IMPROVEMENTS IN RE- PEATING FIRE-ARMS
Year: 1858

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles Reeves, of Birmingham, in the County of
Warwick, Manufacturer, for, the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN RE-
PEATING FIRE-ARMS."
Sealed the 5th October 1858, and dated the 19th July 1858.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles Reeves at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
19th July 1858.
I, CHARLES REEVES, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Manu-
facturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN REPEATING FIRE-ARMS," to be as follows:-
My Invention consists, firstly, in the following method of constructing the
locks of repeating fire-arms. I effect the raising of the hammer by means of
a tooth fixed on the lower part of the said hammer engaging with a tooth
on the trigger, the latter tooth urging forward the former when the trigger is
depressed, and thereby raising the hammer. After the hammer has been
raised to the required height, the tooth on the trigger escapes from the other
tooth, and the hammer falls. One of the teeth must turn upon a joint so as to
pass the other on the return motion of the trigger. The depression of the
trigger on the raising of the hammer by hand, and the holding of the hammer
at half cock and full cock, may be effected by the mechanism described and

page_text: represented in the Specification of á Patent granted to me, bearing date the
Twenty-fourth day of December, One thousand eight hundred and fifty-
seven.
My Invention consists, secondly, in the following methods of constructing the
axis on which the revolving chamber of repeating fire-arms works. According to
one method I make the said axis a quick threaded screw. The said screw engages
in a screw box formed in the anterior part of the frame in which the revolving
chamber works. The said screw permits of the ready and rapid removal of
the revolving chamber for cleaning and other purposes. According to the
other method of constructing the axis of the revolving chamber, I make the
axis in two parts, one part being carried by the revolving barrel, the other
part working in the anterior part of the frame carrying the barrel. That part
of the axis carried by the barrel is drawn into the said barrel by a spring, but
is forced out by the part of the axis which screws into the frame. The said
screwing part of the axis, by entering the anterior part of the barrel, forms
à centre on which that end turns, and forcing out the portion of the axis
in the interior of the barrel, forms a centre on which the other end of the
barrel turns.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Charles Reeves in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
17th January 1859.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHARLES
REEVES, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Manufacturer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Nineteenth day of July, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, in the twenty-second year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Charles Reeves, Her-special-licence_that_I,_the_said Charles
Reeves, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I,.
the said Charles Reeves, my executors, administrators, 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 Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN REPEATING FIRE-ARMS," upon the condition (amongst others) that

page_text: I, the said Charles Reeves, my executors or administrators, by an instru-
ment in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals,
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.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Charles Reeves, do hereby declare
the nature of the 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, that is to say:-
My Invention consists, firstly, in the method herein-after described, and
illustrated in the accompanying Drawing, of constructing the locks of repeating
fire-arms.
the tooth or
Figure represents in vertical longitudinal section a repeating pistol con-
structed according to my Invention. The hammer a is raised by means of a
tooth or lever b jointed at c to the lower part of the hammer a. A tooth d on
the upper part of the trigger e engages with the hooked end of
lever b. By pressing the trigger e, the tooth d lifts the tooth or lever b, and
raises the cock or hammer a. When the trigger e has been pressed nearly to
the full extent of its motion, the tooth d escapes from the tooth or lever b, and
the hammer falls by the action of the main spring f, and discharges the pistol.
The tooth or lever b is kept to its bearing by a spring 9.
.
When the hammer or cock a is raised by pressing upon the comb h of the
cock instead of upon the trigger e, the said hammer is held in half cock and
full cock by the bents i, k, respectively with which said bents the sear
engages. The said sear 7 is disengaged from the bent on the discharge of
the pistol in the following manner :—m, m', is a lever turning upon a centre
n, the end m¹ of the said lever engages with the tail of the sear / in the
manner represented in the Drawing. When the trigger e is pressed, the part o
of the trigger coming in contact with the end m of the lever m, m³, disengages
the sear from the bent k, and the hammer a falls. p is the driver by which
the revolving chamber q is carried round, the said driver p is jointed to the
trigger at r. The bolt by which the revolving chamber 9 is locked during
discharge is also jointed to the trigger and marked s; Figure 2 represents
the trigger e in side and back elevation. The depression of the trigger e
when the hammer a is raised by pressing the comb h of the cock, is effected
by the forked lever t and parts connected therewith, but as the said mechanism
for the depression of the trigger, when the cock is raised by hand, con-
stitutes no part of my present Invention, and is described and represented

page_text: in the Specification of a Patent granted to me bearing date the Twenty-
fourth day of December, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred
and fifty-seven, I do not think it necessary herein to describe the same.
My Invention consists, secondly, in the method herein-after described, and
represented in Figures 1 and 3 of the accompanying Drawing, of constructing
and fixing the axis on which the revolving chamber of a repeating fire-arm
works. Figure 3 represents in elevation a portion of a repeating fire-arm, the
axis of the revolving chamber of which is constructed and fixed according to
my Invention, and the same kind of axis is represented in Figure 1. In both
Figures 1 and 3, I have omitted the loading rod usually attached to repeating
fire-arms, as, by the omission of the said loading rod in the Drawing, the con-
struction and method of fixing the axis of the revolving chamber is made more
evident.
The axis u consists of a quick-threaded screw, which engages with
a pin v screwed into the side of the anterior part of the frame w, in which the
revolving chamber works. The end of the pin v taking into the thread of the
screw u, the said screw on being made to rotate is caused to advance or
recede in the frame w and the revolving chamber q. On the outer end of the
screw u a lever x is jointed, which said lever turning freely about the joint y
may be used for turning and withdrawing the screw u. By the use of the
quick-threaded screw u the revolving chamber q may be readily removed for
cleaning and other purposes. The lever a when not in use may be turned
down, so as to make its free end enter a slot at z, Figure 1, or may engage
behind a spring stud fastening 1, in Figure 3. A spring 2 may be placed at
the back of the lever x, so as to throw it out, when, by pressure upon the
stud 1, it is liberated from the said stud.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and the manner of
carrying the same into effect, I wish it to be understood that I do not limit
myself to the precise details herein described, as the same may be varied
without departing from the nature of my Invention; but I claim as my
Invention,-
Firstly, the improvements in the locks of repeating fire-arms, herein-before
described, and represented in the accompanying Drawing, that is to say, the
mechanism-for-raising-the-hammer-or-cock, and-liberating-the-said-raised
hammer or cock by pressure upon the trigger, and the mechanism for holding
the hammer or cock at half and full cock, and of liberating the cocked hammer
when the said hammer has been cocked by pressure upon the comb of the
said hammer.
Secondly, the method herein described, and illustrated in the accompanying
Drawing, of constructing and fixing the axis on which the revolving barrel of

page_text: a repeating fire-arm rotates, that is to say, making the said axis a quick-
threaded screw, engaging in the anterior part of the frame in which the
revolving chamber works, so as to advance or recede in the said frame when
the said axis is made to rotate.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Reeves, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Fifteenth day of January, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine.
Witness,
H. P. GOODWIN.
CHARLES REEVES. (L.S.)