IMPROVEMENTS IN BREECH-LOADING MAGAZINE FIRE-ARMS
Year: 1856

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by John Swyney at the Office of
the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 29th March
1856.
I, JOHN SWYNEY, of the State of Massachusetts, of the United States of
America, do hereby declare the nature of thic Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN BREECH-LOADING MAGAZINE FIRE-ARMS," to be as follows:-
Figure 1 denotes a top view of one of my improved fire-arms; Figure 2
is a side elevation of the same; Figure 3 is a vertical central and longitudinal
section of it; Figure 4 is a similar section, taken when the guard and chargo
chamber are down, or in a position for the rammer to drive or force a fresh
charge or cartridge into the charge chamber; Figure 5 is a horizontal section
taken through the axes of the rammers, to be herein-after described. Such
other Figures as may be necessary to a complete and full description of my
Invention will be herein-after particularly referred to and described.
The principal object of my Invention is to so construct a rifle or other fire-
arm that it shall be both light and compact, and capable of being fired a great
number of times in quick succession; for instance, a rifle of ordinary length of
barrel, constructed according to the principles of my Invention, will contain
about thirty cartridges in the magazine, and can. be fired from fifteen to
twenty-five times in one minute, according to the expertness of the operator.
I shall now proceed to describe the mechanism by which I accomplish the
above.

page_text: In the accompanying Drawings, A represents the barrel of a rifle or fire-
arm; B, the stock or handle; C, the moveable block which contains the
charge chamber; D is the charge chamber; E is the percussion nipple; F is
the hammer; G is the trigger; H is the lock plate, to which the hammer F
and the trigger G may be attached; and C¹ is a chamber formed at the rear
end of the barrel A, for the block C to move up and down in. At the rear
end of the barrel A, I place the moveable block C, such block being connected
to the guard I by means of two connecting rods a, a. The block C contains
the charge chamber D and the percussion nipple E; the percussion nipple E
I make so as to project into the chamber D, and I make the part which so
projects tapering, or so as to be pointed at its end, as shown in the Drawings,
for the purpose of punching its way through the covering of a cartridge or
loaded slug and into the powder when said cartridge or slug is forced into the
chamber D. In the charge chamber D, I place a bushing c, formed as shown
in the Drawings, and so constructed, that when a cartridge shall be exploded
in the chamber D the powder shall act on the rear part of the bushing c, and
force it, the bushing, forward, so as to tighten the joint at n¹, and prevent any
of the fire from passing out at the joint n¹. In Figure 8 I exhibit a rear
elevation of the block C; in Figure 9, a front elevation of the same, showing
the front end of the bushing c; and in Figure 10, a transverse section of the
'fire-arm, taken through the center of the block C and its connecting rods a, a.
In this. fire-arm I can use either cartridges or loaded slugs, similar to the
well-known "Minnie ball,", with the exception of having the ball or slug loaded
with powder, instead of having a metallic plug inserted in it, and covered with a
cloth or other suitable covering to keep the powder in place, and to answer as
a "patch" for the ball in passing through the barrel. In Figures 6 and 7 I
give a longitudinal section and a side elevation respectively of one of such
loaded slugs. By fastening the "patch" or covering by means of a string at
the front end of the slug I make it adhere to the slug in its passage through
the barrel, and thus obviate the evil of having the naked lead pass through the
barrel, which in cases of rapid or constant firing would be sure to choke the
bore, and render the fire-arm temporarily useless. In Figures 6 and 7,
d represents the slug or ball, e the powder, and if the "patch" or covering
fastened. to the slug or ball at g.
Beneath the barrel A, and attached to it, I place a tube or magazine K, in
which I put the loaded slugs or cartridges, as shown in the Drawings (said
slugs or. cartridges being shown in red). In the tube K, and longitudinally
of it, I insert or place a rack or ratchet h, as shown in the Drawings, to work
in connection with a weight or sliding block i. The weight or block i is for

page_text: the purpose of following the charges or slugs (by the action of gravity) as they
are exhausted from the tube or magazine K. As the slugs lower in the
magazine, the weight i follows and lays on the last or upper one, and is kept
from returning by a catch or pawl k, which catches in the teeth of the rack or
ratchet h, and keeps the weight i from returning or moving towards the front
end of the magazine K in case the fire-arm is held muzzle down. At the
back of the catch k I place a small spring 1, for the purpose of keeping said
catch pressed against the teeth of the rack or ratchet h; to the catch k I:
attach a string, or its equivalent, which string passes through a hole m in
the end of the weight i, the other end of said string being fastened to the
cover n of the magazine, so that when all the cartridges or slugs are exhausted.
from the magazine and fired off, and the weight i has reached the end next the
breech, it may be withdrawn by removing the cover n and pulling the string,
which will withdraw the catch k from contact with the ratchet h, and draw the
weight out of the tube or magazine K, so that a fresh lot of cartridges or slugs
may be put in. At the rear end of the magazine K, or the end next the breech,
I place what I call a carrier L, said carrier being represented in transverse
section in Figure 11 (which is a transverse section of the fire-arın taken through
the center of the carrier); said carrier is provided with a hole or round chamber
o, equal in diameter with the bore of the magazine K, and so arranged, that
when the carrier L is up, or in the position as shown in Figure 3, its hole or
chamber o will be even with, or a continuation of the magazine K, so that
one of the cartridges or slugs will drop into it by the action of gravity, the
fire-arm being held in a vertical position, or one approaching thereto. The
carrier L is made somewhat shorter in length than the cartridge or slug used,
so as to allow the slug or cartridge when in the carrier to project somewhat
beyond, and thereby keep the next slug or cartridge off from the carrier, so as
to prevent any possibility of its catching in the carrier, when it, the said
carrier is being pulled down; there is also a space p formed, as shown in the
Drawings, to permit the projecting end of the cartridge or slug to move down
with the carrier without obstruction.
The carrier L is attached to the guard I by means of a connecting rod q;
the fulcrum of said guard is at r, and so placed, that when the guard is moved
downwards, so as to bring the carrier L into line with a rammer M (placed
underneath the magazine K, as shown in the Drawings), it will also bring the
chamber D in the block C into line with the same rammer M, or into the
position as shown in Figure 4. Between the rear end of the magazine K
and the barrel A, I place a spring S, having a bent end t, which overlaps the
end of the magazine K, as shown in the Drawings; the said bent end rests

page_text: on the carrier L, when it, the carrier, is in the position shown in Figure 3;
but when the carrier is moved down, or into the position as shown in Figure 4,
carrying a charge or slug with it, the bent end t of the spring S comes down
into position as shewn in Figure 4, and holds the next cartridge or slug from
dropping into the chamber N, in which the carrier L moves, until the carrier
is again raised, when it (the carrier L) pushes the bend t of the spring S
before it, and allows the next cartridge or slug to drop into the chamber o of
said carrier.
When the chamber D and the carrier L (with a charge or cartridge in it)
are brought down into the position as shown in Figure 4, the rammer M is
removed, by placing the hand on the handle O and pressing it towards the
breech, which forces the charge or cartridge from the carrier L through the
hole or passage P and into the charge chamber D, and when the hand of the
operator is withdrawn from the handle O, the spiral spring u will immediately
retract the rammer M into its former position.
The next part of my Invention, which I shall now proceed to describe, is
the manner in which I cap the percussion nipple, at the same time that I
force a cartridge or slug into the chamber D. A round hole or magazine is
formed at Q, as shown in the Drawings; in this magazine a number of caps are
placed with their open ends forward or towards the front end of the fire-arm;
in rear of these caps is placed a spiral spring, or its equivalent, to press the
caps forward.
At the forward end of the hole or magazine Q, I place a
carrier v, as shown in Figures 3 and 4, and more particularly in Figure 12,
which is a front or rear elevation of it; it consists of a smal bar of metal,
shaped as shown in the Drawings, and having a hole w made in it, equal in
diameter to the bore of the magazine Q, and large enough for a cap to slip in
freely; and, consequently, when the hole w is in line with the magazine Q, one
of the caps in said magazine being forced forward by its spring, will enter the
hole w and lay there, as shown in Figure 3. The lower part of said carrier
has a round stem with a nut or cover at its end, and about such stem
and in a chamber y I place a spiral spring z. Now, when the guard I and
carrier vare up, or in the position as shown in Figure 3, the hole w of the
carrier must be exactly in line with the magazine Q, and is set to that position
by means of a set screw a¹ placed in the guard, and on the point of which the
carrier rests, as seen in Figure 3; but when the guard is pulled down, or into
the position as shown in Figure 4, the carrier vis forced into the position
shown in the same Figure by means of the spiral spring z, and consequently
brings the percussion cap which lays in the hole w along with it, or into line
with the small rammer b, as seen in Figure 4. It would be well to construct

page_text: the carrier of a thickness a little less than the length of a percussion cap, so
that the head of the cap will project a little behind, and thereby prevent the
next cap from catching in the hole w as the carrier springs down; it would
also be necessary to have a passage 1¹ for the projecting end of the cap to pass
through in the descent of the carrier.
The rammer b' is connected to or made to operate with the forward rammer,
M by means of a small bent lever c³ (formed as shown in Figure 5), which
moves on a fulcrum at d¹ and a rod or pitman e¹³; one end of the lever c'
works in a recess of the rammer b', whilst its.other end enters a slot f¹ formed
in the rod or pitman e; the pitman e' at its forward end is fastened to the
rammer M, as seen in Figure 5. The end of the lever c which works in the
rammer 6' is curved, as shown in the Drawings, so as to press perpendicularly
against the rammer b¹ in whatever position it may be in; the other end of the
lever c', which works in the slot f¹ of the pitman e, is so formed that when
the pitman e¹ is moved backward, by moving the rammer M the lever c¹ will
be moved just far enough to force a cap well on to the nipple E, and then the
pitman e¹ will slip over the end of the lever c' and not move it any further; by
such arrangement I have every cap put on with an equal pressure, and just
so far, whatever variation there may be in the motion of the forward rammer M.
From the foregoing, it will be seen that the operation of the above-described
mechanism in the act of loading will be as follows, viz.:-
First, the operator pulls the guard down, which operation brings the
chamber D in the block C into line with the axis of the rammer M; it also
brings the carrier L with a charge in it down, or into the same line; it also
causes the carrier v to spring down, so as to bring the cap which is in its hole
w into line with the small rammer 6' (the distance which the carrier v moves
being regulated by the nut or head 9', which brings up on the shoulder h'); at
this part of the proceeding the parts are in the positions as shown in Figure 4.
Second, the operator places his hand on the handle O of the rammer M
and presses the rammer backwards, or towards and into the chamber D,
which rammer forces the cartridge or slug before it into the loading chamber
D, and at the same time that the rammer M is forcing the charge into the
chamber the rod or pitman e¹ is also_moving with it, and the shoulder ¹ (see
Figure 5), bringing up against one arm of the lever c¹, moves said lever, the
opposite arm of which moves the small rammer b' in an opposite direction, or
so as to force the percussion cap in the carrier v through the hole k³, and on
to the percussion nipple, which is just in line with it, as seen in Figure 4.
Third, the next operation is to move the guard up again, or into position as
shown in Figure 3. Thus it will be seen, that the hammer, being at full-cock,

page_text: it takes but three, motions to load and cap this fire-arm ready to fire again.
I use a catch m', as shown in Figures 2, 3, and 4, for the purpose of holding
the guard I in place when, it is pushed up, or into the position as shown in
Figures 2 and 3. I also place a cover R over the chamber C³, for the purpose
of keeping out dirt or the action of the weather. The lock may be con-
structed in any suitable manner, and any gunsmith of ability can easily design
one to suit; but I should prefer one with the hammer placed inside the lock
plate E, and the top or striking part of the hammer should be bent over, so
as to be on the center line of the fire-arm. The trigger G, I should also attach
to the lock plate, so that the lock, hammer, and trigger may all be removed at
onc operation.
I do not claim a magazine or tube placed underneath the barrel of a fire-
arm, nor do I claim a sliding block or weight in connection with a rack or
ratchet placed inside said magazine for the purpose of keeping the charges in
place; but what I do claim is as follows:-
I claim combining with the charge chamber D and the magazine K the
intermediate chamber or carrier L, said charge chamber and carrier being
connected with and operated simultaneously by the guard I.
I also claim the carrier v with its spring in combination with the magazine
or tube Q, constructed substantially as before described, for the purpose of
bringing a percussion cap from the magazine Q downwards, or into line with
the rammer b¹.
I also claim the rammer 6 in combination with the rammer M, and the
mechanism by which they are connected, so as to operate together, as herein-
before described, which mechanism consists in part of the lever c¹, or its
equivalent, and the rod or pitman e'.
I also claim the bushing c in combination with the charge chamber D, for
the purpose of tightening the joint at n' at every explosion of a cartridge in
the chamber D, the powder acting against said bushing and forcing it
forward against the barrel, and thereby tightening the joint n¹ at the moment
of each explosion.