Improvements in Single Trigger Double-barrelled Firearms.
Year: 1897

page_text: Date of Application, 5th Jan., 1897-Accepted, 20th Feb., 1897
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Single Trigger Double-barrelled Firearms.
We, JOHN RIGBY, M.A., Gun Manufacturer, of 34 Lewin Road, Streatham,
and LOUIS EDWARD ATKINS, Gunmaker, of 4 Cornbury Road, Rotherhithe, both
in the County of Surrey, do hereby declare the nature of this invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in
and by the following statement :-
This invention relates to double-barrelled firearms in which both barrels are fired
with one trigger. In firearms of this kind the discharge of the locks successively
by one and the same trigger is usually by means of a lever pivotted on the trigger
so that it can oscillate in a plane at right angles to that in which the trigger moves,
whilst its rear end is tilted up by the backward pull of the trigger so as to release
the sears from the tumblers of the locks and allow the hammers to be driven
forward by the main springs. In double barrel firearms of this kind it is customary
to arrange the mechanism so that the right-hand barrel shall be fired first, and
afterwards the left-hand one. To effect this the rear end of the aforesaid oscillating
lever is pushed over towards the right-hand lock by the action of opening and
closing the breech and cocking the locks; this brings the rear end of the oscillating
lever in position for releasing the right-hand sear from its tumbler when the
trigger is pulled the first time. The forward movement of the right-hand hammer
which follows the first pull of the trigger, allows a spring to come into action,
which then presses the rear end of the aforesaid oscillating lever from right to left
into position for releasing the left hand sear when the trigger is pulled the second
time. When the breech of the gun has been re-opened and re-closed the aforesaid
oscillating lever is moved back from left to right into position for firing the
right-hand barrel when the trigger is next pulled.
It has been found in practice that the above described arrangement of mechanism
is defective in the following respect:-At the first pull of the trigger, which fires
the right-hand barrel, the rear end of the aforesaid oscillating lever springs
immediately from right to left into the position for firing the left-hand barrel, but
unless the trigger is pulled a second time the latter barrel is not fired. It often
happens however, that, consequent upon the recoil of the gun by the firing of the
right-band barrel, the finger involuntarily pulls the trigger a second time, and the
left-hand barrel is thereby discharged almost immediately after the right hand one,
because the aforesaid lever has sprung from right to left into the position for firing
the left-hand barrel before the involuntary pull of the trigger has taken place,
and both barrels are thereby discharged when it was the intention to discharge
one only.
The object of the present invention is to provide means for remedying the above
described defect in the single trigger mechanism. And in order that the said
invention may be fully understood we will now proceed to describe the same with
the aid of the accompanying sheet of drawings, in which
Figure 1 is a plan of the trigger-plate of a double barrelled gun, removed from
the stock, with so much only of the lock mechanism mounted thereon as is necessary
for the elucidation of our invention, which is shown applied to such mechanism,
Figure 2 is a side elevation of same,
Figures 3, 4, 5 and 6 are separate views, drawn to a larger scale than Figures 1

page_text: "
and 2, of certain parts of the devices forming the essential feature of the
invention,
Figures 7 and 8 side views of a modification of the arrangement, and Figure 9 a
plan of the said modification.
Referring to Figures 1 to 6, A is the trigger-plate, B the trigger pivotted at C
to the block D which forms part of the trigger plate. E is the oscillating lever
above mentioned pivotted at F to the part B₁ of the trigger, so that it can turn on
the pivot F in a plane at right angles to the plane of motion of the trigger B.
G is a spring secured at one end to the lever E, and bearing at the other end
against the part B of the trigger. This spring tends constantly to turn the rear
end of the lever E in the direction of the arrow in Figure 1. H is the ordinary
trigger spring which tends to force the trigger B, and consequently the rear end of
the lever E, downwards in the direction of the arrow in Figure 2.
All the parts
so far described are well known and in common use in single trigger double-
barrelled guns, and we make no claim separately to the use of such parts.
E' is the part of the lever E which acts to release successively the scars of the
two locks, not shown in the drawings.
Our improvements in the above described mechanism consist firstly, of a
backwardly extended part E2 of the oscillating lever E, and secondly, of a bell-
crank lever 1, 1 pivotted at J in a bracket K secured to the trigger-plate A.
L is a spring secured at one end to the bracket K, and bearing at its free end on
the part M of the beil-crank lever, so as to provide sufficient friction to prevent the
said bell-crank lever turuing on its pivot at J until a properly applied force causes
it to do so. It will be seen that the bell-crank lever, which forms a locking device
or detent for preventing the oscillating lever E from passing into the position for
firing the second barrel, until after the second or involuntary pull of the trigger
has occurred, consists of three parts, first, of an arm I, secondly, of a tail I', and
thirdly of an intermediate part 12, all shown most clearly in Figures 3, 4, 5 and 6.
When the bell-crank lever stands in the position shown in Figures 2 and 3 (being
held in that position by the spring L) the rear end E2 of the lever E is free to
oscillate from right to left, or vice versa, beneath the said bell-crank lever, when the
said lever E and trigger B are in their lowest position, as shown in the said
Figures 2 and 3, the tail I standing to the rear of the part E2 of the lever E; but
the part of the bell-crank lever stands over the part E3 of the lever E when the
latter is in the right-hand position as shown in Figure 1. If now the trigger B be
pulled the lever E is raised, the part E' releases the right-hand sear and fires the
right-hand barrel; but at the same moment the part E3 of the lever E raises the
part I of the bell-crank lever, and brings the tail 11 of that lever into the path of
the rear end E2 of the lever E, as seen in Figure 4. The forward movement of
the right-hand hammer, which effects the firing of the right-hand barrel, having
allowed the spring G to come into action, the latter immediately presses the rear
end E2 of the lever E towards the left, that is to say in the direction of the arrow
in Figure 1, but as the tail I¹ stands in the path of the said rear end E2 the latter
is momentarily stopped thereby, and cannot go far enough in that direction to come
into the position for firing the left-hand barrel; therefore, when the involuntary
pull of the trigger B occurs the latter cannot act upon the left-hand sear, and the
left-hand barrel is not fired. But when the said involuntary pull of the trigger B
occurs the rear end of the lever E is raised again, and the part E2, having been
brought by this time under the part 12 of the bell-crank lever acts upon the under
side of that part and restores the bell-crank lever to the position shown in Figures 2
and 3, thereby withdrawing the tail I¹ from the path of the rear end of the lever E,
leaving the latter free to be pressed by the spring G further to the left, into the
position for firing the left-hand barrel; but to effect this latter a third pull of the
trigger is required.
By these means the first pull of the trigger fires the right-hand barrel; the
second or involuntary pull is inoperative to fire the left-hand barrel because the
lever E is prevented by the tail I' from passing into the position for firing that

page_text: barrel until after the said involuntary pull has occurred; and the third pull fires
the left-hand barrel, so that it is impossible to fire both barrels one immediately
after the other, or practically both together as heretofore.
Figure 5 is a view of the bell-crank lever looking from left to right in Figures 1, 2,
3 and 4, with dotted oblongs marked 1, 2, 3, indicating respectively the various
positions occupied by the rear end of the lever E with reference to the bell-crank
lever. The position I, Figure 5, corresponds to the right-hand position of the
lever E, Figure 1, that is to say the position for firing the right-hand barrel;
position 2, Figure 5, corresponds to the position of the lever E when stopped by
the tail I', as illustrated in Figure 4, before the second or involuntary pull of the
trigger and position 3, Figure 5, corresponds to the position of the lever E when
it has passed the tail and assumed the left-hand position in readiness for firing
the left-hand barrel.
Figure 6 is a view of the bell-crank lever as seen when looking in the direction
of the arrow in Figure 1.
Instead of pivotting the bell-crank lever to the bracket K it may be pivotted to
and carried by the rear end of the oscillating lever E, the bracket K being so
shaped and adapted that as the oscillating lever E is raised by the various pulls of
the trigger the suitably arranged arms of the bell-crank lever are brought into
contact with and are moved by corresponding parts of the said bracket, so as to
prevent the oscillating lever E from passing into the position for firing the second
barrel until after the second or involuntary pull of the trigger has occurred. Such
an arrangement is shown in Figures 7, 8 and 9, in which Figure 7 is a side view
looking from the left-hand side of the firearm similar to Figure 2 but showing the
oscillating lever E with the bell-crank lever I 12 pivotted thereto at J, and the
bracket K provided with projecting parts for the arms of the bell-crank lever to
come against in order to effect the required movements of the said bell-crank lever
on its pivot; Figure 8 is a side view looking from the right-hand side of the fire-
arm, and Figure 9 is a corresponding plan showing the oscillating lever E in the
right-hand position. When the oscillating lever E stands in the right-hand
position, as shown in Figure 9, the arm I of the bell-crank lever is situated under
the part K of the bracket K, and when the trigger is pulled to fire the right-hand
barrel the arm I comes in contact with the part K', and the bell-crank lever is
turned on its axis J into such a position that the arm I' comes opposite the part K*
of the bracket K. The arm I is thereby brought into such a position that when
the trigger is released, and the oscillating lever E falls, the said arm | comes
against the stop K³ on the bracket K, the surface of the part K² being so shaped
that as the rear end of the oscillating lever E descends, after the discharge of the
right hand barrel, its motion to the left under the action of the spring G is
restrained by the arm I2 bearing against the surface of the part K2. The arm I is
thereby prevented from passing over the top of the stop K³ during such descent
of the lever, but is brought to bear against such stop, and the movement of the
oscillating lever E towards the left is thereby arrested until the second or involun-
tary pull of the trigger occurs. This second pull of the trigger has the effect of
slightly raising the rear end of the oscillating lever E thereby bringing the arm I'
in contact with the inclined surface of the part K2 so as to restore the bell-crank
lever to its normal position with the arm I standing above the stop K³. This
allows the oscillating lever E to complete its movement to the left under the action
of the spring G when, by the second release of the trigger, the descent of the
oscillating lever E brings the arm 12 below the stop K of the bracket K.
This
stop K retains the oscillating lever E and prevents it completing its movement to
the left, after the arin I has been raised above the stop K³, until the second release
of the trigger has taken place.
It is obvious that instead of the above described mechanism being arranged so
that the right-hand barrel is discharged first, and then the left-hand one, it may
be arranged so that the left-hand barrel is discharged first, and then the right-hand
one.

page_text: Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said
xinvention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what
we claim is :-
First. In a single trigger double-barrelled firearm, a locking device or detent for
preventing the oscillating lever from passing into the position for firing the second
barrel until after the second or involuntary pull of the trigger has occurred, which
consists of a bell-crank lever having arms I I2 and a tail I¹, the said bell-crank
lever being pivotted in a fixed bracket K and operated by the rear end of the
oscillating lever E, substantially as described with reference to Figures 1 to 6 of
the drawings.
Second. In a single trigger double-barrelled firearm, a locking device or detent
for preventing the oscillating lever from passing into the position for firing the
-second barrel until after the second or involuntary pull of the trigger has occurred,
which consists of a bell-crank lever having arms I I2, the said bell-crank lever
being pivotted on the rear end of the oscillating lever E, and operated by contact
with parts of the bracket K, substantially as described with reference to Figures 7,
-8 and 9 of the drawings.
Third. In a single trigger double-barrelled firearm, the employment in connection
with the oscillating lever of a locking device or detent which prevents the said
lever from passing into the position for firing the second barrel until after the
second or involuntary pull of the trigger has occurred, constructed and operating
: substantially as described.
1
1
T
1005
J. RIGBY,
L. E. ATKINS,
Per W. H: Beck,
115 Cannon Street, London, E.C., Agent.