IMPROVED RIFLE ACTION
Year: 1885

page_text: I, HENRY SCHLUND, of The Kynoch Gun Factory, Aston Cross, Birmingham in
the County of Warwick, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of my
invention for "IMPROVED RIFLE ACTION" and in what manner the same is to be
performed to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:-
My invention relates to that description of breech loading rifle action in which
the breech chamber is closed by a pivotted falling block, and it has mainly for its
object to enable the action to be readily taken to pieces, cleaned, and fitted
together again by the shooter, without the aid of any tool.
The improved construction of the action for this purpose is shewn on the
accompanying drawings in which Fig. 1 shews a longitudinal section of the
mechanism; Fig. 2 shews a separate sectional view of the plates E, G, Fig. 3
shews a plan of the same; Fig. 4 shews an outside view of the slotted shoe; Fig. 5
shews a detached view of one of the pins a¹; Fig. 6 shews a detached view of
the detector K; Fig. 7 shews a detached plan and side view of the sear spring;
Fig. 8 shews a plan of the spring stop a³.
The falling breech block A pivotted at a¹ is bored out to receive the firing pin B.
The block A turns loose upon the pin a' which is inserted through a corresponding
hole in the one side of the slotted shoe and screws into the opposite hole on the
other side of the shoe; this pin, of which a separate view is shewn at Fig. 5, has a
laterally projecting head a² against which, when it is screwed home in the shoe,
the spring stop a³, Figs. 4 and 8, is made to bear, so as to prevent it from being
unscrewed during the using of the rifle, but on pressing the spring stop inwards,
the pin a¹ can be readily unscrewed by means of the head a². The lever C is
pivotted on another pin a¹ with head a² and spring stop a³ operating in the same
manner as the first named one. By the downward motion of the lever C'its inner
arm C¹ is made first to press the firing pin B backward and then, in bearing against
the part a' of the block B causes this to fall. The block B together with the arm C¹
of the lever, in striking against the lever D¹ of the extractor D causes this to eject
the cartridge case..
The bottom of the slot of the shoe is closed by two plates E, G, shewn detached
in longitudinal section and plan at Figs. 2 and 3. These plates have side flanges E'
and G fitting against the inner side of the slot, and they have at their ends angular
tongues el g', that fit into corresponding grooves in the end surfaces of the slot.
Where the two plates meet, they have semicircular holes e g formed in them, which
embrace the pin a¹ of the lever C, so that they are held in position thereby with
the tongues el g₁ pressed tightly into their grooves. The flanges E¹ G¹ are cut
away above the pin a¹, so as to leave a space between them so that when the pin a¹
is withdrawn, the plates G and E will drop down at their junction thus causing the
tongues gel to come out of their grooves, so that the plates can be entirely
removed, together with the parts connected thereto, namely, firstly, the extractor D
ID:

page_text: which is pivotted upon the pin d¹ fitting in holes in the flanges E¹ E¹, and having
its ends flush with the outer sides thereof which, as before stated, fit against the
inner surface of the slot, so that the pin d¹ is kept in its place thereby; secondly,
the sear I and trigger are pivotted to the plate G by the pin i and the spring J of
the sear fits with a square head in a square hole J¹ in the flange G¹; thirdly, the
tumbler F is pivotted upon the pin f*, which fits in holes in the flanges G¹, in a
similar manner to the pin d¹ in the flanges E; fourthly, the spring H that actuates
the tumbler F through the link f³, is secured by a forked end to an undercut stud g
on the plate G; the side of the spring H serves to keep the spring J of the sear in
position in its hole.
When the firing pin B is pushed back by the lever C₁, its back part 6' also pushes
back the head f of the tumbler F, thus bringing the tumbler into the cocked
position in which it is held by the sear taking into the notch f' and in which it
presses down the spring H by means of the link f³.
From the above described construction it will be seen that on releasing the upper
pin a¹ from the spring a³, and screwing out the former by means of its head, the
falling block A together with the firing pin B can be taken out; upon then
removing the lower pin a¹ in a similar manner, the lever CC' can be taken out and
the plates E G removed, together with the several parts above mentioned connected
thereto. The pins di¹ and ƒ are then pushed out by means of the head of the
firing pin, whereupon the extractor D, sear I and tumbler F can all be separated
from the plates, and on removing the spring H, the sear spring J can also be taken
out; thus the whole action can be dismembered without the use of any tools, and
in like manner they can be fitted together again.
An "indicator" K is provided at the side of the shoe, for indicating when the
tumbler F is at cock; it consists of a spring having a head K¹ that bears against
the side of the head f¹ and is pushed outwards thereby when cocked.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what
I claim in respect of breech loading rifle action is
1. Securing the falling block A and lever C by means of pins a¹ passing through
a hole in one side of the slotted shoe and screwing into a hole on the opposite side,
the said pins being provided with projecting heads a' that are held against
unscrewing by spring stops a³, substantially as herein described.
2. The combination of the flanged plates E and G with a pin such as a¹ referred
to in the preceding claim, in such manner that on the withdrawal of the said pin,
the plates E and Ğ can be removed from the slotted shoe substantially as herein
described.
3. The combination with the plates E and G referred to in the preceding claim,
of the extractor D, sear I, spring J, tumbler F, and spring H so that on removal
of the said plates the said several parts pass out of the slotted shoe with the
same.
4. The combination of parts herein described constituting a breech loading rifle
action the parts of which can all be separated from each other and fitted together
again without the aid of any tool.