CERTAIN IMPROVE- MENTS IN GUNS AND OTHER SMALL ARMS
Year: 1834

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I,
WILLIAM STEDMAN GILLETT, of Guildford Street, in the County of
Middlesex, Esquire, send greeting.
WHEREAS His present most Excellent Majesty King William the
Fourth, by His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain,
bearing date at Westminster, the Eighth day of February, in the fourth
year of His reign, did, for Himself, His heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said William Stedman Gillett, His especial licence,
full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said William
Stedman Gillett, my exors, adiñors, and assigns, or sueh others as I,
the said William Stedman Gillett, my exors, adññors, or assigns, should
at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all
times during the term of years therein mentioned, should and lawfully
might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the
Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVE-
MENTS IN GUNS AND OTHER SMALL ARMS;" in which said Letters Patent
is contained a proviso, that I, the said William Stedman Gillett, shall
cause a particular description of the nature of my said Invention, and
in what manner the same is to be performed, to be inrolled in His

page_text: said Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar months
next and immediately after the date of the said in part recited Letters
Patent contained, as in and by the same, reference being thereunto
had, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the
said William Stedman Gillett, do hereby declare the nature of my
Invention, and the manner in which the same is to be performed and
carried into effect, are fully described and ascertained in and by the
following description thereof, reference being had to the Drawing
hereunto annexed, and to the figures and letters marked thereon (that
is to say):
According to the ordinary construction of fowling pieces, muskets,
rifles, pistols, and such like small arms, the hand which holds and also
fires the gun or pistol is placed (with the exception of the finger which
pulls the trigger) at or behind the breech of the gun or pistol. It
consequently follows when the barrel is long and heavy, it becomes
lesirable to encrease the weight of the stock in order to make the
centre of gravity of the gun or pistol come as near as possible to the
place where the hand (which fires) holds the gun or pistol, in order to
facilitate as much as possible the raising the gun, and to bring it to a
point, in the direction required. Where the stock is not weighted for
the purpose of bringing the centre of gravity of the gun to the point
where the firing hand holds the gun, (that is, at or about the breech of
the barrel,) the weight of the barrel, particularly in heavy guns or
pistols, requires considerable exertion in supporting them in the act of
pointing when about to fire. By the words the hand which fires," I
mean, under ordinary circumstances, the right hand, in contradistinction
to the hand which only acts as a rest, and usually the left hand; and
it will be desirable here to remark that, by weighting the stock as
before mentioned, although it assists and facilitates the act of pointing,
.it nevertheless materially adds to the fatigue of carriage. Now, the
object of my Invention is to construct or mount the barrels of rifles,
muskets, fowling pieces, and other such like guns, and small arms, in
such manuer that the hand which holds and also fires the gun or other
small arms, is placed considerably forward on the breech, and approaches

page_text: as nearly as possible to the centre of gravity of the barrel; the stock
or butt of the gun projecting only a short distance from the end of the
barrel, and consequently not materially operating to vary the centre of
gravity of the whole gun, from the centre of gravity of the barrel;
whereby I am enabled to produce guns and other small arms, having
a given length and strength of barrels, much lighter and more capable.
of being handled than when mounted in the ordinary manner; and at
the same time a gun or other small arms, when mounted or stocked
according to my Invention, will for a given length of barrel be much
shorter then when mounted or stocked as heretofore; and by this means
a gun of greater power, though but of equal weight with an 'ordinary
fowling piece, musket, or rifle, niay be fired with much greater facility,
at the same time it may be held with more firmness and steadiness,"
whilst any oscilation caused by a slight involuntary movement of the
hands, arm, or body, owing to the holding being considerably along the
barrel, will not so materially effect the pointing, as when tlie hand
which holds and fires is placed at a greater distance from the muzzle
of the gun, that is, at or behind the breech, as heretofore practised.
Secondly, my Invention consists in applying a spring, as hereafter
described, for the purpose of permitting a longitudinal movement to the
barrel.
In order that my Invention may be most fully understood I will
now describe the Drawing hereunto annexed.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.
Fig. 1, represents the outline of an ordinary gun or fowling piece,
which I have drawn in order the more clearly to point out the object
of
my Invention. The line a, b, is the point at which the hand (which
fires) grasps the stock, whilst the other hand is carried forward as a
rest for the barrel. Fig. 2, represents a gun mounted or stocked
according to my Invention. In this Figure it will be seen that there
is a projecting handle c, considerably forward of the breech, and in-
tended to be as nearly as possible at the centre of gravity of the barrel.
This handle c, is grasped by the band which fires the gun, the trigger
being in front of the handle c, there being a connecting rod attached to

page_text: the trigger, which connects it with the lock as is shewn by dotted lines.
The lock being of any ordinary construction, but in this instance its
action is reversed, the cock striking in an opposite direction to that
which is usual, and this is with a view to allow of the barrel having a
movement lengthwise, there being a coiled spring contained in the
socket d, into which the breech of the barrel enters and slides. When
there is a strong recoil, the slits through which the pins e, pass, allowing
of such a movement as is shown by dotted lines in Fig. 2; but I only
recommend such an application of a spring to guns firing ball, as mus-
kets and rifles. I have not thought it necessary to show a Drawing
of a musket or rifle, as the manner of stocking and mounting such fire-
arms according to my Invention will be readily performed by a work-
man engaged in this part of the business; nor have I thought it
necessary to show a Drawing of the mounting of a pistol stocked or
mounted according to my Invention; I would therefore remark that
there will be no but like those to ordinary pistols; on the contrary, the
stock will only proceed to the breech of the pistol, the holding part or
handle c being formed at or near the centre of gravity of the barrel, in
like manner to the gun above described.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the manner
of carrying the same into effect, I would have it understood that I lay
no claim to any of the parts of a gun or pistol which are well known
and in use. But what I claim as my Invention is, the mounting or
stocking of guns and other small arms in such manner that the hand
which fires holds and supports the gun at or near the centre of the
gravity of the barrel, and consequently considerably forward of the
breech thereof, as above described. Secondly. I claim the application
of a spring, as above described, for the purpose of alowing a longitu-
dinal movement to the barrel, as above described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Stedman Gillett, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Eighth day of August,
in the year of our Lord One thousand cight hundred and
thirty-four

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Eighth day of August,
in the year of our Lord 1834, the aforesaid William Stedman Gillett
came before our said Lord the King in His Chancery, and acknow-
ledged the Specification aforesaid, and all and every thing therein
contained and specified, in form above written. And also the Specifi-
cation aforesaid was stamped according to the tenor of the Statute
made for that purpose.
Inrolled the Eighth day of August, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and thirty-four.