IMPROVEMENTS IN FIRE-ARMS
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Purdey, of Oxford Street, in the County
of Middlesex, Gun Maker, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
FIRE-ARMS."
Sealed the 9th October 1868, and dated the 23rd July 1868.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Purdey at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
23rd July 1868.
I, JAMES PURDEY, of Oxford Street, in the County of Middlesex,
Gun Maker, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN FIRE-ARMS," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to the obtaining for fire-arms a moveable and
adjustable elevation for the breech to suit the varying requirements of
the user. This object I attain by applying over the tang of the breech
piece a removeable plate corresponding in shape somewhat with the

page_text: shape of the tang of the breech piece of the fire-arm. The plate I may
attach by hooking its rear end into a slot cut in the tang of the breech
piece, or in any other convenient manner that will allow of its being
readily unshipped and removed, and I propose to regulate the height of
the forward end of the moveable plate which gives the elevation required,
by means of a screw entering the tang, or a sliding wedge or a cam
mounted on the tang and acting upon the under side of the plate, or in
any other manner whereby the fore end of the moveable plate may be
elevated or depressed.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said James Purdey in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 23rd January 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
PURDEY, of Oxford Street, in the County of Middlesex, Gun Maker, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-third day of July, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, in the
thirty-second year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and
successors, give and grant unto me, the said James Purdey, Her
special licence that I, the said James Purdey, my executors, ad-
ministrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said James Purdey,
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 "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN FIRE-ARMS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said James Purdey, 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

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said James Purdey, 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, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto
annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to
say):-
This Invention relates to the obtaining for fire-arms a moveable and
adjustable elevator for the breech to suit the varying requirements of
the user.
In the accompanying Drawing Fig. 1 is a plan view and Fig. 2 a
longitudinal section of the breech part and small of the stock of a
double-barrelled sporting gun with my improvement adapted thereto.
a, a, is part of the wooden stock of the gun; b, the metal body; and b¹,
the tang whereby it is fixed to the stock. Over the tang 6¹ of the breech
piece I place a removeable plate c corresponding in shape somewhat
with the shape of the tang of the breech piece of the fire-arm. The
plate c is secured in place on the tang by hooking its rear end into a
slot c' cut in the tang of the breech piece, but it may be secured in any
other convenient manner that will allow of its being readily unshipped
and removed. The height or vertical position or elevation of the forward
end of the moveable plate c is regulated and adjusted by means of an
adjusting screw d which enters a hole tapped in the tang, as shewn in
Fig. 2. The elevation required is obtained by turning the screw d in the
hole tapped in the tang, so as to screw the moveable piece up or down
and thus raise or lower its forward end, as indicated by dots in the Figure.
The same effect may be produced by means of a sliding wedge or a cam
mounted on the tang and acting upon the under side of the plate, or in
any other manner whereby the fore end of the moveable plate may be
elevated or depressed.
Having now described my Invention of "Improvements in Fire-arms,"
and having explained the manner of carrying the same into effect, I
claim as the Invention secured to me by Letters Patent as aforesaid, the
application (as herein set forth) to the tang or breech of the gun of a

page_text: moveable plate c, the forward end of which is capable of being adjusted
vertically, as and for the purpose above described.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Purdey, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, the Twenty-first day of January, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine.
Witness,
GEO. H. LUBBOCK,
of 314, Oxford Street.
JAMES PURDEY. (L.s.)