction of the face of the breech block,
whereby a firm bearing is afforded for the whole surface of the rear end or

page_text: bottom of the cartridge shell in firing, and the bursting of the shell is prevented,
and facility is afforded for the easy opening of the breech after firing; and
it further consists in a novel construction and arrangement of the handle of
the cartridge shell extractor, whereby greater facility is afforded for the opera-
tion of the extractor, and the operation of reloading after firing is enabled to
be performed with the right hand alone.
Figure 1 in the accompanying Drawing is a vertical, longitudinal, sectional
view of the principal parts of a breech-loading fire-arm in which the several
improvements are incorporated, showing the breech open for loading, the
breech block not being represented in section; Figure 2 is a similar view,
except that it shews the breech block in section, and the breech closed for
firing; Figure 3 is a side view, omitting the trigger guard; Figure 4 is a
top view; Figure 5 is a transverse section taken immediately in front of the
breech block and showing the breech frame, the rear end of the barrel, and
the cartridge shell extractor; Figure 6 is a face view of the breech block;
Figure 7 is a plan or top view of the cartridge shell extractoř detached
from the gun. Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the
several Figures.
A is a metal breech frame which secures the barrel B to the stock; this
frame has provided in it a vertical, longitudinal, parallel-sided mortise a for the
reception of the breech block C; this breech block is made to fit snugly into the
mortise a The said block is not chambered, as the chamber of the arm is
in the barrel, but it has a cavity C in its under side, the nature and object of
which will be presently fully described, It has provided on its rear end a
transverse cylindrical shaped projection d, which fits into and works in a
corresponding bearing in the back of the mortise å, to permit the necessary
movement for loading, and is secured in place by a pin 'd, d, passing through
the breech block and frame; to the fear portion of the breech block there is
attached the lever D, which serves as à handle for operating the breech block
and also as a trigger guard. The rear portion e of the 'said lever is turned up
nearly in the form of an are concentric with the pin d, and passes through a
slot in the lower part of the frame A so far that it will not be withdrawn
therefrom by the movement of the lever which is necessary to bring the
breech block to the position for loading represented in Figure 1. The 'said
portion of the lever has à projection fat its extremity, which enters into a
notch in the frame A when the lever is brought up into contact with the
stock at h, as it is when the breech block is in the position for firing
represented in Figure 2. The projection f and notch 9 are so rounded that
when the lever is pulled downward from the last-mentioned position with any
ġ

page_text: degree of force the said projection will slip out of the said notch, and allow the
lever to move to the before-mentioned position shewn in Figure 1, when it is
stopped by the said projection coming in contact with a stop i behind the
slot j, the lower part of the breech block being then within the mortise a, and
no opening being produced between the said block and the upper portion of
the frame. The cavity C is of such inclined form, shown in Figure 2, that it
leaves the front end of the breech block solid to form a perfect bearing for
the head of the cartridge E, but becomes deeper towards its rear to such an
extent that when the fire-arm is brought to the position for loading shewn in
Figure 1 the top of the said cavity is parallel with the bore of the barrel, as
shewn in dotted outline in that Figure, and serves as a receptacle for the
cartridge, and to conduct the same straight into the chamber of the barrel,
and also as a means of steadying the discharged shells while they are being
drawn out from the chamber by the extractor G. By providing this cavity in
the under side of the breech block the amount of movement of the said block
necessary to permit the loading is very much reduced. This cavity does not
injuriously weaken the breech block; as the back part is made solid, and the
said block is left solid on each side of the said cavity, and when the said block
is brought down to the position shown in Figure 2 the solid metal of the back
part of the said block below the cylindrical projection d'comes to a firm
bearing against the back part of the mortise a. The hammer F is made to
ignite the fulminate priming in the flanged head of the cartridge (or to
the centre when a centre fire cartridge is used) by striking upon a pin 1,
which passes through a hole bored longitudinally through the breech block.
This pin-is-also made to serve as a means of throwing back the hammer to
the position of half-cock by the act of bringing the breech block. to the
position shewn in Figure 1 for reloading after firing, its rear end then coming
into contact with the nose of the hammer and pressing it back. The con-
struction and arrangement of the breech block as described, by providing for
loading at the under side of the fire-arm, obviates the necessity for so great a
movement of the said block as would be required for the insertion of the
cartridge into the barrel from above the frame with a breech block operating
with a similar movement, while it admits of the parts being made very strong;
and a breech block operating in this way enables a fire-arm to be made very
strong, while of simple construction and with few parts. The construction of the
rear end of the lever D'as described, by avoiding any opening between the said
end and the stock, obviates the principal objection to such a lever, viz., its
liability to be caught in such accidental manner as to produce the opening of the
breech or to snatch the fire-arm out of the hands. The face of the breech block

page_text: is countersunk or recessed, as shown at 6 in Figures 1, 2, and 6, for the
reception of the bottom or rear end of the cartridge shell. The back of the
countersink or recess b is of a spherical surface concentric with a point in
which the axis of the bore if prolonged would intersect the axis of the pin d, d,
and an opening 6 is made from the bottom of the said recess, through the
bottom of the breech block, of the full width of the said recess, as shown in
Figure 6, to permit the bottom of the cartridge which projects from the rear
end of the barrel, after the insertion of the cartridge into the chamber, to pass
into the said recess as the breech block is brought to the closed position,
shewn in Figure 2, for firing. The spherical surface forms a bearing for all
parts of the bottom of the cartridge shell, and prevents any part thereof from
being burst or unduly strained by the adaptation of the bottom of the shell
to the form of the said surface which takes place in firing, and allows the
breech block to open freely or without binding against the shell. The
extractor consists of a flat piece of metal G, having a recess in its upper edge
to fit the part of the cartridge shell in front of the flange k, which is formed
around the rear end thereof, and having tongues on its sides to fit guide
grooves p, p, in the sides of the mortise a, as shown in Figure 5. This piece
is rigidly connected with a slide G¹, which fits into a guide provided for it
in the front part of the frame A below the barrel, and to the front end of
this slide there is attached a spring m, which exerts a constant tendency to
draw it forward and draw the extractor G into a recess n provided for its
reception in the lower part of the rear end of the barrel, when it will not
interfere with the insertion of the cartridge into the chamber. To the right
side of the extractor there is attached a straight rod G³, which extends in a
rearward direction within the right-hand groove p, and to the rear end of
which there is attached a knob G³, which protrudesl aterally through a slot s
which is provided in the stock, and which is lined with an escutcheon plate s¹.
This knob is situated near or somewhat behind the hammer pin r, and by
pressing it back with the thumb of the right hand while the breech piece is
open, as shewn in Figure 1, the extractor is enabled to be drawn back, and
thereby made to withdraw the cartridge shell from the chamber. By this
arrangement of the rod G' and knob G³ the necessity of using the left hand
in the withdrawal of the shells is obviated, and when the fire-arm is slung
from the side of the soldier as is customary with cavalry carbines, the
operations of extracting the discharged cartridge shells and reloading are
enabled to be performed entirely by using the right hand only. When the
knob G is liberated, the spring m draws forward the extractor into the
recess n in the rear of the barrel. In order to provide for drawing back the

page_text: extractor G in case of the knob G getting broken off, there is a recess t
formed in the frame in front of the extractor to admit the end of the thumb
to push it back.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Frederick Tolhausen in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 5th September 1865.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, FREDERICK
TOLHAUSEN, Patent Agent, of 149, Boulevard Magenta, Paris, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eighth day of March, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, in the twenty-eighth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Frederick Tolhausen, Her special licence that I, the said Frederick Tolhausen,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Frederick Tolhausen, 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," a communication to me from John Webster
Cochran, a person resident at New York, United States of America, upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said Frederick Tolhausen, 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 Frederick Tolhausen, 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:
This Invention consists in a novel construction of and mode of applying
and operating the moveable breech block of a breech-loading fire-arm, to
provide for the use of flanged or other metallic cartridges, whereby great
strength, simplicity, and compactness of form are obtained. It also consists
in a novel construction of a trigger-guard lever for opening the breech,

page_text: whereby provision is made for the locking of the breech block in a closed
condition, and for preventing the said block from rising too high when
brought to a position for loading, and an opening between the rear end of the
said lever and stock when the breech is open is avoided.
It also consists in a novel construction of the face of the breech block,
whereby a firm bearing is afforded for the whole surface of the rear end or
bottom of the cartridge shell in firing, and the bursting of the shell is pre-
vented, and facility is afforted for the easy opening of the breech after firing;
and it further consists in a novel construction and arrangement of the handle
of the cartridge shell extractor, whereby greater facility is afforded for the
operation of the extractor, and the operation of reloading after firing is enabled
to be performed with the right hand alone.
Figure 1 in the accompanying Drawing is a vertical, longitudinal, sectional
view of the principal parts of a breech-loading fire-arm in which the several
improvements are incorporated, showing the breech open for loading, the
breech block not being represented in section; Figure 2 is a similar view,
except that it shows the breech block in section, and the breech closed for.
firing; Figure 3 is a side view, omitting the triggor guard; Figure 4 is a
top view; Figure 5 is a transverse section taken immediately in front of the
breech block and showing the breech frame, the rear end of the barrel, and
the cartridge shell extractor; Figure is a face view of the breech block;
Figure 7 is a plan or top view of the cartridge shell extractor detached from
the gun. Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the
several Figures.
A is a metal breech frame which secures the barrel B to the stok; this
frame has provided in it a vertical, longitudinal, parallel-sided mortise a for
the reception of the breech block C; this breech block is made to fit snugly
into the mortise a. The said block is not chambered, as the chamber of the
arm is in the barrel, but it has a cavity C in its under side, the nature and
object of which will be presently fully described. It has provided on its rear
and a transverse cylindrical shaped projection d, which fits into and works in
a corresponding bearing in the back of the mortise a, to permit the necessary
movement for loading, and is secured in place by a pin d, d, passing through
the breech block and frame. To the rear portion of the breech block there is
attached the lever D, which serves as a handle for operating the breech block
and also as a trigger guard. The rear portion of the said lever is turned
up nearly in the form of an are concentric with the pin d, and passes throngh
a slot j in the lower part of the frame A so far that it will not be withdrawn
therefrom by the movement of the lever which is necessary to bring the

page_text: breech block to the position for loading represented in Figure 1. The said
portion of the lever has a projection f at its extremity, which enters into a
notch in the frame A when the lever is brought up into contact with the
stock at h, as it is when the breech block is in the position for firing repre-
sented in Figure 2. The projection f and notch 9 are so rounded that when
the lever is pulled downward from the last-mentioned position with any degree
of force, the said projection will slip out of the said notch and allow the lever
to move to the before-mentioned position shown in Figure 1, where it is
stopped by the said projection coming in contact with a stop i behind the
slot j, the lower part of the breech block being then within the mortise a, and
no opening being produced between the said block and the upper portion of
the frame. The cavity c is of such inclined form, shown in Figure 2, that it
leaves the front end of the breech block solid to form a perfect bearing for the
head of the cartridge E, but becomes deeper towards its rear to such an
extent that when the fire-arm is brought to the position for loading shown in
Figure 1 the top of the said cavity is parallel with the bore of the barrel, as
shown in dotted outline in that Figuro, and serves as a receptacle for the
cartridge, and to conduct the same straight into the chamber of the barrel,.
and also as a means of steadying the discharged shells while they are being
drawn out from the chamber by the extractor G. By providing this cavity in
the under side of the breech block the amount of movement of the said block
necessary to permit the loading is very much reduced. This cavity does not.
injuriously weaken the breech block, as the back part is made solid, and, the
said block is left solid on each side of the said cavity, and whin the said block.
is brought down to the position shown in Figure 2 the solid metal of the.
back part of the said block below the cylindrical projection d comes to a firm
bearing against the back part of the mortise a. The hammer F is made to
ignite the fulminate priming in the flanged head of the cartridge (or to the
centre when a centre fire. cartridge is used), by striking upon a pin e, which.
passes through a hole bored longitudinally through the breech block. This
pin is also made to serve as a means of throwing back the hammer to the
position of half-cock by the act of bringing the breech block to the position.
shown in Figure 1 for reloading after firing, its rear end then coming into.
contact with the nose of the hammer and pressing it back. The construction
and arrangement of the breech block as described, by providing for loading at
the under side of the fire-arm, obviates the necessity for so great a movement
of the said block as would be required for the insertion of the cartridge into
the barrel from above the frame with a breech block operating with a similar.
movement, while it admits of the parts being made very strong; and a

page_text: breech block operating in this way enables a fire-arm to be made very strong
while of simple construction and with few parts. The construction of the
rear end of the lever D, as described, by avoiding any opening between the
said end and the stock, obviates the principal objection to such a lever, viz.,
its liability to be caught in such accidental manaer as to produce the opening
of the breech, or to snatch the fire-arm out of the hands. The face of the
breech block is countersunk or recessed, as shown at 6 in Figures 1, 2,
and 6, for the reception of the bottom or rear end of the cartridge shell. The
back of the countusink or recess b is of a spherical surface concentric with a
point in which the axis of the bore if prolonged would intersect the axis of
the pin d, d, and opening 6 is made from the bottom of the said recess,
through the bottom of the breech block, of the full width of the said recess,
as shown in Figure 6, to permit the bottom of the cartridge which projects
from the rear end of the barrel, after the insertion of the cartridge into the
chamber, to pass into the said recess as the breech block is brought to the
closed position shown in Figure 2 for firing. The spherical surface forms a
bearing for all parts of the bottom of the cartridge shell, and prevents any
part thereof from being burst or unduly strained by the adaptation of the
bottom of the shell of the form of the said surface which takes place in firing
and allows the breech block to open freely, or without binding against the
shell. The extractor consists of a flat piece of metal G, having a recess in its
upper edge to fit the part of the cartridge shell in front of the flange k, which
is formed around the rear end thereof, and having tongues on its sides to fit
guide grooves p, p, in the sides of the mortise a, as shown in Figure 5. This
piece is rigidly connected with a slide G', which fits into a guide provided for
it in the front part of the frame A below the barrel, and to the front end of
this slide there is attached a spring m, which exerts a constant tendency to
draw it forward and draw the extractor G into a recess n provided for its
reception in the lower part of the rear and of the barrel, where it will not
interfere with the insertion of the cartridge into the chamber. To the right
side of the extractor there is attached a straight rod G³, which extends in a
rearward direction within the right-hand groove p, and to the rear end of
which there is attached a knob G³, which 'protrudes laterally through a
slot, which is lined with an escutcheon plate s². This knob is situated
near or somewhat behind the paonner pin r, and by pressing it back
with the thumb of the right hand while the breech-piece is open, as
shown in Figure 1, the extractor is enabled to be drawn bach, and thereby
made to withdraw the cartridge shell from the chambers. By this
arrangement of the rod G2 and knob G³ the necessity of using the left hand

page_text: in the withdrawal of the shells is obviated; and when the fire-arm is slung
from the side of the soldier, as is customary with cavalry carbines, the
operations of extracting the discharged cartridge shells and reloading are
enabled to be performed entirely by using the right hand only. When the
knob G, G³, is liberated, the spring m draws forward the extractor into the
recess n in the rear of the barrel. In order to provide for drawing back the
extractor G, G, in case of the knob G, G³, getting broken off, there is a
recess formed in the frame in front of the extractor to admit the end of the
thumb to push it back.
1st, so constructing and applying a breech block, having a movement such
as herein described, as to provide for the insertion of the cartridge into the
barrel from the under side of the stock of a fire-arm, substantially as as herein
specified.
2d, providing a cavity c, substantially as described, in the under side of such
a breech block for the reception of the cartridge, whereby the movement of
the said block which is necessary for the insertion of the cartridge into the
chamber of the barrel is greatly reduced, and the discharged cartridge shells
are steadied while being withdrawn from the barrel.
3d, the construction and arrangement of the rear end of the breech
operating lever e, substantially as herein described, whereby an opening
betwen the said end of the breech block and the stock is avoided.
4th, the spherical faced recess 6 in the face of the breech block, substantially
as and for the purpose herein spicified.
5th, the rod G and knob G³ attached to the cartridge shell extractor G,
the said rod extending rearward from the extractor in a groove in the mortise
of the frame, and the knob protruding through a slot in the side of the stock,
substantially as and for the purpose herein specified.
In witness whereof, I, the said Frederick Tolhausen, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this First day of September, A.D. 1865.
F. TOLHAUSEN.
(2.5.)