IMPROVEMENTS IN FIRE-ARMS WITH CENTRAL-FIRE ACTION
Year: 1870

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William. Rochester Pape, of Newcastle-on-Tyne,
for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN FIRE-ARMS WITH CENTRAL-FIRE
ACTION."
Sealed the 28th June 1870, and dated the 15th March 1870.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Rochester Pape
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 15th March 1870.
I, WILLIAM ROCHESTER PAPE, of Newcastle-on-Tyne, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN FIRE-ARMS
WITH CENTRAL-FIRE ACTION," to be as follows:-
.
The object of my said Invention is to procure in central-fire sporting
guns and rifles a direct action instead of an oblique needle, dispensing
with the springs, fixing or bolting the needle at half and full cock, so
that it may not be accidentally pushed or forced against the cap, unless
when the gun is fired in the proper way. To this end I construct an
improved form of needle or anvil to replace the usual oblique spring
needle or anvil at present being used in central-fire sporting guns and

page_text: rifles, and for this purpose an arm or swivel is fitted to the inside of the
lock, so that it is acted upon by the crane of the tumbler when the
tumbler is moved to half-cock. This arm by being hooked to the under
part of the needle or anvil draws it back and securely bolts and fixes the
needle or anvil at about half and full cock, securing the head of anvil in
the most advantageous position to receive the full blow or fall of the
cock; the arm at the moment of this blow falling upon the anvil head
unlocks and frees the anvil or needle, leaving it ready to be forced
forward upon the cap, and so explode the cartridge.
An ordinary swivel may be used for attaching the mainspring to the
tumbler, with a projection, so as to bolt my arm at half and full cock;
and the details above described may be so adapted and used as the
circumstances of any given case may demand.
SPECIFICATION în pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Rochester Pape in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 15th September 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
ROCHESTER PAPE, of Newcastle-on-Tyne, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fifteenth day of March, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy, in the thirty-
third year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said William Rochester Pape, Her special
licence that I, the said William Rochester Pape, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William Rochester
Pape, 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 "Im-
PROVEMENTS IN FIRE-ARMS WITH CENTRAL-FIRE ACTION," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said William Rochester Pape, my executors
or administrators, by an instrument 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

page_text: 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 William Rochester Pape, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement:-
The object of my said Invention is to secure in central-fire sporting
guns and rifles a direct action instead of an oblique needle, dispensing
with the spring so as to fix or bolt the needle at half and full cock, thus
providing that it may not be accidentally pushed or forced against the
cap unless when the gun is fired in the proper way. To this end I
construct an improved form of needle or anvil to replace the usual
oblique spring needle or anvil at present being used in central-fire
sporting guns and rifles, and for this purpose I fit to the inside of the
lock an arm or swivel, so that it is acted upon by the crane of the
tumbler when the tumbler is moved to half-cock. This arm by being
moved to the under part of the needle or anvil draws it back and
securely bolts and fixes the needle or anvil at both half and full cock,
securing the head of the anvil in the most advantageous position to
receive the full blow or fall of the cock; the arm at the moment of this
blow falling upon the anvil head unlocks and frees the anvil or needle,
leaving it ready to be forced forward upon the cap, and so explode the
cartridge.
An ordinary swivel may be used for attaching the mainspring to the
tumbler, with a projection, so as to bolt the firc-arm at half and full cock,
or the needle can be made with a stud to attach it to the inside of
hammer, which would bolt it at half and full cock, same as the arm or
swivel described above.
The details above described are, it will be obvious to practical men,
capable of being so adapted and used as the requirements of any given
case may demand.
Having thus particularly described the nature of the said Invention,
and intimated generally in what manner the same may be performed or
put in practice, I now proceed to definitively and particularly describe
and ascertain in what manner the same is to be performed or put in
practice, by reference to the Drawings accompanying these presents, as
follows:-

page_text: DESCRIPTION. OF THE DRAWINGS.
Fig. 1 is a partial side view of my improved fire-arm; Fig. 2 another
partial view thereof. A, needle or anvil; showing position when con-
nected with the fire-arm; B, the arm hooked under the stud a on the
needle to draw it back and fix it, when the usual cocking movements
take place; C, tumbler crane, which communicates the motive power to
the arm.
Fig. 3 shows needle and arm detached from the lock. The same
letters of reference, as above stated, are used here as far as they can be
applied.
Fig. 4, view of ordinary lock attaching mainspring to tumbler, with a
projection B* formed so that it bolts the fire-arm at half and full cock.
A* ordinary gun lock swivel attaching the mainspring to the tumbler. .
Fig. 5 shows the needle lengthened backwards, having a stud or
projection pin B, which can be hooked into the inside of cock or hammer,
drawing back needle, and locking needle at half and full cock, in same
way as Fig. 4.
Fig. 6 shows inside of cock with slot A for pin of needle to work
in, driving back the needle and fixing it for the blow of the hammer.
:
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the :
said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed or put
in practice, I hereby declare that I claim, the "Improvements in Fire-
arms with Central-fire Action," as the same is herein described and
illustrated by the Drawings accompanying this Specification.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Rochester Pape, have here- a
unto set my hand and seal, this Twelfth day of September, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy.
:
Witness,
THO®. PAPE,
WILLIAM ROCHESTER PAPE. (L.S.)
6, Warncliffe Street,
Newcastle-on-Tyne.