IMPROVE- MENTS IN BREECH-LOADING FIRE-ARMS
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Alexander Harrisson, Captain in Her
Majesty's 79th Regiment, Highlanders, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN BREECH-LOADING FIRE-ARMS."
Sealed the 29th May 1857, and dated the 20th December 1856.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Alexander
Harrisson at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 20th December 1856.
I, GEORGE ALEXANDER HARRISSON, Captain in Her Majesty's 79th Regi-
ment, Highlanders, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN BREECH-LOADING FIRE-ARMS," to be as follows:-
My Invention consists in the particular arrangement and action of the
breech chamber, and in the means of keeping the same tight and preventing
the escape of gas from the explosion of the charge.
My breech chamber is fitted in a recess at the rear of the barrel, and is
capable of backward and forward and rising motions. The fore end of the
chamber terminates in a cone, which slides into and out of a similar conical
surface in the rear end of the barrel. The rear of the chamber is provided
with an ordinary nipple for the reception of a percussion cap, which is fired by
a hammer and an ordinary lock.
The chamber is drawn back by a lever, which at the same moment frees a
metal wedge.at the back thereof. When the chamber has been drawn back
sufficiently to release the cone from the barrel, the lever, on being further

page_text: drawn back, raises the fore ond of the chamber, which is kept raised by a
spring, and in this position the chamber is prepared for the reception of its
charge.
After the charge has been inserted, the fore end of the chamber is depressed
by the finger or thumb, when the lever is returned to its seat, and in its being
so returned it simultaneously pushes the chamber forward, until the cone is
engaged and driven home into the rear end of the barrel, and brings up the
metal wedge at the back of the chamber, and thus a solid abutment is obtained
to resist the effect of the discharge. Should any wear take place in the cone
on the front of the chamber, the wedge at the back thereof will compensate
for the same, and always keep it tight.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters-Pateut, filed
by the said George Alexander Harrisson in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 20th June 1857.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
ALEXANDER HARRISSON, Captain in Her Majesty's 79th Regiment, Highlanders,
send greeting.
WHEREAS IIer most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twentieth day of December, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, in the twentieth year of Her
reigu, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said George Alexander Harrisson, Her special licence that I,..the said
George Alexander Harrisson, my executors, administrators, and, assigns, or
such others as I, the said George Alexander Harrisson, my executors, adminis-
trators, 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. Islo. of Man, an
Invention for IMPROVEMENTS IN BREECH-LOADING. FIRE-ARMS," upon tho.con
dition (amongst others) that I,. the said George Alexander. Harrisson, 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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said George Alexander Harrisson, do hereby
declare the nature of my 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, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto
annexed, that is to say:-
My Invention consists in the particular arrangement and action of the
breech chamber, and in the means of keeping the same tight and preventing
the escape of gas from the explosion of the charge.
My breech chamber or breech piece is fitted in a recess at the rear of the
barrel, and is capable of backward and forward and rising motions. The fore
end of the breech piece terminates in a tapered projection, which slides into
and out of a similarly formed recess in the rear end of the barrel. The rear
of the breech piece is provided with an ordinary nipple for the reception of a
percussion cap, which is fired by a hammer and an ordinary lock. The breech
piece is drawn back by a lever, which at the same moment frees a metal wedge
at the back thereof. When the breech piece has been drawn back sufficiently
to release the tapered end from the barrel, the lever, on being further drawn
back, raises the fore end of the breech chamber, which is kept raised by a
spring, and in this position the chamber is prepared for the reception of its
charge.
After the chargo has been inserted, the fore end of the chamber is depressed
by the finger or thumb, when the lever is returned to its seat, and in its being
so returned it simultaneously pushes the breech piece forward, until the
tapered end is engaged and driven home into the rear end of the barrel, and
brings up the metal wedge at the back of the chamber, and thus a solid
abutment is obtained to resist the effect of the discharge. Should any wear
take place in the tapered surfaces on the front of the chamber, the wedge at
the back thereof will compensate for the same, and always keep it tight.
The Drawings annexed shew the manner of carrying my Invention into
effect. Figure 1 is a side view of a breech-loading musket complete;
Figure 2 is a sectional view of the same; Figure 3 is a plan of the barrel and
breech detached; and Figure 4 is a plan of the barrel and case in which the
breech piece is fitted. In this Figure the breech is removed to shew the case
clearly. A is the barrel; B, the breech case, on to which the barrel is
screwed; a portion of the case is prolonged, and has a screw formed on it at C.
which takes into a corresponding internal screw in the rear end of the barrel A.
D is the stock, in which the barrel is secured by keepers a, and by a hooked
projection D', formed on the rear end of the breech case B. This booked
projection takes into a hole or recess formed in the ordinary mauner in a piece

page_text: of metal which is set in and secured permanently to the stock. E is the
moveable breech piece or chamber, which fits into the breech case B. The
fore end of the breech piece E is formed as shewn at b, and takes into a recess
of a corresponding shape formed in the breech case B at c.
When charged,
the tapered end of the breech piece is held bard into its recess by a wedge or
key F, which key is jammed into the position shewn in Figure 2 by a projec-
tion d on a disc or boss G (seen in dotted lines), which is secured on a spindle c,
and turned by a lever H; the projection takes into and between two teeth
formed in the edge of the wedge F, so that as the disc and projection aro
partially rotated, its effect will be to raise or lower the wedge F, according to
the direction in which the lever spindle and dise are turned. A side view of
the disc and projection is shewn in Figure 5.
Figure 6 is a view of the lever H, spindle e, and disc G, with its projection
d detached. The disc has a square hole f formed in it, which fits on a square
portion of the spindle e, so that when the lever and spindle are turned the disc
is carried along with them; it likewise allows the lever and spindle to be with-
drawn from the disc when necessary, and thus releases the breech piece and
leaves it free to be withdrawn. The dise is sunk flush in a recess forined in
the left-hand side or back of the moveable breech piece E, and is put in its
place before the breech piece E is inserted in its case B. When the breech
piece E is put in its place, the spindle is passed first through an oblong hole in
the lock plate, which is prolonged forward for that purpose, and then through a
similar hole in the front side of the breech case B, then through a hole E'
formed in the breech piece, until the square portion of the spindle passes into
the square hole in the disc, and the round portion h of the spindle rests in an
oblong slot in the back portion of the breech case B; this slot is similar to
that formed in the front portion, but of a smaller size to correspond to the
diameter of the portion h of the spindle, the diameter of which is of the same
length as the side of the square part, while the diameter of the holes and
spindle in front of the disc is of a length corresponding to that of the deagonal
of the square portion of the spindle. When the whole of the parts have been
put in place, a latch lever I jointed in a recess formed between the lock plate J
and front part of the case B' is pushed down until its lower edge takes into a
groove i in the spindle e (scen in Figure 6), and it thus prevents the lever and
spindle from being withdrawn until the latch lever is disengaged. In Figure 1
the musket is represented with an ordinary lock, with the hammer K down
on the nipple L, as if recently discharged. To charge it, the hammer K is
pulled into half-cock, the lever H is pressed a little outwards (so as to clear
the small pin catch ; which is fixed in the lock plate), the lever is then turned

page_text: in the direction of the arrow k along the path of the dotted lines until the
projection d on the disc G has withdrawn the wedge F from between the butt
end of the breech piece and back end of the breech case sufficiently far to
allow the breech piece E to be drawn backward, which is done by still moving
the lever round, as before, until the cam-shaped portion M of the lever H
comes against the projection N formed on the fore end of the lock plate.
This causes the lever and spindle to traverse backwards in the oblong slotted
holes (beforo described), carrying backward likewise the breech and disc so far
until the tapered end of the breech is entirely clear of the recess, when a
spring O (which is fixed by one end in the stock underneath the moveable
breech) comes into play, and raises the breech to the position indicated by the
dotted lines k' in Figure 2, and as represented in full lines k' in Figure 7.
In this Figure, which is a sectional view of the breech case, the breech is
represented in the position ready for the insertion of the cartridge, and with
the wedge F, dise G, and projection d in their respective positions at the same
time. The position of the lever I is shewn by the dotted lines 7. As soon as
a cartridge or charge is inserted in the chamber P, the breech piece is pressed
downwards with the left thumb, until the conical part is in a position to be
pushed forward into its recess; the end of the lever H is then drawn backward
in the direction of the arrow m until it passes over the pin catch j, which
retains it. By this movement the reverse effect to that previously described
takes place; the breech chamber is pushed forward into its proper position
(when charged), and the projection d forces the wedge up between the butt of
the moveable breech piece or chamber E and back end of the breech case B,
and jams the tapered end into its corresponding recess in the rear of the barrel,
so as to prevent, as far as may be, the escape of gas when the piece is dis-.
charged, and at the same time afford a solid abutment to the breech.
Figure 8 is a longitudinal section of the breech case detached, shewing more
clearly the shape of the recess in which the moveable breech E is placed, and
likewise shewing one of the oblong slots n, in which the end h of the spindle e
rests and travels. The remaining Figures are separate views of the moveable
breech piece E and wedge F in different positions.
Figure 9 is a side view of the breech piece, seen from the front. E' is the
hole through which the spindle e passes.
Figure 10 is an end view of the same, shewing the bore or chamber P.
Figure 11 is another view, as seen from the back, shewing the recess o
formed in it, in which the disc G is inserted and oscillates; and Figure 12 is
a similar view, but with the disc G inserted, and in a position to keep up (by
its projection d) the wedge F.

page_text: Figure 13 is a front edge view of the wedge E. p is a small groove or
channel cut in it to take on to the pin q, which projects in the inside of the
case B (seen in Figure 4); this serves as a guide to travel over, and preserves
its parallelism. The groove p is shewn in dotted lines in the following
Figures.
Figure 14 is an edge view of the wedge, as seen from the back; Figure 15
is a view seen as if looking forward from the butt, and Figure 16 as if scen
from the muzzle of the piece. A portion of the wedge is shewn cut away at s
for lightness and for strength of stock. r, r, are the teeth or projections into
which the projection on the disc G takes, which projection affects the raising
and lowering of the wedge; when the lever II and spindle e is partially turned
round, sufficient spring is given to the lever H, so that when it is pressed
up and held by the pin catch j, the wedge will always keep the tapered end of
the breech properly in its recess, and prevent the escape of gas, and likewise
compensate for any slight amount of wear that may take place.
And having now described the nature of my Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim the particular arrangement
and action of the breech chamber in breech-loading fire-arms, together with
the means of keeping the samo tight by a wedge, made to act in the manner
herein-before described, and represented in the Drawings hercunto aunexed.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Alexander Harrisson, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Twentieth day of June, One thousand
eight hundred and fifty-seven.
G. A. HARRISSON. (LS.)