IMPROVE- MENTS IN BREECH-LOADING FIRE-ARMS
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Bailey, of Aston Road, Birmingham, in the
County of Warwick, Gun Manufacturer, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN BREECH-LOADING FIRE-ARMS."
Sealed the 10th October 1861, and dated the 13th April 1861.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Bailey; at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
13th April 1861.
I, THOMAS BAILEY, of Aston Road, Birmingham, in the County of Warwick,
Gun Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
IMPROVEMENTS IN BREECH-LOADING FIRE-ARMS," to be as follows:-
I arrange the plunger with a joint in or near the middle of the same, the
back part of the plunger being split or slotted for the purpose of receiving a
lever, which answers for the bolt to secure the plunger in the arm when the
breech is closed for use. To the fore part or front end of the plunger is
attached a cup or nozzle of copper or other suitable metal, into which a washer
of india-rubber, gutta percha, or other suitable elastic material is placed. A
steel washer is then placed over the elastic one in the cup; another elastic
washer is placed between the fore end of the plunger and the rear or back
end of the cup or nozzle. A pin passes through the washers and the cup
and screws them firmly on to the front end of the plunger. The nipple is
placed on the plunger near to the end that goes into the barrel. The fire
niay be conveyed central into the charge through a hole in the pin which
fastens the cup and washers. to the plunger, but the nipple may be placed on
the barrel in the usual manner if desired. On the discharge of the arm the
elastic washer is pressed down in the cup or nozzle by the pressure of the
steel washer upon it, which expands the cup or nozzle, and the elastic washer

page_text: between the rear or bottom of the cup and the front or fore end of the planger
being compressed by the same cause the breech is effectually closed, and the
escape of gas prevented.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Thomas Bailey in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 10th
October 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
BAILEY, of Aston Road, Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Gun
Manufacturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirteenth day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fourth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Thomas Bailey, Her special license that I, the said Thomas Bailey,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Thomas
Bailey, 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
Bailey, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, should particu-
larly 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 Thomas Bailey, 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,
reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the letters
and figures, marked thereon (that is to say):-
My Invention of "Improvements in Breech-loading Fire-arms," consists in
the use of a plunger constructed in the manner herein-after described. The
plunger is arranged with a joint or. pivot at the front part, and is slotted at
the hinder part for the purpose of receiving a lever, which answers for the
bolt or key to secure the plunger in its proper position when the breech is

page_text: steel washer I; K is the elastic washer at the back of the cup or nozzle;
L is the pin by which these parts are screwed to the fore end of the plunger.
The operation of the plunger is as follows:-Before the charge is inserted in
the breech the plunger B is drawn back into the position shewn in Fig. 1,
by means of the lever D, which begins to act as a lever when raised into the
position shewn by dotted lines in Fig. 9, by the fore part of the lever resting
against the breech end of the barrel as a fulerum, and thus by further raising
the head D to withdraw the fore part of the plunger out of the tight-fitting
part of the breech, when the plunger may easily be drawn back into the
position shewn in Fig. 1 ; but after the charge has been inserted in the breech
the plunger is slidden forward along the grooves of the barrel, and bolted in
its position by drawing down the lever D until the head D* is made to rest
against the metal at the end of the barrel, the rib of the lever D entering the
slot C of the plunger, and allowing the lever to pass into the position shewn
in Figures 6 and 9, thereby filling the space in the breech behind the charge
with a solid plunger. The bolting lever is retained in its position by a small
spring M in the side of the bead D*, which presses against and into a recess
formed in the interior of the barrel. When the discharge takes place the
pressure on the steel washer I presses the elastic washer II into the thin cup
or nozzle G, thereby expanding the cup or nozzle, and compressing the elastic
washer K, so as to cause it to increase in diameter, and in this manner the
the breech is effectually closed.
Having thus described the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, I hereby declare that what I claim as of my
Invention is, the adaptation and application to breech-loading fire-arms of a
plunger constructed so as to be capable of expanding and acting in combination
with a bolting lever, in the manner herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Bailey, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, the Thirtieth day of September, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one.
Witness,
DAVID JARVIS,
Gun Maker,
Birmingham.
THOMAS BAILEY. (L.S.)