IMPROVEMENTS IN BREECH-LOADING FIRE-ARMS
Year: 1871

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Ansell, of Birmingham, in the County
of Warwick, Gun Manufacturer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN BREECH-LOADING FIRE-ARMS."
Scaled the 24th October 1871, and dated the 2nd May 1871.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION loft by the said William Ansell at the
-
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
2nd May 1871.
I, WILLIAM ANSELL, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Gun
Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN BREECH-LOADING FIRE-ARMS," to be as follows:-
-
My Invention has reference to those kinds of breech-loading fire-arms
commonly called drop-down guns, or guns in which the barrels_turn
upon a joint on the body, the breech ends of the barrels being held against
the face of the break-off during the discharge of the gun, and raised from
the said break-off for charging the gun.

page_text: middle part of the bolt being inclined. A spring acts upon the bolt, a,
projecting head being situated at the left-hand side of the gun. The
front of the lump on the under side of the barrels is curved, and the said
lump is provided with a seat upon which the bolt bears to fasten down
the barrels. On shutting down the barrels the bolt is first pressed back
by the nose of the lump acting upon the inclined middle part of the said
bolt, and the bolt on the complete shutting down of the barrels snaps
upon the scat of the lump and fastens down the barrels. By forcing
inwards the bolt its acting part is removed from the seat of the lump
and the barrels are unfastened.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Ansell in the Great Scal Patent Office on
the 30th October 1871.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
ANSELL, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Gun Manufacturer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Second day of May, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, in the thirty-
fourth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said William Ansell, Her special licence that I,
the said William Ansell, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said William Ansell, my exccutors, 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," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William
Ansell, 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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Ansell, 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, that is to say :—
My Invention has reference to those kinds of breech-loading fire-
arms commonly called drop-down guns, or guns in which the barrels
turn upon a joint on the body, the breech ends of the barrels being
held against the face of the break-off during the discharge of the gun
and raised from the said break-off for charging the gun.
My Invention consists of the combinations or arrangements of parts 1
herein-after described for fastening down the barrels of the said guns
for discharging and releasing them for charging.
According to one arrangement of my Invention I employ a bolt
working in a recess in the rib between the barrels, the said bolt sliding
in a line parallel to the axis of the barrels. The said bolt is--urged
forward-from-out the said recess by--means of a coiled spring-at its-
-rear-end-and-its-motion-is-limited-by-a-pin-and-slot. The-front-or-
nose end of the said bolt is inclined on its under side. In the face of
the break-off is a staple or recess of a size, shape, and position proper
to receive the bolt when the barrels are shut down. On shutting down :
the barrels the inclined nose of the bolt comes against the top edge of
the break-off, and the bolt is forced into the recess between the barrels.
When however the barrels are fully shut down the bolt is brought
opposite the staple in the break-off, and the said bolt is projected by
its spring into the said staple and the barrels are bolted down.
•
The barrels are released in the following manner:-A slide entering
the rear end of the staple in the break-off carries at its outer end a
button or thumb plate. When it is wished to release the barrels it is
only necessary to press upon the said thumb plate, when the said slide
bearing against the bolt pushes it out of its staple into its recess in a
the barrels. The barrels are thereby released and by the turning of the
barrels upon their joint their breech ends are opened for charging.
According to another arrangement of my Invention I place the
fixing bolt parallel to the face of the break-off. The said bolt slides
in a horizontal hole or recess in the body of the gun, the middle of the
bolt being cut away and inclined, at one side of the cut away part. A
spring acts upon the bolt, a projecting head being situated at the right
hand side of the gun. The front of the lump on the under side of the

page_text: barrels is curved, and the said lump is provided with a seat upon which
the bolt bears to fasten down the barrels. On shutting down the barrels
the bolt is first pressed back by the nose of the lump acting upon the
inclined middle part of the said bolt, and the bolt on the complete
shutting down of the barrels suaps upon the seat of the lump and
fastens down the barrels. By forcing inwards the bolt its acting part
is removed from the scat of the lump and the barrels are unfastened.
Having explained the nature of my Invention, I will proceed to
describe with reference to the accompanying Drawings the manner in
which the same is to be performed.
Figures 1 and 2 represent in longitudinal vertical section the breech
end of a drop-down gun, the fastening mechanism of which is arranged
according to one part of my Invention. Figure 1 representing the
barrels fastened down for firing, and Figure 2 the barrels unfastened
and ready to be raised from the break-off for loading. Figure 3
represents a plan of Figure 1, and Figures 4, 5, and 6 are parts of the
fastening mechanism as herein-after described.
In Figures 1, 2, and 3 the stock, hammers and other parts of the gum
are omitted. The same letters of reference indicate the same parts in
Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 64, and 6B.
с
a, a, are the barrels turning in a vertical plane on the joint & as usual;
c is the break-off; and d is the rib between the barrels. In the said
rib d is a recess d², in which a sliding bolt e works, the said bolt being
urged forward from out the said recess by means of the coiled spring f
at the rear end. The sliding motion of the bolt e is limited by the pin
and slot at g; the front or nose end of the bolt is inclined on its under
side. In the face of the break-off c is a staple or recess h,. situated in
a line with the bolt e, and of a shape and size proper to receive the said.
bolt e. When the barrels are shut down the inclined nose of the bolt e.
(which is situated beyond the face of the breech ends of the barrels)
coming against the top edge of the break-off forces the bolt e back into
its recess in the rib d, and on the complete shutting down of the barrels
the said bolte is projected by the coiled spring f into the staple or
recess in the break-off, and thereby fastens down the barrels, as seen
in Figures 1 and 3. The barrels are released by means of the slide i
working in the staple in the break-off; the inner end of this. slide
is bevilled, and its outer end is provided with a thumb plate working

page_text: on the tang of the gun. To release the barrels a the slide i is pushed
inwards by pressure on the thumb plate; it thereby pushes before it
the bevilled end of the bolt e from out the staple h into the recess d³
in the rib & between the barrels, as seen in Figure 2; the barrels are
thereby released, and their breech ends may be opened for the intro-
duction of the cartridges. When the barrels are open for charging the
bolt e is projected by its spring from the face of the barrels, ready on
the shutting down of the said barrels to be forced back and made to
snap into its staple in the break-off.
In order to insure greater security in the fastening of the barrels I
prefer to combine with the top bolt e and releasing slide i a bottom
bolt Z, the said bottom bolt taking into a recess in the lump m on the
under side of the barrels; but the said top bolt e and slide i may be used
independently of the_bottom_bolt . The _bottom_bolt is connected.
by means of a vertical lever n at the back of the break-off c with the
releasing slide of the top bolt e, as represented. The said lever turns
on the joint n, and its lower arm is connected to the bottom bolt by
the pin and slot at p, and its upper arm works in a recess q in the
releasing slide i. The top bolt e and releasing slide i, i, are shown
detached in Figure 4; the bottom bolt is shown detached in Figure 5,
and the lever n is shown detached in Figure 6. When the barrels are
shut down the top bolt e is moved to the right by striking against the
top of the break-off, and the bottom bolt 1, should it have been projected
into the body, is moved to the left by the action of the bevilled nose
of the lump m upon the bevilled nose of the bolt 1. On the complete
shutting down of the barrels and when they occupy the positions shown
in Figure 2 the top bolt e snaps into the staple h, pushing before it
The motion of the slide is transmitted through the lever n
to the bolt and the said bolt is made to snap into the recess in the
lump m. The barrels are thereby fastened or locked at top and bottom
to the break-off and body respectively. On pushing the slide i inwards
to release the barrels it acts directly upon the top bolt e, and through
the lever n upon the bottom bolt 1, the top bolt being pushed from out
the staple h and the bottom bolt being withdrawn from the recess in
the lump m, the said bolts moving in the directions indicated by the
arrows in Figure 1 to release the barrels. Instead of pushing inwards
the slide i to release the bolt e by the direct action of the hand, the
the slide i.

page_text: said slide may be pushed inwards by the action of a lever worked by the
hand. By this means greater facility in working the slide is obtained
and a stronger spring may be used to force outwards the fastening
bolt c.
This modification of my Invention is illustrated in longitudinal
section in Figure 6ª and plan in Figure 6" of the Drawings, where e is
the bolt in the rib d, and i is the slide working in the mortice h in the
break-off c. The said slide instead of being pushed inwards by direct
pressure of the hand as before described is pressed inwards by the action
of the lever r situated on the tang k of the gun. The said lever has a
side motion upon the pin or fulcrum t, and the said lever is connected
to the outer end of the slide i by the links. When the lever
turned aside as indicated in dotted lines in Figure 6 the slide i is
pushed inwards and the bolt e released in the manner herein-beforc
described.
is
Figure 7 represents in longitudinal vertical section a drop down gun
arranged according to my Invention, in which the barrels are fastened
down by means of a cross bolt taking into the lump on the under side
of the barrels Figure 8 is a cross section of the same; Figure 9 is a
plan of the body of the same; and Figure 10 is a plan of the under side
of the breech end of the barrels; Figure 11 represents in plan, and
Figure 12 in section the cross bolt detached. The same letters of
reference indicate the same parts in Figures 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12.
a, a, are the barrels turning on the joint b; c is the horizontal spring
or snap bolt for fastening down the barrels, the said bolt working in a
horizontal hole or recess (see Figure 8) in the body d of the gun. The
said bolt crosses the longitudinal recess e in the body in which the
lump on the under side of the barrels takes when the barrels are shut
down. The motion of the cross bolt c is limited by the pin / working
in the cut away part i of the said bolt. The bolt c is pressed outwards
by a coiled spring g, a hole in the end of the said bolt receiving the said
spring. The outer end of the bolt projects from the right hand side
of the gun and is furnished with a thumb plate or head c² for working
it. In the middle of the bolt c is an opening c³, the spring g tending
to press the bolt so as to remove the said opening c³ from opposite the
longitudinal recess e in the body. One edge of the said opening o³ in
the bolt c is inclined or bevilled at c', and the front of the nose f' of

page_text: the lump is also bevilled. When the barrels are ready for firing as
represented in Figures 7 and 8, the uncutaway part of the cross bolt c
bears upon the scat of the nose part 2 of the lumpf and the barrels
are securely fastened down. To release the barrels for loading the cross
bolt c is pressed inwards by its thumb plate c³. The opening c³ in
the bolt is thereby made to coincide with the lumpf when the barrels
are unfastened, the lump f on the rising of the barrels passing through
the said opening in the bolt. When the barrels are shut down
against the face of the break-off the inclined or bevilled nose part ƒ³
of the lumpf coming against the inclined part c* of the bolt c pushes
back the said bolt until the opening c³ is brought opposite the said- lump
when the latter passes into the longitudinal recess e in the body.
When the barrels have been completely shut down the bolt c returns
by the action of the spring g to its normal position, and by snapping
upon the seat of the nose part f³ of the lumpf securely fastens the

page_text: spring bolt engaging with the lump on the under side of the barrels
and being released from the said lump, substantially as described and
illustrated.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Ansell, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-seventh day of October, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
one
Witness,
GEORGE SHAW.
WILLIAM ANSELL. (L.S.)