IMPROVEMENTS IN FIRE-ARMS
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Henry Johnson, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in
the County of Middlesex, and of 166, Buchanan Street, in the City of
Glasgow, North Britain, Gentleman, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN FIRE-ARMS."-A communication from William H. Bell, residing at the
Sealed the 24th June 1859, and dated the 9th February 1859.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Henry Johnson
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
9th February 1859.
I, JOHN HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of
Middlesex, and of 166, Buchanan Street, in the City of Glasgow, North
Britain, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN FIRE-ARMS," a communication from William H. Bell,
residing at the City and County of Washington, in the District of Columbia,
to be as follows:→
This Invention relates to what are technically known as "self-primers" for
fire-arms, and it appertains more particularly to that class of self-primers
wherein the magazine is contained in the hammer of the lock of the fire-arm.
According to this Invention, the primers, which are of the flat or wafer kind,
are contained within a metal shield or tubular case, fitted or formed at its

page_text: upper end with a screw thread, or other appliance for enabling it to be readily
fixed into and removed from the magazine chamber of the hammer. A
plunger forced down by a helical spring is contained within the shield, for the
purpose of pressing or feeding forward the primers as fast as they are used.
As the whole is readily removed from the hammer, great facility is afforded
for charging the same with primers. On the striking surface of the hammer,
and coinciding with the bottom of the primary shield or tube, there is fitted by
means of a dovetail a guard plate, which closes the bottom of the shield, but
is slotted on its upper surface to a sufficient depth to admit of a primer being
slided forward into a reception chamber or recess formed in that part of the
hammer which strikes the nipple. This forward sliding of the individual
primers into the striking part of the hammer is accomplished by means of a
slide working between the guard plate and the bottom of the shield, and
actuated by a pin in the side of the lock, which takes into a differential groove
or slot in the rear end of the sliding plate, the pin and slot being so disposed
that as the hammer descends, the slide will advance and push a primer into
the proper position to be struck on to the nipple. The side of the hammer is
provided with a slot or opening coinciding with the bottom of the priming
magazine, and also with a slot formed in the side of the shield, along which
latter slot a pin on the side of the piston traverses. When this pin is seen
through the lateral opening in the hammer the magazine is empty, and the
shield should be then withdrawn in order to be replenished. By this simple
means the person using the arm can always see at a glance whether his
magazine contains primers or not without the trouble of taking the whole to
pieces for that purpose, as in the ordinary self-primers of this class.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Henry Johnson in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
9th August 1859.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields,. in the County of Middlesex,
and of 166, Buchanan Street, in the City of Glasgow, North Britain,
Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Ninth day of February, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-second year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto

page_text: me, the said John Henry Johnson, Her special license that I, the said John
Henry Johnson, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
I, the said John Henry Johnson, my executors, administrators, or 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 FIRE-ARMS," a communication from William H. Bell,
residing at the City and County of Washington, in the District of Columbia,
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said John Henry Johnson,
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 John Henry Johnson, 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 accompanying Drawings and
to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say :—
The said Invention relates to what are technically known as "self-primers "
for fire-arms, and it appertains more particularly to that class of self-primers
wherein the magazine is contained in the hammer of the lock of the fire-arm.
According to this Invention, the primers, which are of the flat or wafer kind,
are contained within a metal shield or tubular case, fitted or formed at its
upper end with a screw thread or other appliance for enabling it to be readily
fixed into and removed from the magazine chamber of the hammer. A
plunger forced down by a helical spring is contained within the shield for tho
purpose of pressing or feeding forward the primers as fast as they are used.
As the whole is readily removed from the hammer, great facility is afforded
for charging the same with primers. On the striking surface of the hammer,
and coinciding with the bottom of the primary shield or tube, there is fitted by
means of a dovetail a guard plate, which closes the bottom of the shield, but is
slotted on its upper surface to a sufficient depth to admit of a primer being
slid forward into a reception chamber or recess formed in that part of the
hammer which strikes the nipple. This forward sliding of the individual
primers into the striking part of the hammer is accomplished by means of a
slide working between the guard plate and the bottom of the shield, and
actuated by a pin in the side of the lock, which takes into a differential groove

page_text: or slot in the rear end of the sliding plate, the pin and slot being so disposed
that as the hammer descends, the slide will advance and push a primer into
the proper position to be struck on to the nipple. The side of the hammer is
provided with a slot or opening coinciding with the bottom of the priming
magazine; and also with a slot formed on the side of the shield, along which
latter slot a pin on the side of the piston traverses. When this pin is seen
through the lateral opening in the hammer the magazine is empty, and the
shield should be then withdrawn in order to be replenished. By this simple
means the person using the arm can always see at a glance whether his
magazine contains primers or not without the trouble of taking the whole to
pieces for that purpose, as in the ordinary self-primers of this class.
·
And in order that the said Invention may be fully understood, I shall now
proceed more particularly to describe the same, and for that purpose I shall
refer to the several Figures on the Sheet of Drawings hereunto annexed, the
same letters of reference indicating corresponding parts throughout all the
Figures.
Figure 1 of the annexed Sheet of Drawings represents a side elevation of a
hammer and lock embracing the present improvement; Figure 2 is an
elevation of the inner side of the hammer detached from the lock; and
Figure 3 is a side elevation of the other side and partial section of the same,
to show the arrangement and operation of the magazine; Figure 4 represents
a plan of the arm that detaches and forces the cap into the hammer as the
latter descends to explode it; and Figure 5, a side elevation of the same;
Figure 6 represents the shield or case in condition to receive the primers
previous to being placed into the hammer, and Figure. 7 the same after the
caps have been discharged from it; Figure 8 is a detached view of the
plunger that feeds up the primers; Figure 9 represents a plan of the side of
the guard or shield plate, which is arranged in front of the mouth of the
magazine detached from the hammer; and Figure 10, a side elevation of the
same; Figure 11 represents a front view of the hammer, showing in dotted
and red lines the operation of the slide that detaches the cap, and forces it
into position in the exploding chamber of the hammer preparatory to its being
exploded. The head of the hammer (a) is represented as being slightly
enlarged, to furnish room for the magazine chamber (6), in this instance
consisting of a cylindrical hole traversing the whole of the head of the hammer
in a horizontal direction, and tapering slightly at its forward end, or that.part
next to the end of the hammer which comes in contact with the nipple (d). of
the lock (e). To this chamber is fitted a. hollow removable shield f, (Figures
6 and. 7,) for the reception of the primers g, which are of the wafer.variety.

page_text: The shield (f) is secured at one end to the screw head (h), by means of which
it is held in place in the magazine; the screw head.(h) for this purpose being
made to take into a screw thread cut on the rear end of the magazine
chamber (6). But instead of being a. screw fastening, the shield may be
attached by a bayonet joint or other suitable mode of attachment, and in that
way be held in its place in the magazine chamber, or easily removed therefrom
for the purpose of being charged with primers. In the shield (f) is arranged
a plunger or piston (i), Figure 8, round the piston rod (j) of which is coiled
a spring (k), having its bearing respectively on the inner end of the piston (1)
and screw head (h), for which purpose, and for another herein-after described,
the piston rod is made long enough to enter into a perforation formed in and
passing entirely through the screw head (h), as shewn in Figures 3 and 6 of the
Drawing. In the side of the shield (f) is cut a slot (m,) in which a pin or stud
(n) secured in or otherwise formed on the piston rod traverses. The shield is so
made that when secured in the hammer the forward end of the slot (m) shall
be brought directly in a range or line with another slot (o), (Figure 2), cut in
the side of the hammer head (a). By this arrangement on looking through
the slot o, the user can always determine whether the magazine contains
primers, since when all are expended, the pin or stud (n) on the side of the
piston rod will have traversed through the entire length of the slot (m), and
be stopped immediately opposite the forward end of the slot (o), that is to say,
the end next the part of the hammer that comes in contact with the nipple:
In the rear end of the slot, and on one or both sides, a recess. (p) is cut, for
the purpose of facilitating the charging of the shield with the primers, for
which purpose the plunger is forced back to the position shown in Figure 3
by means of the pin (n), until the latter is opposite the recess (p), when it is
turned partially round until the pin engages with the latter, and the primers
are then placed in the shield, and the latter returned to the magazine
chamber (6), and secured to the hammer by means of the screw head (h), for
which purpose a thumbscrew or milled head (7) may be formed on its outer
end. Thus secured, the rear end of the piston rod (which, whilst the plunger
is forced back for the purpose, of charging, extends through the screw head (h);
as seen in Figures 3 and 6,) is then turned partially round, so as to disengage
the pin (n) from the notch or recess (p), and allow the spring (k) to act on
the plunger (i), and thus force the primers up against a guard plate (9)
arranged in the end of the hammer, and in such position that the primers may
be easily detached from each other, and forced into the chamber (s) that
forms the striking end of the hammer by a slide (t), (Figures 5 and 6,)
working in a slot (u) or. groove formed between the guard plate (9) and the

page_text: head of the hammer, as shewn in Figure 3. On the upper end of this slide
or arm is formed a curved depression or notch of a size and shape to embrace
the edge of the primer, and hold it in place until deposited in the discharging
chamber (s) of the hammer. This slide is so arranged and operated that it
will be withdrawn from the groove (u) on the raising of the hammer, as shown
in dotted lines in Figure 1, and forced up into the groove on the descent of
the hammer, as shown in red lines in the same Figure. The descent of the
hammer on the nipple retains the cap by centrifugal force when forced in the
discharging chamber (s) in the proper position to be discharged by the slide (t).
The operation of the slide is effected by mounting at its lower end on a pin (v)
secured to the side of the lock (e), but, as the slide and hammer, in order to
give the proper motion to the former at the right time must necessarily move
in the arcs of circles of independent centres, and as they still must move in
unison with each other, it will be clear that some means must be provided to
compensate for the necessary variations in their orbits, for which purpose,
instead of simply mounting the slide on the pin with a bearing to fit the latter,
a slot (w) of suitable size and shape is formed in which the pin plays, which
will compensate for any difference in their path of motion.
From the foregoing description it will be apparent that these improvements
may be applied to any percussion lock by the simple addition of the pin (v), and
the substitution of the magazine hammer for the ordinary one with which it
was previously provided, with great facility and at little cost.
. It may here also be observed, by providing the front part of the hammer
with a moveable guard plate (9), that in the event of the groove (u) becoming
clogged or choked up by a large cap, or in the event of its requiring to be
cleaned out, it can readily be effected by the simple withdrawal of the guard
plate from the hammer, for which purpose the former is simply secured to the
latter by means of a dovetail, a feature of great practical value.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried
into effect, I would observe, in conclusion, that what I consider to be novel
and original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by the
herein-before in part recited Letters Patent, is,―
First, the general construction and arrangement of self-acting primers for
fire-arms, as herein-before described.
Second, the combination and arrangement of the shield or case f, piston
plunger i, spring k, and screw thread h, or other suitable fastening with the
magazine chamber 6 in the hammer, for the purpose berein-before referred to.
Third, the combination and arrangement of the stud or pin n in the piston

page_text: or plunger i and slot m in the shield or case f, with the slot o in the side of
the hammer, for the purposes herein-before described.
Fourth, the application and use of the moveable guard plate q, as herein-
before described.
Fifth, the peculiar combination of the notched sliding plate t with the
hammer and guard plate q, as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Henry Johnson, have hereunto set..
my hand and seal, this Ninth day of August, One thousand eight
hundred and fifty-nine.
J. HENRY JOHNSON. (L.s.)