IMPROVEMENTS IN BREECH- LOADING FIRE-ARMS
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alfred Lancaster, of Kensington Road, in the County
of Middlesex, Gentleman, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN BREECH-
LOADING FIRE-ARMS."
Sealed the 14th November 1865, and dated the 3rd June 1865.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alfred Lancaster at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 3rd
June 1865.
I, ALFRED LANCASTER, of Kensington Road, in the County of Middlesex,
Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN BREECH-LOADING FIRE-ARMS," to be as follows:-
My Invention of improvements in breech-loading fire-arms relates to that
class of breech-loading fire-arms known as the "break down," in which the
barrels are pivotted on a pin, on which they turn so as to expose the open end
of the rear of the barrels.
The first improvement relates to the cartridge extractor or instrument for
pushing out the empty cartridge case after the charge has been exploded, and
the means of actuating the same. The cartridge extractor is recessed in the
rear end of the barrel, and is made with a countersink to receive the flange
of the cartridge. It is actuated by a small lever mounted on a pin in the
lump under the barrels. This lever is made with a cam-like or rounded face

page_text: on its lower arm which bears against a fixed cam also made with a curved or
rounded face. The upper end of the lever bears against a long pin connected
with the cartridge extractor. The several parts being constructed in this
manner, and the curved surface or cam of the barrel being made to bear
against the fixed cam in the body of the gun, it will be evident that when the
barrels are moved on their fulcrum pin so as to raise up and expose the open
ends, then the lever will force back the extractor and thus push out the empty
cartridge case.
The next improvement consists in connecting to the hammer, by means of a
joint, the pin, which strikes and explodes the cartridge, so that when the
hammer is drawn back it will also draw back the pin out of the way of the
rear end of the barrels.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Alfred Lancaster in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
2nd December 1865.
TO ALL TO WHOM..THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALFRED
LANCASTER, of Kensington Road, in the County of Middlesex, Gentleman,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Third day of June, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, in the twenty-eighth year of Her
reign, did for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Alfred Lancaster, Her special licence that I, the said Alfred Lancaster,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as. I, the said
Alfred Lancaster, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN
BREECH-LOADING FIRE-ARMS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said Alfred Lancaster, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in
writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly
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 immediately after the
date of the said Letters Patent.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Alfred Lancaster, 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 follow-
ing statement, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed and to
the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
My Invention of "Improvements in Breech-loading Fire-arms" relates to
that class of breech-loading fire-arms known as the "break down," in which
barrels are pivotted on a pin, on which they turn so as to expose the open 'end
of the rear of the barrels to admit of a cartridge being introduced.
2
The Invention is illustrated in the accompanying Drawing, in which
Fig. 1 is a sectional elevation of a double-barrelled break-down gun, with
my improvements adapted thereto. In this Figure the barrels are shewn as
shut down in place ready for the gun to be discharged; Fig. 2 is also a
sectional view, but representing the rear end of the barrels raised off their seat
in order to expose their open ends for the purpose of removing the discharged
cartridge cases and inserting fresh cartridges.
The first improvement relates to the cartridge extractor or instrument a, for
pushing out the empty cartridge case (after the charge has been exploded),
and the means of actuating the same. The cartridge extractor a is recessed
in the rear end of the barrel, and is made with a countersink to receive the
flange of the cartridge. It is actuated by a small lever 6 mounted on a pin c
in the lump e under the barrels. This lever 6 is made with a cam-like or
rounded face 6 on its lower arm, which bears against a fixed cam d, which
forms part of the lump e, and is also made with a curved or rounded face.
The upper end of the lever 6 bears against a long pin a¹, connected with the
cartridge extractor a. The several parts being' constructed in this manner,
and the curved surface or cam of the lever b which is attached to the barrel
being made to bear against the fixed cam d in the body of the gun, it will be
evident that when the barrels are moved on their fulcrum pin e, as shewn at
Fig. 2, so as to raise up and expose their open ends, then the lever 6 will
force back the extractor a and thus push out the empty cartridge case.
The next improvement consists in connecting to the hammer by means of
a joint the pin which strikes and explodes the cartridge, so that when the
hammer is drawn back it will also draw back the pin out. of the way of the
rear end of the barrels. In Figures 1 and 2 the pin f is connected by a joint g
to the hammer h, so that when the latter is drawn back it will also draw back
the striking pin f in its socket. The cartridge cannot therefore be prematurely
exploded by a too sudden closing of the breech, and thus bringing the cartridge
with a smart snap against the exploding pin, as has sometimes happened in

page_text: guns where the pin is allowed to project beyond the surface of the breech. In
fact, it will be seen that the pin'f cannot reach the cartridge unless the
hammer is let down, as in the act of firing.
Having now described my Invention of "Improvements in Breech-loading
Fire-arms," and having explained the manner of carrying the same into effect,
I claim as the Invention secured to me by the herein-before in part récited
Letters Patent,-
First, the arrangement and construction of parts herein shewn and described
for pushing out or removing the discharged cartridge case.
Second, I claim drawing back the exploding pin f, as herein set forth, so as
to prevent it from prematurely discharging the cartridge.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alfred Lancaster, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, the Second day of December, in the year of our Lord
Öne thousand eight hundred and sixty-five.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
.66, Chancery Lane.
ALFRED LANCASTER. (L.s.)