IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF BREECH-LOADING FIRE- ARMS
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry John Daniell, of Donnington Park, in the
County of Leicester, late Colonel in the Coldstream Guards, for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF BREECH-LOADING FIRE-
ARMS."
Sealed the 11th May 1860, and dated the 14th November 1859.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry John Daniell at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 14th November 1859.
I, HENRY JOHN DANIELL, of Donnington Park, in the County of Leicester,
late Colonel in the Coldstream Guards, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF BREECH-LOADING
FIRE-ARMS," to be as follows:-
The object of this Invention is to convert guns of the common construction
into breech-loaders; this I propose to effect by removing the ordinary breech,
and turning down the screw in the barrel by which it is secured in position.
I then strengthen the fore part of the stock, and joint the barrel thereto by a
hinge, so that the rear end of the barrel may be exposed to receive the cartridge,
and in place of the ramrod and in the groove in which it is carried I provide a
sliding bolt, which, when thrust home, will enter a socket in the lock frame

page_text: and hold the parts firmly in position. The lock frame I make so that its fore
end shall form the breech to the barrel. The kind of cartridge which I prefer
to employ with this gun is that which is fired by the striking down of a metal
pin upon the cap or percussion powder inserted in the rear of the cartridge.
I therefore form a slot in the end of the barrel, to allow of the pin projecting
upwards in the proper position to receive the blow of the hammer. In
charging this gun, it will be understood that the bolt has first to be withdrawn,
and the barrel will then rock on the connecting hinge sufficiently to expose the
end of the barrel. The cartridge may then be inserted, and the parts when
brought again into position are secured by the sliding bolt. This Invention
will be applicable to both rifled and other percussion guns, and whether made
with single or double barrels.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Henry John Daniell in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 14th May 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
JOHN DANIELL, of Donnington Park, in the County of Leicester, late
Colonel in the Coldstream Guards, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fourteenth day of November, in the year of our Lord,
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-third year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Henry John Daniell, Her special license that I, the said Henry John
Daniell, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Henry John Daniell, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE CONSTRUCTION OF BREECH-LOADING FIRE-ARMS," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Henry John Daniell, by an instrument in writing
under my band and seal, should particularly describe and ascertain the naturo
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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Henry John Daniell, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed, and to
the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say) :-
The object of this Invention is to convert guns of the common construction,
such as muskets and fowling pieces, into breech-loaders. This I propose to
effect by removing the ordinary breech, and turning down the screw in the
barrel by which it is secured in position. I then strengthen the fore part of
the stock by applying thereto a breech plate and butt joint hinge, formed, by
preference, in one piece, which hinge will allow of the depression of the fore
end of the barrel, and the simultaneous elevation of the rear end for the
purpose of exposing it to receive the cartridge. For securing the barrel in
position ready for firing the charge, I fit in the groove or guide under the
barrel (in which the ramrod is commonly carried) a sliding bolt, which, when
thrust home, will enter a socket in the breech plate, and hold the parts firmly
in position.
In the accompanying Drawing, Fig. 1 shews, in side view, a double-barrelled
gun with a back action lock converted according to my Invention into a
breech-loader, and which I term the Proteus Gun; Fig. 2 is a side view
shewing the securing bolt withdrawn from its socket, and the barrel brought
to the position for receiving the charge; Fig. 3 is a cross section of the stock
looking towards the breech plate. The barrel a, it will be understood,
although made for a muzzle-loading gun, that is, with an inner thread at its
rear end, by which the breech is secured to the barrel, is readily adapted to
the purpose of this Invention by carrying the bore right through from end to
end, as in other breech-loaders. To the fore part of the gun stock I secure
the butt joint hinge piece c, c*, which is hollowed out longitudinally to allow
the barrel a to bed into it when in line for firing. The barrel is keyed to the
fore part or wing c of the hinge, and the wing is welded to the breech
plate d, which is firmly secured to the stock; when, therefore, the barrel is
brought to the position of Fig. 1, it will fit close against the breech plate. In
the front of the breech plate (see Fig. 3) a socket is formed to receive the
end of a sliding bolt e, which is fitted with a thumb-piece at its outer end, and
enters guides formed for it (or rather for the ramrod whose place it takes)
under the barrel. The kind of cartridge which I prefer to employ with this
gun is that which is fired by the striking down of a metal pin upon the cap or
percussion powder inserted in the rear of the cartridge, but any other approved
construction of cartridge may be employed. When using that fitted with a

page_text: inetal pin, I form a slot in the rear end of the barrel, to allow of the pin pro-
jecting upwards in the proper position to receive the blow of the hammer. In
charging this gun, it will be understood, that the bolt e has first to be with-
drawn, and the barrel will then rock on the connecting hinge sufficiently to
expose the end of the barrel. The cartridge may then be inserted, and the
parts when brought again into position are secured by the sliding bolt. By
this Invention, which applies to both rifled and other percussion guns, and
whether made with single or double barrels, it will be understood, that I am
enabled to utilize those weapons, or parts of weapons in course of construction,
which, by reason of the advance of improvement in the manufacture of fire-
arms, have been cast aside as comparatively inefficient or useless, and thereby
to produce a weapon well adapted to civil or military uses.
Having now set forth the nature of my Invention of improvements in the
construction of breech-loading fire-arms, and explained the manner of carrying
the same into effect, I wish it to be understood that under the above in part
recited Letters Patent I claim converting muzzle-loading guns into breech-
loaders, in the manner above set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry John Daniell, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Twelfth day of May, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty.
Signed, sealed, and delivered, by the
above-named Henry John Daniell, in
the presence of
MARCUS HUISH, Solicitor,
Castle Donington.
H. J. DANIELL. (L.S.)