IMPROVE- MENTS IN SIGHTS FOR FIRE-ARMS
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles Robertson, of Edinburgh, in the County of
Mid Lothian, North Britain, Advocate, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN SIGHTS FOR FIRE-ARMS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles Robertson at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 25th
July 1861.
I, CHARLES ROBERTSON, of Edinburgh, in the County of Mid Lothian,
North Britain, Advocate, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN SIGHTS FOR FIRE-ARMS," to be as follows, that is
to say:-
This Invention relates to the arrangement and construction of sights or
apparatus affixed to fire-arms for the purpose of facilitating the taking aim
therewith. Under one modification of the Invention when applied to a single-
barrelled piece, a moveable sight bar is placed on the top of the barrel itself.
This sight bar consists of a bar or rib of steel, or other suitable metal or
material, which on the upper side is a level plane nearly corresponding in
appearance with the centre bar or rib at present used in double-barrelled rifles
on which the sights are placed, with this exception, that there are no raised
back sights, as these are in the present Invention superseded by a movement
of the sight bar, to be afterwards explained. On the under side this sight bar
is formed so as to fit and rest on the upper portions of the barrel, or it may be

page_text: fixed upon a saddle-piece of the same metal, or some other suitable metal or
material, formed so as to fit and rest on the barrel. In length this sight bar
is made to extend from the muzzle of the piece to the breech or beyond it.
It is attached to the barrel at the muzzle, and by means of a hinge at the
point of attachment it is capable of being raised up from the barrel, so that
the elevation at the breech end, suitable for shooting at long distances, may be
attained by a vertical movement of the whole bar, or of the bar and saddle-
piece from the hinged point. This movement of the sight bar is effected by
means of a screw actuated from the side of the stock or from beneath it; or
a side lever, ratchet, and pall, or other suitable mechanical contrivance, may be
used for the purpose. The sight bar or apparatus when in the position for
shooting at near objects or point blank will rest upon and fit close to the
barrel of the piece, which will greatly conduce to protect it from-injury,-and..
the chance of accidental displacement may be avoided by a catch or other
contrivance. The exact centre of the bar may be indicated at the breech end
by a platinum, gold, or other line, by a notch or groove, or by a line of small
holes made on the face of the bar or otherwise, and any of the front sights at
-present used may be placed at the muzzle end. The breech end of the bar
may also be fitted with a slip of metal, marked as above, which shall be
capable of lateral movement, so that when shooting in windy weather allowance
may be made for the deviation in the course of the projectile occasioned by
the action of the wind. When shooting at a near object or point blank, the
shooter in taking aim looks along the level plane of the bar from the breech
end to the front sight, and his eye is not distracted by any intervening sight
higher than the said plane. When shooting at longer distances, the shooter
having elevated the sight rod from its position on the barrel to the requisite
height, takes aim in the same way even at the longer range, as at point blank,
by looking along the same level, though now inclined, plane; in this aim
is taken with greater ease, rapidity, and certainty, particularly at long ranges,
than can be done according to, the present adjustment of sights.
If necessary,
a telescope may be fitted to the sight bar for long ranges, the focussing of
which may be made to elevate the sight bar to the requisite height to suit
the distance of the object aimed at.
way
This Invention may be adapted to all or almost all fire-arms, including
various kinds of ordnance. When used for double-barrelled pieces the sight
bar may be placed between the barrels upon or in the place of the rib or bar
now in use for the sight, and will be attached and moved as above described.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Charles Robertson in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
25th January 1862.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHARLES
ROBERTSON, of Edinburgh, in the County of Mid Lothian, North Britain,
Advocate, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fifth day of July, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fifth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Charles Robertson, Her special license that I, the said Charles Robertson,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Charles
, 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 night 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 SIGHTS FOR FIRE-ARMS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said Charles Robertson, my executors or administrators, by an instrument
in writing under my hand and seal, or under the hand and seal of one
of them, 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 Robertson, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, 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 :-
My said Invention relates to the arrangement and construction of sights or
apparatus affixed to fire-arms for the purpose of facilitating the taking aim
therewith. Under one modification of the Invention, when applied to a single-
barrelled piece, a moveable sight bar is placed on the top of the barrel itself.
This sight bar consists of a bar or rib, or strap of steel or other suitable
metal or materials, which on the upper side is a level plane, nearly cor-
responding in appearance with the centre bar or rib at present used in double-
barrelled rifles on which the sights are placed, with this exception, that there
are no raised back sights, as these are in the present Invention superseded by

page_text: a movement of the sight bar, to be afterwards explained. On the under side
this sight bar is formed so as to fit and rest on the upper portions of the
barrel, or it may be fixed upon a saddle-piece of the same metal, or some
other suitable metal or material, formed so as to fit and rest on the barrel.
In length this sight bar is made to extend from the muzzle of the piece to the
breech or beyond it. It is attached to the barrel at the muzzle, and by means
of a hinge at the point of attachment it is capable of being raised up from the
barrel, so that the elevation at the breech end, suitable for shooting at long
distances, may be attained by a vertical movement of the whole bar, or of the
bar and saddle-piece from the hinged point. This movement of the sight bar
is effected by means of a screw actuated from the side of the stock or from
beneath it; or a side lever, ratchet, and -pall, or other suitable mechanical
contrivance, may be used for the purpose. The sight bar or apparatus, when
in the position for shooting at near objects or point blank, will rest upon and
fit-close-to-the-barrel of the piece, which will greatly conduce to protect it
from injury, and the chance of accidental displacement may-be-avoided..by_a
catch or other contrivance. The exact centre of the bar may be indicated at
the breech end by a platinum, gold, or other line, by a notch or groove, or by
a line of small holes made on the face of the bar or otherwise, and any of the
front sights at present used may be placed at the muzzle end. The breech
end of the bar may also-be fitted. with a slip of metal, marked as above, which
shall be capable of lateral movement, so that when. shooting in windy weather
allowance may be made for the deviation in the course of the projectile
occasioned by the action of the wind; or this object may be effected by a
lateral movement of the whole bar by means of a pivot or joint at the muzzle
end and a screw or other equivalent contrivance at the breech. When
shooting at a near object or point blank, the shooter in taking aim looks
along the level plane of the bar from the breech end to the front sight, and
his eye is not distracted by any intervening sight higher than the said plane.
When shooting at longer distances the shooter having elevated the sight rod
from its position on the barrel to the requisite height, takes aim in the same
way even at the long range as at point blank, by looking along the same
level, though now inclined plane; in this way aim is taken with greater ease,
rapidity, and certainty, particularly at moving objects and at long ranges, than
can be done according to the present adjustments of sights.
And in order to make the practical application of this Invention clear and
readily understood, I have in the accompanying Sheet of Drawings shown one
mode of applying the sight bar to a gun or rifle.
Figure 1 is an elevation of a gun with the sight bar raised to a position

page_text: suited to a long range, the red line showing the sight bar when resting on the
barrel; Figure 2 is a plan corresponding to Figure 1; Figure 3 is an elevation
showing the backward end of the sight bar, and front view of the slide or
elevator, which, however, may be arranged in various ways; Figure 4 is a
plan of the parts corresponding to Figure 3.
Referring to Figures 1 and 2, the muzzle end of the barrel A has hinged to
it the sight bar B, which is made in the form of a thin flat bar of steel or
other suitable material. In this modification the bar B extends the full length
of the barrel, and slightly beyond the breech; when depressed it fits closely
to the barrel, as shown by the red line. In the centre of the front end of the
sight bar is a small stud C or front sight, similar to that on an ordinary:
fowling piece. At the rear end of the bar the centre is indicated by a small
line or groove formed in the tail piece, which is curved in a downward
direction, as shown in Figure 2, so as to fit closely to the form of the piece,
and a line or groove may be drawn from the groove in the tail piece to tho
front sight, as shown in Figure 2. In the present instance this tail piece
terminates a little beyond the breech, but for long ranges it may be prolonged
and adjusted so as to exclude the view of the barrel. The sight bar has
formed on it near the backward end a laterally projecting part D, which passes
through a slot formed in the slide E (by means of which the sight bar is
elevated), and is attached thereto by means of a screw, by which a lateral
motion may be given to the bar. The slide E is bevelled at the edges,
and moves up and down in the frame F, which is fastened by a screw to the
stock, and, if required, this part may be made to turn partially round to the
horizontal position when the slide E is not in use. The slide E is graduated
in the usual way, to show the necessary elevation of the sight bar for a given
range. The slide is fixed to any required elevation by means of the pinching
screw G; or, instead of this arrangement, the slide D may be slightly notched
at one side to correspond to the lines of graduation, and the free end of a
small blade spring made to fall into these notches. With this arrangement,
when the slide is raised by the finger of the user, the spring gives an audible
click as each indentation is passed, so that the sight may be adjusted to the
required range by the ear without the necessity of looking to the scale, which
enables the marksman to keep his eye upon the mark or moving object at
which he is about to fire whilst in the act of raising the bar to the proper
elevation. A slight pressure on the upper end of the slide E is sufficient to
release it from the spring, and restore it to the normal position.
This improved sight is applicable also to all or almost all fire-arms, including
various kinds of ordnance. In other modifications it may be convenient not

page_text: to extend the sight bar the whole length of the barrel, or to attach it to the
muzzle by a hinge, in which case it would require to be jointed to the elevator,
so as to be capable of adjustment to the proper angle, and secured to the stock
by a pin or other fastening passing through the stock behind the breech or
some other convenient place. When used for double-barrelled pieces, the
sight bar may be placed between the barrels upon or in the place of the rib
or bar now in use for the sight, and may be attached and moved as before
described, or other equivalent manner.
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 novel and
original, and-therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by the herein-
before in part recited Letters Patent, is,-
First, the application to and use in connection with fire-arms of the
improved sights, as heréin-before described, or any mere equivalent therefor.
Second, the general arrangement, construction, and combination of parts
forming the improved sights for fire-arms as herein-before described, or any.
mere modification of the same.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Robertson, have hereunto set
my hand and scal, this Twenty-third day of January, One thousand
eight hundred and sixty-two.
CHARLES ROBERTSON. (L.)