IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MODE OF PRIMING FIRE-ARMS
Year: 1852

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I,
ALFRED VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery
Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by
Her Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain,
bearing date at Westminster, the Twenty-second day of April, in the
fifteenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, Her especial
license, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said Alfred
Vincent Newton, my exors, adñiors, and assigns, and such others as I,
the said Alfred Vincent Newton, my exors, adññiors, or assigns, should
at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all
times during the term of years therein mentioned, should and lawfully
might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, the
Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and in all Her Majesty's Colonies and
Plantations abroad, and in the Islands of Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney,
Sark, and Man, an Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MODE OF PRIMING
FIRE-ARMS," being a communication from abroad; in which said Letters

page_text: Patent is contained a proviso, obliging me, the said Alfred Vincent
Newton, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, par-
ticularly to describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and
in what manner the same is to be performed, and to cause to be in-
rolled in Her Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar
months next and immediately after the date of the said in part recited
Letters Patent, as in and-by the same, reference being thereunto had,
will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the
said Alfred Vincent Newton, do hereby declare that the nature of the
said Invention, and the manner in which the same is to be performed,
is particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
description thereof, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto
annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to
say):
This Invention, as communicated to me by my foreign correspondent,
consists in a mode of priming fire-arms by the projection of a pellet of
percussion material over the nipple simultaneously with the descent of
the cock, the movements of the two being so timed that the pellet shall
be struck down in its flight upon the nipple by the cock. The Inven-
tion further consists in throwing or projecting explosive or percussion
pellets from a magazine by means of a driver or other equivalent
mechanism, actuated or let off at the proper moment by the cock or
moving parts of the lock.
One mode of applying the Invention is illustrated by the accompanying
Drawing of a musket lock, which contains all the parts of the ordinary
pereussion lock, constructed and arranged in the usual manner, with
the improvements superadded. Fig. 1, is a view or perspective of a
musket lock adapted to the new mode of priming. Fig. 2, is also
à perspective view of the lock, with certain portions of the outside
removed to show the construction of the interior. Fig. 3, is a vertical
longitudinal section through that portion of the lock which constitutes
the priming apparatus, and of the nipple, and the parts to which it is
attached. Fig. 4, is a vertical transverse section through the magazine
at the line xx of Fig. 3. Fig. 5, is a view in perspective of the under

page_text: ide of the cap which covers the magazine and the driver. Fig. 6, is
view in perspective of the under side of the driver. Fig. 7, is a plan
of the magazine, with the cap and driver removed, showing also a top
view of the nipple and a portion of the lock plate. Fig. 8, is a side
elevation of the cock. Fig. 9, is a view in perspective, and Figure 10,
s a longitudinal section, of a charger for the percussion pellets. Figures
11, and 12, are views in perspective, and a section of a percussion
pellet.
As the usual parts of the lock are well known I shall confine my
description to the improvements. The lock plate A, in this instance,
is extended further forward, and made deeper and thicker at the front
extremity than usual. The forward half of its upper edge is made
wider by a plate a, secured thereto, which supports a reciprocating
driver, whose construction and uses will be presently described.
The enlarged portion A¹ of the lock plate has a tubular chamber b,
formed in it, which is closed at the lower end by a screw plug c, and is
fitted with a piston d, and with a helical spring f, placed beneath the
piston, which tends constantly to press the latter upwards. The upper
extremity of the chamber is slightly contracted, and the upper end of
the piston is correspondingly narrowed; this form of the parts allows
the upper extremity of the piston to be forced up even with the top of
the chamber, while as the lower portion of the piston is too large to
pass out of this contracted opening, there is no danger of its being
thrown out by the spring. This chamber forms a magazine to contain
a supply of percussiou pellets which it delivers as they are wanted to
fire the gun. The chamber is represented in the Drawing about half
full of pellets.
The wide portion a, of the upper edge of the lock plate A, as shewn
in Fig. 7, is on a level with the upper extremity of the chamber b, and
at right angles thereto, except at its front extremity, which has an up-
ward curvature. The edges of this plate are parallel, and have grooves
e, made in them to receive tongues formed on the inner edges of an
arched cap B, which slides over the plate.
The inner side of the cap B, fits upon the plate a, except at the
middle, where a longitudinal groove is formed, which is of uniform

page_text: depth throughout its entire length, but of unequal depth transversely
Into this groove a slide or driver g; is fitted. This driver is about two
thirds of the length of the groove; and has a rib on its upper side which
enters a deep channel in the groove of the cap; this rib stiffens the
driver, and projects at the front extremity thereof to push or throw the
percussion pellet. The front part of the plate a, which turns up to
give direction to the flight of the pellet, has a recess i, formed in it to
receive the front extremity of the driver g. An arm k, (see Fig. 4,)
projects from the outer edge of the driver through the side of the cap
B, in a slot made for the purpose, and extends into a groove h, h, in
the inner side of the cock C. One portion of this groove is
concentric with the axis on which the cock turns, while the remainder
', of it is nearly radial thereto, so that as the cock rises the con-
centric portion h of the groove will first move over the arm k,
without communicating motion to it, but towards the latter portion
of the upward movement of the cock the radial part h' of the
groove will act upon the arm k, and draw back the driver 9. On
the other hand, when the cock descends the radial portion of the
groove will first act to push the driver forward, while during the
latter part of the descent of the cock the concentric portion of
-the groove will pass over the arm without giving motion to it.
When the driver is drawn to its backward position by the raised cock,
as shewn in Fig. 3, its front extremity stands just back of the top
of the magazine, so as to allow the pellets 1, to be forced up by the
spring of the piston against the cap B; and as the thickness of the
pellets and the depth of the groove in the cap are equal, a single pellet
is raised into the groove, so that when the cock descends and the driver
is carried forward the latter will strike the uppermost pellet, carry it
forward to the front end of the groove, and there eject it. As the
descent of the cock in the act of firing is always rapid, it will push the
driver and pellet forward with corresponding velocity. As the pellet in
the act of being discharged nears the forward extremity of the groove,
it is turned upwards from the line of motion of the driver by the curve,
so as to be discharged in a line parallel to and very near the face of the
nipple. This deflection of the pellet by the curvature of the groove

page_text: slows that its projection is not necessarily restricted to the line of
motion of the driver, but may be varied therefrom as circumstances
may require: It is necessary that the driver should be connected with
a part of the cock that will give to it a rapid motion, in order that the
pellet may be projected with sufficient velocity to ensure its meeting the
hammer on the face of the nipple; care should be taken, however, that
the pellet be not projected with too great velocity, lest it should pass the
nipple before the cock comes down to explode it.
As the time of moving the driver and the speed with which it is
moved are determined by the form and position of the groove h, h', on
the side of the cock, any desired alteration of the time or speed at which
the pellet is thrown can be effected by simply changing the shape and
position of this groove. The dotted lines in Figure 3, show the pellet
in its flight, and the cock in its descent, just in the act of meeting upon
the face of the nipple. The percussion pellets may for greater
convenience be made in the form of thin circular cakes or discs, the
explosive material being enclosed in a metallic or other casing of cor-
responding form. These discs should be of the same diameter as the
orifice of the magazine, which is of about the same diameter as a
common percussion cap, say three sixteenths of an inch, and they may
be about one thirty-second of an inch in thickness, so that a chamber
with a clear space of an inch above the piston when the spring is cont-
pressed will contain thirty-two pellets or primings. The pellets may be
introduced into the magazine from the bottom; the plug c, being un-
screwed, and the spring f, and piston d, withdrawn previous to inserting
then. It will however generally be found more convenient to introduce
the pellets into the magazine at the top by means of a charger, such as
is represented at Figures 9, and 10. This charger consists of a tube E,
and piston n. The lower extremity of the tube is slit to allow it to
expand and contract, and it is contracted slightly to prevent the pellets
from dropping out. The upper portion of the tube is slightly larger in
liameter than a pellet, and the pellets are introduced into it at this end,
und the piston placed upon them in the manner represented in Figure
10. To transfer the pellets from the charger into the magazine the

page_text: cock is raised, and the cap B, and slide 9, are drawn back, leaving the
orifice of the magazine exposed. The lower end of the charger is now
applied to the orifice, and the piston n pressed down with sufficient
force to expel the pellets from the charger into the chamber 6, pushing
down the piston and compressing the spring to make room for them. 5
The cap is now pushed forward over the orifice of the magazine to
confine the pellets, and the apparatus is ready for use.
The pellets may be made in the form of balls or in any other shape
that may be deemed suitable or convenient, and may be shielded or
covered in any way that will be effectual, or in which such things are
If changes
commonly protected from injury by moisture or friction.
are made in the form or size of the pellets, corresponding changes must
be made in the magazine and driver to adapt them to such changes.
It may be deemed advisable in some cases to construct the magazine
in such manner that it can be readily inspected to ascertain whether it
requires replenishing. This can be done by making a slot down its
outer side, and fitting it either with a transparent covering or a sliding
or hinged metallic shutter, or other contrivance, to protect the pellets
from injury.
It is quite obvious that mechanism of various forms and arrange-
ments could easily be made to carry into practice the improved mode
of priming herein set forth; but I do not deem it necessary to describe
them, as that which I have represented and described has been found
to work in an efficient and satisfactory manner.
Having now described the nature of the Invention, as communicated
to ine by my foreign correspondent, and set forth a ready means of
carrying the same into effect, I wish it to be understood that under the
above in part recited Letters Patent I claim the method herein de-
scribed of priming fire-arms by the projection of a pellet of percussion
or priming material over the nipple at the time the cock is descending
thereon, so that the priming shall be caught between the cock and the
nipple, and exploded substantially as herein set forth. I also claim
combining the magazine and driver, or any equivalent therefor, with the
lock in such manner that the mechanism for projecting the pellet shal