IMPROVEMENTS IN FIRE-ARMS
Year: 1870

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Westley Richards, of Birmingham, in the County
of Warwick, Gun Manufacturer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN FIRE-ARMS."
Sealed the 22nd December 1870, and dated the 9th August 1870.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Westley Richards at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 9th August 1870..
I, WESTLEY RICHARDS, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick,
Gun Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN FIRE-ARMS," to be as follows:-
By the rapid discharge of fire-arms, especially of such as are loaded at
the breech, the barrel becomes so heated that it can be handled only
with great difficulty. The object of my Invention is to obviate this
difficulty, and so to protect the hand from the heat of the barrel during
rapid firing as to permit the charge and discharge of the fire-arm to take
place without impediment from the heat of the barrel.

page_text: My said Invention consists of a guard or cover applied to the upper
side of the barrel, and extending by preference from the breech end of
the barrel a short distance towards the muzzle end. The said guard or
cover consists essentially of a semi-tubular piece of wood or other im-
perfect conductor of heat, made on its under side to fit on the barrel,
and having on its upper side a cylindrical figure or other figure suitable
to be grasped by the hand. I prefer to make the edges of the guard or
cover fit on the edges of the fore part of the stock. Instead of making
the guard or cover of a separate piece of wood or other substance it may
be made in one piece with the stock, that is, the fore part of the stock
may be made cylindrical, a hole being made therein of a size and form
proper for the reception of the breech end of the barrel. When the
guard or cover is made separate from the stock it may be attached either
to the barrel or fore end of the stock by pins, screws, bands, or otherwise,
or it may be attached partly to the barrel and partly to the break off.
A hole is made in the guard or cover for the back sight to pass through.
Although I have found guards or covers made of wood to answer
well in practice yet I do not limit myself thereto, as other imperfect
conductors of heat may be used in place of wood.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Westley Richards in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 4th February 1871.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WESTLEY
RICHARDS, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Gun Manufacturer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by‍ Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Ninth day of August, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy, in the thirty-
fourth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said Westley Richards, Her special licence
that I, the said Westley Richards, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Westley Richards, 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

page_text: therein expressed, should and lawruny 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 FIRE-ARMS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Westley Richards, 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 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 Westley Richards, do hereby declare.
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement thereof, that is to say :-
-
My Invention consists of the improvements herein-after described in
fire-arms.
By the rapid discharge of fire-arms, especially of such as are loaded at
the breech, the barrel becomes so heated that it can be handled only
with great difficulty. The object of my Invention is to obviate this
difficulty, and so to protect the hand from the heat of the barrel during
rapid firing as to permit the fire-arm being handled without impediment
from the heat of the barrel.
My said Invention consists of a guard or cover applied to the upper
side of the barrel, and extending by preference a short distance towards
the muzzle end. The said guard or cover consists essentially of a semi-
tubular piece of wood or other imperfect conductor of heat, made on its
under side to fit on the barrel, and having on its upper side a cylindrical
figure or other figure suitable to be grasped by the hand. I prefer to
make the edges of the guard or cover fit on the edges of the fore part of
the stock; or the said guard or cover may be made in one piece with
the fore part of the stock. When the guard or cover is made separate
from the stock it may be attached either to the barrel or fore part of the
stock by pins, screws, bands, or otherwise, or it may be attached partly
to the barrel and partly to the body of the gun. A hole is made in the
guard or cover when it extends to the body of the gun for the back sight
to pass through.

page_text: Having explained the nature of my Invention I will proceed to describe,
with reference to the accompanying Drawings, the manner in which the
same is to be performed.
Figure 1 represents in side elevation, and Figure 2 in plan, a portion
of a breech-loading gun provided with a separate guard or cover
according to my Invention; Figure 3 is a longitudinal section of the
guard or cover detached; and Figures 4 and 5 are cross sections of
the gun taken respectively through the lines A, B. The same letters of
reference indicate the same parts in the several Figures of the Drawings.
a is the barrel of the gun; 6 is the fore part of the stock; and c is
the guard or cover made of wood, and having a semi-tubular figure.
The under side of the guard or cover c fits upon the upper side of the
breech end of the barrel a, and extends a short distance towards the
muzzle end. The edges of the said guard c fit upon the edges of the fore
part of the stock. A hole at c2 is made in the guard or cover c for
the back sight d to pass through. The said guard or cover c is secured
in its place on the barrel a by passing the said guard or cover over the
back sight d, and making its rear end abut against the body e of the gun;
by then slipping the band f over the contracted fore end c³ of the guard
or cover (see Figure 5) it is securely fixed to the barrel. The semi-
tubular figure of the guard or cover c, and the manner in which the
band fis passed over its front end will be best understood by an exami-
nation of the cross sections, Figures 4 and 5. It is necessary to remove
the fore part 6 of the stock from the barrel to connect the guard or
cover c to or disconnect it from the barrel a.
Figures 6 and 8 represent side elevations, and Figure 7 a plan of a
portion of a breech-loading gun with which a shorter guard or cover is
used than that represented in Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5; Figure 9 is a
cross section of the gun taken on the line D, Figure 8. The guard or
cover c in this arrangement passes from the back sight d a short distance
towards the muzzle end of the barrel, and is fastened in its place on the
barrel a at the rear by engaging it under the lip or flange d² of the back
sight d, and at front by slipping the band of over the reduced front
end of the said guard or cover (see Figure 9). The rear end of the
guard or cover c may either terminate in a line with the end of the back
sight d, as represented in Figures 6 and 7, or the sides of the guard or
cover may be prolonged a little beyond the back sight so as to embrace

page_text: the sides of the said sight, as représented in Figure 8. Instead of
securing the rear end of the guard or cover to the barrel by engaging
it under a lip on the back sight the said rear end may be fixed by a
cross pin, as represented in side elevation in Figure 10 and plan in
Figure 11 of the Drawings. The cross pin is marked g, and is passed
through the part d² of the back sight d, the ends of the said pin taking
into grooves or depressions h made in the guard or cover c. By with-
drawing the cross pin g and removing the band of the guard or cover may
be removed.
Although I have described and represented the best methods with
which I am acquainted of securing the guard or cover to the barrel, yet
I wish it to be understood that the said guard or cover may be fastened
to the barrel or to the body of the gun in a variety of other ways which
I do not think it necessary to describe. Instead of making the guard or
cover c in the several Figures of the Drawings of a separate piece of
wood it may be made in one piece with the fore part 6 of the stock, that
is, the said fore part of the stock may be made cylindrical, a hole being
made therein of a size and form proper for the reception of the breech
end of the barrel.
Althongh I have found guards or covers made of wood to answer well
in practice yet I do not limit myself thereto, as other imperfect con-
ductors of heat may be used in place of wood, such, for example, as
ebonite and papier mâché. I prefer, however, to use wood.
When a gun is provided with a guard or cover according to my
Invention that portion of the barrel which is grasped by the hand in
use is completely covered, and the barrel can thereby be handled in its
heated state without inconvenience.
My Invention is specially valuable in its application to breech-loading
guns, but may also be applied to muzzle-loading guns and to pistols.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the manner
in which the same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that I
do not limit myself to the precise details herein described and illustrated,
as the same may be varied without departing from the nature of my
Invention; but I claim as my Invention the improvements in fire-arms
herein-before described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawings,
that is to say, applying to the barrel of the fire-arm a guard or cover of

page_text: wood or other imperfect conductor of heat for the purpose of protecting
the hand from the heat of the barrel after rapid firing, the said guard
or cover being constructed and applied substantially as described and
illustrated.
or cover being constructed and applied substantially as described and
illustrated.
In witness whereof, I, the said Westley Richards, have hereunto 5
set my hand and seal, this First day of February, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one.
In witness whereof, I, the said Westley Kichards, have hereunto 5
set my hand and seal, this First day of February, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one.
Witness,
JOHN DEELEY,
180, Islington,
Birmingham.
WESTLEY RICHARDS. (L.S.)