AN IMPROVEMENT IN BREECH-LOADING FIRE- ARMS.
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alfred Vincent Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughts-
man for the Invention of "AN IMPROVEMENT IN BREECH-LOADING FIRE-
ARMS. A communication from abroad by Mahlon J. Gallagher, of
Philadelphia, in the United States of America.
Sealed the 7th June 1861, and dated the 28th December 1860.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alfred Vincent Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
28th December 1860.
I, ALFRED VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane,
in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVEMENT IN BREECH-LOADING FIRE-
ARMS," to be as follows:-
A difficulty exists in breech-loading cartridge guns in the sticking of the
cartridge shell or case in the gun after or before firing, and it is immaterial
whether the cartridge be inserted within the breech or within the bore of the
barrel, in either case, when inserted, it cannot be withdrawn; so too with the
shell or case after firing, if it stick in the gun, there is no quick reliable way
of withdrawing it. To avoid this difficulty it is now proposed to make one
half or part of the cartridge chamber in the breech, and the other half or part
in the barrel, so that when the barrel and breech are separated the cartridge

page_text: or its case will protrude from whichever part it adheres to, and can easily be
withdrawn therefrom. But when the barrel is hinged, so that its rear swings
up to open the cartridge chamber, and the cartridge or its case extends both
sides of the joint, it is obvious that if the barrel turns or swings on a fixed
pivot or joint that it would part the cartridge or its case. To avoid this the
barrel is so hung that it shall first move away from the breech in a right line
until the cartridge is cleared, or if the cartridge adheres to the barrel instead
of the breech-piece until it clears itself, the barrel will then swing on its pivot
and open up the cartridge chamber. This is effected by the operation of a
crank lever jointed to the breech-piece or lock frame and carrying a stud, to
which a connecting arm hinged to the barrel is attached. These parts are so
fitted and arranged as not to make any material projections, which, at the
point, as they come where the gun is generally supported by the hand when
about to be fired, would be objectionable.
-SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Alfred Vincent Newton in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 28th June 1861.
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 most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-eighth day of December, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty, in the twenty-fourth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Alfred Vincent Newton, Her special license that I, the said Alfred
Vincent Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
should at any time agree with, and no others, from 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," being a communication from
abroad, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Alfred Vincent
Newton, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, should parti-
cularly 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

page_text: Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next and immediately
after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, 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 statement, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say) :-
In breech-loading cartridge guns of the ordinary construction some incon-
venience arises from the cartridge shell or case sticking in the gun after or
before firing, and it is immaterial whether the cartridge be inserted within the
breech or within the bore of the barrel, as in either case, when inserted, it
cannot be withdrawn. With the shell or case, if after firing it stick in the gun,
there is no quick reliable way of withdrawing it. One of the principal objects
of the present Invention is to obviate this difficulty, to which end one half or
part of the cartridge chamber is made in the breech, and the other half or
part in the barrel, so that when the barrel and breech are separated the cart-
ridge or its case will protrude from whichever part it adheres to, and can
easily be withdrawn therefrom. But when the barrel is hinged, so that its
rear swings up to open the cartridge chamber, and the cartridge or its case
extends both sides of the joint, it is obvious that if the barrel turns or swings
on a fixed pivot or joint it would divide the cartridge or its case.
To prevent
this the barrel is so hung that it shall first move away from the breech in a
right line until the cartridge is clear; or if the cartridge adheres to the barrel
instead of the breech-piece, until it clears itself, the barrel will then swing on
its pivot and open up the cartridge chamber. This is effected by the operation
of a crank lever jointed to the breech-piece or lock frame and carrying a stud,
to which a connecting arm binged to the barrel is attached. These parts are
so fitted and arranged as not materially to project, as any projections at this
part of the arm would be objectionable, as they would come where the gun
generally supported by the hand when about to be fired.
is
The present Invention consists in the manner in which the devices or their
substantial equivalents are arranged and combined with the breech barrel and
stock or frame, so that the barrel, in opening up the cartridge chamber, shall
move first in a right line and then swing up, so as not to break the cartridge
or its case, as will be explained, and so also as not to encumber that part of
the
gun
which rests in the hand when being fired.
In the accompanying Drawing Fig. 1 represents a longitudinal vertical
section through a portion of the gun when arranged for firing; Fig. 2 repre-
sents a similar section when the breech is opened and ready to receive the

page_text: cartridge; Figures 3 and 4 represent detached portions of the gun.
letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the Figures.
Similar
A represents the stock, B the breech-piece, and C the barrel of the gun.
The cartridge chamber a is partially in the breech-piece and partially in the
barrel, so that it will project from either part that it adheres to; in opening
up the chamber, D is a bent lever, which, when drawn back and fastened by
the catch 6, also forms a guard for the trigger. This lever is hinged to the
breech-piece B at c, and at the point d on this lever is hinged or pivoted one
end of the link E, the other end thereof being pivoted at e to the barrel C.
Underneath the barrel C there is a frame-piece F, through which there is an
oblong slot f, and through this slot a bar i passes. This bar is firmly attached
to the point A¹ of the stock. The object of this slot and bar is to allow the
barrel to slide endwise on the stock. On the part A¹ of the stock (and which
may be termed the framework of the gun) there are two ways g, g, Fig. 4, on
which a sliding piece h moves. This piece is attached to the barrel, and at
the end of these ways g there is an opening k through the stock or frame A',
through or into which the slide he can pass to allow the barrel, after it has
moved a certain distance, to turn down at its point and up-at-its-rear,-so_as_to
expose the cartridge or the cartridge chamber, as seen in Fig. 2. These move-
ments all take place by the simple drawing back of the lever D. By reversing
the movement of the lever D a reversed action is produced, that is, the barrel
first comes into line with the breech, and then slides back against the breech,
until the projection m on one fits into the recess n in the other, and thus closes
the chamber tightly, the free end of the lever D being locked by the spring
catch b.
The framework A¹ does not, in the Drawing, entirely cover or conceal the
link E, but may be extended sufficiently to do so, and thus leave a smooth
surface wherever the hand that supports the gun when being fixed rests. The
nipple o is represented as placed so as to ignite the charge in the cartridge in
the rear, but the cartridge may, if preferred, be ignited at the side by any of
the known ways.
When the barrel is thrown into the position shewn in Fig. 2 the cartridge,
or the cartridge case, will protrude from either the bore of the barrel or of the
breech-piece, as shewn by the red lines r, r, in Fig. 2.
Having thus fully described the nature and object of the Invention that has
been communicated to me by my foreign correspondent, I wish is to be under-
stood that, under the above in part recited Letters Patent, I claim the use, in
a breech-loading gun, of a cartridge chamber divided at or near its middle,
and a lever and link connection for sliding and tipping the barrel in combina-

page_text: tion with the parts for causing the barrel, when opening up the cartridge
chamber, to move in a right line before it swings on its pivot, for the purpose
herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, the Twenty-eighth day of June, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
A. V. NEWTON. (L.S.)