Year: 1887

page_text: Date of Application, 28th Nov., 188?
Complete Specification Left, 28th Aug., 1888
Complete Specification Accepted, 5th Oct., 1888
I, THOMAS HONNOR MORTEN of 22 Cockspur Street in the County of Middlesex
Gun Manufacturer and EDWIN HUGHES of 160 Lambeth Road in the County of
Surrey, Gun maker do hereby declare the nature of this Invention to be as
follows:-
This Invention has for its principal object to provide means whereby the Cartridge
can be withdrawn or is ejected after the hammer has been operated to discharge the
fire arm but so that if the breech be opened before the hammer has been so operated
the cartridge is not ejected. Thus one barrel can be discharged and the breech
opened and the spent cartridge be ejected whilst the unexploded cartridge is not
ejected.
According to this Invention there is provided in the breech block opposite the
breech end of the barrel or of each barrel in double barrel fire arms a piece which is
provided with a spring which tends to bring it into such a position that it obstructs
the passage for the Cartridge from the barrel. The said piece is provided with a part
on which the breech end of the barrel acts to depress the said piece when the breech
is closed. The said piece has in it an opening or attachment with which the striker
or a part in connection which the hammer engages when the hammer is released to
fire the gun this opening or attachment being in such a position that the said engage-
ment prevents when the breech is opened the said piece from moving into the position
in which it obstructs the passage for the ejection of the Cartridge and consequently
the ejector acts to expel the spent Cartridge or the said Cartridge can be withdrawn
by hand.
The ejecting mechanism is preferably arranged so that when the breech is opened
the spent Cartridge is first moved forward a distance to enable it to be removed by
hand and then the spring ejector comes into action to expel the spent Cartridge from
the gun. This ejecting arrangement consists by preference of a lever constituting a
ear engaging with a bent in a tumbler when the breech is closed. This tumbler
constitutes the piece which is moved against the stem of the ejector by the action of

page_text: the ejector spring to expel the Cartridge. The said ejector spring is coiled around
the stem of a rod bearing at one end on a projection on the fore end through
which the said rod passes and at the other end against a head on the said rod which
head bears on the tumbler to move it forward to eject the Cartridge when the sear
is released from the bent of the tumbler on the opening of the breech. The stem of
the ejector is of such a length that its front end is forward of the acting end of the
tumbler when the breech is closed and when the breech is opened the said stem and
ejector are first moved forward by the ordinary lugger to project the cartridge to a
distance to enable it to be removed by hand and then the end of the said stem comes
opposite the acting end of the tumbler and at this time the sear is released from the
bent of the tumbler and the ejecting spring acts upon the rod round which it is coiled
and urges back the tumbler to effect the complete ejection of the spent Cartridge
from the gun.
Thus should any accident occur to the spring ejector the spent
Cartridge will still have been ejected by the "lugger" sufficiently to enable it to be
removed by hand.
Dated this 28th day of November 1887.
J. H. JOHNSON & Co.,
47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, London,
Agents.

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Breech Loading Small Arms.
We THOMAS HONNOR MORTEN of 22 Cockspur Street in the County of Middlesex
Gun Manufacturer and EDWIN HUGHES of 160 Lambeth Road in the County of
Surrey Gun maker do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what
manner the same is to be performed to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement :-
This Invention has for its principal object to provide means whereby the cartridge
can be withdrawn or is ejected after the striker or hammer has been operated to
discharge the fire arm but so that if the breech, be opened before the striker or hammer
has been so operated the cartridge is not ejected. Thus one barrel can be discharged
and the breech opened and the spent cartridge be ejected whilst the unexploded
cartridge is not ejected.
According to this Invention there is provided in the breech block or face of the
break off opposite the breech end of the barrel or of each barrel in double barrelled
fire arms a moveable piece which is provided with a spring which tends to bring it
into such a position that it obstructs the passage for the cartridge from the barrel.
This moveable piece is provided with a part on which the breech end of the barrel acts
to depress the said piece when the breech is closed. The said piece has in it an
opening or attachment with which the striker or a part in connection which the
hammer or tumbler engages when the hammer or tumbler is released to fire the gun
this opening or attachment being in such a position that when the barrel is opened
the said engagement prevents the said piece from moving into the position in which
it obstructs the passage for the ejection of the cartridge and consequently the ejector
acts to expel the spent cartridge or the said cartridge can be withdrawn by
hand.
The ejecting mechanism is preferably arranged so that when the breech is opened
the spent cartridge is first moved forward a distance to enable it to be removed by
hand and then the spring ejector comes into action to throw or flip out the spent
cartridge. This ejecting arrangement consists by preference of a lever constituting a
sear engaging with a bent in a tumbler when the breech is closed. This tumbler
constitutes the piece which is moved against the stem of the ejector by the action of
the ejector spring to expel the cartridge. The said ejector spring is coiled around
the stem of a rod and bears at one end on a projection on the fore end through
which the said rod passes and at the other end against a head on the said rod
which head bears on the tumbler to move it forward to operate the extractor and.
eject the cartridge when the sear is released from the bent of the tumbler on the
opening of the breech.

page_text: When the breech is opened the said stem and ejector are first moved forward to
project the cartridge to such a distance as to enable it to be removed by hand and
on a further lowering of the barrels the sear is released from the bent of the
tumbler and the ejecting spring acts upon the rod round which it is coiled and
urges back the tumbler to effect the complete ejection of the spent cartridge from the
gun. Thus should any accident occur to the spring ejector the spent cartridge will
still have been extracted by the "lugger" sufficiently to enable it to be removed by
hand.
And in order that our said Invention may be fully understood we shall now
proceed more particularly to describe the same and for that purpose shall refer to
the several figures on the annexed sheets of drawings the same letters of reference
indicating corresponding parts in all the figures.
Figure 1 of the accompanying drawings represents partly in vertical section the
mechanism of a double barrelled hammerless gun according to this invention the
breech being closed.
Figure 2 represents partly in section the mechanism of a gun according to this
invention with the breech open and shows how the cartridge is prevented from flying
out of the gun the hammer not having acted on the firing pin.
Figure 3 represents the mechanism after the hammer or tumbler has acted on the
striker or firing pin and the empty cartridge case thrown out of the breech by the
action of the ejector.
Figure 4 represents the gun with the breech open the ejector having been operated
sufficiently to enable the cartridge or cartridge case to be removed by hand, in case
of a break down of any portion of the mechanism which would ordinarily operate the
ejector.
Figure 5 represents the mechanism in horizontal section with the parts in the
position represented in Figure 1.
Figure 6 is a view of the face of the break off the barrels being removed and
Figure 7 illustrates a detail hereinafter described.
In these Figures A is the break off which is constructed with dovetailed grooves in
which work sliding stop pieces B capable of sliding vertically within certain limits
determined by means of suitable stops a. These sliding pieces B are pressed upwards
by springs c acting on their lower ends being likewise provided with a projection or
enlargement e which when the breech is closed is pressed down by the breech ends of
the barrels so that the sliding pieces are moved downwards against the stress of the
springs c. Each sliding stop piece B is perforated for the passage of a firing pin or
striker working in the breech piece in the usual manner. This firing pin is
provided with a recess in which engages a claw d formed on one end of a horizontally
sliding link d working in a groove in the lock plate. This link is provided at the
other extremity with a similar claw & engaging with a projection on the tumbler or
hammer so that when the hammer is cocked it draws back the striker O sufficiently
to completely disengage the end of the said striker from the hole in the vertically
sliding stop piece B.
By the act of closing the breech after inserting the cartridges the lower side of the
barrels is brought into contact with the projections e on the lower ends of the sliding
stop pieces B and depresses the latter as indicated in Figure 1 so that the holes in the
said stop pieces coincide with the firing pins and the gun may then be fired in the
usual way.
Now if the breech be opened before one of the barrels has been discharged the
firing pin of the undischarged barrel remains in the position indicated in Figures 1, 2
and 5 consequently the corresponding sliding stop piece B is elevated by the action of
the spring into the position indicated in Figure 2. When in this position the upper
extremity of the stop piece obstructs the passage of the corresponding cartridge from
the barrel and prevents it from being thrown out by the action of the ejector. In like
manner if neither of the barrels have been discharged both of the stop pieces rise
when the breech is opened and obstruct the passage of both cartridges.

page_text: On the other hand if the breech be opened after one of the barrels has been
discharged the corresponding striker or firing pin remains engaged with the corre-
sponding stop piece B and retains it in the lowered position as indicated in Figure 3
so that the ejector is enabled to throw out the empty case in the usual manner and
if both barrels have been discharged the two firing pins engage with the two stop
pieces and enable the two cartridge cases to be ejected or withdrawn by hand.
The cartridge cases may be thrown out or removed by means of any suitable
extractor or ejector action but the improved fire arm is preferably constructed with
an ejector F working on a stem F being operated as next hereinafter described.
This ejector when the breech is opened to a certain or limited extent. moves the
cartridge cases a sufficient distance out of the breech to enable them to be readily
removed by hand the ejector mechanism being so arranged that a further lowering of
the barrels releases a spring which causes the ejector to flip or jerk out the cartridge
case.
The said ejector mechanism consists of a lever or sear g engaging with a bent in a
tumbler when the breech is closed as indicated in Figure 1. This tumbler rocks on
a centre and its free extremity bears against the end of the stem or rod F¹ of the
ejector. An ejector spring coiled around the stem of a rod 2 bears at one end
against a fixed support and at the other end against a head on the said rod h²
which acts upon the tumbler f and causes it to move forwards and operate the ejector
to throw out the cartridge case when the lever g is disengaged from the bent in the
said tumbler as hereinafter described.
The ejector stem F is provided with a slot or recess with which engages the
extremity of a lugger or loose piece i shown detached in fig. 7 provided with an arm i¹
for operating the lever g. This piece i moves freely in a recess in the drop hinge
being retained by a pin 7 passing through a slot m in the piece i and is provided with
a bearing surface n which is acted on by a corresponding surface n' on the breech
action.
When the barrels are depressed to open the breech this part n¹ on the breech action
acts upon the surface n on the piece i and causes it to slide upon the pin / in such a
manner as to cause its upper extremity working in the slot k to push out the
extractor F into the position indicated in Figure 4. By these means the cartridges
or cartridge cases are caused to protrude sufficiently from the barrels to enable them
to be withdrawn by hand.
On further depressing the barrels the arm on the piece i is brought into contact
with the tail of the lever g and disengages this lever from the bent in the tumbler f
which is then suddenly forced forwards by the spring and acting on the ejector
stem F1 gives the ejector F the necessary impulse to enable it to throw out the
cartridge case.
When the barrels are raised to close the breech the extractor comes in contact with
the face of the break off and is thereby pushed back. The end of the extractor rod
at the same time pushes back the tumbler f and the lever greengages with the bent
in the said tumbler, the loose piece i and the other parts of the extractor action being
likewise returned to their original position.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed we declare that what
we claim is :-
1. A breech loading fire arm provided with a moveable piece which obstructs the
passage of the cartridge or cartridge case from the barrel when the breech is opened
before the striker has been operated to discharge the barrel the said moveable piece
being retained out of the passage of the cartridge or cartridge case by the action of
the striker or part in connection with the hammer or tumbler when the barrel has
been discharged substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the
accompanying drawings.
2. A breech loading fire arm provided with an ejector or extractor action in which
a sear and tumbler are employed in combination with a loose piece (i) in the drop

page_text: hinge being so arranged that the said loose piece first causes the extractor to push
out the cartridge to a sufficient extent to enable it to be removed by hand and then
when the barrels are further lowered operates the sear releasing the tumbler which
causes the ejector to eject or flip out the cartridge all substantially as herein before
described.
3. The combination and arrangements of parts constituting improvements in breech
loading fire arms substantially as herein before described.