Improvements in and relating to the Feed Mechanism of Automatic and similar Fire-arms.
Year: 1898

page_text: Date of Application, 19th Apr., 1898
13
DOLL
4000
Annard 10th
Lunn 1000
Improvements in and relating to the Feed Mechanism of Automatic
and similar Fire-arms.
I, HUGH WILLIAM GABBETT-FAIRFAX, of 107, Lambeth Palace Road, London,
S.E., Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
This invention has reference to the feed mechanism of automatic and similar
fire-arms.
According to my invention I provide a lever pivoted to some convenient part of
the casing or framing of the fire arm, one end of such lever being provided with a
pivoted receptacle or other contrivance to serve as a cartridge carrier, the opposite
end of said lever being bent or formed with an incline or projection. This lever
is so disposed relatively to the cartridge magazine and the sliding barrel and
breech block, that when the breech block and barrel recoil together a cartridge
is forced from the magazine into the aforesaid carrier, which at this time by the
aid of a spring, or otherwise, occupies a position suitable for the reception of such
cartridge. Then when the barrel advances without the breech block (by reason
of the latter's being held by a suitable catch such as that referred to in the Specifi-
cation of my prior Patent No. 18686 of 1895) the said barrel acts upon the bent or
inclined end of the pivoted lever and so causes the opposite end of the lever to
shift the carrier and the cartridge it contains, into the space between the barrel
and the breech block, so that when the latter advances to close the breech the cart-
ridge will be pushed from the carrier into the barrel.
The aforesaid pivoted lever and its carrier may be so arranged that the cart-
ridges are thrust from the magazine into the carrier during the advance movement
of the barrel. For this purpose the barrel may be connected with a sleeve furnished
with suitable lugs which are adapted to push the uppermost cartridge from the
magazine into the carrier as the barrel advances. During the rearward move-
ment of the said sleeve, the lugs retreat and a fresh cartridge rises in front of
them, but the lugs are long enough to prevent a cartridge from getting behind
them at any time. It follows that the carrier may if desired be placed behind the
magazine instead of in front of it, in which case the said lugs would push the
cartridges rearwardly from the magazine into the carrier. The said lugs may
be furnished with projections which will at the proper time release the said catch
that retains the breech block in its rearward position. Thus the cartridge must
of necessity be taken from the magazine and elevated by the carrier before the
breech block can move forward.
Instead of a pivoted lever for the carrier as above stated I may employ a flexible
or resilient arm.
When the aforesaid carrier is applied to a fire-arm having a catch for holding
the breech block as above stated, the said carrier may be arranged to release such
catch as it shifts to bring the cartridge into the loading position.
The said carrier may also serve to eject the empty cartridge case by throwing

page_text: the latter out of the ejection opening as said carrier shifts into the loading position.
In this case I may use a pair of extractors of the ordinary kind arranged diametri-
cally opposite to each other in a plane at right angles to that in which the carrier
moves.
The said magazine may be provided with a shutter which is so arranged that
as the carrier rises, said shutter will close the opening in the magazine through
which the cartridges pass as they are one by one driven from the magazine into
the carrier by the action of the sliding barrel.
If desired I may employ a metallic or other spring for driving the cartridges
from the magazine into the carrier, and in such cases the said spring, may be com-
pressed or energised by the barrel or some other moving part of the fire arm, and
by its reaction drive out the cartridges from the magazine.
By means of an appropriately arranged rack and pinion or by other mechanism
capable of being actuated by the movement of the carrier lever or arm, I can
cause the movements of the latter to effect the elevation of the cartridges in the
magazine without the employment of the usual spring lifter.
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C.,
Agents for the Applicant.
Improvements in and relating to the Feed Mechanism of Automatic
and similar Fire-arms.
I, HUGH WILLIAM GABBETT-FAIRFAX, formerly of 107, Lambeth Palace Road,
London, S.E., but now of 47, Portland Street, Leamington, in the County of
Warwick, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in
what manner the same is to be performed to be particularly described and ascer
tained in and by the following statement:-
This invention has reference to the feed mechanism of automatic and similar
fire-arms.
According to my invention I provide a lever having a receptacle to serve as a
cartridge carrier which is so disposed relatively to the cartridge magazine, that on
recoil of the barrel a cartridge is forced from the magazine into the carrier by
means of appropriate mechanism. On the return movement of the barrel the said
barrel acts on the said lever and causes it to shift the carrier and the cartridge it
contains into the space between the barrel and the breech block or bolt, so that
when the latter advances to close the breech it will push the cartridge from the
carrier into the barrel.
When the aforesaid cartridge carrier is applied to a fire-arm having a catch for
restraining the advance of the breech block at stated in the Specification of my
prior Patent No. 18686 of 1895, the said carrier may be arranged to release such
catch as it shifts to bring the cartridge into the loading position.
The aforesaid carrier may be so arranged that the cartridges are thrust into it
from the magazine during the forward instead of the rearward movement of the
barrel. For this purpose the barrel is furnished with long lugs or fins which are
adapted to directly push the uppermost cartridge from the magazine into the
carrier as the barrel advances. In this case I dispense with the lever for elevating
the carrier and construct it in the form of a spring-arm or resilient platform which
acts as hereinafter explained. The said lugs may be furnished with projections

page_text: which will at the proper time release the aforesaid catch that retains the breech
block in its rearward position.
If desired I may employ a spiral spring for driving the cartridges from the
magazine. In such cases the said spring may be compressed or energised by the
barrel or some other moving part of the fire arm, so that by its reaction it will
drive out the cartridges from the magazine.
In order that my said invention may be clearly understood and readily carried
into effect I will proceed to describe the same more fully with reference to the
accompanying drawings, in which :-
Figure 1 is a longitudinal section of an automatic pistol provided with one
form of my feed mechanism, only so much of the other parts of the pistol being
shewn as is necessary for enabling the invention to be properly understood. In
this view the parts are represented in the position they occupy when the pistol is
loaded and ready for discharge.
Figures 2, 3 and 4 are similar views but shew the parts in other positions.
Figure 5 is a detail view illustrating means whereby the breech block is
liberated from its retracted position by the action of the cartridge carrier.
Figures 6, 7 and 8 are side elevations shewing the pistol provided with a modified
form of the feed mechanism.
Figure 9 is a transverse section on the line 1, 1, of Figure 6.
Figure 10 is a side elevation of the pistol provided with a further modified
form of the feed mechanism, the parts being represented in the position they
occupy when the pistol is loaded and ready for discharge.
Like letters of reference indicate similar parts in all the figures.
A is the barrel and A¹ the spiral spring by which said barrel is caused to assume
its firing position after each discharge. B is the breech block or bolt which is
adapted to slide longitudinally within an extension or sleeve A³ of the barrel
and to be locked to and unlocked from the barrel in an analogous manner to that
set forth in my prior Specification No. 17672 of 1896 or No. 9068 of 1898. ]' is
a spring by the reaction of which the breech block is caused to advance and close
the breech when a catch is disengaged therefrom by the forward movement of the
sliding barrel as explained in my aforesaid prior Specification No. 18686 of 1895.
C is the cartridge magazine located in the butt or handle of the pistol and C is the
spring controlled. elevator by which the cartridges are lifted to the top of the
magazine as is well understood. D is the body of the pistol upon which the barrel
and breech block slide.
Referring more particularly to Figures 1 to 4; E is a lever pivoted at to the
body of the pistol and E is the cartridge carrier to which the longer limb of such
lever is connected. The shorter limb of this lever is formed with a nose or bent
projection el which, under the influence of a spring e², is caused to project into
a longitudinal groove a in the underside of the barrel. The end of this groove
terminates in an incline a¹ which, as the barrel completes its forward movement,
strikes against said nose e¹ and thereby causes the longer limb of the lever to turn
upwardly with the cartridge carrier and so bring the cartridge into the path of
the breech block.
In order to transfer the cartridges from the magazine to the said carrier, I pro-
vide an arm F pivoted at f to the body of the pistol and having a lug f' adjacent
to its pivot. This arm is connected at its free end to a plunger or sliding block f
which works in a horizontal cavity in the body of the pistol, its forward end lying
in proximity to the flanged end of the uppermost cartridge in the magazine. The
said lug is connected by a link f³ to a rod f* which is normally kept with its
upper end raised by a spring f³. The said upper end is provided with a hinged
bar f whose free extremity rests upon a fixed ledge d, and occupies a position
slightly inclined to the horizontal. It serves as an inclined path for an inclined
projection on the barrel to travel on, as the latter recoils and enables said
projection to depress the rod f* without undue shock to the latter. The depression
of the rod f* causes the lever F to turn about its pivot into the position represented

page_text: in Figure 2 whereby the plunger f enters the magazine and drives the uppermost
cartridge into the carrier. During the return movement of the barrel as it
advances toward its firing position without the breech block, the projection a²
leaves the hinged bar fo and permits the rod f' (under the influence of its spring f³)
to return to its original position, whereby the arm F and plunger f assume the
position represented in Figure 3 ready to act upon the succeeding cartridge in
the magazine at the next recoil movement of the barrel. As the advancing barrel
completes its aforesaid forward movement the lever E is operated by the incline a¹
and the cartridge in the carrier is thereby brought into the position represented
in Figure 2 ready to be thrust into the barrel by the breech block as the latter
advances to close the breech as already explained.
I will now refer to Figures 6, 7 and 8 wherein the aforesaid carrier is shown
in the form of a resilient platform G which is located within a recess in the body
of the pistol in front of the uppermost cartridge in the magazine. . A³ is the pair
of long lugs or fins on the underside of the sleeve. These lugs are so arranged that
when the breech is closed and the barrel is in its firing position they lie above the
said uppermost cartridge in the magazine (Figure 6). When however the barrel
recoils on discharge of the pistol, these lugs are carried back a sufficient distance
to allow the uppermost cartridge to rise to the top of the magazine and get in
front of the forward ends of the said lugs as shewn in Figure 7. Therefore when
the barrel in its return movement advances to the firing position without the
breech block (which is held behind by the retaining catch H) the said uppermost
cartridge is pushed longitudinally from the magazine by the said lugs and forced
on to the resilient platform G as represented in Figure S. In this position the
flanged end of the cartridge lies in the path of the breech block, which in its
advance to close the breech, will drive the said cartridge before it up the incline a'
into the breech chamber of the gun.
In order to release the said breech block from its retracted position, I make the
aforesaid catch H with a hollow body adapted to receive a spring which tends to
keep said catch in its position of engagement with the breech block. I form
said catch with a pair of bevelled shoulders h¹ which are adapted to be acted uponi
by longitudinal ribs or projections A on the underside of the sleeve A². These
ribs may if desired form part of the lugs A³, their position relatively to the catch
being such that they will meet the said inclined shoulders of the catch as the
barrel advances and thereby depress the catch a sufficient distance to release the
breech block just as the barrel is about to complete its forward movement.
In the construction illustrated by Figure 10 I dispense with the aforesaid lugs
on the underside of the sleeve A2 and in place thereof employ a spring pusher I
located in a horizontal cavity opposite to the flanged end of the uppermost cart-
ridge in the magazine. The front end of the said pusher is acted upon by a pro-
jection A on the underside of the sleeve so that as the barrel recoils it pushes the
spring plunger into its cavity against the resistance of the spring. Then as the
barrel advances to regain its firing position the said plunger, under the reaction
of its spring, advances and pushes the uppermost cartridge upon the aforesaid
resilient platform G which guides it into a position to be thrust along the
incline a into the barrel by the breech block as the latter advances to close the
breech. The use of the said spring pusher I enables me to employ a lighter recoil
spring A than would otherwise be the case and in the event of the said recoil
spring failing from any cause to properly act to return the barrel to the firing
position, the spring pusher I will perform this function in addition to thrusting
the cartridge from the magazine.
In order that when the carrier is elevated the cartridges may be prevented from
escaping longitudinally through the opening by which they are transferred from
the magazine to the carrier, I provide the latter with an end piece or shutter Ex
(Figures 1 to 4) which as the carrier rises comes in front of the nose of the upper-
most cartridge in the magazine.
Referring now to Figure 5, the carrier is in this example provided with an

page_text: extension or ledge e* which occupies a position immediately below the free end of
a lever J pivoted at j. The opposite end of this lever is forked to bear upon
the shoulders of the aforesaid catch H by which the breech block is temporarily
retained in the retracted position. By this construction the said catch will only
be liberated when the carrier is actuated to raise the cartridge it contains into the
loading position.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is:
1. A cartridge carrier or elevator combined with a slide or pusher for trans-
ferring the cartridges successively from the magazine to the carrier and with
mechanism whereby said carrier and pusher are actuated by the sliding barrel for
the purposes specified.
2. A cartridge carrier or elevator comprising a flexible or resilient platform upon
which the cartridges are thrust from the magazine by fins or lugs on the sliding
barrel for the purpose specified.
3. The combination with the spring-catch, of ribs or projections on the under-
side of the sliding barrel for the purpose specified.
4. A spring plunger in combination with the cartridge magazine and the sliding
barrel substantially as described and for the purpose specified.
5. The combination with the cartridge carrier and the breech-block-catch of
means whereby the movement of the carrier disengages the catch substantially as
described with reference to Figure 5 of the drawings.
6. A fire-arm provided with feed mechanism constructed and arranged to operate
substantially as described with reference to Figures 1 to 4, or Figures 6 to 9, or
Figure 10 of the accompanying drawings.
Dated this 20th day of February 1809
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C.,
Agents for the Applicant.