IMPROVEMENTS IN RIFLE BELTS
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Rowland Taylor, of Paradise House, in the
City of Oxford, Gentleman, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
RIFLE BELTS."
Sealed the 9th April 1861, and dated the 24th October 1860.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Rowland Taylor
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 24th October 1860.
I, WILLIAM ROWLAND TAYLOR, of Paradise House, in the City of Oxford,
Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for " IMPROVE-
MENTS IN RIFLE BELTS," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to a peculiar construction and arrangement of a rifle
belt or sling, whereby it may be used as a rest or stay when firing.
According to this Invention it is proposed to introduce a spring com-
posed of metal, india-rubber, or other suitable material into the ordinary
rifle belt or sling, so as to render it elastic. That part of the belt or sling
which is nearest the left elbow when firing is widened slightly, and has a
central opening made therein for the reception of the point of the elbow, the
belt or sling being distended and exerting a downward pull or strain upon the
muzzle of the rifle when the left arm is introduced between the belt or sling.
& the barrel, the point of the elbow resting on the central opening. tends to
prevent the rising of the muzzle of the rifle on the explosion of the charge.
;

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Rowland Taylor in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 24th April 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
ROWLAND TAYLOR, of Paradise House, in the City of Oxford, Gentleman, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fourth day of October, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty, in the twenty-fourth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said William Rowland Taylor, Her special license that I, the said William
Rowland Taylor, my exccutors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said William Rowland Taylor, 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 RIFLE BELTS," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said William Rowland Taylor, my executors or admi-
nistrators, 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 per-
formed, 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 William Rowland Taylor, 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, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings, and
to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say:-
My said Invention relates to a peculiar construction and arrangement of
rifle belt or sling, whereby it may be used as a rest or stay when firing.
According to my Invention it is proposed to introduce a spring composed of
metal, india-rubber, or other suitable material into the ordinary rifle belt or
sling, so as to render it elastic. That part of the belt which is nearest the
left below when firing is widened slightly, and has a central opening made
therein for the reception of the point of the left elbow. The belt or sling
is by this means distended, and by exerting a downward pull or strain upon

page_text: the muzzle of the rifle tends to prevent the rising of the muzzle of the rifle on
the explosion of the charge.
The annexed Drawing represents an elevation of a long Enfield rifle pro-
vided with my improved rifle belt or sling. A is the belt or sling, which may
be connected in the usual manner to the barrel and stock of the piece; B is a
vulcanized india-rubber spring, and C is the aperture for the reception of the
left elbow when firing; the belt or sling being made wider at this part for
that purpose.
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, the general construction and arrangement of
rifle belts or slings in the manner and for the purpose herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Rowland Taylor, have to
this my Specification hereunto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-
second day of April, One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one.
Witness,
WILLIAM SCRAGG.
WILLIAM ROWLAND TAYLOR. (L.S.)