A METHOD OR METHODS, APPLICABLE TO FOWLING PIECES OR OTHER FIRE-ARMS, BY WHICH METHOD OR METHODS ALL ACCIDENTAL DIS- CHARGE OF SAID FOWLING PIECES OR OTHER FIRE-ARMS WILL BE COMPLETELY PREVENTED
Year: 1824

page_text: SOMERVILLES SPECIFICATION
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, İ,
JOHN SOMERVILLE, Master of Arts, Minister of the Parish of Currie, in
the County of Edinburgh, send greeting.
WHEREAS His most Excellent Majesty King George the Fourth
did, by His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of that part of the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland called England, bearing
date on or about the Fourth day of November, One thousand eight
hundred and twenty-four, give and grant unto me, the said John
Somerville, my exors, adiñors, and assigns, His Majesty's special license,
full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said John Somerville,
my exors, adñors, and assigns, during the term of years therein ex-
pressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, my
Invention of "A METHOD OR METHODS, APPLICABLE TO FOWLING PIECES OR
OTHER FIRE-ARMS, BY WHICH METHOD OR METHODS ALL ACCIDENTAL DIS-
CHARGE OF SAID FOWLING PIECES OR OTHER FIRE-ARMS WILL BE COMPLETELY
PREVENTED," within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick upon
Tweed; in which said Letters Patent there is contained a proviso,
that if I, the said John Somerville, should not particularly describe and
ascertain the nature of my said Invention, & in what manner the
▸ same is to be performed, by an instrument in writing under my hand

page_text: and scal, and cause the same to be enrolled in His Majesty's High
Court of Chancery within two calendar months next and immediately
after the date of the said Letters Patent, that then the said Letters
Patent should cease, determine, and become void, as in and by the said
Letters Patent, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at
large appear.
NOW, in compliance with the said Letters Patent, I, the said John
Somerville, do particularly describe and ascertain the nature of my snid
Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed; and
by this instrument in writing under my hand and seal, and the
explanatory Drawing annexed to it, as follows (that is to say):
The principle of this method or methods of preventing the accidental
discharge of fowling pieces or other fire arms, to make it palpable and
intelligible to all, may be expressed two ways: first, the stop, slide, or
catch, or by whatever name it may be called, which prevents the
accidental discharge, is worked entirely with the left hand, while the
right hand pulls the trigger or triggers the same as an ordinary gun;
or, secondly, while other guns can be fired off solely by the action of
the right hand, this requires both hands, the left hand to undo the stop,
slide, or catch, and the other to draw the trigger, so that the principle
of this method of preventing accidental discharge of fire arms may be
considered as consisting in the action of the left hand, or in the
combined action of both, the left hand being equally necessary to
discharge the gun when in the field and pointed at game as the
right. The principle now described may be varied to a great extent,
and the inventor has given several variations of this principle as
specimens; he could have given more had it been necessary; he begs,
however, to be explicitly understood that he hereby lays claim to
every variation of this principle, however modified or however varied,
or by whatever name it may be called, in which the operation of the
left hand or the combined co-operation of both hands is necessary to
the proper discharge of the gun when in the field. The following is the
Specification of the different methods of preventing accidental discharge
upon the foregoing principle just mentioned. Method first.-This
method, marked number one in the Drawings accompanying this
Specification, prevents accidental discharge by means of a lever running

page_text: along the lock plate to any part of the fore-stock the sportsman may
please. The end of the lever nearest the right hand or nearest the
shoulder passes by means of a small stud upon it through the lock
plate, and thus arrests the mainspring and prevents the gun going off.
If the gun is a double one the levers of course must be double, and
when the gun is brought to the shoulder the left hand, by a gentle
pressure, touches the point or points of the lever or levers, and thus
unlocks the mainspring or mainsprings, and allows the gun to be
discharged. The stud or studs of the lever or levers are pressed
through the holes of the lock plates by means of a small spring fixed
either on each lock plate or in a small groove on the stock of the gun
on each side, and keep the mainspring or mainsprings always locked,
except in the act of firing, when they are disengaged by the left hand,
as just now stated. Method second.-This method, marked number
two in the Drawings accompanying this Specification, prevents acci-
dental discharge by means of a stop, slide, or catch, which prevents
the gun going off. This stop, slide, or catch is situate on the
surface of the trigger plate, and may either lie on or be bedded
into it as the gunmaker or sportsman pleases, and is pressed forward
into a gap or nick in the trigger or triggers by a spring situate
behind them under the strap of the guard, and thereby prevents the
trigger or triggers acting or pressing, by any accident, on the seer
or seers of the lock or locks, by which the gun would be discharged.
On the fore part of the guard where the left hand presses is a moveable
part, which the inventor calls a key (see the Drawings), that may be
removed at pleasure, and this key is made to operate on the stop, slide,
or catch in the act of discharging the gun. When this key is removed
the gun cannot be used in the field until it is replaced. If it shall be
thought that this key is too much exposed to accidental pressure, either
when carrying the gun or in any other position, it may be protected by
a small shield placed on the upper part of the bow of the guard, and
projecting a little forward over the said key, and thus to place it in
greater security. If the sportsman fires with the left hand forward on
the stock of the gun, instead of being on the guard, then the key
can be placed forward to any part of the forestock the sportsman
pleases; and in that case the end of the slide, catch, or stop towards

page_text: the left hand must run forward to the place of the stock the sportsman
pleases, and there receive the key; the keys here mentioned will be
seen in the Drawings before mentioned. The end of the stop, slide, or
catch running forward on the forestock may either lie in a steel, iron,
or any other suitable box bedded into the stock, or the slide may be
entirely under the stock, just below the ramrod; and, in the one case,
a small hole must be opened through the stock to enable the key to
reach the point of the slide; and, in the other, the hole must be in the
end of the said box, that the key may be screwed into it. This key, as
well as the one upon the guard, may be of any form the gunmaker or
sportsman pleases, and is removable at pleasure. As a variety of this
method, the end of the slide, stop, or catch which seizes the triggers
and locks them in, instead of lying above may lie beneath the trigger
plate, and in that case must be held to the trigger plate by two small
staples, one at each end, in which the slide or catch works. In this
case, the slide or catch will be pressed into a small gap or nick in the
end of the trigger or triggers immediately under the trigger plate, close
on its surface. If, on the other hand, the slide or catch is on the
upper surface of the trigger plate, then it will be pressed into the gap
or nick in the triggers, immediately above the upper surface of the
trigger plate, from which gap or nick, as in the former case, the slide
is disengaged when the gun is fired. Method third is the same as
method second (and is illustrated in the Drawing marked number
three), except that the stop, catch, or slide is not acted upon by any
pressure before the guard, but solely upon the key, situate in some part
of the forestock the sportsman deems advisable. If it is thought that
this key on the forestock is too much exposed to accidental pressure,
may be shielded by what the inventor calls a minor or secondary guard,
and which will be seen in the accompanying Drawings. The spring
which presses forward the slide or catch into the gap or nick in the end
of the triggers, in this, as well as in method second, may be either
spiral, of a triangular form, or any other suitable form the gunmaker
pleases. The slide, catch, or stop, too, if a double gun, may either
pass down between the triggers, and then spread out into two little
wings, as it were, to be pressed into the two gaps or nicks in the
riggers, or this end of the slide or catch may have a square opening in
it

page_text: it, and then each side of this square opening will pass down on the
outside of the triggers, and then the square end of the catch or slide
will be pressed into the two gaps or nicks of the triggers, in a similar
way to the one just now mentioned. This slide is illustrated in num-
ber two of the Drawings. There is a specialty about the triggers in
this, as well as in the second method, which also exists in methods fifth
and sixth, and this specialty is now to be described. These triggers
differ from those of other guns in this, that they have a small spring
fixed to the trigger plate and pressing on the heel of the trigger, so as
the moment the gun is fired to throw up the trigger to receive the
catch, stop, or slide, and thus to put the sportsman in the same state of
safety he was in when the gun was in a state of rest and before it was
fired. Without this little spring on the heel of the trigger, it might
not recover its position after firing, and thus the sportsman might be
left in danger, which must by all means be guarded against; the forms
of this trigger & spring are also shewn in number three. Method
fourth. This method (marked number four in the Drawings aforesaid)
prevents accidental discharge by means of a peg scrowed into the end
of the main spring next the swivel, or into the swivel itself. The peg
may be also solid, that is, a part of the swivel itself, the end of the
swivel being lengthened and shaped into the form of a peg. This peg
when the gun is fired passes down through a hole in the stock and
trigger plate of the gun. The gun is prevented from being discharged
by accident by means of a slide opening and shutting at pleasure the
hole through which the peg fixed in the main spring or swivel passes.
This slide lies along the inside of the trigger plate, towards the right
hand, and is pressed forward over the hole, shutting up the passage of
the peg by means of a spiral, triangular, or other suitable spring, fixed
upon the inside of the trigger plate or in the stock, and lying under
the strap of the guard. If the gun is double of course the slides are
double, the springs double, and the pegs & holes double, that is,
two of each. When the gun is fired the left hand, by a gentle pres-
sure, throws back the slide or slides which cover the hole or holes in
the stock and trigger plate, and thus allows the peg or pegs to pass
down through the stock and trigger plate, and consequently the main

page_text: spring or main springs to traverse their full distance. Keys are fixed
upon and removeable at pleasure from this gun, the same as in methods
second and third. The trigger plate of this gun it is also necessary to
state is considerably broader in one part than other trigger plates,
swelling out, when a double gun, on each side into the shape, as it were,
of two wings, in the inside of which holes are opened through which
the
pegs before mentioned pass very near to the surface. The wings
of this trigger plate may vary in breadth, according as circumstances
may require. It is probably better that they should not spread the
whole breadth of the stock, from lock plate to lock plate, if the same
thing can be accomplished by keeping the wings something narrower
than the stock. It is also necessary that the trigger plate should be
pretty strong to support the shock given it by the main springs, when
accident may happen to touch the triggers. This is illustrated by
number four of the said Drawings.-Method fifth. This method (marked
number five in the aforesaid Drawings) prevents accidental discharge
by means of a spring lying round the inside of the bow of the guard.
This spring has a square catch fixed to the end of it nearest the right
hand, which catch seizes the trigger or triggers, keeps them from acting
upon the seer or seers, and thus prevents the gun going off. This
spring is reached by means of a hole perforated in the fore part of the
bow of the guard, through which a screw nail with a broad head or
key similar to the one described in methods second and fourth, reaches
the spring, and thus enables the left hand to work it. This key, like
the others mentioned, is removeable at pleasure. Method sixth.-This
method (marked number six in the Drawings aforesaid) is the same
in all respects as number five, except that the spring is placed on the
outside of the bow of the guard, and is worked, not by means of any
moveable or fixed key, but solely by pressing on itself. This method,
as well as the one immediately preceding it, may be wrought by slides
running forward to any part of the fore stock the sportsman pleases,
and by keys similar to those already described. In conclusion, the
inventor begs distinctly to state that he lays no claim to the Invention
of the principle of locking guns by detents, stops, or catches, worked
solely by the right hand, as this has been in use for some time past;

page_text: but he claims as his peculiar Invention the principle of locking and
unlocking guns, or preventing their accidental discharge, by the left
hand, so that both hands are absolutely necessary to work the gun in
the field.
In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and seal, at
Edinburgh, the Twenty-eighth day of December, in the of.
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and twenty-four.
year
JOHN SOMERVILLE. (L.B.)
Signed, sealed, and delivered (being
first duly stamped) before and in
presence of
TA TRA
JOHN SOMERVILLE. (L.B.)
Signed, sealed, and delivered (being
first duly stamped) before and in
presence of
За. Тиемля,
of North S' Andrew's Street, Edinburgh,
Clerk at Law.
Thomas Gill, of the Strand, in the County of Middlesex, Esquire,
maketh oath, and saith, that he is well. acquainted with the hand-
writing of John Somerville, Master of Arts, Minister of the Parish of
Currie, near Edinburgh; and that he verily believes that the seal and
the signature on the annexed Specification is the seal and signature of
the said John Somerville.

page_text: Archibald Reid, of North Saint Andrew's Street, Edinburgh, Clerk
at Law, maketh oath and saith, that he was present, together with
James Thomas, of North Saint Andrew's Street aforesaid, Clerk at
Law, and did see John Somerville, Master of Arts, Minister of the
Parish of Currie, in the County of Edinburgh (the person named and
designed in the Specification, deed, or poll, bearing date the Twenty-
eighth day of December, One thousand eight hundred and twenty-four,
of a certain Patent, bearing date on or about the Twenty-fourth
day of November, One thousand eight hundred and twenty-four, for
an Invention of a method or methods applicable for fowling pieces
or other fire-arms, by which method or methods all accidental dis-
charge of said fowling piece or other fire-arms will be completely
prevented,) take, acknowledge, sign, scal, and as his genuine act
and deed in due form of law deliver, the same, of the day of the date
thereof, in the presence of the said James Thomas and this deponent;
and that the name "John Somerville," set and subscribed to the said
Specification, deed, or poll, is of the true and proper hand writing and
subscription of the said John Somerville. And, farther, that the names
"Ja. Thomas" and "Archibald Reid," set and subscribed on the said
Specification, deed, or poll, as witnesses to the execution and delivery
of the same, are of the respective proper hands writing and subscription
of the said James Thomas and this deponent. And all this is truth, as
as the deponent shall answer to God.
Sworn before me, Lord Provost and Chief
Magistrate of the City of Edinburgh,
this Twenty-fourth day of January,
Eighteen hundred and twenty-five years.
And I have ordered the Seal of the said
City to be hereto affixed,

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the oath of Archibald Reid,
the Specification aforesaid was inrolled word for word as above written.
And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according to the tenor
of the Statute made for that purpose.
Inrolled the Third day of January, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and twenty-five.
of the Statute made for that purpose.
Inrolled the Third day of January, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and twenty-five.
At the Rolls.
Master of the Rolls.
6th
Monday, the 14th day of February, in the
year of the reign of His Majesty King
George the Fourth, 1825.
In the matter of the Reverend John Sommeville's Patent.
Whereas the Revd John Sommerville, Master of Arts, Minister of
the Parish of Currie, in the County of Edinburgh, did, on the 5th day
of February instant, prefer his petition unto the R' Honble the Master
of the Rolls, setting forth that the Specification of a certain Patent
obtained by the petit" was caused to be conveyed by the petit to the
Inrolm Office of the Court of Chancery, on the 3d day of Jañry last
past, being within the time allowed in the condons of the said Patent
for inrolling the same, tog" with the affid' of Tho' Gill, of the Strand,
in the County of Middx, Esq", sworn before J. E. Dowdeswell, Esq",
one of the Masters of this Court, wherein the sd Tho' Gill deposed that
he is well acquainted with the band writs of the petit, and that he
verily beles that the signature on the sd Specificat" was of the proper
handwrits of the petit', but the sd Tho' Gill not being one of the sub-
scribing witnesses to the pet" signature, such affid' was not considd by the
proper officer as being suffic* to warrant, him in making the inrollm',
but he then informed the petit" agent that an affid' duly sworn in
Scotland shod be made by one of the attesting witnesses thereto. That
the petit have since procured such affid', which runs in the words
or to the effect follows:-" Archibald Reid, of North Saint Andrew
Street, Edinburgh, Clk at Law, maketh oath and saith, that he was
" present, tog" with Ja' Thomas, of North S' Andrew Street afs", Clerk
"at Law, and did see John Sommerville, Master of Arts, Minister of
"the Parish of Currie, in the County of Edinburgh, the person named
66

page_text: 66
"and designed in the Specification, deed, or poll, bearing date the
"28th day of December 1824, of a certain Patent, bearing date on or
"about the 4th day of Nov 1824, for an Invention of a method or
"methods applicable to fowling pieces or other fire arms, by wh
"method or methods all accidental dischige of sd fowling or other fire
"arms will be completely prevented, take, acknowledge, sign, seal, and
" as his genuine act and deed in due form of law deliver, the same,
"of the day of the date thereof, in the presence of the said James
." Thomas and this depon'; and that the name "John Somerville,"
"set and subscribed to the s Specification, deed, or poll, is of the true
"and proper hand writ and subscription of the said John Somerville.
"And fur, that the names "James Thomas" and "Archibald Reid,"
"set and subscribed on the s" Specification, deed, or poll, as witness's
"to the execon and delivery of the same, are of the respive proper
"hands writ and and subscription of the said Ja' Thomas and this
depon. And all this is truth, as the depon shall answer to God.
"Archibald Reid." "Sworn before me, Lord Provost and Chief Ma-
gistrate of the City of Edinburgh, this 24th day of Jañry, 1825 years.
"And I have ordered the Seal of the said City to be hereto affixed.
"Alex" Henderson, Lord Provost and Chief Magistrate City of Edin."
That the pet had not with his utmost diligence been able to procure
the foregoing affid' until after the time had elapsed for duly inrolling
the said Specificon. And therefore praying that the sd Specification
and Drawing annoxed thereto might still be inrolled as of the said 3d
day of Jañry last past, and that the said affid' might also be put on the
Roll, tog with the sd Specificou and Drawings annexed thereto, in order
that the petit might have all the benefit of the said Specificon, Drawings,
and affid', as in the law he might or could have been entitd to if the
same had been regularly inrolled. Whereupon all parties concerned
were ordered to attend his Lordship on the matter of the said petition;
and counsel for the spot this day attend accordly, upon hearing the
66
petition, the Specificon, and the saflid' of the said Archibald
Reid read, and what was alledged by the counsel for the said pet: His
Lordship doth order that the Specificon in the petition mentioned be
inrolled as of the 3rd day of January 1825. And it is ordered that the

page_text: affidavit of the said Archibald Reid in the petition mentioned he also
put on the Roll with the said Specification and the Drawings annexed
thereto, in order that the petitioner, John Somerville, may have all the
benefit of the said Specification, Drawings, and affidavit as in law he
might or would have been entitled to if the same had been regularly
inrolled.