A NEW AND USEFUL IMPROVEMENT IN FIRE-ARMS
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Frederick Curtis, of Newton, in the County of
Middlesex, and State of Massachusetts, of the United States of America,
for the mention of
Sealed the 1st April 1862, and dated the 9th October 1861.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Frederick Curtis at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 9th
October 1861.
I, FREDERICK CURTIS, of Newton, in the County of Middlesex, and State of
Massachusetts,. of the United States of America, do hereby declare the nature
of the Invention for "A NEW AND USEFUL IMPROVEMENT IN FIRE-ARMS," to bo
as follows:-
Figure 1 denotes a vertical and longitudinal section of the said fire-arm;
Figure 2 is a horizontal section of the same; and Figure 3, a vertical and
transverse section of it; Figure 4 is a section of the moveable breech; and
Figure 5, a section of its expanding tube; while Figure 6 is a view of the
punching nipple.
The object of my Invention is to produce a permanent expansive tube or
gas check which shall be part of the breech itself, and thus do away with the
necessity of always having a supply of metallic cartridge cases in order to use
the arm.
In the Drawings above mentioned A denotes the barrel of a fire-arm, and a,

page_text: the bore of the same; B is the moveable breech; and C, the breech carrier,
the breech B being connected to the breech carrier by means of a pin b and a
slot c formed in the carrier C, as seen in Figure 1; D is the guard for covering
the trigger d, and which serves at the same time, by means of a hooked
projection e on its upper portion, and which hooks on to or over a corre-
sponding shaped catch f formed in the frame or body H of the gun, to retain
the breech carrier and the breech in place under the explosion of the charge.
The said guard D is constructed in two parts a³, 3, and connected to the rear
In order
part of the breech carrier by a pin E, on which they freely rotate.
to allow the guard D to play within the breech carrier sufficiently to remove
its hook from the catch f a small recess g is formed in the breech carrier in
front of the guard; and it will be seen that by drawing down the guard D
until the hook on its upper part is removed from the catch that the front
part of the lower portion of the guard D. will bear against the rear side of the
breech carrier, and thus form a leverage for rotating it and removing the
breech from the barrel. The cartridge can then be inserted within the barrel,
and by then laying hold of the guard and bringing up the breech carrier the
breech will be inserted within the barrel and the hook e be forced over the
catch f. It will be observed, by referring to the Drawings, that the rear part
of the bore of the barrel is made with a chamber a slightly larger than the
rest, and of such a length that when the cartridge is inserted within the bore
the ball will bear against the slightly raised shoulder a'. Under these circum-
stances, when the breech is inserted into its place the powder will be tightly
compressed within the bore. The expansive metallic breech a' is made to fit
tightly within the rear part of the chamber a', and is so connected to the
carrier by the pin 6 and the slot c that I am enabled to withdraw it from the
barrel in a line with its axis, and without any taper either in it or the
chamber a. In order to retain the breech in the position with which it leaves
the barrel until it is again necessary to enter it, a recess c' is formed in the breech
carrier and contains a spiral spring ds, which bears against the lower part of
the breech, and serves to keep it in the position with respect to the carrier that
it has when it leaves the barrel. When the breech is within the barrel the
spring will be compressed and the breech make a solid bearing against the
carrier, as shewn at e' in Figure 1. The metallic tube or portion as of the
breech, which I prefer to make of soft copper, expands under the explosion of
the powder, and keeps a perfectly gas-tight joint between it and the barrel.
The breech is furthermore provided with a punching nipple c', which passes
through the tube a³ and screws into the breech, and serves not only to 'secure
the metallic tube in place, but also punctures the cartridge and conveys the

page_text: fire of the priming from the priming nipple F through the touchhole to the
centre of the powder. The gun is provided with a lock and hammer, in the
usual manner, at the side; G is the pin or journal on which the breech carrier
rotates.
I claim making a fire-arm with an expanding metallic breech pin or tube
which shall be permanent with or constitute part of the fire-arm itself.
I also claim making the breech and its carrier in two parts, and so con-
necting them together as to be able to introduce into and withdraw the breech
pin from the barrel in a line with its axis.
I also claim the arrangement of the guard D and the catch fand their
relation to the other parts of the gun.
I also claim the application and arrangement of the spring d' with respect
to the breech and breech_carrier of a fire-arm.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Frederick Curtis in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
7th April 1862.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, FREDERICK
CURTIS, of Newton, in the County of Middlesex, and State of Massachusetts,
of the United States of America, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Ninth day of October, A.D. 1861, in the twenty-fifth
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant
unto me, the said Frederick Curtis, Her special licence that I, the said Frederick
Curtis, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Frederick Curtis, 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 "A NEW AND USEFUL
IMPROVEMENT IN FIRE-ARMS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said Frederick Curtis, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal,
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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Frederick Curtis, 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
Specification and the accompanying Drawings, of which Figure 1 represents a
longitudinal section of a carbine constructed in accordance with my Invention;
Figure 2 is also a longitudinal section of the same showing the breech as
withdrawn from the barrel; Figures 3 and 4 are horizonal sections of the
said carbine; Figures 5 and 6 are vertical and transverse sections of it;
Figure 7 is a section, and Figure 8, a side view of the movable breech as
removed from the gun; Figure 9 is a section of the expansive tube, to be
herein-after described; Figure 10 is a side view of the punching nipple;
Figure 11 is a side view of the breech carrier as removed from the gun;
Figures 12 and 13 are views of the two portions of the guard; Figure 14
shows a modification of the breech-fastening arrangement, the same to be
herein-after described.
It is well known that one objection to many breech-loading fire-arms is the
inability to ram or compress the charge within the barrel, as the cartridge,
being placed within it by the fingers, must necessarily lay loosely therein.
Another and the most serious objection is the liability of the working parts of
the gun to become fouled by the gas and dirt from the explosion of the powder
and render it difficult, and sometimes impossible, after a number of discharges,
to work the piece. In some fire-arms this last objection is obviated by the
use of a metallic cartridge case, but there are many objections to the metallic
cartridges, such as the necessity of always baving a supply of them on hand,
and the impossibility of using the arms without them. It is also difficult at
times to withdraw them from the barrel after the discharge of the piece, and
thus delay the rapidity of firing. They are also expensive and require
expensive machinery to manufacture them.
The object of my Invention is to construct a fire-arm with a permanent
expansive tube or gas check which shall form part of the gun itself, and keep
the parts perfectly clean under any number of discharges, and thus do away
with the use of the metallic cartridges, and allow the gun to be used with a
common paper cartridge, or with "loose powder and ball," either at the breech
or muzzle.
In the Drawings above mentioned A denotes the barrel of a fire-arm, and
a, the bore of the same; B is the movable breech or breech pin; and C, the
breech carrier, the breech B being connected to the breech carrier by means
of a pin 6 and a slot c formed in the carrier C, as seen in Figure 1, the breech
carrier turning on a pin or journal A' passing through it and the frame of the

page_text: gun; D is the guard for covering the trigger d, and which serves at the same
time, by means of a hooked projection e on its upper portion, and which hooks
on to or over a corresponding shaped catch f formed in the frame or body H
of the gun, to retain the breech carrier and breech in place under the explosion
of the charge. The said guard D is constructed in two parts a¹, b', and con-
nected to the rear part of the breech carrier by a pin E, on which they freely
rotate. In order to allow the guard D to play within the breech carrier
sufficiently to remove its hook from the catch ƒ a small recess g is formed in
the breech carrier in front of the guard; and it will be seen that by drawing
down the guard D until the hook on its upper portion is removed from the
catch f the front part of the lower portion of the guard will bear against the
rear side of the breech carrier, and thus form a leverage for rotating it and
removing the breech from the barrel. The cartridge can then be inserted in
the barrel, and by then laying hold of the guard D and bringing up the breech
carrier the breech will be inserted within the barrel, and the hook e be forced
over the catch f by a stout spring h, which is secured to the trigger plate and
presses against it. It will be observed, by referring to the Drawings, that
the rear part of the bore of the barrel is made with a chamber a² slightly larger
than the rest, and of such a length that when the cartridge is inserted within
the bore the ball will bear against the slight shoulder a³. Under these
circumstances, when the breech pin is inserted into its place the powder will
be tightly compressed within the bore. The breech B is so connected to the
carrier C by the pin b and slot c that I am enabled to withdraw the breech pin
from the barrel in a line with its axis and without any taper either in it or the
chamber a²; and in order to retain the breech B in the situation with respect
to the carrier C that it has when it leaves the barrel until it is again necessary
to it, a recess i is formed in the breech carrier and contains a spiral spring j,
which bears against the under side of the breech B and serves to keep it in
the position shown in Figure 2 of the Drawings while it is withdrawn from
the barrel. When the breech is within the barrel the spring will be com-
pressed, and the rear and lower parts of the breech bear against the carrier, as
shown in Figure 1 at k. The metallic breech pin or expansive tube l, which
I prefer to make of pure copper, expands under the explosion of the powder,
and keeps a perfectly gas-tight joint between its outer surface and the barrel
under any successive number of discharges.. The breech B is furthermore
provided with a punching nipple m, which passes through the tube and screws
into the breech and secures the tube thereto, as shown in the Drawings, the
said punching nipple m serving further to puncture the cartridge and convey
the fire of the priming from the priming nipple n through the touch hole o to

page_text: the centre of the powder. The frame of the gun is made with a recess p
(Figure 3) for the reception of the lock, the relative situation of which and
its hammer being shown in red in Fig. 2.
Figure 14 of the Drawings represents a modification of the breech fastening,
and one which may be preferred on account of its simplicity. It consists in
placing a block of steel or other metal F within the frame H of the
gun, the
said holding block F turning on a pin or journal G which passes through it
and the frame H. The rear part of the breech carrier C is made with a lip
or shoulder 9 under which the holding block F rests when the breech is in
place within the barrel. A guard D is secured to the lower part of the carrier,
as seen in Figure 14, and turns on a pin r, and has a small projection s on its
upper part, which rests against the holding block F. By drawing down the
guard D the projections will remove the holding block F from under the
lip 9 and allow the breech carrier to rotate. A stiff spring t also serves, in
this case, to force the holding block under the lip g.
Figure 15 in the Drawings shows another method of making the breech, and
also another breech-fastening arrangement, which consists of the following:-
The breech, instead of being made in two parts (as seen at B and C in
Figure 1), is made in one piece, as seen at A in the said Figure, turns on a
pin a', and with the expanding tube a secured to it by the punching nipple b.
It will be seen that the tube a is made slightly tapering, and that the rear part
of the bore of the barrel is made of a corresponding shape to receive it; and
by this form of tube I am enabled to withdraw it from the barrel with a
breech formed of one piece, and thus do away, if desirable, with the necessity
of making it in two parts. The breech fastening arrangement in this Figure
(15) consists of a guard B, whose upper part C works in a recess c formed in
the rear part of the breech A, and turns on a journal or pin d which passes
through it and the breech; the part C is made with a projection or shoulder e,
which, when the breech is in place against the barrel, bears over or against a
corresponding shaped shoulder f formed in the frame of the gun, and which
retains the breech in place against the force of the explosion. When it is
desirable to load the piece, by drawing down the lower part or handle D of
the guard, the shoulder e will be removed from over the shoulder f, and the
breech be rotated on its pin a', and withdraw the expanding tube from the
barrel and allow the cartridge to be inserted. By then laying hold of the
guard and drawing it up the breech will be brought up to its place, the tube
inserted within the barrel, and the shoulder e be forced over the shoulder f.
I claim making a fire-arm with an expanding tube or breech pin, which shall
be permanent with or form part of the arm itself.

page_text: I also claim constructing the breech pin and breech carrier of a fire-arm in
two parts, and so connecting them together as to be enabled to introduce into
and withdraw the said breech pin from the bore of the barrel in the line of its
axis, substantially in the manner and for the purpose as described.
I also claim in combination with the breech carrier and breech proper,
when the two are jointed together as described, a spring so arranged in relation
to the said breech as to retain it in the same position with regard to the breech
carrier that it has when it leaves the barrel, so as to establish a yielding
connection of the parts, as set forth.
I also claim the peculiar construction of the guard D and its relation to
the catch f, the trigger, and the working parts of the gun, substantially as
described.
In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal this 4th day
December 1961
FREDERICK CURTIS. (L.S.)