IMPROVEMENTS IN BREECH-LOADING FIRE-ARMS
Year: 1863

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Horsley, of No. 10, Coney Street, York, for
the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN BREECH-LOADING FIRE-ARMS."
Sealed the 22nd March 1864, and dated the 1st October 1863.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Horsley at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
1st October 1863.
I, THOMAS HORSLEY, of No. 10, Coney Street, York, do hereby declare
the nature of the Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN BREECH-LOADING FIRE-ARMS,"
to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in breech-loading fire-arms,
and is applicable to that class of fire-arms in which the breeches of the barrels
(or it might be a single barrel) are opened to receive cartridges by turning
the barrels on a horizontal axis that is at right angles to their length, and is
at a short distance from their breech ends, so that their breech ends are raised
up above the breech plate which closes them when in a position for firing;
the barrels when in the position for firing have also been held in that position
by a bolt or catch that is pressed forward by a spring entering a recess in a'
lump below the barrels. Now in order to be able to withdraw a bolt or catch
that is so pressed forward into a recess below the barrels I give motion to it
from a slide that is situated above the tang that projects from the top of the
back of the breech plate. For this purpose the slide is arranged to move to
and fro in a direction lengthwise of the barrels, and is connected to the top of

page_text: a lever that is pin-jointed to or otherwise connected with the bolt or catch, so
that by moving back the slide the bolt or catch can be withdrawn from the
recess in the under side of the barrels. The bolt or catch is by preference
made hollow and is pressed forward by a spiral spring placed inside it, the
bolt or catch may, however, be otherwise formed, and be pressed forward by a
spring in any suitable manner.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Thomas Horsley in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 1st
April 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I. THOMAS
HORSLEY, of No. 10, Coney Street, York, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the First day of October, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, in the twenty-seventh year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Thomas Horsley, Her special licence that I, the said Thomas Horsley, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Thomas
Horsley, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN BREECH-
LOADING FIRE-ARMS,” чрon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Thomas Horsley, 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 Thomas Horsley, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, that is to say :-
This Invention has for its object improvements in breech-loading fire-arms,
and is applicable to that class of fire-arms in which the breeches of the barrels
(or it might be a single barrel) are opened to receive cartridges by turning the

page_text: barrels on a horizontal axis that is at right angles to their length, and is at a
short distance from their breech ends, so that their breech ends are raised up
above the breech plate which closes them when in a position for firing; the
barrels when in the position for firing have also been held in that position by
a bolt or catch that is pressed forward by a spring entering a recess in a lump
below the barrels. Now in order to be able to withdraw a bolt or catch that
is so pressed forward into a recess below the barrels 1 give motion to it from
a slide that is situated above the tang that projects from the top of the back
of the breech plate. For this purpose the slide is arranged to move to and
fro in a direction lengthwise of the barrels, and is connected to the top of a
lever that is pin-jointed to or otherwise connected with the bolt or catch, so
that by moving back the slide the bolt or catch can be withdrawn from the
recess in the under side of the barrels. The bolt or catch is by preference made
hollow, and is pressed forward by a spiral spring placed inside it; the bolt or
catch may, however, be otherwise formed, and be pressed forward by a spring
in any suitable manner.
Having thus stated the nature of my said Invention, I will proceed more
fully to describe the manner of performing the same.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 shews a longitudinal section, and Figure 2 a plan of the combined
arrangement of parts according to my Invention. a is a projection formed on
the under side of the breech ends of the barrels. This projection is rounded
at its lower and back angle, so that when pressed down it may, by acting on
the curved end of the sliding spring bolt b, force it back and assume the position
shewn in Figure 1. The sliding bolt is hollow so as to receive a coiled
spring c within it. The coiled spring c is coiled round the stem 1, which is
screwed into the solid front end of the hollow bolt. d is a plate fixed over
the back end of the hollow socket or chamber, within which the bolt b slides.
The back end of the spring presses against the fixed plate d, tending at all
times to press the sliding bolt into the position shewn in Figure 1.
I would state that it is not new to employ a sliding spring bolt to lock the
ends of the barrels of a gun, but the peculiarity of my Invention consists in
the manner hereafter described of combining the parts for acting on such
sliding spring bolt.
The sliding bolt b is drawn back by a lever e, which moves on an axis or
fulcrum at its lower end; this lever passes through an eye in the back end of
the stem as shewn. The upper end of the lever e is pin-jointed to a slide f,
which slides freely in dovetail or other suitable grooves or guides in the

page_text: breech plate g, through which there are slots h and i, within which the
projection to which the lever e is pin-jointed, and the projecting catch f,
are received and slide. At the back end of the sliding plate f there is formed
a roughened thumb plate f³, by which the plate f is readily slid back by the
thumb. is a roller to assist the motion of the sliding plate f; the spring of
the sliding bolt 6 moves the plate f forward.
What I claim is the application of a slide f to the upper end of the lever e,
in the manner herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Horsley, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-ninth day of March, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four,
Witness to the signature of
the s. Thomas Horsley,
E. H. CARTER, Clerk,
18, Bessborough Gardens,
London.
E. HORSLEY,
Coney Street,
York.
S.W.
THOMAS HORSLEY. (L.S.)