IMPROVE- MENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE AND CONSTRUCTION OF BREECH-LOADING FIRE-ARMS
Year: 1866

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Thomas Wilson at the Office of
the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 3rd October
1866.
I, THOMAS WILSON, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Mechanical
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE AND CONSTRUCTION OF BREECH-LOADING FIRE-ARMS,"
to be as follows:-
My improvements relate principally to breech-loading fire-arms in which
the breech is opened for loading and closed for firing by means of a block
hinged to the side of a shoe or breech-piece attached to the rear of the barrel,
the said block shutting down into the said shoe or breech-piece for closing the
breech, and being raised out of the said shoe or breech-piece for opening the
breech and charging. Instead of making the said shoe or breech-piece solid
and of wrought iron by the process of stamping or forging as at present
practised, I make the said shoe or breech-piece of cast steel or homogeneous
iron, or of the kind of cast iron capable of being annealed and commonly
called malleable iron. In making the said shoe or breech-piece of cast steel,
homogeneous iron, or malleable iron, I employ the process of casting, by which
means I am enabled to form the shoe or breech-piece hollow, and to give it
very nearly the exact form which the finished shoe or breech-piece is required
to have. I thus save much time and labour in the manufacture of the said
shoe or breech-piece. I also form the closing block of cast steel, homogeneous
iron, or malleable iron by the process of casting.

page_text: My improvements consist, further, in forming the receptacle for the spring
which effects the return motion of the closing block and cartridge case
extractor solid with the said block, instead of making it of a separate tube
as at present practised. By this improvement a longer and better bearing
is obtained for the block, and the action of the joint pin is easier.
My improvements consist, further, in attaching the hook or cartridge case
extractor to the front end of the closing block by means of a hollow or tubular
pin screwed firmly into the end of the said block instead of attaching the said
hook or extractor by screwing upon the end of a long tube passing loosely
through the hole or joint of the closing block. By this improvement the hook
or extractor is more readily and more firmly attached to the closing block,
and a longer and better bearing obtained for the hinge of the closing block.
My improvements consist, further, in forming the joint pin on which the
closing block turns with a screw thread upon its point or forward end, and
causing the screwed end to take into a corresponding concave screw in the
rear bearing of the shoe or breech-piece, thereby firmly securing the joint in
its place without the use of the set pin now employed.
My improvements consist, further, in forming a slight shoulder on the joint
pin on which the closing block turns. The tubular piece or washer which
serves as an abutment against which the closing block and extractor spring
bears in effecting the return motion of the said block and extractor is bound
firmly between the said shoulder and the rear bearing on the shoe or breech-
piece. By this improvement the closing block and cartridge case extractor
have a firmer and easier sliding action than that obtained by the loose tube
fitting loosely on the joint pin at present employed.
My improvements consist, lastly, in employing a spiral spring made from
flat steel for effecting the return motion of the cartridge case extractor, and
also in employing a similar spring for effecting the return motion of the
percussion pin or striker instead of the helical wire springs ordinarily employed
for these purposes. The said spiral springs give a smoother action than the
helical wire springs, and are not so liable to snap or break. The said spiral
springs made from flat steel may be used for effecting the return motion of
the cartridge case extractors and the percussion pins or strikers of various
kinds of breech-loading fire-arms.