IMPROVEMENTS IN BREECH-LOADING FIRE-ARMS
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Tomlinson Bousfield, of Loughborough Park,
Brixton, in the County of Surrey, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
BREECH-LOADING FIRE-ARMS."-A communication from abroad by Walter
T
..
D
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Tomlinson Bousfield
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
16th January 1865.
I, GEORGE TOMLINSON BOUSFIELD, of Loughborough Park, Brixton, in the
County of Surrey, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN BREECH-LOADING FIRE-ARMS," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in breech-loading fire-arms,
and the improvements relate to that description of breech-loading fire-arms
that are provided with a magazine to contain a supply of cartridges which are
to be in succession fed forward into the barrel.
In constructing fire-arms of this description, according to this Invention, the
breech end of the barrel is, when the piece is ready for firing, closed by a
block which works in a slot leading upwards from the under side of the stock.
This block at its lower end is connected to a lever which at one end is suitably
shaped for forming the trigger guard, and at its other end (which is towards
the muzzle of the piece) turns on a pin joint; the lever at this end is bifurcated
or forked, and between the sides of this fork the lower, end of the block is
received. The pin on which the lever turns passes through a slot in the.

page_text: breech block; this slot, when the breech block is in its place to close the
breech end of the barrel, is nearly in a vertical direction. Near the lower
end of the breech block another slot is formed in which is received a pin
carried by the lever at a point intermediate of its length; this slot is nearly
in a horizontal position when the other slot is in a vertical position. By this
means when the lever is turned on its pin joint the pin carried by the lever
first acts on the horizontal slot in the block and moves the block downwards
in a straight line until the top of the vertical slot comes on to the pin upon
which the lever turns, the block then turns on this pin as on a centre. When
the block is moved down into this position a cartridge is pushed forward out
of the magazine by a spiral spring until the point of the bullet which is at the
forward end of the cartridge enters the breech end of the barrel; when the
lever is again turned up its upper end comes behind the rear end of the cart-
ridge and forces it forward into the barrel, at the same time the back of the
block prevents any more cartridges being forced forward from the magazine.
The block at the time of forcing forward the cartridge moves in the arc of a
circle, and when the cartridge is pressed home the block rises to close the
breech end of the barrel. As the cartridge is passing from the magazine into
the barrel it rests on the upper surface of a finger or guide, this finger turns
on a pin joint at its end next the magazine, and at this end the lever has a
projection upon it that is acted on by a spring so as constantly to press
upwards the forward end of the finger, in order that as soon as the breech
block has forced forward a cartridge beyond the point of the finger the finger
may rise and so form a stop to prevent any more cartridges being pressed
forward out of the magazine. When the breech block is so forcing forward
a cartridge the finger is received into a slot in its upper end, and thus the
block can move freely. When the breech block is moved downwards to open
the breech the projection at the rear end of the finger is acted upon by the
breech block in such manner as to move down the finger into a position to
allow a cartridge to be forced forward out of the magazine. When the block
is again moved up to close the breech the finger is liberated, and is then
pressed upwards by the spring, as before described.
The cartridges employed are those in which the charge of powder is carried
by a metal or other case having a flange at its rear end in which a fulminating
compound is contained, which when the flange is struck explodes the cartridge.
And in order to withdraw the case of a cartridge from the barrel after it has
been discharged a small slide is employed having a flange at one end which
comes in front of the flange on the cartridge. This slide is acted upon by the
breech block when the breech block is moved to open the breech in such

page_text: manner as to move back the slide and draw back the empty cartridge case,
and when the breech block has moved downwards and has been turned out
from the slot it before moved in the empty case is free to fall away through
the slot. At one side of the breech block a recess is formed in which is
pivotted a striker or hammer which is for the purpose of striking the flange
of the cartridge and exploding it. This striker is forced forward on to the
flange of the cartridge when the hammer is released by the hammer striking
forward a sliding block, which block forces forward the striker. The magazine
for containing the cartridges is formed of a tube having within it a spiral
spring to force forward the cartridges, and this tube is introduced into its
place through a hole in the heel plate on the butt end of the stock; the tube
at its rear end has a projection upon it which enters a slot in the beel plate;
the tube is then turned a quarter round, when the projection enters a groove
in the plate and so locks the magazine in place.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said George Tomlinson Bousfield in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 13th July 1865.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
TOMLINSON BOUSFIELD, of Loughborough Park, Brixton, in the County of
Surrey, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Sixteenth day of January, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, in the twenty-eighth year
of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said George Tomlinson Bousfield, Her special licence that I, the said
George Tomlinson Bousfield, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said George Tomlinson Bousfield, my executors, adminis-
trators, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN BREECH-LOADING FIRE-ARMS," a communication
to me from abroad by Walter Fitzgerald, a person resident at Boston, Massa-
chusetts, United States of America, upon the condition (amongst others) that
I, the said George Tomlinson Bousfield, my executors or administrators, by an
instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should

page_text: 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 imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said George Tomlinson Bousfield, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is
to be perforined, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement thereof, reference being bad to the Drawings hereunto
annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say) :-
Figure 1 is a central longitudinal section through a gun with my improve-
ments attached thereto, representing the position of the parts when the piece
is ready to be discharged.
Figure 2 is a transverse section of the gun on the line x, x, of Figure 1,
looking in the direction of the arrow 19.
Figure 3 is a central longitudinal section through the gun, the parts being
represented in their relative position when the breech block is thrown down
after the discharge.
Figure 4 is a side elevation of the gun, a portion of the breech plate being
broken away to show the manner in which the blow of the hammer is
transmitted to the cartridge.
Figure 5 is an elevation of one side of the breech block with the cartridge
striker attached thereto.
Figure 6 is an elevation of the opposite side of the breech block.
Figure 7 is a view of the cartridge guide or finger.
Figures 8 and 9 are views of the percussion bolt on which the hammer
strikes.
Figure 10 is a view of the discharger by which the empty cartridge case
is withdrawn from the barrel.
Figure 11 is an elevation of the end of the stock, the magazine being
removed.
Figure 12 is an elevation of the rear end of the magazine.
Figure 18 is a front elevation of the cartridge block and upper portion of
the guard lever.
Figure 14 is a side elevation of the guard lever.
My Invention relates to that class of breech-loading fire-arms provided with
a magazine from which a supply of cartridges is fed into the barrel, and their
empty cases discharged therefrom. .:
To enable others skilled in the art to understand and use my Invention I
will proceed to describe the manner in which I have carried it out.

page_text: In the said Drawings A is the stock, which is connected with the barrel B by
a metallic breech C, through which is cut a vertical slot or recess for the breech
block D to move in. The lower portion of this breech block is cut away,
forming a tongue a, which fits into the bifurcated end 6 of the guard lever E,
and they are connectod together by means of a pin c passing through holes d
(Figure 14) in the guard lever, and through the slot e (Figures 5 and 6) in
the breech block, and they are both pivoted within the breech C by a screw
pin f, which passes through the breech C, guard lever E, and slot 9 in the
breech block D, and it is by this arrangement of slots and pins that the move-
ment of the breech block is controlled by that of the guard lever. A narrow
slit or opening is made in the top of the breech block, extending through
the centre from front to rear, which is of sufficient depth to allow the cartridge
guide or finger F to play within it. In the right side of the breech block is
cut a recess i (of the form shown in Figures 4 and 5), and a lever or
cartridge striker G is pivoted therein by means of a screw j, the recess being
sufficiently large to allow the cartridge striker to be thrown forward against
the flange of the cartridge when acted on by the percussion bolt H, which is
operated by the blow of the hammer I. This bolt II, which is of the form
shown in Figs. 8 and 9, slides in a groove in the side of the breech C, and is
prevented from falling out by a screw k, which passes through from the
outside of the breech into a slot 1, Figures 4 and 8. As the bolt H projects
slightly into the path of the breech block as it rises vertically, one of its upper
corners 20 is rounded off so as to allow of the passage of the breech block,
which forces the bolt H back a little against the resistance of the hammer I.
In the left side of the breech block is cut a vertical groove or recess in
Figures 2 and 6, in which loosely fits the projection n of the discharger J ;
this discharger is of the form shown in Figure 10, and slides in a curved groove o
in the inside of the breech, Figures 1 and 3, being provided at its outer end
with a lip or projection p, against which the flange of the cartridge rests, and
thus as the breech block is carried back in the arc of a circle the discharger
draws out the empty cartridge case, which is thrown out through the opening K
beneath. The width of the groove m in the breech block with respect to that
of the projection n on the discharger J is such that the breech block can move
a short distance independently of the discharger, which insures its lip or
projection p being always in the proper position in advance of the flange of the
cartridge.
The cartridge guide or finger F (Figure 7) is pivoted on a pin q projecting
from the lock, and its lower end terminates in an elbow or projection r,
against which the breech block strikes when it is thrown back, thus depressing

page_text: the guide, which throws out the empty cartridge case, as seen in Figure 3.
A springs bears constantly against the under side of. the elbow r, and serves
to throw it up when relieved from the pressure of the breech block D. The
opening at the top of the breech is closed by a plate L, from which projects a
tongue t, which fits into the slit h in the breech block, and the plate is confined
in place by means of a screw u. By thus closing the top of the breech all
liability is avoided of dirt falling down and preventing the free action of the
block D. M is the magazine, which is provided with a spiral spring N, which
presses the cartridges forward in the ordinary manner. At the lower end of
the magazine is a pin or projection v, which enters a notch w in the plate O,
Figure 11, when the magazine is run into the stock, after which it is turned
a quarter revolution, which causes the pin v to enter a groove in the plate O,
shown dotted in Figure 11, and thus effectually lock the magazine in place,
the portion P lying in a suitable recess in the plate O made to receive it. The
hammer and lock being of common construction and forming no part of my
Invention, it will be unnecessary to describe them here.
OPERATION.
The magazine being charged with cartridges the guard lever E is thrown
down into the position shown in Figure 3, when the forward cartridge in the
magazine passes the upper front portion of the breech block D, and rests
upon the cartridge guide or finger F (see Figure 3). The guard lever E is
now brought up in the direction of the arrow 21, which causes the breech
block D to press the cartridge into its seat in the barrel, as shown in Figure 1,
the flange of the cartridge covering the lip p of the discharger J, while the
cartridge next behind it is arrested by the upper part of the breech block
striking against the rounded surface of the ball, thereby keeping it in place,
and preventing more than one cartridge from being fed in at a time, and as
soon as the first cartridge is pressed forward by the breech block so as to
clear the cartridge guide or finger F the latter is thrown up by the action of
the spring s into the position shown in Figure 1, and retains the next cartridge
behind it in the magazine. The breech block moves in the arc of a circle
during the operation of carrying the cartridge to its seat in the barrel, when
after having pressed it "home" it commences to rise vertically and closes the
breech, where by the arrangement of pins c, f, and slots e, g, it is locked in
position for firing, as seen in Figure 1. The hammer now being drawn back
the piece is ready to be discharged. On releasing the main spring the
bammer falls and strikes the percussion bolt H, driving it against the
striker G, which in turn is driven against the flange of the cartridge, thus

page_text: discharging the piece. The guard lever E is now depressed, and the upper
end of the breech block is drawn down vertically from its seat, and the guard
lever continuing to be depressed the breech block D commences to move
backward in the arc of a circle, drawing with it the discharger J, which has
hold of the empty cartridge case, which after it is withdrawn from the barrel
is thrown down by the guide F, and is ejected through the opening K in the
bottom of the breech.
Having now set forth the nature of this Invention, and explained the
manner of carrying the same into effect, I wish it to be understood that under
the above recited Letters Patent I claim,―
The breech block D and guard lever E so connected by the pins c, f, and
slots e, g, that the vibration of the guard lever E will give the breech block D
the required motions in its passage within the breech C, substantially in the
manner and for the purpose specified.
Second, I claim operating the discharger J and cartridge guide or finger F
by the breech block D, substantially as set forth.
Third, I claim the cartridge striker G in combination with the breech
block D and percussion bolt H, operating substantially in the manner and for
the purpose set forth.
Fourth, I claim locking the magazine, substantially in the manner set
forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Tomlinson Bousfield, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Eighth day of June, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five.
CET POUSFIELD
CEO. T. BOUSFIELD. (..)