Improvements in Targets for Rifle and other Shooting Practice.
Year: 1890

page_text: Date of Application, 5th Apr., 1890
Complete Specification Left, 5th Jan., 1891-Accepted. 7th Feb.. 1891
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Targets for Rifle and other Shooting Practice.
We, JOHN WILLIAM PORTER, of the Rifle Ranges, Williamstown, near
Melbourne, in the Colony of Victoria, Ranger, and ARTHUR THOMAS METCALF
JOHNSON, of No. 104, Simpson Street, East Melbourne, in the said Colony,
Professor of Music, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as:
follows:
This invention relates to that class of target which is mounted upon a trolley or
other movable support and is caused to travel to and fro instead of being stationary
like ordinary ones and its object is, first, to provide a movable target such as above
referred to which will automatically turn edgewise to the marksman at intervals so
as to suddenly disappear from his view, and, secondly, to provide a target which
will disappear upon being hit by a bullet and so instantaneously and effectually
record such hit.
The essential features of the first part of our invention consist in vertically
pivotting a target upon a trolley in such a manner as that it can he readily
turned edgewise to the marksman by means of a cross arm or lever secured
upon the lowermost pivot of said target and having forked ends adapted to
engage with stationary upwardly projecting pins. The frame of the trolley
consists of a pair of angle-iron or other bars extending between two pairs of
wheels and connected by another cross-bar having a boss at about its centre
through which passes a downwardly projecting stud pin or pivot provided at
its upper
end with a cross-bar or clamp adapted to support the lower end of
the sheet metal or other target, whilst its upper end is secured by a similary
constructed and suitably shaped clamp rigidly bolted to or formed integral with
an upwardly projecting pin stud or pivot, over or around which is a sleeve or
boss supported upon the upper ends of two or more studs or bars projecting
upwardly from the corners of the trolley.
The double forked operating lever hereinbefore mentioned is rigidly secured
to the stud pin or pivot supporting the lower end of the target, and as herein-
before mentioned its forked ends are arranged to engage with upwardly projecting
pins placed alternately between the rails and at any desired distance apart.
These pins are preferably so arranged that they can be shifted into different
positions to vary the time of exposure of the target as may be found desirable.
The periphery of a boss or collar upon the lowermost pivot of the target is
formed with a pair of notches or recesses into which a correspondingly shaped pro-
jection upon the end of a comparatively strong flat spring is adapted to engage
in such a manner as to hold the target either edgewise or else with its face to
the marksman. Another object of this recess and spring-catch is to prevent the
target from being turned round so far as to interfere with the forked end of
the operating lever engaging with the upwardly projecting pins above referred
10. An inclined metal plate or "glacis supported by angle-iron or other
bars upon the front side of each of the trolleys carrying the targets in order to
protect the wheels of such trolleys as well as the operating levers and other
parts of the targets hereinbefore mentioned from being injured by a bullet.
According to a modification of our invention we horizontally pivot the target
pon a trolley and counterbalance said target in order that it may normally be held
n its upright position whilst leaving it free to be depressed upon being struck by a
ullet, thus ensuring its disappearing from sight and thereby automatically indicating
he result of the shot.

page_text: In carrying this part of our invention into practice we form the sheet of metal
constituting the target of any preferred shape and secure a pair of outwardly
projecting trunnions near to the lower end thereof and we so arrange said trunnions
that they can rest within sockets or supports formed for the purpose on the trolleys.
Upon the lower part of the target we secure a sufficiently heavy counterbalance
weight to ordinarily retain the target in a vertical position though not heavy enough
to prevent said target from swinging backwards out of sight when struck by a
bullet.
It will be obvious that the arrangements used for scoring the number of shots
made with our target can be varied considerably. For instance, a thin sheet
metal target could be used having in front of it a sheet of paper which latter
could of course be removed by the marksman and be kept for his own satisfac-
tion, whilst the thin sheet metal target could be preserved as a kind of tally.
It will be obvious that several target-carrying trolleys may be connected
together end to end by a coupling bar or link having downwardly projecting
ends adapted to fit into or engage with ring-bolts projecting from the ends of
said trolleys whose said ends are connected to a wire or cord wound around the
drum of a hand or other winch whereby such trolleys and targets may be
caused to travel to and fro along a line of rails for any required distance say
for instance 20, 30, or 40 yards as will be well understood by any person
skilled in the art to which our invention relates.
Dated this Twenty-sixth day of February One thousand eight hundred and
J. W. PORTER.
ARTHUR T. M. JOHNSON.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Targets for Rifle and other Shooting Practice.
We, JOHN WILLIAM PORTER, of the Rifle Ranges, Williamstown, near
Melbourne, in the Colony of Victoria, Ranger, and ARTHUR THOMAS METCALF
JOHNSON, of No. 104 Simpson Street, East Melbourne, in the said Colony,
Professor of Music, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what
manner the same is to be performed to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement :-
This invention relates to that class of target which is mounted upon a trolly or
other suitable support, and is caused to travel to and fro, instead of being stationary,
like ordinary ones, and its object is firstly, to provide a movable target, such as that
referred to, which will automatically turn edgewise to the marksman at intervals
so as to suddenly disappear from his view, and secondly to provide a target which
will disappear when hit by a bullet, and so instantaneously and effectually record
such hit.
Our invention consists in a target mounted upon a trolly in such manner as
that it can be readily turned edgewise to the marksman by a cross arm or lever
secured to the lowermost pivot of said target, engaging with stationary upwardly
projecting pins.
Our invention also consists in a target supported by trunnion bearings upon a
travelling trolly, and counterbalanced at its lower end in such a manner as that
it will be normally held in its upright position whilst at the same time it is
free to swing backwards out of sight upon being struck by a bullet, thus ensuring
its disappearance from sight and thereby automatically indicating the result of
the shot.
Referring to our drawings,
Figure 1 is a side elevation, and
Figure 2 is a plan of the under side of a trolly supporting four targets constructed

page_text: Figure 4 is a vertical central section on line 4-4, Figure 1.
Figure 5 is a front elevation, and
Figure 6 is an end elevation illustrating the mechanism for causing the trolly for
carrying the targets to travel to and fro."
Figure 7 is a vertical central section of a pair of trollies carrying targets con-
structed according to our invention, and illustrating said trollies coupled together
by draw-rods, whilst
Figures 8 and 9 are two different horizontal sections of said trollies.
Figure 10 is a perspective. view illustrating a modification of the tumbling or
swinging targets hereinafter described.
Similar letters of reference indicate the same or corresponding parts in all the
Figures.
A-A represent the targets which, as above mentioned, are pivoted vertically,.
and are caused to turn edgewise to the marksman at intervals, whilst B-B repre-
sent the targets which are supported in trunnion bearings, and are so arranged as
that they will disappear from view upon being struck by a bullet.
The targets A-A may consist of a sheet of tin or other similar material cut
into any desired shape, such for instance as that shown, and supported by a
standard C which is securely bolted to one or other of the side bars d of the
framing of the trolly. A spindle a upon the lower end of the target passes
through a boss in the central bar of the frame of said trolly, far enough to
enable a double-forked operating lever E to be readily secured thereto. The said
forked ends of this lever are arranged to engage with upwardly projecting pins e,
which are placed at intervals alternately at either side of said lever at any desired
distance apart. A boss or collar F is formed upon the lowermost pivot of the
target, and is provided with a pair of notches or recesses f into which a corre-
spondingly shaped projection upon the end of a comparatively strong flat spring f¹
is adapted to engage in such a manner as to hold the target in whatever position
it may have been moved into by the lever E, that is, either edgewise or with its
face to the marksman. Another object of this recess and spring catch fis to
prevent the target from being turned round so far as to interfere with the forked
end of the operating lever E engaging with the pins e.
If preferred, the standard C may be dispensed with, the spindle a being carried
high enough to form a sufficient support for said target by itself.
An inclined metal plate or "glacis" G is supported by angle-iron bars 9 upon
the front side of the trolly in order to protect the wheels as well as the operating
levers and other parts of the targets. As shown in Figures 3 and 4, we prefer
to incline this "glacis" from the top rearwards and downwards in order that a
bullet striking it may be directed into the earth instead of up to the target, in
which latter case it would of course hit, which would be objectionable.
If preferred, instead of mounting several targets, upon one trolly, as shown in
Figures 1, 2, and 3, we sometimes provide a separate trolly for each target, as
shown in Figures 7, 8, and 9, and we connect said trollies by draw-bars H-H',
one of which-H' for instance-may be screw-threaded, and may be provided with
nuts, in order that it may be adjusted to regulate the relative positions of said
trollies. I-I represent the wheels of the different trollies which are mounted
upon axles secured to the frames thereof, said wheels being adapted to run upon
rails laid upon sleepers or in other convenient manner at right angles to the
direction of the bullet.
This trolly or trollies is or are connected to an endless chain or rope J, which
passes around conveniently arranged sheaves or pulleys j, as well as around a
winding drum K mounted in bearings in a suitably constructed frame, and having
a crank handle k attached to its spindle in order that it may be rotated so as to
cause said trolly or trollies, together with the targets supported by them, to travel
to and fro upon the rails in front of the marksman.
The operation of our invention is as follows:-
As the target-carrying trolly or trollies travels along said rails the forwardly

page_text: projecting forked end of the operating levers E will engage with an upwardly
projecting pine whereby the target or targets connected to said levers will be
turned round so as to face the marksman, as illustrated in Figures 1, 4, 5, and 7.
As the trolly continues to travel, the other end of said lever will engage with an
upwardly projecting pin e on the opposite side of the track, and the effect will be
that said lever and the targets connected therewith will be turned back again through
an angle of 45 deg., and will therefore present an edge view to the marksman, as
illustrated in dotted lines in Figure 4.
It will be readily understood that the targets. A may be operated either
individually or collectively, that is, they may be turned edgewise to the marksman
either one or more at a time or all at once, according to the arrangement of the
pins e and levers E.
The targets B are constructed of a sheet of metal of any preferred shape, and
they are provided near their lower ends with a pair of trunnions b, which are
arranged to rest in sockets or supports formed for the purpose on the frame of
the trolly or trollies. Upon the lower end of the target B we secure a sufficiently
heavy weight 2 to ordinarily retain the target in a vertical position though not
sufficiently heavy to prevent said target being swung backwards out of sight when
struck by a bullet.
It will be obvious that if preferred; the disappearing targets A may be removed,
their supporting frames C being left in situ if preferred and that the tumbling
or swinging targets B may be substituted for them, as will be well understood on
reference to Figure 1.
It will moreover be obvious that the arrangement for scoring the number of shots
made by our target may be varied considerably. For instance, the targets A could
be made of thin sheet metal covered with a sheet of paper which latter could of
course be removed by the marksman, and be kept for his own satisfaction, whilst
the thin sheet metal target could be preserved as a kind of tally.
The modification of the tumbling or swinging targets which is shown in Figure 10,
enables said targets to be exposed for any desired interval of time. The said
targets B are mounted upon a short horizontal rod or shaft which is provided with
a weighted pendulous arm 2, whose tendency is to always keep said targets in their
raised position. A cord or rope E is secured to the lower end of this weighted
pendulous arm 62, and is passed around a pulley e at the back of a small trench
which is dug in the ground to receive said weighted pendulous arm. The opposite
end of the cord or rope E may be passed over a small pulley e¹ in front of the trench,
and the two ends thereof are then carried to the place whence it is desired to
operate the target.
It will be evident that these tumbling or swinging targets can be allowed to remain
in their vertical or normal positions for such periods of time as may be required,
when they can be drawn down so as to rest flat upon the surface of the ground by
pulling the cord or rope E in such a manner as to swing the weighted pendulous
arm upwardly, when of course said targets will be out of sight until such time as
said cord or rope E is released. If preferred, this said weighted pendulous arm 62
might be so arranged as to normally hold the targets in their lowered position, in
which case of course it would be necessary to pull the cord E in order to raise them
into view, when as soon as said cord was released the targets would again disappear.
Morcover it will be obvious that any desired form of target may be employed in
lieu of those shown, whilst they can be made of any material that may be preferred,
say for instance, either cardboard or iron.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed we declare that what we
claim is:
First. The combination with a target (such as A) mounted vertically in bearings
upon a travelling trolly of a lever (such as E) secured to the lower end of said
target and having forked ends adapted to engage with upwardly projecting pins or

page_text: stops (such as e) and either with or without a spring (such as f¹) adapted to engage
in notches or recesses (such as f) formed in a shoulder or collar on the pivot pin of
said target, substantially as and for the purposes herein described and explained and
as illustrated in our drawings.
Second. The combination with a target (such as B) for rifle and other shooting
practice, supported by horizontal trunnion bearings (such as b) and arranged to
swing back out of sight when struck by a bullet, of a counterbalance weight (such
as 62) on its lower end, substantially as and for the purposes herein described and
explained and as illustrated in our drawings.
Third. The combination with a travelling trolly adapted to support one or more
targets (such as A- -or B) for rifle and other shooting practice of a deflecting plate
or "glacis" (such as G) secured to the front of said trolly, and so constructed and
arranged as that it slopes downwardly and rearwardly in such a manner as to
cause any bullets striking it to glance downwards into the ground, substantially
as and for the purposes herein described and explained and as illustrated in our
drawings.
Fourth. The combination with a pivotted or swinging target (such as B) mounted
upon a horizontal rod or spindle (such as b) provided with a weighted pendulous
arm (such as 6) of a cord or chain (such as E) attached to said weighted pendulous
arm so that said target can be raised or lowered from a distance when required, the
whole being constructed and arranged substantially as and for the purposes herein
described and explained and as illustrated in Figure 10 of our drawings.
Dated this 5th day of January One thousand eight hundred and ninety one.
PHILIP M. JUSTICE,
Associate Agent.