CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THAT CLASS OF FIRE-ARMS KNOWN AS REVOLVERS, AND IN BULLETS FOR THE SAME
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alfred Vincent Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughts-
man, for the Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THAT CLASS OF
FIRE-ARMS KNOWN AS REVOLVERS, AND IN BULLETS FOR THE SAME."-A com-
munication from abroad by John Walch, of New York, in the United
States of America.
Sealed the 30th December 1859, and dated the 29th July 1859.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alfred Vincent Newton'
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 29th July 1859..
I, ALFRED VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery
Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THAT
CLASS OF FIRE-ARMS KNOWN AS REVOLVERS, AND IN BOLLETS FOR THE SAME," to bo
as follows:-
This Invention relates to the construction of a revolver, the chambers in the
revolving breech of which are severally capable of receiving two charges; each
chamber is provided with two nipples, which are to be acted upon by two
hammers so applied as to fire one charge after the other in succession beforo
the breech-piece turns round.
The Invention also relates to the adaptation to such revolver of a trigger
for operating the two hammers.

page_text: And further the Invention relates to a novel construction of bullet, by which,
among other advantages, any danger of the back charges being ignited by the
explosion of the forward ones is obviated.
In this fire-arm the breech-piece is made sufficiently long to contain two
charges in each chamber, and the number of chambers may vary according
to circumstances. The hammers, of which there are two, may be either made
to work in the samo plane, the hammer for the after charge passing through
an opening in the forward hammer, or they may be situated side by side.
They are held fast when cocked by a double trigger, the upper end of which
is furnished with a fixed and a loose tripping piece. The vent holes may be
either placed in a line upou cach chamber, and put slanting to correspond
with the respective hammers, or set out of a line with each other, and placed
parallel with the line of the chamber.
The balls are made either by attaching a thin plate to a half ball by means
of a small shank, or by connecting two half round balls by means of a small
shank in such a manner as to leave a recess all round. This recess is filled
with a composition consisting of parts of soap and of oil, or its equivalent.
In loading the chambers a sufficient charge of powder is put in, and then a
ball either with or without paper over the powder. By ramming the ball
down, the recess of the ball will become contracted or closed, and thereby the
above-mentioned grease or composition will be forced out of the same, filling
in every part between the ball and the barrel. By this arrangement the
chamber will be well greased, and the barrel will be well cleaned at each
discharge. By the forcible pressing out of the grease so as to fill every crevice
between the ball and the chamber, every danger is likewise prevented by
which the after charge might be ignited when the forward charge is fired off,
and as this forms a perfect air-tight packing for the ball, the powder will have
more force, and be able to send the ball a greater distance.
When the hammers are pulled backwards, or the arm cocked, the breech-
piece will revolve one section in the usual manner, and the hammers will be held
in their position by the tripping piece of the trigger; when the arm is required to
be discharged, by pulling on the trigger that part of the trigger which holds the
hammer for firing, the forward charge will be moved free of the hammer, and
allow its spring to throw it forward and strike the cap upon the forward vent.
By giving the trigger a second pull a little further back, an inclined surface
or projection on the trigger will act against the loose piece of the trigger
which has hitherto held fast the hammer for the after charge, and will thereby
release the same to allow the hammer to discharge the said after charge.
During the discharging of both the charges out of the same barrel, the breech-

page_text: piece is held steady and in a line with the main barrel by a spring stop, or
by the tail of the ratchet that rotates, the breech entering a notch in the rear
end thereof.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Alfred Vincent Newton in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 28th January 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALFRED
VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-ninth day of July, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-third year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, Her special license that I, the said
Alfred Vincent Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, 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 "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THAT CLASS OF FIRE-
ARMS KNOWN AS REVOLVERS, AND IN BULLETS FOR THE SAME," being a communica-
tion from abroad by John Walch, of New York, in the United States of
America, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Alfred Vincent
Newton, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, should par-
ticularly 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 imme
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, 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, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say) :-
This Invention, as communicated to me by my foreign correspondent, relates
to the construction of rotating breech revolvers, and consists in making the

page_text: several chambers capable of receiving two charges at the same time. Each
chamber is also provided with two nipples, which are to be acted upon by two
hammers, so applied as to fire one charge after the other in succession before
the breech piece turns round. The Invention also consists in the adaptation to
such revolvers of a trigger for operating the two hammers. And further the
Invention consists in a certain construction of bullet, by which, among other
advantages, any danger of the back charge being ignited by the explosion of
the forward one is obviated.
In the accompanying Drawing, which forms part of this Specification,
Fig. 1 is a side view of the improved pistol; Fig. 2 is a section of the same; 1
Fig. 3 is a partial plan view; Figures 4 and 5 are front and end views of the
revolving breech piece; Fig. 6 is a side view of a pistol having the vents and
hammers differently arranged; Fig. 7 is a section of the same; Fig. 8 is a
plan view of the same; Figures 9 and 10 are front and end views of the
revolving breech piece; Fig. 11 is a cross section, and Fig. 12 a longitudinal
section of the breech; Fig. 13 is an end view of part of the pistol. Similar
letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the Figures.
a is the barrel of the pistol, secured to the stock m in the usual manner;
b is the revolving breech piece, turning upon the bolt n, and made to revolve
by the cocking of the pistol or backward motion of the hammers, by means of
the small dog e, attached to the lower end of one of the hammers. This
breech piece is held fast while firing, either by a spring Q, as seen in Fig. 2,
or by a projection 3 on the dog e, working in grooves 2, as seen in Fig. 7.
This breech piece is made sufficiently long to contain two charges in each
chamber, and the number of chambers may be either three, four, five, or six,
or more, according to circumstances. c, c', are the hammers, acted upon by
their respective springs f. f. These hammers may be either made as
represented in Figures 1, 2, and 3, where the hammer for the after charge
passes through an opening in the forward hammer c, or the
situated side by side, as represented in Figures 6, 7, 8, and 13. d, d, is the
double trigger, by which the hammers are held fast when cocked, and after-
wards set loose. The upper end of this trigger is made in two pieces, for the
purpose herein-after mentioned. v, v', are the vent holes, which in Figures 1, 2,
and 3 are placed in a line upon each chamber, and put slanting to correspond
with the respective hammers. In Figures 6 and 7 they are put out of a line
with each other, and placed parallel with the line of the chamber. Fig. 12
shews the manner in which the holes are bored, and the position of the
sanie, and shews a section taken at the line o, o, in Figures 10 and 11. g is
a ramrod to load the chambers, which ramrod is constructed in the usual
same may be

page_text: manner;
hare the balls, which are made either as represented in Fig. 2, by
attaching a thin plate 7 to a half ball 8 by means of a very small shank 9, or
by connecting two half-round balls 8 by means of a very small shank 9, as in
Fig. 7, in such a manner as to leave a recess all round. This recess is filled
with a composition consisting of three-fourth parts of soap and one-fourth of
oil or its equivalent. In loading the chambers, a sufficient charge of powder
is put in and then a ball, either with or without paper over the powder. By
ramming the ball down, the recess of the ball will become contracted or closed,
and thereby the above-mentioned grease or composition will be forced out of
the same, filling in every part between the ball and the barrel. By this
arrangement the chamber will be well greased, and the barrel will be well
cleaned at each discharge. By the forcible pressing out of the grease so as
to fill every crevice between the ball and the chamber, every danger is
likewise prevented by which the after charge might be ignited when the
forward charge is fired off; and as this forms a perfect air-tight packing for
the ball, the powder will have more force and be able to send the ball a
greater distance. When the hammers are pulled backwards, or the arm
cocked, the breech piece will revolve one section in the usual manner, and the
hammers will be held in their position by the trigger d, d', coming against
small projections or noses on their tumblers. This trigger, as before men-
tioned, is on its upper end made in two pieces. When the gun or pistol is
required to be discharged by pulling on the trigger, that part d which holds
the hammer c, by which the forward charges are fired, will be moved away
from the projection of the hammer, allowing the spring f to push the same
upon the cap on the forward vent, corresponding with the forward charge, and
thereby discharge the same. By giving the trigger a second pull a little
further back, an inclined surface or projection on the part d will act against
the second part d' of the trigger, which has hitherto held fast the hammer c'
for the after charge, and thereby release the same, and allow the hammer
spring to propel its hammer forward, and fire the after charge. During
the discharging of both the charges out of the same barrel, the breech pieco
is held steady and in a line with the main barrel in the manner above
described or in any usual manner. After both charges have been fired
off from the chamber, the hammers are pulled back again to repeat the
same operation.
Having now set forth the nature of the Invention of improvements in
revolvers and in bullets for the same, as communicated to me by my foreign
correspondent, and explained the manner of carrying the same into effect,

page_text: I wish it to be understood that under the above in part recited Letters Patent
I claim,-
First, constructing revolvers with chambers in the revolving breech pieco
capable of receiving two charges cach, and with nipples and hammers so arranged
and applied as to discharge the charges in each chamber one after the other,
substantially as specified, the two hammers being operated by one trigger,
substantially as described.
Secondly, I claim the construction and use of a compressible ball provided
with a recess filled with grease composed of soap and oil, or its equivalent, in
the manner and for the purpose above described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, the Twenty-eighth day of January, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
A. V. NEWTON. (LS.)