IMPROVEMENTS IN BREECH- LOADING SMALL-ARMS
Year: 1881

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Walker, of Birmingham, in the County of
Warwick, Gun Manufacturer, for an Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN BREECH-
LOADING SMALL-ARMS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Walker at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents on the 30th April 1881.
HENRY WALKER, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Gun Manu-
facturer. "IMPROVEMENTS IN BREECH LOADING SMALL ARMS."
My Invention has reference to breech loading small arms of the kind called drop
down guns and pistols, and my said Invention consists, first, of the construction and
arrangements hereinafter described of the parts for cocking and discharging the
said guns and pistols; and secondly, of the construction and combination herein
after described of the parts of safety apparatus for preventing the accidental
discharge of the said guns and pistols. I will describe my Invention in connection
with double barrel drop down guns.
In constructing and arranging the parts according to my Invention for cocking
and discharging the said guns, I place under the tang of the break off two strikers
by which the gun is cocked and discharged. These strikers are straight and arc
guided by and have a longitudinal motion in a hanging bracket, supported on the
underside of the tang of the break off. The rear ends of the strikers are furnished
with hook like bents, with. which bents sears jointed to the underside of the tang
and pressed downwards by springs engage to hold the strikers in their cocked
positions. The strikers are worked by flat or doubled springs, the free ends of the
arms of which springs work in slots in the said strikers. The strikers are cocked
and their springs put into a state of tension, or allowed to expand by the following
mechanism At the back of the break off a lever moving in a vertical plane is
jointed; I will call this lever the spring compressing and cocking lever. This
lever is pressed outwards or from the break off by means of a doubled spring, one
arm of which may also be used for effecting the snapping action of the locking
bolt worked from the tang or other part of the gun. The upper arm of the cocking
Price 6d1

page_text: lever is provided with a cross piece which works in slots in the strikers, and is
situated behind the rear arms of the doubled springs of the strikers. The lower
arm of the cocking lever is pressed upon by one or two sliding rods passing through
the body of the gun, the front ends of the said rods being situated near to cross
pins on the lump on the barrels.
When the barrels are opened by the raising of their breech ends from the break
off, the pins on the lump retire from the inner ends of the sliding rods, and the latter
are pushed forward by the action of the cocking lever, the said cocking lever
turning on its joint by the action of its spring combined with the pressure of the
striker springs, and causing its upper arm to move from the break off. The springs
of the strikers being now at liberty to move, expand, or rebound to their full
extent and carry the strikers into their cocked positions, taking with them the
upper arm of the cocking lever, the strikers being held in their cocked positions
by the sears engaging with the bents at the rear ends. All pressure on the
strikers is by the expansion or rebound described of their springs removed from
them, and the gun cannot be discharged by the accidental pulling of the triggers
or the removal of the sears from the bent in the said strikers. On closing the gun
the pins on the lump on the barrels press back the sliding rods in the body, which
rods acting upon the lower arm of the cocking and compressing lever causes its
upper arm to move towards the break off, thereby compressing the springs of the
- strikers and putting the latter into a state of tension ready for discharge. The
sears are lifted from the bents for the discharge of the gun by means of vertical
arms on the triggers acting upon the rear unjointed ends of the sears.
By the
construction and arrangement of parts described the opening of the gun cocks the
strikers and puts the gun into a position of safety by removing all pressure from
.the strikers, and the closing of the gun after charging restores the pressure to the
strikers and makes the gun ready for discharge.
'
Two cocking or compressing levers may be used instead of a single lever, as
described, and instead of using straight strikers, curved jointed strikers or hammers
may be used, and coiled springs may be employed in place of flat or doubled springs
for actuating the strikers; and instead of working the cocking and spring com-
pressing lever or levers by sliding rods the said lever or levers may be cranked,
the inner cranked arm or arms being operated from the lump on the barrels. In
this modification the jointed strikers or hammers are furnished at their rear ends
with quadrant pieces, upon which the springs on the opening of the gun bear and
carry the strikers or hammers by the expansion or rebound of the said springs to
full cock, as before described with respect to straight strikers. The quadrant
pieces also carry the bents with which the sears engage.
In the case of curved strikers or hammers the bents and sears may be placed on
the lower part of the gun by raising the position of the axes on which the striker
or hammer turns.
Or the curved or jointed strikers or hammers may be cocked directly by the
back motion of the sliding rods on opening the barrels for charging. In this case
the sliding rods are operated from the pins on the lump through a short lever, the
pin acting on the upper arm of the lever, and the lower arm being against the
end of the sliding rod.
In the case of straight strikers the sliding rod last described acts upon an
intermediate lever placed between the said rod and striker, the upper arm of the
intermediate lever engaging with the striker. In this modification the bent
may either be made in the striker itself or in the lower arm of the intermediate
lever.
The strikers may be cocked by the back motion of the locking bolt. In this
case the underside of the striker is furnished with a projection, against which a
shoulder on the locking bolt bears. The bent and sear mechanism is the same as
in the arrangements before described.
I construct the safety apparatus for locking the triggers or triggers and sears in
the following manner :-The safety bolt works on the under side of the tang of the

page_text: break off, and is put into its safety position by the back motion of the compressing
or cocking lever or levers or rear end of the locking bolt. On the back motion
of the safety bolt one of two projections on it is brought over the triggers, and the
accidental discharge of the gun prevented. The second projection is brought into
position by hand, so as to cause it to cross the sears by means of a thumb plate
working outside the tang of the break off. After the triggers have been locked
simultaneously with the cocking of the gun, the further back motion of the safety
bolts brings the second projection over the sears and thus doubly locks the gun.
Before the gun can be discharged it is necessary to give a forward motion to the
safety bolt by means of its thumb plate, so as to remove its two projections from
off the triggers and sears.
Or instead of projections on the safety bolt, being made to cross the triggers and
sears, levers jointed either to the underside of 'the tang or to the upperside of the
bracket in which the strikers slide may be used, the said levers being put into.
action by the back motion of the locking bolt on cocking the gun or by the back
motion of the compressing lever or levers.
My improvements are applicable to single and double barrel guns and pistols.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Henry Walker in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 26th October
1881.
HENRY WALKER, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Gun Manu-
facturer. "IMPROVEMENTS IN BREECH LOADING SMALL ARMS."
My Invention has reference to breech loading small arms of the kind called
drop down guns and pistols, and my said Invention consists of the construction
and arrangements herein after described of the parts for cocking and discharging
the said guns and pistols.
I will describe my Invention in connection with double barrel drop down guns.
In constructing and arranging the parts according to my Invention for cocking
and discharging the said guns, I place under the tang of the break off two strikers,
by which the gun is cocked and discharged. These strikers are straight, and are
guided by and have a longitudinal motion in a cut away part on the underside of
the tang of the break off. The rear ends of the strikers are furnished with bents,
with which bents sears jointed to the underside of the tang and pressed downwards
by springs engage to hold the strikers in their cocked positions. The strikers are
worked by flat or doubled springs, the free ends of the arms of which springs work
in slots in the said strikers. The strikers are cocked and their springs put into
a state of tension, or allowed to expand, by the following mechanism-At the
back of the break off a lever moving in a vertical plane is jointed. I will call this
lever the spring compressing and cocking lever. The upper arm of the cocking
lever is provided with a cross piece, which works in slots in the strikers, and is
situated behind the rear arms of the doubled springs of the strikers. The lower
arm of the cocking lever is jointed to or is pressed upon by one or two sliding rods
passing through the body of the gun, the front ends of the said rods being hooked
to cross pins on the lump on the barrels.
When the barrels are opened by the raising of their breech ends from the break
off, the pins on the lump retire from the inner ends of the sliding rods, and the
latter are pushed forward by the action of the cross pins on the rods, the cocking
lever turning on its joint by the action of its spring, and causing its upper arm to
move from the break off.
The springs of the strikers being now at liberty to move, expand or rebound to
their full extent and carry the strikers into their cocked positions, taking with
them the upper arm of the cocking lever, the strikers being held in their cocked
positions by the sears engaging with the bents at their rear ends. All pressure on
the strikers is, by the expansion or rebound described of their springs, removed
from them, and the gun cannot be discharged by the accidental pulling of the
triggers or the removal of the sears from the bents in the said strikers. On closing
the gun the pins on the lump on the barrels press back the sliding rods in the
body, which rods acting upon the lower arm of the cocking and compressing lever
cause its upper arm to move towards the break off, thereby compressing the springs
of the strikers and putting the latter into a state of tension ready for discharge.
The sears are lifted from the bents for the discharge of the gun by means of
vertical arms on the triggers acting upon the rear unjointed ends of the sears.
By the construction and arrangement of parts described the opening of the gun
cocks the strikers and removes all pressure from the strikers, and the closing of the
gun, after charging, restores the pressure to the strikers and makes the gun ready
for discharge.
Two cocking or compressing levers may be used instead of a single lever, as
described, and instead of using straight strikers, curved jointed strikers or hammers

page_text: may be used, and instead of working the cocking and spring compressing lever or
levers by sliding rods the said lever or levers may be cranked, the inner cranked
arm or arms being operated from the lump on the barrels. In this modification
the jointed strikers or hammers are furnished at their rear ends with quadrant
pieces, upon which the springs, on the opening of the gun, bear and carry the
strikers or hammers by the expansion or rebound of the said springs to full cock,
as before described with respect to straight strikers.
In the case of curved strikers or hammers the bents and sears may be placed on
the lower part of the gun by raising the position of the axis on which the striker
or hammer turns.
For cocking straight strikers a sliding rod may act upon an intermediate lever
placed between the said rod and striker, the upper arm of the intermediate lever
engaging with the striker. In this modification the bent may either be made in
the striker itself or in the lower arm of the intermediate lever.
The strikers may be cocked by the back motion of the locking bolt. In this
case the underside of the striker is furnished with a projection, against which a
shoulder on the locking bolt bears. The bent and sear mechanism is the same as
in the arrangements before described.
I will now proceed to describe with reference to the accompanying Drawing the
manner in which my Invention is to be performed.
Figures 1 and 2 represent in longitudinal vertical section the breech end of a
drop down gun containing cocking and discharging mechanism constructed
according to my Invention.
In Figure 1 the barrel is represented shut down and the striker cocked for
discharge, and in Figure 2 the barrel is represented lifted from the face of the
break off and the striker cocked, but incapable of being discharged, as all pressure
is removed from it.
The same letters of reference indicate the same parts in both Figures. a is the
striker working in a recess under the tang b. In the said striker is a slot or cut
away part a, in which the free ends of the doubled main spring c of the lock
mechanism work. The extreme rear part of the slot a² in the striker constitutes a
shoulder or bent with which the half or full cock notch in the under side of the
sear & engages to hold the striker at half or full cock. The sear d is situated on
the underside of the tang b and turns on the centre d²; e is a spring for pressing
down the sear & so as to cause its notches to engage with the shoulder or bent of
the striker a. Behind the main spring c is the compressing and cocking lever f
turning on the centre f2, the end of the upper arm of the said lever working in the
slot in the striker a. In double barrel guns the lever f has a cross piece for
acting upon both strikers. Jointed to the lower arm of the lever f is a rod g
sliding in the body of the gun. I prefer to make the said rod in two pieces
jointed together as represented, so as to permit the rear end of the said rod to have
a slight angular motion with respect to the front and longer part.
The front end of the sliding rod g is furnished with a depression h in which a
cross pin on the lump on the barrels works. The free end of the sear dis
operated upon to discharge the gun by a vertical rod, not shown in the Drawing,
which is acted upon by the trigger, or an arm on the trigger may act directly on
the free end of the sear d to discharge the gun. I do not however limit myself to
any particular mechanism for operating the sear d. When the gun has been
discharged, the striker a and main spring c take the positions indicated in dotted
lines in Figure 1. When the gun is opened by the raising of the breech ends of
the barrels from the break off, the pin on the lump retires from the inner end of
the sliding rod g, and the said rod is drawn forward by the cross pin i assisted
by the main spring cacting through the cocking lever f, and the latter is moved in
to the position represented in Figure 2, the expansion of the main spring and the
action of the cocking lever carrying the striker into its cocked position, the full
cock notch in the sear d engaging with the shoulder or bent on the striker, as

page_text: represented in Figure 2. By an examination of the said Figure 2, it will be seen
that by the expansion or rebound of the spring call pressure is removed from the
striker, and the gun cannot be discharged by the accidental pulling of the trigger or
the removal of the sear from the bent in the striker.
When the gun is closed, after loading it, the parts occupy the respective positions
represented in Figure 1, that is to say, as the barrels are closed, the pin i presses
back the sliding rod g, which acting upon the lower arm of the cocking and
compressing lever f causes its upper arm to move towards the break off, thereby
compressing the spring c, and putting the latter into a state of tension ready for
the discharge of the gun, as illustrated in Figure 1. The striker a is put into a
safety position after the discharge of the gun by causing the said striker to be
engaged with the half cock bent in the sear d in the following manner :-The
upper end of the rear arm of the main or double spring c is turned at right angles,
as shown at l. On the discharge of the striker, the said rear arm of the spring is
compressed by the back of the striker acting upon the projection 7, and by the
rebound of the said rear arm of the spring the striker is carried back sufficiently
far to cause the half cock notch in the sear d to engage with the bent or shoulder
of the striker, and thereby hold the striker at half cock.
Figure 3 represents an arrangement of my Invention in which a curved or
jointed striker or hammer is used; r is the curved striker or hammer, and s is the
sear taking into bents in the lower end of the said hammer. The hammer r has at
its rear part a quadrant piece 2, upon the turned down end of which the rear arm
of the spring c and the cocking and spring compressing lever f bear. The cocking
lever is actuated by the sliding rod g and the pin i on the barrels in the manner
herein before described with respect to the arrangement, Figures 1 and 2. The
half cocking of the hammer by the rebound of the rear arm of the main spring c is
effected in this arrangement by the turned down part of the quadrant piece 2 on
the discharge of the hammer acting upon the projection of the said rear arm of
the spring and compressing it, the rebound of the said rear arm of the spring
carrying the hammer to half cock, as illustrated in the Drawing.
Figure 4 represents an arrangement in which a sliding rod u worked from the
curved face of the lump w operates the lever f for cocking the gun on the raising
of the breech end of the barrels, and the lump on the barrels, when the latter are
shut down, acts upon the short arm f2 of the cocking lever to compress the spring c
for the discharge of the gun.
Figure 5 represents another arrangement of my Invention, in which a curved
striker or hammer is used; r is the curved striker or hammer; c, the main spring;
and f, the cocking lever. The quadrant arm 2 of the hammer r in this arrange-
ment is provided with a bent for the jointed curved sear d under the tang b to
engage with to hold the hammer at half or full cock. The cocking lever is
operated in the following manner-x is a short rod jointed to the lower arm of
the cocking lever f, a roller on the inner end of the said rod bearing against the
curved face p of the lump on the barrels. Above the rod x is a second rod y, one
end of which bears against the upper arm of the cocking lever f, and the opposite
end against the curved face q on the lump indicated in dotted lines. The said
curved parts p, q, of the lump (which said parts p, q, constitute a double acting
cam) are situated side by side (see the front view), but each curved face has a
different curvature. When the gun is opened the curved face g acts upon the
upper rod y, and the latter pushes the cocking lever f from the break off, and
thereby cocks the hammer, the main spring c expanding and removing all
pressure from the hammer. The cocked hammer is held in its full cocked position
by the sear d. As the cocking is effected by the advance of the rod y in one
direction the other rod x retires in the other direction; and when the barrels are
shut down the face p of the lump acting upon the said rod x, the latter causes the
cocking lever to advance towards the break off, and compress the main spring c
ready for discharge.

page_text: Figure 6 represents an arrangement in which the striker a is cocked by the
sliding rod t acting through the lever u, the bottom of the said lever being
furnished with bents for the sear s to engage with. The sliding rod t in this case
is operated upon and pressed back on the opening of the gun by the fore end of
the gun, the front end of the rod taking into a hole in the said fore end, thereby
causing the lever u to cock the striker a and compress the main spring c, the
striker being held in its cocked position by the sear s engaging with the full cock
bent in the bottom of the lever u. When the barrels are shut down the rod t is
withdrawn by the fore end, leaving the striker in its cocked position.
In this arrangement the rear arm of the main spring c is prolonged, and its
upper bent end is made to work in a recess m in the tang b. On the discharge
of the striker a the rear arm of the main spring is compressed by the rear end of
the striker, the rebound of the said rear arm of the spring after discharge carrying
the striker to half cock.
Figure 7 represents an arrangement of my Invention in which the strikers are
cocked by the back motion of the locking bolt; k is the locking bolt, having a
head at its rear end; c is the main spring; a, the striker; and d, the sear.
When the locking bolt k is withdrawn in the ordinary way to open the gun, its
head acting upon the rear part of the striker a cocks the striker, which is
retained in its full cocked position by the sear d, in the manner before described.
As the striker is cocked the spring c is compressed, and the striker made ready
for discharge. The striker is put into its half cocked position after the discharge of
the gun in the manner before described with respect to Figure 6.
My improvements are applicable to single and double barrel guns and pistols.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the manner in which the
same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that I claim as my Invention of
improvements in breech loading small arms of the kind called drop down guns and
pistols,
First. The arrangement or combination of the main spring c with the sliding
strikers in Figures 1 and 2, and with the curved strikers or hammers in Figures 3, 4,
and 5, whereby the main spring is made to discharge the strikers or hammers, and
after discharge to effect such a rebound of the strikers or hammers as will bring
them to half cock, substantially as described and illustrated.
Secondly. The combination of the cocking and spring compressing lever f
represented in Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5, actuated from the barrels with the main
spring c, whereby the opening of the gun or pistol cocks the strikers or hammers,
and removes all pressure from them, and the closing of the gun or pistol restores
the pressure to the strikers or hammers, and makes the gun or pistol ready for
discharge, substantially as described and illustrated.
Thirdly. The combination of the parts represented in Figures 1, 2, and 3, for
working the lever ƒ by the opening and closing of the gun or pistol.
Fourthly. The combination of a double-acting cam on the back lump of the
barrels, with the sliding rods for operating the lever f on opening and closing the
gun or pistol, as herein before described and illustrated in Figure 5; also the
modification of parts represented in Figure 4 for the same purpose.
Fifthly. The arrangement or combination of the rod t with the lever u for
cocking the striker and compressing the main spring, the said rod being actuated
by a hole in the lip of the fore end, the half and full cock bents being made in the
lower end of the said lever, as herein before described and illustrated in Figure 6
of the accompanying Drawing; also the half cocking of the striker by the rebound
of the main spring.
Sixthly. The combination of parts represented in Figure 7 for cocking the strikers
by the back motion of the locking bolt, and for effecting the half cocking of the
strikers by the rebound of the main spring after discharge.
Lastly. The combination with the cocking mechanism described and illustrated

page_text: of the sear d arranged under the tang; and engaging with the strikers or hammers,
in the manner described and represented in Figures 1, 2, and 5.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Walker, have hereunto set my hand and
seal, this Twenty second day of October, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and eighty one.
Witness,
RICHARD SKERRETT,
37, Temple Street,
Birmingham.
HENRY WALKER. (L.S.)