Improved Breech-loading Bolt Gun.
Year: 1889

page_text: Date of Application, 12th Nov., 1889-Accepted, 14th Dec., 1889
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improved Breech-loading Bolt Gun.
I, PAUL MAUSER, of Oberndorf, on the Neckar, in the Kingdom of Württemberg,
and Empire of Germany, Manufacturer, do bereby declare the nature of my said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described
and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
"
The object of my invention is to improve those parts of the breech mechanism of
breech loading fire arms callled bolt guns, which are employed in inserting the
cartridges into the barrel, and in extracting and expelling the empty shells. The
firearm to which the present invention relates is of that system of breech loading bolt
guns known as Mauser," and the invention is applicable to single loaders as well
as to repeaters. The drawing shows the invention applied to a repeater, but it will
also serve to explain the same as applied to single loaders of the said "Mauser"
system. But, although the invention is intended especially for "Mauser"
guns; it
may be used advantageously in bolt guns of other systems with such slight modifica-
tions as any locksmith is accustomed to exercise in fitting.
In the accompanying drawing the same letters of reference indicate similar parts.
Figure 1 is a side elevation partly in section of the hind or breech portion of a
gun. The parts are shown in the position they occupy when the bolt is closed.
Figure 2 is vertical cross section drawn on the line 2, 2 of figure 1.
Figure 3 is a top view partly in section of the hind portion of the breech case
with the bolt fully drawn back.
Figure 4 is a vertical cross section drawn on the line 4, 4, of figure 3.
Figure 5 represents an extractor with radial guide arranged on a bolt with
separate bolt head, showing the same in an axial section, a front and a top view.
Figure 6 represents a longitudinal extractor arranged on a bolt without bolt head
showing the same in front view, top view, axial section, and cross section.
Figure 7 represents a circular extractor arranged on a bolt without bolt head
showing the same in front view, side view, and vertical longitudinal section.
Figure 8 shows the cartridge catcher in front view and horizontal section.
If the gun is fired, the empty cartridge shell is extracted from the barrel by the
extractor, which is united with the fore portion of the bolt a. The latter is for this
purpose first turned for about 90 degrees, and then drawn back until it is stopped.
A short time prior to its being stopped the shell must be ejected. The construction
of the devices intended to perform the stopping of the bolt and the ejecting of the
shell, is represented in figures 1 to 4. On the left side of the breech case h, the
box shaped bolt stop turns round the vertical pivot pin of a lug h¹ of the case h.
The acting nose of this stop ; enters through a slot into the breech case h, and is
kept in this position by a strong spring screwed to the box frame; and working
with its free end upon the lug h. The nose j¹ prevents the bolt a from being drawn
out of the case h, as one of the recoil or locking projections at the front portion of
the bolt a will hit the nose j¹ and thereby stop the bolt a. The ejector consists of a
flat steel plate g of convenient shape, working in a suitable horizontal groove in the
bolt stop and in a slot of the lug h¹, and turning also around its said pivot pin, its
front portion or beak g¹ enters the breech case h through a slot in the latter, bears
against the bolt a, and enters a slot of the front end of the bolt a, if the latter is fully
drawn back. A spring g³, provided inside of the bolt stop j, acts upon the back edge
of the ejector g and secures the proper working of the latter. After the gun is fired
and the bolt a, with the empty cartridge shell, drawn back, the ejector beak g' slides
along the bolt a until near the end of its stroke, enters the notch in the front end of
the bolt a, and thereby comes behind the bottom of the cartridge shell, stopping its
further back motion at one side, whilst the claw of the extractor draws the shell

page_text: back a little more, until the holt a is stopped by the bolt stop j. The combination of
these two motions ejects the shell, as will be understood by examining figure 3.
The front portion of the bolt stop j extends upward as a vertical projection
or arm³, concentric with the rounded back portion of the breech case h. The upper
extremity of the arm bears against the cartridge frame inserted into the loading
space of the breech case h, directing the frame g into its proper place and keeping it
there, until the needed cartridges are pushed down into the magazine p, when the
frame is easily removed.
If the bolt-stop is lifted at its free ond so as to bring the stop-nose j¹ and also the
ejector beak g' out of reach of the holt a and its recoil-projections the bolt a can then
be removed entirely out of the breech-case h. In bringing the bolt a again into the
case the former slips easily over the oblique and yielding back sides of the stop-
nose and the ejector-beak g¹.
1
Of the recoil or locking projections as the one which has to pass the ejector 9 is
slotted, the other one remains solid and furnishes a convenient place to mount an
extractor. I have taken advantage thereof and constructed a new and effective
extractor which can be adapted also to bolts with a separate head. The main
feature of this extractor consists in a substantial steel body f furnished with the well
known extractor clanf and sliding with side guides or ribs in a corresponding radial
groove of the front face of the bolt a and of the said solid recoil projection a³. The
necessary spring action can be given to the extractor in different ways. Figures 1
and 3 show one method. On the back of the body ƒ opposite the claw f¹ is provided
a short lug which plays in a radial hole in the projection a communicating with
the radial groove in which the extractor body ƒ slides. A screw f³ the flat head of
which fits into the said bore passes through a hole of the lug and is screwed into
the material of the bolt a. Between the head of the screw f³ and the lug f' is
placed a coiled spring. It will be understood that by this construction the extractor f
will yield outwardly if the claw f¹ with its oblique face is pressed against the edge
or rim of the cartridge bottom, as is done in pushing the cartridge home into the
barrel by the bolt a, and after having passed this edge the extractor will snap back
with the claw f' in front of the bottom edge or rim of the cartridge. The straight
guides and the radial position of the extractor of give a great stability and strength to it.
In case the bolt a possesses a separate head a coupled with it in any suitable way
the above described extractor can be placed in the solid wing of it, corresponding to
the solid recoil projection a, or it may be slightly altered as shown in Figure 5. In
this case the extractor body is placed in that wing of the head a', which is not
slotted for the shell ejector 9 to pass, and it is guided in the radial groove of this
said wing by ribs exactly as herein before described, but instead of being actuated by
coiled spring, the lug on the back of the body is converted into a flat spring f
which is placed in a longitudinal groove of the neck of the head fitting snugly into
the bore of the bolt a, and by which the head a is coupled with the holt a.. The
back portion of the tail fills up the groove of the neck, but the fore portion is
made thinner and springy. The effect is the same as that of the extractor shown in
Figures 1 and 3 and described above.
If the bolt a is not furnished with recoil projections on its front end or if it is
desirable to place the extractor in the space between the recoil projections the
longitudinal extractor of Figure 6. may preferably be employed. Between the
recoil projections a' is milled into the bolt a in axial direction a groove, the front
portion of which is wider than the hind portion, the bottom of which latter is under-
cut as wide as the front portion. Near the front end of the groove is drilled into its
bottom a shallow hole in a direction a little oblique from aft to fore. The extractor f
is furnished at its front extremity with the well known claw f Its middle flat and
thin portion is annealed so as to form a spring. Its thick back-portion is narrower
and is furnished with side ribs in such manner as to correspond exactly to the undercut
hind-portion of the said groove.
.Near the front end of the extractor on its underside is a round lug ƒ³ corre-
sponding in position and shape to the hole drilled into the bottom of the groove.

page_text: If the extractor fis pushed into the groove the lug f³ must be lifted up a little,
which the spring portion of the extractor will allow, until the extractor fis fully home,
when the lug will snap into the drilled hole. The lug prevents the extractor f
from being drawn out of its groove or bed in axial direction whilst the ribs of its
hind portion prevent its falling out of its groove or bed in radial direction. By
these means the extractor f is fully secured in its position without the aid of any
separate or other parts. It is clear that this kind of extractor may be used with any
kind of bolt. An extractor similar to that just described in so far as it is applicable
to bolts which may have or may not have a separate bolt head and recoil projections
is represented in Fig. 7. The extractor has the shape of a flat ring cut open at one
place. The diameter of the front end of the bolt a is reduced. In this reduced portion
or cylinder is turned an annular groove. The round disc thus left standing at the
extreme front end of the bolt a is made of elliptic shape by cutting it away at
two opposite places down to the bottom of the said annular groove. The steel
extractor ring is about finch wide in axial direction and is turned out to
correspond with the above described set-off of the bolt a and to leave inside
annular ribs at its front and hind ends. The ring corresponds also with.
the outlines of the front end of the bolt a. In the present case it possesses
two opposite wings ³, one corresponding with the recoil projection a of the
bolt a, which is notched for the ejector to pass, and is also correspondingly
notched. The other wing f" is solid and of smaller dimensions. To fasten the ring
extractor to the bolt a, its inside ribs of the back edge are removed in such way
as to produce an elliptic opening corresponding to the elliptic shaped extreme
front disc of the bolt a. The long axis of the ellipse of the ring is situated at
right angles to the wings f. It is easily understood that in placing the ring with
its elliptic opening in coincidence upon the elliptic disc of the bolt a, the ring f can
be pushed upon the set-off and then turned for 90 degrees. The remaining portions
of the hind rib of the ring f are thereby placed under the remaining portions of
the disc of the bolt a, and it is secured against an axial disconnection from the bolt a.
The ring, when in this locked position shows the dividing notch of its wing f to
correspond with the notch of the recoil projection a³, and the solid wing fo coming
with a small lug against an off-set of the solid recoil projection a³, will stop the ring f
from further turning opposite the smaller wing 7's is formed by the inner front
rib of extractor ring, extractor claw The rest the said is cut
away except opposite to the notched wing f, where it remains in the form of two
projections. Those portions of the extractor ring f between the wings f³ are thin
and forms springs, as the ring f is tempered.
If the bolt a has closed the breech,
the claw has passed the edge of the cartridge bottom and snapped down in
front of it, whilst the said projections of the ring f' yield so far that the cartridge
bottom can fully enter into the opening of the extractor ring f. In drawing back
the bolt a, the cartridge shell is compelled to follow, until it is ejected by the
ejector beak gl, which pushes it over the yielding projections of the slotted ring f
and whirls it round the claw f'. In case the bolt a is not furnished at its front
portion with recoil projections, the wings f of the extractor ring must be reduced
in length accordingly.
If the uppermost cartridge is pushed by the bolt a only partially into the barrel
and requires to be drawn back for any reason, that cannot be done by the bolt a, as
the latter has not yet seized the cartridge at its bottom by the extractor claw. If the
bolt a is fully drawn back, the first cartridge remains in its partially advanced
position and the next cartridge rises with its bottom in front of the bolt a, so
that this second cartridge will be wedged under the first one by the bolt a being
pushed forward. To avoid such accidents the front end of the bolt a, or the bolt
head a if the latter exists, is altered in the following manner. The lower portion
of the rim of the front recess i of the bolt a is cut away nearly to the ground
5 of the recess and one of the parallel sides of the gap,-so shaped that it can enter
into the annular groove in front of the cartridge bottom, or if the cartridge possesses
a projecting bottom or rim, in front of this bottom or rim. When the bolt is fully

page_text: drawn back, the rising cartridge will slip with its hind end into the said
gap
of the
front end of the bolt a, and be coupled to the latter by the projecting side of the
gap fitting into the annular groove of the cartridge, or in front of its bottom or rim.
It is understood that the bolt a will carry back with it the cartridge out of any
position prior to its being pushed home into the barrel.
The present invention allows an easy cleaning and taking to pieces of the parts of
the lock-mechanism. The bolt a may be removed out of the case after lifting the
bolt stop and replaced without any trouble. The extractor fin its various modifica-
tions is simple, durable and effective. The ejector y never fails. A gun to which the
invention is applied will be superior to those without it.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is
1. An improved breech loading bolt gun, the bolt a of which is arrested by the spring
bolt stop, having the stop nose j, the arm and the ejector 9 with beak
arranged and working substantially as heroin shown and described.
2. A breech-loading bolt gun having the spring bolt stop; with its stop nose;
swinging round a pivot pin of the lug of the breech case in combination with the
ejector having beak actuated by the spring and swinging round the said pivot
pin of the lug, and with the bolt a having on its front end recoil projections and a
slot in one of them extending into the bolt a itself substantially as shown and described
and for the purpose set forth.
3. In breech-loading bolt guns the spring bolt stop with its stop-nose; in com-
bination with its arms for guiding and temporarily locating the cartridge frame q,
substantially as herein shown and described.
4. A breech loading bolt gun having a cartridge shell extractor consisting of the
body with the claw f¹ sliding in a radial groove in the front end of the bolt a, or
the bolt-head a substantially as herein shown and described.
5. In breech loading bolt-guns possessing a cartridge shell extractor as charac-
terized by claim four (4) the actuating of the body either by a coiled spring in
a radial bore of the bolt a, or by a flat longitudinal spring f placed within the neck
of the bolt head a substantially as herein shown and described.
6. In breech-loading bolt-guns a cartridge shell extractor f with claw f1 placed
longitudinally within a corresponding groove of the bolt a and between the locking-
projections and possessing near its front end on its underside the lug f fitting into a
hole of the groove in the bolt a, a spring-middle portion and a thick hind portion
with side ribs fitting into the undercut hind portion of the groove, substantially
as herein shown and described with respect to figure 6.
7. A breech loading bolt gun the cartridge shell extractor of which consists of a
steel spring ring f, cut open at one place and having a claw f¹ and which is fastened
to the fore end of the bolt a by interlocking projections of the ring f and of the bolt a
substantially as shown and described with respect to Figure 7.
8. A breech-loading bolt-gun the front end of the bolt a of which, or of the bolt-
head is constructed in such way, that a cartridge rising out of the magazine below
will be caught by or coupled with the bolt a in manner substantially as shown and
described with respect to Figure 8 and for the purpose set forth.
Dated November 12 1889
Dated November 12 1889
PAUL MA USER.
By Harris & Mills,
23, Southampton Buildings, Agents.
PAUL MA USER.
By Harris & Mills,
23, Southampton Buildings, Agents.