CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS ON PERCUSSION GUN LOCKS, APPLICABLE TO VARIOUS DESCRIPTION OF FIRE-ARMS
Year: 1823

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I,
JOHN DAY, of Barnstaple, in the County of Devon, Esquire, send
greeting.
WHEREAS His most Excellent Majesty King George the Fourth
did, by His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of His United Kingdom,
bearing date at Westminster, the Thirteenth day of November 1828,
give and grant unto me, the said John Day, my exors, admors, and
assigns, His especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that
I, the said John Day, my exors, adiñors, and assigns, during the term of
years therein mentioned, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise,
and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-
Tweed, my Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS ON PERCUSSION GUN
LOCKS, APPLICABLE TO VARIOUS DESCRIPTION OF FIRE-ARMS;" in which said
Letters Patent there is contained a proviso, that if I, the said John
Day, shall not particularly describe and ascertain the nature of my
said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, by
an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, and cause the same

page_text: to be inrolled in His Majesty's High Court of Chancery within two
calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters
Patent, that then the said Letters Patent, and all liberties and advan
tages whatsoever thereby granted, shall utterly ceasc, determine, and
become void, as in and by the same, relation being thereunto had, will
more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, T, the
said John Day, do hereby declare that the nature of of my said Invention,
and the manner in which the same is to be performed, are particularly
described and ascertained in and by the Drawing hereunto annexed,
and the following description thereof (that is to say):
My said Invention of improvements on percussion gun locks consists
in a method or methods of constructing the locks so as to render them
more convenient for the purpose of firing by percussion than bas
hitherto been done. Figure 1, is a section of part of a walking-stick
percussion gun, with the lock movements shown as when the lock is dis-
charged; Fig. 2, an external view of the same, with the lock cocked
and the trigger thrown out ready for discharging; and Figure 3, is a
view of the under side of part of the gun; the same letters of reference
applying to similar parts in all these Figures as well as in all the others.
A, A, &c. a tube containing the lock movements, and screwing to the
fore part B, of the barrel; it also is fitted up with a patent breech and
nipple, as usual for percussion guns. C, the cock or lever, and also the
tumbler; D, the trigger, and also the dog or sear; E, the trigger and
dog spring; F, the main spring; G, the swivel or bridle; H, H, H, the
pins, screws, or centres on which the cock, trigger, and swivel work;
I, the nipple or spill to receive the copper percussion caps, and convey
the fire into the breech; J; the air hole to allow the excess of the
percussion to escape; K, a notch in the cap of the cock for the same
purpose; L, L, the screws which secure the main and trigger springs
to the tube A, A; M, M, holes to pass a leather thong or silk string,
&c. through, as usual in walking sticks, and serving also to ventilato
the fumes of the percaission, and in a considerable degree prevent them
from passing to the movements of the lock, wliich purpose is also
assisted by the division plate N; O, a female screw or cap, which fits

page_text: upon the male screw P, of the cock, serving to cock it, and which when
taken off prevents the gun from being discharged improperly. Figure 4,
is the cock or lever and tumbler C, shewn separately. Fig. 5, the
same shewn endways, with the swivel or bridle G, in its place. Fig. 6,
shews the swivel or bridle G, separately; and. Fig. 7, the trigger and
sear. Fig. 8, the end of the cock C, shewing in section the cavity in
it which strikes upon the copper caps. Q, in Figs. 1, and 2, a buck-horn
handle used in the walking-stick gun, but which may have a wooden
butt substituted in its place, as a common gun. Fig. 9, shews another
method of carrying my said Invention into effect, and in which the
situation of the main spring F is reversed, and the spring is thereby
pulled in the act of cocking the lock, in the usual manner, instead of
being thrust against, as on the former construction. Fig. 10, shews
another method by which the lock movements first described may bo
applied to a common fowling-piece or other gun, they being affixed in a
box or casing R, which is to be let into the under part of the stock,
and attached thereto by means of the screw S, which also passes
through the break off or the part under which the breech pin of the
barrel hooks, as usual. The cock C, is here also made to project out-
wardly, and has a hook T, for the purpose of cocking it. A guard,
shewn by dotted lines at U, may be used or not, as required.
Having thus described the constructions of my said improved per-
cussion gun locks, I shall proceed to mention the advantages which will
arise from their adoption; and, first, that the locks consists of fewer parts
than the locks in general use, and are consequently less expensive ;
they are less liable to get out of order, and are more readily cleaned
from the effects of the percussion powder, and in this patent improved
common fowling piece they are more completely water-proof than
when situated as gun locks are usually applied. I do not mean or
intend hereby to claim as my improvements any of the parts shewn
which are common to gun locks as already in use; but I do hereby
claim the use of the main spring acting by its thrusting instead of
its pulling power, the prevention to the cocking and discharging of the
when the female screw O, is taken off, and the enclosure of the
gun
lock within the tube A, A, or box R. I may also add that, instead

page_text: of the bridle G, a roller may be inserted in the end of the main spring
F, to act upon the short end of the lever C, or the spring itself may be
used without a roller.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Day, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Eighth day of January, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and twenty-four.