AN IMPROVEMENTS IN FIRE- ARMS
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Cherie Martel, of Boulogne-sur-Mer, in the Empire.
of France, Gun Maker, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVEMENTS IN FIRE-
ARMS."
Sealed the 14th August 1857, and dated the 4th June 1857.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Cherie Martel at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
4th June 1857.
I, CHERIE MARTEL, of Boulogner-sur-Mer, in the Empire of France, Gun
Maker, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVE-
MENT IN FIRE-ARMS," to be as follows:-
A new system, by means of a concealed stop introduced into the lock, and
under the exclusive power and control of the owner, rendering loaded fire-
arms perfectly safe from being discharged by any other person, or used in any
way, loaded or not loaded, by any other person. The stop consists of a bolt of
cast steel, with cog teeth at one end introduced into the woodwork of the
stock. of the gun, so as not to interfere in any way with the action of the lock.
This bolt is acted upon by a pivot of cast steel, also introduced into the stock
of the gun, a little above the screw that fixes the metal plate on the upper
end of the stock. This metal plate is in French called "la piece de bascule."
The pivot has cog teeth at its lower end, which fit into the teeth of the bolt,
and the pivot is concealed by a small lid of metal opening with hinges, and

page_text: being made in the shape of and engraved to imitate a screw, and is easily
opened by the finger nail. To use the bolt, the hammer must be let down on
the nipple, the lid opened, and. the key applied to the square or upper end of
the pivot, and half a turn of the pivot to the right by the key places the square
end of the bolt firmly on the crane of the tumbler, so as effectually to stop the
action of the lock, & render it impossible to cock or discharge the gun, & no
amount of force would be sufficient to move the hammer without breaking it.
Half a turn of the pivot to the left by the key sets free the action of the lock,
placing the bolt in its original position. "A moment of time is sufficient to
effect the operation.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Cherie Martel in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
14th October 1857..
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHERIE
MARTEL, of Boulogne-sur-Mer, in the Empire of France, Gun Maker, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fourth day of June, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, in the twentieth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Cherie Martel, Her special licence that I, the said Cherie Martel, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Cherie
Martel, 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 "AN IMPROVEMENT IN FIRE-
ARMS," upon 'the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Cherie Martel,
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 per-
formed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great 'Seál Patent Office within
six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters
Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, 'that I, the said Cherie Martel, do hereby declare 'the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-

page_text: formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement, reference being had to the Sheet of Drawings hereto annexed :-
The nature of my said Invention is by means of a new system, by means of
a concealed stop introduced into the lock, and under the exclusive power and
control of the owner, rendering fire-arms perfectly safe from being discharged
or used in any way, loaded or unloaded, by any other person.
I have exhibited in the Sheet of Drawings hereto annexed, Figure 1,
showing the inner works of an ordinary percussion gun lock of a double-
barrelld gun of the right-hand barrel with the hammer down on the nipple,
together, with Figures 2 to 11 inclusive, showing the separate parts of my
apparatus for preventing the action of the lock by fixing firmly and immoveably
the hammer on the nipple, so as effectually to prevent its being raised for the
discharge of the gun.
And I now proceed to particularly describe and ascertain the nature of my
said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed in regard to
the locks of a double-barrelled gun.
I take off both locks, and' then make an aperture horizontally through the
woodwork of the stock of the gun, on a level with the upper surfaces of the
cranes of the tumblers of the locks when the hammers are down on the
nipples, and of sufficient size and proper form to admit the introduction of the
two bolts with cogg teeth at one end of them respectively (Figures 2 and 3),
Figure Two being for the right-hand and Figure 3 being for the left-hand lock,
each being about the eighth of an inch thick. I introduce them into the
aperture so that their cog teeth ends meet in the middle of the woodwork, and
so that their square ends are flush with the outsides of the woodwork, but not
touching or in any way interfering with any part of the locks, and both being
placed only so sufficiently above the level of the cranes of the tumblers when
the hammers are down on the nipples as that these square ends may respec-
tively be extruded from the woodwork by the pivot, as after mentioned, and
may rest closely on and firmly bar the cranes of the tumblers, and effectually
prevent the cranes and consequently the hammers also from being raised or
lifted for the discharge of the gun. I take off the ordinary strong metal plate
called the false breach (Figure 10) attached to the upper part of the stock,
and called in France "la piéce de bascule;" I then make a perpendicular
aperture from the top of the woodwork of the stock directly over the point
where the cogg teeth ends of the bolts meet, and down to the aperture made
to admit those bolts, and of sufficient size and proper shape to admit the pivot
(Figure 4) and its cogg teeth attached to it towards its lower end (Figure 5),
and so that the teeth attached to the pivot shall come between and be fixed in

page_text: the teeth of the two bolts, as shown, Figure 6. When so fixed, a half turn of
the pivot to the right by the key (Figure 7) will extrude the square ends of
the bolts upon the cranes of the tumblers of both locks at the same time, and
will thus effectually bar the cranes, and consequently the hammers, from being
raised or lifted for the discharge of the gun, and will effectually and firmly
stop all action of the locks; half a turn of the pivot to the left by the key
withdraws the square ends of both bolts from off the cranes into their original
positions, and thus again sets free the action of the locks and of the hammers.
Figure 6 represents the cogg teeth bolts as originally fixed, with the teeth of
the pivot fixed into the teeth of the bolts. Figure 8 shows the position of
those bolts after the half turn of the pivot to the right, the extruded square
ends of those bolts then resting upon and barring the respective cranes of the
tumblers, and rendering the hammers immovable, as before mentioned and
described. The bolts I make of cast steel, about the eighth of an inch in
thickness; the pivot and the teeth thereof I also make of cast steel.
The Drawings thereof respectively before referred to, and of the other parts
of my aparatus, are of the ordinary size proper for a common fowling-piece,
and they should be made of course smaller or larger, according to the size of
the lock to which they are intended to be applied. Figure 4 shows the form
of the pivot with the cogg teeth affixed towards its lower end. The pivot
must have towards the upper end a small shoulder or prop round it, and when
introduced into the aperture made for it this shoulder or prop should come
immediately under the thin square metal plate (Figure 9), with which I cover
the aperture made to admit the pivot, this plate being let into and fixed to the
woodwork, so that its upper surface shall be on a level with the upper surface
of the woodwork. I make in the middle of this square metal plate a small
aperture sufficient to admit the key (Figure 7) for turning the pivot, and the
small shoulder or prop of the pivot should come immediately under this plate
to prevent the pivot from being displaced, and the round or upper end of the
pivot should when fixed be on a level with the upper surface of the square
metal plate. This metal plate I then cover by again screwing on the false
breach, covering the upper part of the stock (Figure 10). Just above the
screw that fixes the false breach to the stock I make an aperture of sufficient
size and proper form in the false breach to admit the key (Figure 7) for
turning the pivot. This aperture I make directly over the round or upper end
of the pivot as fixed, and I cover the aperture by a metal lid (Figure 11),
which shuts closely over the aperture, and opens with hinges, and has a small
nob at the end to admit of its being opened by the finger or thumb nail. I
engrave this lid as the false breach is engraved, and so as to conceal it or

page_text: make it appear part of the false breach. Figure 7 represents the key by which
the pivot is turned to the right or left, and is also made of cast steel, to fit or.
receive into it the round or upper end of the pivot, so as to enable it to be
turned by the key to the right or left. The pivot has two small nobs or
excressences (a, Figure 4), and the key has two small slits (b, Figure 7,)
of sufficient size to admit. these nobs or excressences by which the pivot is
turned. The pivot may be made round at the upper end, as shown, Figure 4.
with key as shown, Figure 7, as before respectively described, or the upper
end of the pivot may be made square, or of octagon, triangular, or. other.
shape, the key being made of proper form to receive the pivot and turn it, and by
this means, and by varying; the size and form of the upper end of the pivot and
of the key, a great desideratum may be accomplished, (namely,) that of render-
ing it difficult to find one key capable of being used for two or more guns, and
thus rendering the owner of a gun with my Invention applied to it the sole and
exclusive master of his weapon. To use the key, the small metal lid is opened
key is introduced. The small oblong dark ink mark in Figure 1 shows
by the finger or thumb nail opening or uncovering the aperture by which the
the cutside of the square end of the bolt of the right-hand lock extruded by
the half turn of the pivot to the right by the key, and resting firmly upon and
barring the crane of the tumbler of the right-hand lock. The same half turn
of the pivot extrudes at the same time the square end of the bolt of the left-
hand lock on to the crane of the tumbler of that lock. Half a turn of the
pivot to the left by the key withdraws both bolts into their original positions,
and sets free the action of both locks and of both hammers, as before stated.
Having thus described my Invention, and the manner in which it is to be
performed in regard to the locks of a double-barrelled gun, it seems scarcely
necessary to describe the manner in which it is performed in regard to the
lock of a single-barrelled gun. It is of course, in regard to a single-barrelled
gun, only necessary to use one cogg-teethed bolt, and so to introduce the pivot
that its teeth shall be fixed in the teeth of that bolt so that the bolt may be
extruded upon the crane of the tumbler or withdrawn by the key, in the
mauner before described in regard to the locks of a double-barrelled gun. The
manner before described of introducing the bolts and pivots for the locks of a
double-barrelled gun, and of securing the pivot from being displaced, and of
covering and concealing the aperture for introducing the key to turn the pivot,
will be a sufficient description for applying my Invention to a single-barrelled
gun.
My Invention may be applied to a revolver pistol as follows. See Figure 12
in the Sheet of Drawings hercto annexed. I make a screw aperture (c,

page_text: Figure 12,) through the iron or steel work; I then introduce into this:
screw aperture the screw to fit it, Figure 14. When so introduced, the upper
end of the screw does not touch the iron or steel work at the lower front of the
bottom of the hammer, but half a turn of the screw to the right by the key,
Figure 13, intrudes it sufficiently to touch the iron or steel work close to the.
lower front of the bottom of the hammer, and prevents its being lifted by the.
trigger or otherwise for the discharge of the piece. I cover the aperture made.
to admit this screw by a metal lid, made to slide over and off the aperture, as
shown, d, Figure 12.
In witness whereof, I, the said Cherie Martel, have to this Specification
set my hand and affixed my seal, as I have likewise done to the Sheet
of Drawings hereto annexed, this Fifth day of October, One thousand
eight hundred and fifty-seven.
CHERIE MARTEL.
(L.S.)