AN IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS IN LOADING CERTAIN KINDS OF FIRE-ARMS
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Westley Richards, of Birmingham, in the
County of Warwick, Gun Manufacturer, for the Invention of "AN
IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS IN LOADING CERTAIN KINDS OF FIRE-ARMS."
Sealed the 4th July 1854, and dated the 3rd May 1854.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Westley Richards
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
3rd May 1854.
I, WILLIAM WESTLEY RICHARDS, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick,
Gun Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN
IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS IN LOADING CERTAIN KINDS OF FIRE-ARMS to be
as follows:-
My Invention consists of a method or methods of loading such kinds of fire-
arms as are usually called repeating or revolving fire-arms, and has for its
object facility in forcing the bullets or projectiles into the short barrels of the
revolving chambers of such fire-arms. In carrying my Invention into effect,
I make a ramrod to slide on the side of the fixed barrel, the said ramrod
sliding in guides or bearings on the said fixed barrel. That end of the said
ramrod most distant from the revolving chamber is formed into a rack, and a
pinion working on an axis fixed in the said fixed barrel gears into the said
rack. A handle or lever is attached to the pinion, and by moving the said
handle about the axis of the said pinion, the said pinion is made to slide the
said ramrod, in a line parallel to the axis of the fixed barrel, and coincident

page_text: with the position which the axes of the barrels in the revolving chamber
respectively assume on the revolution of the said chamber. The bullet or
projectile is introduced into the mouth of the barrel in the revolving chamber,
and the said barrel brought under the end of the ramrod; the pinion lever is
raised, and the ramrod thereby made to force the bullet or projectile into the
barrel. By depressing the said lever the ramrod is withdrawn from the barrel.
The essence of my Invention consists in the use of a rack and pinion for
actuating a ramrod to be used for forcing the bullet or projectile into the
barrels of repeating or revolving fire-arins.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Westley Richards in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 26th October 1854.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
WESTLEY RICHARDS, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Gun Manu-
facturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Third day of May, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the seventeenth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
William Westley Richards, Her special licence that I, the said William
Westley Richards, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said William Westley Richards, my exccutors, administrators, and
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 "AN IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS IN LOADING CERTAIN KINDS OF FIRE-
ARMS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William Westley
Richards, by an instrument-in-writing-under-my-hand and seal, should-par-
ticularly 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 imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Westley Richards, 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 thereof (that is to say):-

page_text: "
My Invention consists of a method or methods, herein-after particularly
described, of loading such fire-arms as are usually called "repeating" or
revolving "fire-arms, and the object of my said Invention is to give facility
in forcing the bullets or projectiles into the short barrels of the revolving
chambers of such fire-arms.
Figure 1 of the accompanying Drawing represents in side elevation a
"repeating" or revolving" pistol constructed according to my Invention;
Figure 2 represents a portion of the same in side elevation (partly, in section);
and Figure 3 represents in plan a part of the same. a is the ramrod, which
slides on the side of the fixed barrel b, the said ramrod sliding in bearings c, c,
on the said fixed barrel. That end of the ramrod nearest the revolving chamber
and marked dis of a larger diameter than the other part of the said ramrod,
and fits loosely in the barrels of the revolving chamber (see Figure 2). That
end of the ramrod most distant from the revolving chamber is formed into a
rack marked e, and a pinion ƒ working on an axis fixed on the stationary
barrel gears into the said rack e. A lever or handle g is attached to the
pinion f, and by turning the said handle about the axis of the said pinion, the
said pinion is made to slide the said ramrod in a line parallel to the axis of the
fixed barrel b, and coincident with the position which the axes of the barrels
in the revolving chamber respectively assume on the revolution of the said
chamber. The bullet or projectile is introduced with the proper charge into
the mouth of a barrel in the revolving chamber; the said barrel is then
brought under the end of the ramrod, the said ramrod and handle g being in
the position represented in Figures 1 and 3. The said lever or handle g is
moved into the position represented in Figure 2, by which the end d of the
ramrod is made to force the bullet or projectile into the barrel; by then
bringing the lever or handle g into the position represented in Figures 1 and 3,
the ramrod is withdrawn from, the barrel, and by the motion of the revolving
chamber another barrel may be brought opposite to the ramrod, and the
operation described repeated. Although I have only described my Invention
with reference to a revolving or repeating pistol, yet my said Invention is
applicable to "revolving" or "repeating" fire-arms generally.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and the manner of
carrying the same into effect, I wish it to be understood that I do not limit
myself to the precise methods herein described, as the same may be varied
without departing from the nature of my said Invention; for example, although
I have described the motion of the pinion and rack to be effected by means
of an arm or lever, yet a winch or other mechanical contrivance may be used
for the same purpose; but I claim as my Invention, forcing bullets or projec

page_text: tiles into the barrels of "repeating" or "revolving" fire-arms by means of a
ramrod, to which a sliding motion is given by means of a rack and pinion, as
herein described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawing.
In-witness whereof, I, the said William Westley Richards, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-fifth day of October, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four.
Witness,
RICHARD SKERRETT.
WILLIAM WESTLEY RICHARDS. (L.S.)