AN IMPROVEMENT IN RESTS FOR RIFLES AND OTHER SMALL ARMS
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles Wentworth Forbes, of Southampton, Gentle-
man, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVEMENT IN RESTS FOR RIFLES AND
OTHER SMALL ARMS."
Sealed the 2nd August 1861, and dated the 6th February 1861.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles Wentworth Forbes
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 6th February 1861.
I, CHARLES WENTWORTH FORBES, of Southampton, Gentleman, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVEMENT IN RESTS FOR
RIFLES AND OTHER SMALL ARMS," to be as follows:-
My Invention consists in forming a rest for small arms by passing the
ramrod through a running loop or other like contrivance attached to the
stock of the arm in such manner that one end of the ramrod may rest against
the body, while the other end is maintained by the loop against and under
the
gun; the elevation of the arm is altered as required by shifting the position
of the running loop, and thereby causing the ramrod to movo higher up or
lower down the stock. Although I prefer a running loop as affording the
best means for altering the elevation of the arm, yet my Invention consists
also in the employment of a fixed loop. Again, instead of the loop being
fixed to the stock it may in some cases be connected to the sling, which is
passed through loops under the stock; and where the stock is short, the running
or fixed loop may be attached to the barrel.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Charles Wentworth Forbes in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 6th August 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHARLES
WENTWORTH FORBES, of Southampton, Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Sixth day of February, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fourth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Charles Wentworth Forbes, Her special licence that I, the said
Charles Wentworth Forbes, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said Charles Wentworth Forbes, 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 "AN IMPROVEMENT IN RESTS FOR RIFLES AND OTHER SMALL
ARES,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Charles Went-
worth Forbes, 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 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 Wentworth Forbes, 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 thereof, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto
annexed, that is to say:-
My Invention consists in forming a rest for small arms by passing the ram-
rod through a running loop or other like contrivance attached to the stork of
the arm in such manner that one end of the ramrod may rest against the
body, while the other end is maintained by the loop against and under the
gun; the elevation of the arm is altered as required by shifting the position
of the running loop, and thereby causing the ramrod to move higher up or
lower down the stock. Although I prefer a running loop as affording the
best means for altering the elevation of the arm, yet my Invention consists
also in the employment of a fixed loop. Again, instead of the loop being

page_text: fixed to the stock, it may in some cases be connected to the sling, which is
passed through loops under the stock; and where the stock is short, the running
or fixed loop may be attached to the barrel.
Figure 1 of the accompanying Drawings is a side elevation of a rifle fitted
with a running loop according to my Invention. a is the running loop free
to move along the rifle according to the elevation required from X to X; b is
the ramrod, which is passed small end first through the loop a, and when the
rest is in use the small end is received in a cup formed in or connected to a
strap, and passing round the leg or body of the shooter, as shown; c is a spring
cup to receive the ramrod when used as a rest; also Figure 2 is a view of the
running loop, with the ramrod fitted to it; Figure 8 is a view of the sling with
a loop attached to it; Figure 4 is a view of the strap which passes round the
leg, with a socket for receiving the point of the ramrod; Figure 5 is a view of
a strap for passing round the leg or body of the shooter, with a rod fitted to it
by means of a spring to be used as a rest for breech-loading guns.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim, forming a rest for
small arms by means of a ramrod and running or fixed loop substantially
in manner herein-before described and illustrated in the accompanying
Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Wentworth Forbes, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Fifth day of August One thousand