Year: 1886

page_text: Date of Application, 29th Mar., 1886.
Complete Left, 18th Dec., 1886.
Complete Accepted, 28th Jan., 1887
[Communicated from abroad by Messrs. FLURSCHEIM and BERGMANN, trading as
"Eisenwerke," Gaggenau, in the Grand Duchy of Baden, Germany.]
I ADOLPHE ARBENZ of Nos. 107 and 108 Great Charles Street Birmingham in the
County of Warwick Merchant do hereby declare the nature of this Invention to be as
follows:-
The said invention consists of the improvements hereinafter described in air guns
the object of the said improvements being principally to enable the air gun to
discharge at pleasure either darts or projectiles or shot or ball cartridges.
The barrel of the air gun is jointed and fastened to the air chamber carried by the
stock in the ordinary way and the air piston is forced back and its spring compressed
and the said piston held in its back position by the ordinary mechanism.
The front of the air chamber as ordinarily constructed is closed with the exception
of a small hole therein through which the compressed air escapes for expelling the dart
or missile from the barrel.
According to this invention a seat is made at the front end of the air chamber for
receiving either a removable plug or closer having a small hole in its axis or a plug.
or closer provided with a loose striker The plug or closer is kept to its seat by the
face of the breech chamber of the barrel when closed bearing against it. The plug
may however be fixed in its place in other ways. When the first described plug is
employed the air gun is fitted for expelling darts or projectiles the said darts or
projectiles being acted upon by the compressed air issuing from the air chamber
through the small hole in the axis of the plug. When the plug or closer with a striker
is used the gun is fitted for discharging cartridges the loose striker in the plug being
projected forwards on pressing the trigger and striking the rim of the cartridge in the
breech end of the barrel discharges the cartridge. By means of a lip or undercut part
in the plug or closer and a recess in the side of the seat at the front of the air chamber
the plug or closer can be readily raised from its seat for replacing it by a plug of
another kind according to the use to which the air gun is to be put.

page_text: An extractor of the kind used in ordinary guns is employed for extracting the spent
cartridge case on opening the air gun for recharging it.
When firing darts and projectiles from the air gun it is necessary to reduce the
diameter of the bore of the barrel. For this purpose a detachable tube having a small
bore of the same length as the barrel but of less diameter is placed inside the barrel
the said tube having at its ends and middle steadying collars of the same external
diameter as the internal diameter of the barrel. The small bore tube is introduced into
the barrel from the open breech end the steadying collar at the front end of the tube
engaging with the lip or hook of the extractor. On closing the gun the face of the
air chamber bears against the front collar of the small bore tube in the barrel and
holds it firmly in its place during discharge. On opening the gun the small bore tube
can be withdrawn from the barrel and the gun be used for firing cartridges.
W. T. WHITEMAN,
Agent for the Applicant.
Improvements in Air Guns.
I ADOLPHE ARBENZ of Nos. 107 and 108 Great Charles Street, Birmingham, in the
County of Warwick, Merchant, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
and in what manner the same is to be performed to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statenient :-
The said invention consists of the improvements hereinafter described in air guns
the object of the said improvements being principally to enable the air gun to
discharge at pleasure either darts or projectiles or shot cartridges or ball cartridges.
The barrel of the air gun is jointed and fastened to the air chamber carried by the
stock in the ordinary way and the air piston is forced back and its spring compressed
and the said piston held in its back position by the ordinary mechanism.
The front of the air chamber as ordinarily constructed is closed with the exception
of a small hole therein through which the compressed air escapes for expelling the dart
or missle from the barrel. According to this invention a seat is made at the front end
of the air chamber for receiving either a removable plug having a small hole in its
axis or a plug provided with a loose striker. The plug is kept to its seat by the face
of the breech chamber of the barrel when closed bearing against it. The plug may
however be fixed in its place in other ways; for example, it may be fixed by a side
screw passed from the outside of the barrel. When the first described plug is
employed the air gun is fitted for expelling darts or projectiles, the said darts or
projectiles being acted upon by the compressed air issuing from the air chamber,
through the small hole in the axis of the plug When the plug with a striker is used
the gun is fitted for discharging cartridges, the loose striker in the plug being
projected forward by the piston on pressing the trigger and striking the rim of the

page_text: cartridge in the breech end of the barrel discharges the cartridge. By means of a
recess in the side of the seat at the front of the air chamber, the plug can be readily
raised from its seat for replacing it by a plug of another kind according to the use to
which the air gun is to be put.
An extractor of the kind used in ordinary guns is employed for extracting the spent
cartridge case on opening the air gun for recharging it.
When firing darts and projectiles from the air gun it is necessary or desirable to
reduce the diameter of the bore of the barrel. For this purpose a detachable tube
having a small bore of the same length as the barrel but of less diameter is placed
inside the barrel, the said tube having at its front end a collar. The small bore tube
is introduced into the barrel from the open breech end, the collar at the front end of
the tube engaging with the lip or hook of the extractor.
On closing the gun the face of the air chamber bears against the front collar of the
small bore tube in the barrel and holds it firmly in its place during discharge. On
opening the gun the small bore tube can be withdrawn from the barrel and the gun
be used for firing cartridges as before described.
I will now proceed to describe with reference to the accompanying Drawings the
manner in which the invention is to be performed.
Figure 1 represents in side elevation an air gun drawn to a small scale made accord-
ing to this invention; Figure 2 represents in side elevation, partly in longitudinal
section, a portion of the said air gun, the parts being arranged for firing darts and
projectiles and Figure 3 represents a front elevation of the face of the air chamber:
Figure represents the removable air plug and Figure 5 the small bore tube used
when firing darts, and projectiles; Figure represents partly in side elevation and
partly in longitudinal section the air gun with the parts arranged for firing shot
cartridges or ball cartridges; Figure 7 represents an elevation of the face of the air
chamber of the gun. Figure 6, and Figure 8 represents the same view as Figure 7 with
the striker plug removed and Figure 9 represents the striker plug detached from the
gun.
The same letters of reference indicate the same parts in the several Figures of the
Drawings.
C
a is the barrel of the air gun jointed at to the air chamber e in which the air
piston and spring work, the said air piston being forced back and its coiled spring
compressed and the said piston held in its back position by the ordinary mechanism
which I do not consider it necessary to explain. The barrel a is fastened down to the
air chamber e for the discharge of the gun by a fastening of the ordinary kind. The
front or face of the air chamber c against which face the face of the breech chamber
of the barrel a shuts when depressed, is provided with a conical seat d.. At the back
of the said seat is a central hole e and a second hole fexcentric to the axis of the seat
(see Figure 8). In the said scat d either the air plugg Figure 4 or the plug Figure 9,
having the loose striker i, can be fitted. The air plugg has a small hole in its axis the
pipe at the back of the said plug fitting in the central hole in e in the front of the air
chamber e as represented in Figure 2. Washers of leather are placed at the front and
back of the air plug g to form an air tight joint between it and the seat d and the
collar on the small bore tube k used in the barrel a when firing darts or projectiles.
When the plug with a loose striker is used, the hole e in the front of the air
chamber is covered by the said plug h, the loose striker i passing through the
eccentric hole in the said front of the air chamber as represented in Figure 6, the
sectional part of the said Figure 6 being taken through the hole fin which the striker i
passes. A recess is made at the edge of the seat d in the front of the chamber e for
raising the removable plug g or h from its seat d when required; m is the extractor a
back motion to which is given on opening the air gun by the operation of a lifter at
the joint of the barrel the said lifter operating the extractor in the way in which the
extractors of breech loading sporting guns are operated. A jointed extractor of the
ordinary kind may be used in place of the automatic extractor represented in the
Drawing. The hook of the extractor m engages with the collar k² at the front of the
small bore tube when firing darts or projectiles as represented in Figure 2 or with
C

page_text: the rim of the ball (or shot) cartridge p when firing ball cartridges or shot cartridges
as represented in Figure 6.
The parts of the air gun being arranged in the manner represented in Figures 1 and 2
the said gun is ready for firing darts or projectiles, that is, the barrel a is furnished
with the small bore tube k, and the seat d in the front of the air chamber c is fitted
with the removable air plug y the face of the breech chamber of the barrel bearing
against the collar of the small bore tube k and holding the said tubo firmly in its
place. On pulling the trigger the air piston in the air chamber is liberated and the
compressed air issuing through the small hole in the axis of the air plug expels the
dart or projectile from the small bore tube k, k in the usual way.
In order to fit the air gun for discharging shot cartridges or ball cartridges, the
small bore tube k, k² is removed from the barrel a and also the air plugg from its seat d
in the front of the air chamber and the striker plug is put in the seat d in place of
the air plug y as illustrated in Figure 6. A ball (or shot) cartridge p is placed in the
breech chamber of the barrel a and the said barrel being closed and the air piston
forced back and cocked and fastened the gun is ready for firing. On pulling the
trigger the loose striker in the plug his projected forward or outwards by the
air piston and striking the rim of the cartridge p discharges the said cartridge.
On opening the gun for reloading it the spent cartridge case is extracted by the
extractor m.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this invention and
the manner in which the same is to be performed I declare that I claim as the said
invention of "Improvements in air-guns"
The adaptation to or combination with an air gun of the parts herein before described
and illustrated in the accompanying Drawings for enabling the air gun to discharge
either darts and other projectiles or shot cartridges or ball cartridges; that is to say,
making in the front of the air chamber of the gun a seat and holes for receiving either
a removable air plug having a small axial hole, or a plug provided with a loose striker,
the air plug in combination, with a small bore tube placed in the barrel being used
when firing darts and other projectiles and the plug with a loose striker being used
when firing shot cartridges or ball cartridges substantially as described and illustrated.