AN IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS IN REPEATING OR REVOLVING FIRE-ARMS
Year: 1855

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Westley Richards, of Birmingham, in the.
County of Warwick, Gun Manufacturer, for the Invention of "AN IM-
"
Sealed the 29th June 1855, and dated the 24th April 1855.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Westley Richards"
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 24th April 1855.
I, WILLIAM WESTLEY RICHARDS, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick,
Gun Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the Invention for "AN
IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS IN REPEATING OR REVOLVING FIRE-ARMS" to be
as follows:-
My Invention consists in applying to repeating or revolving fire-arms the
mechanism of the ordinary gun lock, with the following additions and modifi-
cations: To the body of the pistol or fire-arm I attach a plate and frame, the
frame having the form of the outline of the stock, and the said plate occupying
part of the space enclosed by the said frame. A piece of wood of a suitable
form is placed on each side of the said frame, and being secured in their places
by screws; the said pieces of wood constitute, with the said frame, the stock of
the fire-arm. The plate contained within the said stock carries the mechanism
of the ordinary gun lock, with the following alterations and modifications:-
Upon the tumbler of the said lock are placed the lever and stop, by which the

page_text: revolving chamber is urged forward and held in its proper place, which said
lever and stop are commonly used in revolving or repeating fire-arms; I
therefore do not think it necessary to describe the same. I also vary. the form
of the trigger on which the forefinger presses to discharge the fire-arm, so as
to make the said trigger convenient for use in the changed position which the
lock has in the fire-arm. The end of the trigger is nearly parallel to the stock,
and is pressed towards the stock in discharging.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Westley Richards in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 15th October 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
WESTLEY RICHARDS, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Gun Manu-
facturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fourth day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, in the eighteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said William Westley Richards, Her special licence that I, the said
William Westley Richards, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said William Westley Richards, 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 OR IMPROVEMENTS IN REPEATING OR REVOLVING
FIRE-ARMS, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William
Westley Richards, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal,
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 William Westley Richards, do hereby
declare the nature of the 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 (that is to say):-

page_text: My Invention consists in applying to repeating or revolving fire-arms the
mechanism of an ordinary gun lock, with the additions and modifications
herein described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawing.
Figure 1 represents, in side elevation, a revolving or repeating pistol con-
structed according to my Invention, the wood constituting the stock being
removed for the purpose of exhibiting the works in the interior.
a is a plate,
of the form represented in side elevation in Figure 2, and in end elevation in
Figure 3. The upper part of the plate a carries the head 6, to which the axis
of the revolving chamber c is attached; the fixed barrel d is also attached to
the head b at e. The plate a is fixed in a frame f, the said frame f having the
form of the outline of the stock, and constituting the said stock when wooden
sides are attached on either side thereto. Figure 4 represents, in side elevation,
(the said elevation being of the side the reverse of that represented in Figures
1 and 2,) the plate a, head b, and frame f. The plate a carries the cock and
the whole of the mechanism excepting the trigger g, which, together with its
guard h, is attached to the framing f. The mechanism of the lock differs from
the ordinary mechanism of a gun lock in the following respects:-Upon the
tumbler of the lock I place the lever i, i, the pointed end of which engages in
teeth on the face of the revolving chamber c; when the hammer or cock k is.
cocked, the pointed end of the lever i, i, is raised, and urges round the revolving
chamber c. m is a stud, attached to the end of the lever n, which said stud
engages in the holes o, o, of the revolving chamber c, and bolts or fixes the
said chamber. During the cocking of the hammer k, the tumbler ? raises the
end n' of the lever n, a pin on the back of the tumbler l (shown in dotted
lines) engaging under the end n¹ of the lever n. When the hammer k has
been raised to its fullest extent, the pin on the back of the tumbler escapes
from under the end n¹ of the lever, and a spring p raises the end of the lever
carrying the stud m, and fixes the revolving chamber c, by causing the stud m
to engage in one of the holes o. The trigger, and the sear on which the said
trigger acts, differ somewhat in form from the ordinary trigger and sear; the
difference in form of the said trigger and sear being rendered necessary by the
position of the mechanism of the lock, but as the Drawing exhibits the exact
forms which I give to the trigger and sear, I do not think it necessary to
further describe the same. Instead of putting the cock outside the lock, as
shown in Figure 4, the said cock may be fixed on its axis inside the lock, as is
practised in the manufacture of the ordinary saddle pistol and the ordinary
revolving pistol.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and the manner of
carrying the same into effect, I wish it to be understood that I do not limit

page_text: myself to the precise details herein described, as the same may be varied
without departing from the nature of my said Invention; but I claim as my
Invention,-
Firstly, constructing revolving or repeating fire-arms in the manner herein
described, and illustrated in the accompanying Drawing, that is to say,
applying to revolving or repeating fire-arms the mechanism of an ordinary
gun lock, with the additions and modifications described and represented.
Secondly, attaching the mechanism of repeating or revolving fire-arms, con-
structed in the manner herein described, and illustrated in the accompanying
Drawing, to a plate and frame, the said plate being situated in the interior of
tho stock, as herein described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawing.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Westley Richards, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twelfth day of October, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five.
Witness,
GEORGE SHAW.
WILLIAM WESTLEY RICHARDS. (L.S.)