IMPROVEMENTS IN BREECH-LOADING FIRE-ARMS
Year: 1867

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Michael Frederick Halliday at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
13th March 1867.
I, MICHAEL FREDERICK HALLIDAY, of South Kensington, in the County of
Middlesex, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN BREECH-LOADING FIRE-ARMS," to be as follows:-
My Invention consists, first, in the particular conformation of the rear face
of the barrel, the front and rear faces of a movable piece carrying the ex-
ploding pin or striker, and the front face of a fixed piece behind the movable
piece, as hereafter described; secondly, in the construction of an exploding pin
or striker with a bevilled head; thirdly, in an arrangement of extractor;
fourthly, in the formation of an aperture below the movable piece to allow of
the escape of the empty cartridge case; fifthly, in an improved lock; and, sixthly,
in the combination of the parts of breech-loading fire-arms, all as hereafter
described. These improvements will be fully understood by the following
description of a fire-arm constructed according thereto :-Immediately at the
rear of the barrel is a movable piece which exactly corresponds to and fits-
into the space between the rear of the barrel and the fixed piece before
referred to; this movable piece is free to be turned over upon the barrel on a
centre or axis which corresponds with the centre or axis of the bore of the
gun. The rear face of the barrel is a portion or segment of a sphere struck
from this centre, and the rear face of the movable piece is a portion or
segment of a larger sphere struck from the same centre; while the front face
of the movable piece is concave to correspond with the rear of the barrel,

page_text: and the front face of the fixed piece is concave to correspond with the rear
face of the movable piece. The particular conformation of these parts being
portions of spheres struck from the same centre forms an important feature
in my Invention. The movable piece is formed with a central aperture in
which an exploding pin or striker is fitted; this pin has a bevilled head so that
when the movable piece is raised by a suitable projection after the discharge
the bevelled head by coming against the inside of the barrel is pushed auto-
matically within the movable piece, whereby I am enabled to dispense with
a spring as ordinarily employed to withdraw the striking pin. The play of
the striking pin is limited by a screw or pin passed through the side of the
movable piece and entering a slot or recess in the striking pin. In a recess
in the lower part of the rear face of the barrel a curved extractor is fitted
which is connected to a bar carried below the stock or barrel and fitted with
a finger piece or trigger-like projection by which the extractor may be drawn
back to extract the empty cartridge case. The extractor bar is fitted with a
spring to return the extractor into position; below the space into which the
novable piece fits there is an aperture contained between two strong longi-
tudinal metal plates; the empty case when withdrawn by the extractor falls
through this aperture clear of the gun. The fixed piece, before referred to,
has a central aperture corresponding to that of the movable piece; in this
aperture a bolt works which extends back in convenient guides, and its rear
end projects through the upper part of the butt at the ordinary curved part or
small of the butt; this rear end of the bolt carries a finger piece or projection by
which the arm is cocked; the under side of the bolt has two notches for the
"half bent" and "full bent" respectively; a projection on the trigger plate
takes into one or other of these notches for the half or the full cock. When
the trigger is pulled a spring drives forward the bolt, so that its front end passes
through the fixed piece, enters the movable piece, and drives forward the
striker to explode the charge; the bolt at the same time serves to lock the
movable piece in place. By drawing back the bolt by means of its finger piece
it is cleared from the movable piece, and the lock put at half or full cock as
required. I prefer to use with the guns, before described, cartridges with a
convex base corresponding to the convex rear face of the barrel.