IMPROVEMENTS IN BREECH-LOADING FIRE-ARMS AND CARTRIDGES
Year: 1869

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Westley Richards at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 16th
December 1869.
I, WESTLEY RICHARDS, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN BREECH-LOADING FIRE-ARMS AND CARTRIDGES," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in breech-loading fire-
arms and cartridges.
My Invention relates to breech-loading guns, in which the breech
block is jointed at its hinder end to the frame or body, and in which the
block descends by turning about this joint in order to open the breech
for loading. I employ in order to actuate the breech block an arm
turning on an axis in front of the trigger guard, and on the same axis I
mount the hammer, and so far the gun is similar to that described in the
Provisional Specification filed by me, and dated the Thirteenth day of
August 1869, No. 2427, but in place of forming the hand lever in one
picce with the arm which works the block, as is there described, I use a

page_text: separate hand lever turning on a centre immediately behind the axis of
the arm and hammer.
Or according to another modification in place of mounting the hammer
on the same axis as the arm and hand lever I mount it on a separate
axis in rear thereof and behind the trigger. The hammer nose or striker
which passes through the block is not formed in one piece with the
hammer, but is jointed or connected to it so as to allow of its working in
a horizontal positon and rectilinear direction. The hammer nose has a
projection upon it, on which the arm which works the block operates to
raise the hammer to the cocked position. The spring is of the ordinary
mainspring form and is placed behind the hammer. In some cases I
employ a striker, such as that above described, but entirely detached
from the hammer, the blow of which however it receives, and when the
breech is opened the hinder end of the striker abutting on the hammer
forces it back to the cocked position where the sear retains it, whilst the
striker returns with the breech block when the breech is closed. I
prefer to mount both the mainspring and hammer upon the trigger
guard.
The extractor which I employ is a finger turning on the axis of the
arm which supports the breech and moved by projections in connection
with this arm, I, according to my present Invention, provide it with a
spring acting upon it in such manner that when it is started by the
projection above mentioned the spring operates so as to cause it to recede
from the breech end of the barrel with a rapid motion, it thus projects
the cartridge case out of the chamber of the gun, and leaves it free to
be reloaded.
In order to protect the trigger from being pulled when the arm is at
full-cock, a cam is fixed upon an axis at the back of the trigger and
worked by an arm on the side of the stock or iron body or frame. The
cam may be worked in a slot in the trigger plate or guard, or it may be
outside and bent so as to enter behind the trigger. The arm of the lever
working the cam can be varied in shape to suit the various forms of
different guns and rifles. The cam can also be worked on a separate
centre to that on which the lever works.
In breech-loading fire-arms which are used with central-fire cartridges
the cap of the cartridge, which receives the blow of the hammer or
striker, is liable by the explosion to be forced into the hole in the block
through which the hammer or striker passes.

page_text: Now according to my Invention I blockade the hole in the centre of
the block through which the hammer or striker passes. In order to do
this I employ an anvil and cap combined and made in one solid piece.
The anvil is a solid piece of metal formed in the crown of the cap and
having a coned or pointed top, whereby to ignite the percussion powder
which is placed in the top of the cap chamber, either in a recess there
made to receive it or in a separate ring or patch of fulminate, as may be
most convenient. The base of the anvil is so large as effectually to
prevent it and the crown of the cap, which is in one piece with it, being
blown back into the hole in the centre of the block, through which the
striker passes when the discharge takes place; this means admits of a
striker or hammer of a larger diameter being used, and it also prevents
the gun from becoming disabled by the hole in the block getting too
large from wear or other causes; this conc may be made hollow at the
base so as to form an arch over the hole in the block.
The construction may be modified still retaining the principle of
blockading the hole in the centre of the block; if a separate anvil be
used I prefer to form it of a solid disc larger than the hole in the breech
block, and having three grooves in the sides and a countersunk hole at
the top or at the bottom, or at both top and bottom to receive the
priming.