IMPROVEMENTS IN MILITARY AND SPORTING GUNS, AND ALSO IN CARTRIDGES APPLICABLE то THE SAME OR OTHER DESCRIPTIONS OF BREECH-LOADING ARMS
Year: 1870

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Restell, of Birmingham, in the
County of Warwick, Mechanical Engineer, for the Invention of
“IMPROVEMENTS IN MILITARY AND SPORTING GUNS, AND ALSO IN CARTRIDGES
APPLICABLE то THE SAME OR OTHER DESCRIPTIONS OF BREECH-LOADING
ARMS."
Sealed the 2nd September 1870, and dated the 6th June 1870.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Restell at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
6th June 1870.
I, THOMAS RESTELL, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick,
Mechanical Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MILITARY AND SPORTING GUNS, AND ALSO IN CARTRIDGES
6th June 1870.
I, THOMAS RESTELL, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick,
Mechanical Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MILITARY AND SPORTING GUNS, AND ALSO IN CARTRIDGES

page_text: APPLICABLE TO THE SAME OR OTHER DESCRIPTIONS OF BREECH-LOADING ARMS," to be
as follows:
I will describe my Invention first as applied to fall-down block guns,
and next as applied to such guns as are termed bolt gun, which are
locked in the shoe by a curved handle or jutting nob-moving piece,
both systems being varied only as to their details of construction.
My Invention in fall-down block guns in which a helical spring
works to drive the needle into or against the cartridge, consists in so
fitting the rear end of the driving spring as to cause it to come against
and bear upon a small arm forming part of the trigger, whereby I am
able to dispense with the auxiliary lever which is generally employed
in addition to a main lever; thus when the trigger is pulled the needle
has not to contend against any second centre, which has hitherto been
liable to get rusty, and thereby diminish the force of the driving
spring, which has been the cause of so many miss-fires in the weapon.
In my Invention the spring has only the needle itself to carry, I use
a short lever fitted in the bottom of the shoe; the rear part of this lever
is curved and serves as a guard to the trigger, this weapon has therefore
no lever or curved piece seen on the outside other than the usual
appearance (when closed) of the guard and trigger of a muzzle-loader ;
the upper part of the short lever projects inside the shoe and out of
view from the eye, it has two slightly curved hooks or arms on the
eurved parts. The weapon is cocked when the rear part of the lever
or of the trigger guard is moved by reason of the hooks taking into or
upon two pins which jut from the needle bar picce. The bent for the
trigger to snap into is cut in the bar piece; the bar piece is screwed
into the front of the needle by a stud or pin formed solid on the bar, it
is screwed at the top to hold the needle firmly. A slot is formed in the
lower part of the block to admit of the stud passing into it. The needle
is acted upon by a helical or spiral spring, I make the rear part of this
spring to bear against a small arm forming part of the trigger, thus
dispensing with any trigger spring. The trigger has its centre of motion
in the block, which is a new feature with a fall-down block gun (enabling
the maker to know that the gun is correctly made without reference to
the shoe, and thus obviating a great many diffiulties hithereto found
in making breech-loading arms in large quantities). Upon moving the
block the lever goes into the stock out of sight, and it is only on bringing
the lever to its place that the trigger can be moved. The forward ond

page_text: of the trigger passes through the arms of the lever and snaps into the
bar before described, the bar lying between the two arms. The block
is curved upon its under side and the upper surface of the hooks works
into it from its centre of motion in the shoe, the arms prevent the block
moving in any way until it is out of the above curve, the hooks then
suddenly bring down the block and the trigger snaps into the bent in the
bar. The block now strikes at its fore part (with considerable force)
two studs formed in a solid extractor of a totally different kind from
those heretofore used. The arms of this extractor are outside the weapon
and therefore cannot be stopped in their action, as is sometimes the case
by some substance or body by chance getting before their front face
when fixed inside the shoe. By the employment of the above extractor
I am enabled to do away with the unsightly incline in front of fall-down
block guns. A small pin is screwed into each side of the extractor; these
pins pass quite through the shoe at the back, and upon the block striking
the studs the cartridge case is ejected. The block is secured in its
place in the shoe by a pin passing through the shoe and block at the
rear end of the shoe. The centre upon which the block works being
placed exactly in a line with the bore of the barrel and not as in other
block guns out of this line. The lever and entire mechanism of this
arm are placed in the shoe without any spring except the spring for the
needle. The curved end of the lever forms its own spring, and is
fastened by snapping over a steel stud.
Another improvement in this weapon is that it requires no indicator
to show when the weapon is ready for firing. The trigger being in a
wrong position in the guard cannot be pulled until the arm is cocked;
this weapon is also furnished with my previously patented safety arrang-
ment, No. 2038 of 1868. In the bolt weapon the lever is merely a knob.
or curved piece fixed to the bolt, the helical spring as in the falling
block acting as a trigger spring; this weapon I call a bolt gun from.
its moving similarly and fastening in the same way as the ordinary bolt
guns now in use; but this principle of making the spiral spring act as
a trigger spring enables me to dispense with several parts heretofore
used in bolt guns. The curved end or knob applied to the bolt for
locking it in the shoe when fired passes freely round in the shoe,
having a hole made completely through the bolt in the upper part of
the trigger thereby preventing the rear hole being seen.. In this hole
is placed the needle and spiral spring, and upon motion being given to

page_text: the bolt the upper part of the trigger causes the helical or spiral
spring to be collapsed, thus stopping up the hole at the end of the
bolt; the upper part of this trigger is screwed in and is a fixture to
the trigger until unscrewed, therefore when it is desired to remove
the breech bolt from the weapon it is only necessary to unscrew
it. The upper part of the trigger is formed of a ball shape, and has
a niche in it for the purpose of inserting a screwdriver, or the ball
may be chequered or milled for the purpose of readily unscrewing with
the finger and thumb. In drawing back the bolt the fore end of this
trigger snaps into the needle which has a bent formed in it for the
trigger to snap into; thus the weapon has only three limbs in addition
to a shoe, and no spring but the driving spring, the fore end of the bolt.
has formed out of its solid metal two hooks or studs, and is not made
to spring as is usually done; these are considerably inclined upon the
inside, so that they bring the cartridge case back to the face of the bolt
in a firm manner, and cannot possibly be made to miss extractions of the
cartridge case. The shoe has a notch formed in it at a particular spot so
that the cartridge case is compelled to fall into the hooks upon inserting
a cartridge, the notch being only wide enough to admit the rim of the
cartridge opposite the hooks, and yet not preventing the ejection of the
latter. Upon the bottom of the inside of the shoe is an inclined stud
placed opposite the notch in the shoe, and upon drawing the bolt back
the stud strikes or raises the cartridge case suddenly, and thereupon
ejects the cartridge case automatically. The above arrangement of
solid studs also prevents any chance of premature explosion through
any substance of a hard nature getting before the face of the block
while loading and striking the cap before properly closing, which has
more than once occurred with bolt guns. I use with this weapon exactly
the same safety plan for half bent as previously patented by me, No. 116
of 1870, as well as to the fall-down block guns. I lay particular
stress upon the solid ends formed on the bolt in lieu of loose springing
ones for extractors as heretofore used.
The cartridge which I have invented is formed in the following
manner I make a case of metal, having four points at its fore or
front end, and when this is charged with powder I insert a wad, having
a hole through it, to this wad the bullet is affixed in the following
manner: Paper is fastened over the bullet in same manner as that
described in my Patent of 1857, No. 2630, so that by inserting the ends

page_text: of this paper in and through the wad and fastening it at the back the
bullet and wad are connected; by this means a joint or neck is formed
in the cartridge. The wad and bullet are now to be placed in the case,
as previously described, and the ends folded over the wad to unite the
powder case firmly and securely thereto. The new feature in this
cartridge is having it partly made of metal and partly of paper, the
part made of metal being much larger than the bullet. The large wad
being inserted in the metal in this manner forms a bottle neck jointed
cartridge. At the time the cartridge is exploded the large wad is forced
or compressed so thoroughly into the rifling that all cleansing is
unnecessary, in fact it is better not to clean the rifling, for the wad
being full of wax, and being so much compressed, forces all the fouling
or deposit of the powder away, at the same time leaving the inside of the
barrel well lubricated.