IMPROVEMENTS IN BREECH- LOADING GUNS AND OTHER FIRE-ARMS
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Russell Ayerst, of Newendon, in the County
of Kent, Book-keeper, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN BREECH-
LOADING GUNS AND OTHER FIRE-ARMS."-A communication from James
Hunter Sears, of Brantford, in the County of Brant, Upper Canada.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Russell Ayerst
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 5th February 1859.
I, THOMAS RUSSELL AYERST, of Newenden, in the County of Kent, Book-
keeper, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN BREECH-LOADING GUNS AND OTHER FIRE-ARMS," to be as follows:-
This Invention of improvements in breech-loading guns is applicable to
great guus, as also to rifles, pistols, and other fire-arms, & consists in forming
a clear opening through the breech, and applying a closing piece, consisting of
a cross piece mounted on a joint or hinge pin on one side of the bore; this
hinged piece is received in a recess when in position, which, with suitable
shoulders, abuts and holds it close against the back end of the bore. The
hinged piece is of considerable thickness, and has a screw bolt or plug piece
screwed through it in the direction of the borc, the nose of which enters
therein, effectually closing the barrel at the breech, and also fixing the hinged
piece securely in its place. The back end of the bore is enlarged, forming
a recess, into which the nose of the screw enters, being somewhat larger than
the bore, and which abuts against the shoulder so formed. The screw piece

page_text: projects behind the hinged piece, and is furnished with a short hand lever, by
which it is turned about a quarter of a revolution when moved, so as to with-
draw the nose of the screw from the bore; it meets with a stop in its rotary
motion on its own axis, at which time the nose is free of the bore, and the
further movement of the hand lever moves the cross piece on its hinge pin, and
throws it over and out of the line of the barrel, thereby disclosing the bore,
and affording sufficient freedom for loading. The reverse movement of the
cross piece & hand lever effectually closes the breech, as before mentioned.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Thomas Russell Ayerst in. the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 5th August 1859.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
RUSSELL AYERST, of Newenden, in the County of Kent, Book-keeper, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fifth 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 me, the said
Thomas Russell Ayerst, Her special licence that I, the said Thomas Russell
Ayerst, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Thomas Russell Ayerst, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at
any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after 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 "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN BREECH-LOADING GUNS AND OTHER FIRE-ARMS," a communication from
abroad by James Hunter Sears, of Branford, in the County of Brant, Upper
Canada, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Thomas Russell
Ayerst, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my,
or their, or one of their hands and scals, 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 Thomas Russell Ayerst, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same

page_text: is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement, reference being had to the Sheet of Drawings
hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is
to say):-
This Invention of improvements in breech-loading guns is applicable to
-field pieces and other large guns, as also to rifles, pistols, and other fire-arms,
and consists in forming a clear opening through the breech, and applying a
closing piece consisting of a cross piece mounted on a joint or hinge pin on
one side of the bore; this hinged piece is recieved in a recess when in position,
which, with suitable shoulders, abuts and holds it close against the back end of
the bore. The hinged piece is of considerable thickness, and has a screw bolt
or plug piece screwed through it in the direction of the bore, the nose of which
enters therein, effectually closing the barrel at the breach, and also fixing the
hinged piece securely in its place. The back end of the bore is enlarged,
forming a recess, into which the nose of the screw enters, the nose, or end
being somewhat larger than the bore, and which nose abuts against the
shoulder so formed. The screw stem projects in the rear of the hinged piece,
and is furnished with a short hand lever, by which it is turned; when it is
turned about a quarter of a revolution, and so as to withdraw the nose of the
screw from the bore, the screw meets with a stop in its rotary motion on its
own axis, so that the farther movement of the hand lever moves the cross pieco
on its hinge or joint pin, thus throwing it over out of the line of the barrel, and
thereby disclosing the bore, and affording sufficient freedom for loading from
behind. The reverse movement of the cross piece and the hand lever effec-
tually closes the breech, and makes the gun ready for firing, as before

page_text: cross section. On this joint is mounted the cross piece or block of metal g,
seen detached in Figs. 6, 7, & 8; this piece is accurately fitted between the
breech of the barrel and a shoulder i formed by a recess in the cheek pieces e,
as seen in the plan, Fig. 2; an abutting shoulder is also formed at the under
part in the metal h, solid with and uniting the cheek pieces; the surface of
this part is about level with the lower part of the bore, and forms a hollow
groove, in which to rest and insert the cartridge; this hollow is somewhat
larger than the bore, and increases towards the butt, to afford greater facilities
for inserting the cartridge, and room for a person's thumb in loading. The
piece g is fitted to move freely on its joint pin k, and so that it can be readily
thrown back, as at Fig. 4, or into its place, as seen in the section, Fig. 5. A
screw is fitted into the piece g, having a thumb lever m attached, whereby
motion is given to the screw, either for closing or opening the breech; this
screw has an enlargement n at the nose end, as seen in the sections, Figs. 3
and 8, which enlargement n fits into a recess p formed in the breech of the
gun at the termination of the bore, as seen in the section, Fig. 3, and trans-
verse section, Fig. 4; the face or shoulder of this recess, as will be observed,
is conical, to which the face of the enlargement n is fitted; this forms the con-
tact and closing surface; it may, however, be modified in its form, but I find the
form represented answers the purpose well. The screw, when turned in the
backward direction, that is to say, to withdraw it from the recess p, meets with a
stop, which prevents its further rotation by the enlargement n coming in con-
tact with the bottom of the recess in g, in which it lodges, seen in Fig. 8; at
this time the part n is entirely within g, and as seen at Fig. 7. The lever m,
it will be observed, is bent, in order that it may be snug and out of the way
in firing, as seen at Fig. 5. The action of loading is this:-With the thumb of
the right hand the lever m is acted upon, so as to cause the screw to rotate
from right to left; this is continued to about the position of the lever, shown
red in Fig. 5; at about this point the nose piece n comes in contact with the
bottom of the recess in part g, the effect of which is, that any further motion
given to the lever carries the piece 9 over on its joint pin k, which motion is
continued until it arrives at the position represented in Fig. 4, when the bore
and breach will be clear and free for the insertion of the cartridge thereat.
After inserting the cartridge, the thumb of the right hand is brought to bear
on the piece g, which is thereby carried over into its seat in the breech; the
lever m will now be in the position shown red in Fig: 5, when the thumb of
the right hand acts upon it, and forces it into position shown dotted in Fig. 5,
as also seen in Figs. 1 and 2; the breech will then be closed, and the gun in
a state to discharge. In order to facilitate the entrance of the cartridge into

page_text: the barrel, I fit a movable piece in the recess below the piece g; this
movable piece r rests on a spring s, which has a constant tendency to force it
upwards, but so that it can be depressed by the pressure of the thumb on
piece 9 when placed in the closing position. The piece r has a groove or
hollow along the upper surface, somewhat in line with the bore, such hollow
being a portion of a circle of the same radius as the bore of the gun at that
end next the bore, but increasing at the opposite end, and so as to form a con-
tinuation of the hollow in the metal h before mentioned in line with the bore.
The piece r descends when piece g is inserted, so that the abutment desired
against h may be opposed to g, while at same time, when piece g is removed,
the piece r is free to rise by the force of the spring 8, and so to present a
continuation of the surface on which to place and slide the cartridge when
inserting it into the barrel of the gun. A stop is provided to prevent the
piece r rising above its proper position.
I have described this Invention, and represented in the Drawing its appli-
cation to the rifle or similar small arms, as I believe it to be a greater
auxiliary to loading that arm than any other, but it may be also applied to
field pieces and other large guns, which it is unnecessary to illustrate, as any
one conversant with such manufacture will, from the foregoing description
and Drawings annexed, be able to adopt the same to any kind of gun or pistol.
For large guns it might be necessary to apply a weight to counterbalance the
piece g, so that it may be easily moved.
Having described the nature of the Invention and the manner of per-
forming the same, I declare that what I claim as the Invention to be
protected by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is, the com-
bination of parts herein-before described, constituting a breech-loading gun or
fire-arm, as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Russell Ayerst, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Third day of August, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine.
THOMAS R. AYERST. (L.S.)
Witness,
W. CLARK, Agent,
58, Chancery Lane, London.