AN IMPROVED REST FOR FIRE-ARMS
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles Wentworth Forbes, of Bartley, in the County
of Hants, Gentleman, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED REST FOR
FIRE-ARMS."
Sealed the 2nd March 1855, and dated the 12th September 1854.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles Wentworth
Forbes at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 12th September 1854.
I, CHARLES WENTWORTH FORBES, of Bartley, in the County of Hants,;
Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN
IMPROVED REST FOR FIRE-ARMS " to be as follows:-
This rest consists of a spring or self-winding reel to be attached to the arm,
knee, or foot of the person using it by means of suitable straps or otherwise.
The reel contains a line or cord, which may be either of the exact length
necessary for the height of the user, or may be regulated by a stop, so as to
be fixed to any required length. In using the rest, the end of the line or
cord is passed through a ring or loop at or near the muzzle of the fire-arm,
and is then brought down and hooked or otherwise fastened to the foot; the
line being when in this position in a state of tension, the fire-arm will be held
quite steady, so as to allow of a correct aim being taken and retained in the
act of firing. The rest may also be fixed to the muzzle of the gun, but [
prefer that it should be attached to the arm or other part of the body, as
described.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Charles Wentworth Forbes in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 12th March 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHARLES
WENTWORTH FORBES, of Bartley, in the County of Hants, Gentleman, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twelfth day of September, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the eighteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Charles Wentworth Forbes, Her special licence that I, the said
Charles Wentworth Forbes, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said Charles Wentworth Forbes, my executors, admi-
nistrators, 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 "AN IMPROVED REST FOR FIRE-ARMS," upon the con-
dition (amongst others) that I, the said Charles Wentworth Forbes, by an
instrument in writing under my hand and seal, 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 Charles Wentworth Forbes, do hereby
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 thereof, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed,
that is to say :-
My Invention consists in the employment as a rest for fire-arms of a line,
cord, or strap, held in a state of tension by the force of upward pressure applied
to the fire-arm. A convenient form for this improved rest consists of a spring
or self-winding reel to be attached to the arm, knee, or foot of the user by
means of suitable straps or otherwise, and containing a line cr cord, which
may be either of the exact length necessary for the height of the user, or may
be regulated by a stop, so as to be fixed to any required length. In using the
rest, the end of the line or cord is passed through a ring or loop at or near
the muzzle of the fire-arm, and is then brought down and hooked or other-

page_text: wise fastened to the foot; the line when in this position being in a state of
tension, the fire-arm will be held quite steady, so as to allow of a correct aim
being taken and retained in the act of firing. The rest may also be fixed to
the muzzle of the gun, but I prefer that it should be attached to the arm or
other part of the body, as described.
Figure 1 of the Drawings annexed is a side view of a spring reel with the
side plate removed to shew its interior construction; and Figure 2 is a side
view thereof, shewing the stop by which the cord or line is fixed to any desired
length. a is the case of the reel, and b is the barrel on which the cord or
line c is wound; d is a coiled spring, the action of which is to keep the cord
or line constantly wound on to the barrel; e is a sliding stop, by means of
which the barrel can be held fast when the required length of cord or line
has been wound off it; f is a loop at the end of the cord or line c, which
slips on to the foot of the person using the rest, and enables him to hold fast
the cord or line.
Figure 8 is a side view, and Figure 4 a plan, of an arrangement for
attaching the reel to the elbow, which I consider to be the best position for
it. A is a pad, which fits under the left arm, and is fastened there by a
strap B, which passes over the shoulder; C is an elbow cap, and D a wrist
cuff, connected to each other and to the pad A by the strap E; F, F, arc
straps and buckles for fastening the wrist cuff; a is the spring reel, which is
attached to the elbow cap C, and c is the cord or line thereof with its foot
loop f. In using this form of the rest, the cord or line c is passed through
loops at the under side of the wrist cuff D, and then through a loop or eye
at the muzzle of the fire-arm, after which it is brought down and the foot
loop passed over the foot of the user. The user then raises the piece to his
shoulder, supporting it in the usual way on his left hand, and stops off the
line or cord from the reel at the required length, or this may have been done
beforehand. The line or cord being now in a state of tension, the fire-arm will
be held quite steady while the aim is being taken and during the act of firing.
Figure 5 shews a simpler form of the elbow rest adapted for the service.
In this case the reel is attached to an elbow cap C of larger size than that
described in reference to Figures 3 and 4, and this is secured to the elbow by
straps and buckles above and below it, as seen at C', C'. The inode of using
this rest is similar to that described.
Figure 6 shews the reel attached to the muzzle of the fire-arm, this form
of rest being also adapted for the service. The cord or line is here brought
down at once to the foot and held by the foot loop, in a similar manner to
what has been described.

page_text: And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I do not claim a spring or
self-winding reel taken alone and apart from the purposes of my Invention;
but what I do claim is,-
First, the employment as a rest for fire-arms of a line, cord, or strap
held in a state of tension by the force of upward pressure applied to the
fire-arm.
And, second, the employment of a spring or self-winding reel for containing
a line, cord, or strap, to be employed as a rest for fire-arms, in the manner
herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Wentworth Forbes, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this First day of March, One thousand
eight hundred and fifty-five.
CHARLES WENTWORTH FORBES. (L.B.).