IMPROVEMENTS ON FIRE- ARMS
Year: 1826

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, 1,
BENJAMIN NEWMARCH, of Cheltenham, in the County of Gloucester,
Esquire, send greeting.
WHEREAS His present most Excellent Majesty King George the
Fourth, by His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain,
bearing date at Westminster, the Seventh day of November, One thou-
sand eight hundred and twenty-six, in the seventh year of His reign,
did, for Himself, His heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Benjamin Newmarch, His 'especial licence that I, the said Benjamin
Newmarch, my exors, adññiors, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Benjamin Newmarch, my exors, adññiors, or assigns, should at
any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times
during the term of years therein expressed, should and lawfully might
make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town
of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS ON FIRE-
ARMS;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso, obliging
me, the said Benjamin Newmarch, by an instrument in writing under
my hand and seal, particularly to describe and ascertain the nature

page_text: of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, and to cause the same to be inrolled in His Majesty's High
Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately
after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by
the same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large
appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the
said Benjamin Newmarch, do hereby declare that the nature of my
said Invention, and the manner in which the same is to be per-
formed, are particularly described and ascertained in and by the
Drawings hereunto annexed, and the following description thereof
(that is to say):
My Improvements on fire-arms apply to such descriptions of fire-
arms as are discharged by means of percussion, and consist, first, in a
new kind of chamber designed to receive the priming made of deto-
nating materials; secondly, in the construction and adaptation of the parts
of the gun lock which effect the blow to produce percussion; thirdly,
a new mode of adapting the lock to cannon, and improvements in the
construction of the lock; fourthly, a new mode of conducting, the
fire to the charge of cannon; and, fifthly, the introduction of a steel pin
as a false breech; which said several improvements are exhibited in
the different Figures shewn in the Drawing hereto annexed. Fig. 1,
is a cross section of the breech or back end of the gun barrel taken at
the dotted lines A, A, in Figs. 5, and 6, which are longitudinal sections
of a fowling piece, shewing the improved mechanism of the gun lock
in two positions. The chamber for receiving the priming shown at a,
Fig. 1, is here made conical, but it may be of a prism form. b, is a
cone, which fits into the chamber a, for the purpose of inclosing the
priming, and excluding the air and moisture. The bottom of the
chamber is open to the channel c, where the detonating composition is
deposited, and in which the striking pin works, as will be further
explained in describing Figs. 5, and 6. The cone b, turns upon a joint
d, at the side of the barrel, for the purpose of allowing the priming to
be deposited in the chanıber, and is acted upon by the spring e, behind,
which holds it when open or shut, as seen adapted in the Figures 1, 2,

page_text: and 3, and in a different form at Fig. 4. The same sort of conical
priming chamber is applicable to other fire-arms.
.
The discharge of the piece causes the cone to be thrown up, and the
chamber being then open allows the vapour arising from the detona-
tion to escape. The edge of the chamber a, is made with a small
elevated rim, and the cover at the base of the cone b, being made to
overlap when shut down, closes the chamber perfectly air and water
tight. The mechanism of the gun lock may be constructed upon any
of the ordinary principles as far as the hammer, which in my improved
plan is peculiar in its construction. In Figs. 5, and 6, f, is the hammer,
to which is attached the pin g, which works in the bore or channel c,
leading to the breech end of the charge. The pin is shewn detached
at Fig. 7; its connexion to the hammer is by means of a small stud i,
near the end of the pin, which is let into a notch h, in the top of the
hammer. This forms a sort of swivell joint, and the pin may be with-
drawn by turning it a quarter round, so as to release the stud i, from
the notch; the priming being deposited in the conical chamber a,
descends into the channel c, and when the hammer is let off by pulling
the trigger, as usual, the end of the pin strikes with great force against
the detonating priming and explodes it. In order to prevent the
vapour arising from the explosion from gaining access to the works of
the lock, a cap piece k, affixed upon the pin g, containing an elastic
washer, stops against the rim at the back end of the breech, and
thereby prevents the passage of the vapour. The cap also fits accu-
rately the interior of the cylinder in which it works and is thereby
guided. A variation in the construction of the hammer and pin for
discharging guns by means of percussion is shewn in Figs. 8, and 9,
which are longitudinal sections of a fowling piece, the lock being at
full cock in Figure 8, and discharged at Fig. 9. The striking pin in
this construction is not attached to the hammer, as in the former
instance, but is intended to be struck at its end by the hammer which
causes the percussion. The pin is shewn detached at a, in Fig. 10, and
also the helical spring 6, that throws it back, and the nut c, which limits
its action. In applying this loose pin to the touch-hole of the gun, as
in Figs. 8, and 9, the helical spring 6, is first put upon the front end of

page_text: the pin a, bearing against the shoulder; and then, the pin being intro-
duced into its socket as shewn, the cap c is screwed up to its bearing,
which prevents the pin from dropping out while the spring forces it
back. The lock is then enabled to act upon the end of the pin a, by
the hammer d, striking it as before said, and the curved piece or apron
attached to to the hammer shields the internal works from the smoke
or vapour. Fig. 11, shews another arrangement of the mechanism of
the lock, in which the hammer and tumbler are in different forms to
the preceding.
The main spring communicates its power to the
hammer by acting against the tail piece attached to the side of the
tumbler, and the sear and trigger are in one. As in common pistols,
locks have been applied to the discharge of cannons, upon both the
flint and percussion principle; but the peculiarity of my improvement
consists in attaching the said locks to the cannon by a hinged joint, as
shewn at Figs. 12, 13, 14, and 15. It has frequently occured in dis-
charging cannon that the locks have been blown off, to obviate which
I attach them by means of the hinged joint as at a. The lock is by this
means allowed to rise upon its joint when the explosion takes place,
which acts under it; and, when placed in a situation for firing, the lock
is held down upon the cannon by a latch spring, as at b, Figs. 12, and
The lock may be adapted to a cannon, either at the top, the side,
or the end; when attached at the end of a cannon it may be connected
as in Figs. 14, and 15. In order to conduct the fire from the priming,
which in this case I prefer to be a detonating cap placed upon the
nipple, I form a channel through the nipple and cone y, as shewn
by dots in Figs. 14, and 15, which conducts the fire to the back of the
cartridge in the cannon, thereby superseding the use of a port fire or
ordinary priming with gunpowder. The false breech which I employ
is intended to prevent the bruising of the touch-hole by the repeated
blows of the piu; this is formed by the introduction of a steel screw or
plug B, shewn in Figs. 5, and 6. The necessary aperture being made
the steel screw or pin is fastened in, and the touch-hole drilled through
it. In the event of the hole becoming stopped by bruising, the plug
may be removed, and another substituted in its place.
13.
In the foregoing Specification I have found it necessary to describe

page_text: and represent many parts of fire-arms, which are not new; I there-
fore desire it may be understood that I do not intend to claim all those
parts as constituting my Invention, but limit my claim to the following
novelties: First, the construction of a priming chamber, with its plug
and cover, as above described. Second, the construction and mode of
connecting to the hammer the pin which gives the blow to the deto-
nating priming, and the mode of packing the cap for the purpose of
excluding the vapour from the interior of the lock, and the application
of the main spring to the tail piece of the tumbler, as shewn in Fig.
11. Third, the mode of attaching a gun lock to the cannon by means
of a joint. Fourth, the mode of conducting the detonating fire to the
charge of gunpowder through a plug, as described. And fifth, the em-
ployment of a steel pin or plug, introduced into the breech of the gun
by screwing or otherwise, for the purpose of forming a false breech
or renewable mouth piece, to the touch hole.
In witness whereof, I, the said Benjamin Newmarch, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Seventh day of May, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and twenty-
seven.
BENJAMIN (L.S.) NEWMARCH.
DENJAMIN (L.S.) NEWMARCH.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Seventh day of May, in
the year of our Lord 1827, the aforesaid Benjamin Newmarch came
before our said Lord the King, in His Chancery, and acknowledged
the Specification aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained
and specified, in form above written. And also the Specification afore-
said was stamped according to the tenor of the Statute made for that
purpose.
Inrolled the Seventh day of May, in the year of our Lord One
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