AN IMPROVEMENT IN BREECH-LOADING FIRE-ARMS AND CANNON
Year: 1858

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Wright Gardener Treeby, of No. 1, West-
bourne Terrace Villas, Paddington, in the County of Middlesex, Gentle-
man, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVEMENT IN BREECH-LOADING FIRE-ARMS
AND CANNON,"
Sealed the 28th January 1859, and dated the 16th October 1858.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Wright Gardener
Treeby at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 16th October 1858.
I, THOMAS WRIGHT GARDENER TREEBY, of No. 1, Westbourn Terrace Villas,
Paddington, in the County of Middlesex, Gentleman, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVEMENT IN BREECH-LOADING FIRE-
ARMS AND CANNON," to be as follows:-
In the first place, at the breech end and behind the place were the nipple
is fixed for exploding the powder, I have a tail or continuation of the barrel,
and a screw or thread cut on the outside of the barrel just behind the nipple.
On this tail & behind the screw there is cut out of the tail or barrel a piece
sufficiently large to admit the cartridge, and in this tail or end of the barrel
there is a plunging rod for pushing the cartridge into position to be exploded
by the cap on the nipple; this rod is attached to the end of the nut by means
of any fastening such as is commonly used; this nut is made sufficiently long
to pass over the whole length of the tail or end of the barrel, and screws on to

page_text: the worm on the barrel before mentioned behind the nipple, and hermetically
seals the part cut out of the barrel for admitting the cartridge, and prevents
the escape of gas; this nut has a lever attached to it for the purpose of
turning the same. To be more clear in explaining this nut, the screw or
thread of the nut is cut at the end on the inside of the nut near the nipple;
the parts between the nut and the end of the barrel is smooth, so that when it
is unscrewed from the thread on the barrel behind the nipple it may be easily
moved to and fro. The extreme end of the nut is solid, with only a small hole
to admit the plunging rod for pushing up the cartridge to be fastened to it;
this plunging rod is keyed to the nut by a pin or key, so that it is firmly fixed
to the nut. At the extreme end of the tail or end of the barrel before.
mentioned, there is a stop fixed to prevent the plunging rod and nut from
being drawn from the end of the barrel; this may be done by fixing at such
end of the barrel a ferrule or nut of any known simple means to allow the rod
to pass through it sufficiently far for allowing the cartridge or charge to be
put into the barrel (the stop on the barrel, and the stop on the rod will prevent
the rod and nut from being drawn from the barrel. The barrel is fixed by
any of the common modes to wood or iron stocks or frames; the nut and
plunging rod only moves, and the explosion takes place in the usual way. So
all that has to be done to load the gun is to unturn the nut, draw it back,
put in the cartridge, push up the nut, turn it on the thread on the barrel,
cap it, and then it is ready to fire.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Thomas Wright Gardener Treeby in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 15th April 1859.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
WRIGHT GARDENER TREEBY, of No. 1, Westbourne Terrace Villas, Upper
Westbourne Terrace, Paddington, in the County of Middlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Sixteenth day of October, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, in the twenty-second year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Thomas Wright Gardener Treeby, Her special licence that I, the said
Thomas Wright Gardener Treeby, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said Thomas Wright Gardener Treeby, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from

page_text: 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 IN BREECH-LOADING FIRE-ARMS AND CANNON,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Thomas Wright
Gardener Treeby, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in
writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should par-
ticularly 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 Thomas Wright Gardener Treeby, do
hereby declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in
and by the following statement, reference being had to the Drawings hereto
annexed, that is to say:-
Fig. 1 is a longitudinal elevation of a rifle breech-loading musket; Fig. 2 is
a longitudinal vertical section of a cannon; Fig. 3 is a longitudinal elevation
of a cannon.
I will now explain Fig. 2, as that will apply to all fire-arms and cannon.
Fig. 2 is a longitudinal vertical section of a cannon. A, A, is the barrel
running back into a nut B, B, B, B, in the Drawing shaded dark; the barrel
and parts connected with it is shaded lighter than the nut and parts connected
thereto, so that the part shaded dark moves altogether by one action from the
screw on the breech end of the barrel, so that when the nut is unscrewed from
the barrel it can be drawn back for the cartridge to be inserted into the breech
end of the barrel marked I. All the part shaded light, except K and D, D.
B, B, B, B, is the nut screwed on to the barrel; C is a plunger fixed to the
nut by means of a screw for pushing the cartridge into its proper place in the
barrel; F is a lever for turning the nut on and off the screw on the barrel;
E is a plug screwed through the nut, and works in a slot cut in the breech
end of the barrel; the slot on the barrel is cut part the same pitch as the screw
on the breech end of the barrel at G, G, and the other part of the slot is cut
at a much faster pitch, and in some I prefer to cut the slot in a longitudinal
line with the barrel after the nut is relieved from the part G, G. The reason
of the two pitches is to facilitate the quick movement of this nut from the
screw G, G, on the barrel; the screw at G, G, is formed of that pitch that it is
impossible for the nut to run back on the concussion. All that has to be done
is to unturn the nut B, B, B, B, from G, G, put in the charge at I, return

page_text: the nut on to G, G, and it is ready for firing. The screw E always insures
the nut taking the right position for the main screw at G, G, on the barrel.
D, D, is a ferrule or hollow plug screw, that is screwed into the breech end of
the barrel, which allows the plunger to pass to and fro in it, and will prevent
the plunger and nut being drawn off the barrel. The parts shaded dark in
Fig. 2 is the nut and parts fixed to it. The parts shaded light is the barrel
and parts connected thereto. The lever I use for muskets is made to clip the
stock with a spring to fasten it, which spring may be made of the levers F.
The plunger C is screwed into the nut and fastened by a screw. The
plunger C has holes drilled in different parts of the screw for adjusting it. . The
lever F is screwed into the nut, and is fastened by the plunger C, and the end
of the lever F is screwed, and the plunger C fastens it. I is where the
cartridge is put into the barrel. In the nut B, B, B, B, I place oil or grease
to lubricate the plunger and nut; this prevents rusting.
I have in the above description explained this my Invention, and I wish it
to be understood that what I claim is the Invention of the nut for hermetically
sealing the part where the charge is put into the barrel; also the manner of
connecting and adjusting the plunger to the nut; also the plan for lubricating
the nut and plunger; also in placing the screw on the barrel between the part
made for the entrance of the cartridge and the percussioning; also the manner
of fixing the plunger and lever.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Wright Gardener Treeby, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Fifteenth day of April, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine.
T. W. G. TREEBY. (L.S.)