Year: 1889

page_text: Date of Application 13th Feb., 1889
Specification Accepted, 23rd Mar., 1889
I, ARTHUR NOUVELLE of 36 and 38 rue de Clery Paris in the Republic of France,
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 relating to firearms consists in improvements in the arrangement
and construction of the breech and of the firing and ejector mechanism as hereinafter
explained.
And in order that my said Invention may be fully understood I shall now proceed
more particularly to describe the same and for that purpose shall refer to the several
figures on the annexed sheet of drawings the same letters of reference indicating
corresponding parts in all the figures.
Figure 1 of the accompanying drawings represents in longitudinal section a
double barrelled hammerless gun according to this invention the section being taken
along the centre between the barrels and partly in a line with the centre of one of
the barrels.
Figure 2 represents the gun with the breech open showing one of the barrels in
section. Figure 3 is a plan partly in section and Figure 4 represents the gun in
transverse section on the line 1-2 figure 2.
Figures 5, 6 and 7 illustrate details hereinafter referred to.
This gun comprises three principal parts common to all firearms namely (1) the
barrel, (2) the general mechanism consisting of the retaining device for the breech
action the percussion mechanism the safety bolt, intercepter and the ejector and
(3) the stock.
The breech chambers of the barrels are made in a separate piece of extra strong
metal being preferably of metal known in France by the registered trade mark
"Firmi-Paris" and are prepared as follows-A block of this metal for example is
forged in the proper shape and bored through in two places to form breech chambers
and sockets for the reception of the ends of the two barrels. This block is preferably
made about four and a half inches long and the front ends of the holes are bored out
to a larger diameter than the breech part for the reception of the ends of the tubes
forming the barrels which are screwed into the block as bereinafter described. A
lump or lumps is or are formed on the under side of the breech chambers in which
the hooks or recesses are formed which serve to retain the breech in the closed
position down on the breech action.

page_text: According to the size of the gun this lump or reserve of metal is made either in
the middle between the barrels as indicated in Figure 5 or two lumps or reserves are
provided being one on each side or under each barrel as in Figure 6. In the latter
case the lumps form two parallel hooks each forming part of the breech chamber
under which it is placed. This arrangement presents the advantage in the case of
large guns of increasing the strength of the points of connection with the breech
action by placing the hooks at the sides of the part where the breech chambers are
fitted to the breech action. For guns of ordinary size one lump in the middle is
sufficient.
The tubes which form the barrels are connected to the block containing the breech
chambers by a peculiarly formed screw thread a illustrated in Figure 2 and on a
larger scale in Figure 7 the thread being flat and perpendicular to the axis of the
barrel on the firing side or side exposed to strain and at each end of this screw there
is a smooth or cylindrical part al and whereby the concentricity of the tubes with
their respective breech chambers and a perfect fitting of the parts is ensured.
The two arrangements of the hooks or lumps herein-before described with reference
to Figures 5 and 6 may be combined with a block made in one piece into which the
two barrel tubes are screwed or with breech pieces made in two parts brazed together
with a longitudinal joint thus constituting two single barrels or breeches connected
together side by side.
The percussion mechanism is contained in the breech action of which it forms part.
This mechanism comprises the triggers percussion action safely bolts and intercepters.
It is composed mainly of the following parts namely―
1. Two tumblers a.
2. Two sears d contained within the triggers e e¹ and working on the same axis or
pin as these triggers.
3. A safety bolt lever with three arms 12.
4. Two intercepters I.
5. Two main springs R acting on the tumblers a by means of swivels.
6. A double scar spring h.
7. A small spring p common to both intercepters and attached to the safety bolt
lever.
Working The working of all the parts is controlled by the lever of the breech
action as follows:
The breech is opened by manipulating the lever G of the breech action which fits
over the trigger guard and is provided with an arm gl operating a retaining bolt V
and with an arm g which cocks the tumblers a by acting on a projection a formed
on each tumbler. At the same time the arm g also acts on the arm of the safety
bolt lever and bolts the triggers automatically. By pressing on the thumb piece n
the triggers may be unbolted and the gun can then be fired. When either of the
triggers is pressed its vertical arm e² acts on a projection on the corresponding
intercepter and raises the front end of the latter. This end of the intercepter
which is in the form of a hook as shown in Figures 1 and 2 being thus moved away
from before the projection a¹ on the tumbler the latter is free to fall on the striker.
Under any other conditions the intercepters I are down in front of the tumblers
and render it impossible for them to act upon the strikers. The gun is thus provided
with two safety arrangements complying with all the conditions that can be desired
namely.
1. An automatic bolting action which renders it impossible for the triggers to
move until they have been unbolted by the shooter.
2. Intercepters which stop the tumblers before they reach the strikers whenever
they fall without a pressure being applied to the triggers.
The ejector mechanism: This mechanism which is intended to throw the empty
cartridge cases out of the chambers is composed of the following parts namely.
1. Two sliding ejector rods F arranged parallel with one another side by side
underneath the barrels.
2. A cam or projection C fixed to the hinge and having a head passing between

page_text: the rods F of the ejectors which are cut away on the inner side for this purpose
(figure 1).
3. Two parallel hammers m arranged to act on the front ends of the two ejector
rods F and both pivotted on the same axis.
4. These two hammers are operated by means of swivels connected to two springs R¹
acting as main springs for the hammers in and are retained in the cocked position by
spring sears g.
5. Two trigger rods T placed under the horizontal face of the breech action so that
their ends are presented facing the tumblers a.
6. These two rods are maintained at their rear extremities by the heads of two
small springs s interposed between the rods T and the tumblers a so as to absorb the
blow of the tumblers whenever they fall under abnormal conditions. These springs
are retained by two screws y forming stops limiting the movement of the rods T to
the exact amount necessary.
When the gun is fired the tumbler strikes the small springs which pushes forwards
the trigger rod T causing the front extremity of this rod to project at the hinge.
On lowering the barrels the cam C first pushes out the two ejector rods F and
protrudes the ejectors F¹ to a small extent or sufficiently to loosen the cases after
which the end of the spring sear 9 under the barrel which has been discharged
engages with and is stopped by the end of the corresponding trigger rod T and as
the lowering motion of the barrels continue the hammer m is released and striking
the extremity of the corresponding ejector rod F causes the empty cartridge case to
be thrown out at the same time pushing the trigger rod T back to its original
position.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. The improved firearm constructed and arranged substantially as hereinbefore
described.
2. In drop down or other firearms, constructing the barrel or barrels with the
breech chamber or chambers provided with the peculiarly formed screw threaded
socket a a¹ and a hooked lump all arranged in the manner and for the purpose as
herein before described with reference to Figures 2, 5, 6 and 7 of the accompanying
drawings.
3. In a drop down gun a percussion mechanism and safety and bolting mechanism
comprising hammers a two sears da three armed safety bolting lever two
intercepters I two main springs R a double sear spring hand a small spring p acting
on the intercepters all arranged and operating in the manner and for the purpose
hereinbefore described with reference to Figures 1, 2 and 3 of the accompanying
drawings.
4. In a drop down gun a cartridge case ejector constructed with spring sears g
in combination with trigger rods T and hammers m for the purpose of operating
ejector rods F all arranged and operating in the manner substantially as hereinbefore
described with reference to Figures 2, 3 and 4 of the accompanying drawing.
1
2
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