IMPROVEMENTS CHANG BAD
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Bissell, of 75, Tooley Street, Southwark, in
the County of Surrey, Gun Maker, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
19
CHANG BAD RIPING
Sealed the 17th November 1865, and dated the 27th May 1865.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Bissell at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 27th
May 1865.
I, THOMAS BISSELL, of 75, Tooley Street, Southwark, in the County of
Surrey, Gunmaker, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN BREECH-LOADING FIRE-ARMS, AND IN SIGHTS FOR RIFLES," to be
as follows:-
The first part of this Invention is applicable to breech-loading fire-arms, in
which the breech ends of the barrel or barrels are exposed by turning the
barrel downwards on a hinge, and which fire-arms are intended to be loaded
with cartridges which are contained in cylindrical cases provided at the centre
of their rear ends with a cap, or with a patch of detonating material, by
which the explosive compound in the case is to be ignited; and this part of
the Invention consists of an improved arrangement of mechanism for with-
drawing the empty cartridge cases from the breech end of the barrels after
that the gun has been exploded.
Cartridges of the above description are now made with a projecting flange
around the rear end of the case, a portion of which flange when the cartridge

page_text: is inserted into the breech end of the barrel of the fire-arm, overlaps the edge
of the extractor (which is a sliding piece at the breech ends of the barrel or
barrels), so that when the extractor is moved backwards away from the
breech ends of the barrels, the cartridge case or cases are drawn back with it,
and the empty cases may then be readily removed by hand. In order to
cause the extractor to move in this manner I place on the under sides of the
barrel or barrels and close to their breech ends a lever, one end of which is
connected to the sliding piece called the "extractor," and the other projects
downwards from the under side of the barrels, and when the barrels are
turned down on their hinge, this end of the lever is brought against an incline
carried by the fixed breech or body, which causes the lever to turn on its
centre, and to give the requisite motion to the extractor.
When using cartridges of the above description the cartridges are usually
exploded by small sliding rods called "strikers," which when the gun is to be
exploded, are forced forwards by the hammer of the lock against the cap at
the rear end of the cartridge. The strikers at other times are pressed back-
wards away from the rear ends of the cartridges by springs.
According to my Invention I employ for this purpose springs made from a
strip of metal wound spirally around a cone, so that if the cone be flattened
the coils of the springs may lie one within the other; the spring is arranged
to act on the strikers in the following manner :-The strikers are composed of
small rods which pass through and are capable of sliding lengthwise in holes
through the breech plate or body, which closes the breech ends of the barrel
or barrels in the face of the breech plate which is towards the barrels; the
hole around each striker is enlarged, and in the recess so formed is placed
one of the conical springs, the stem of the striker being passed through the
centre of the conically coiled spring; the mouth of the recess is closed by a
screw plug which has a hole through its centre, through which the end of the
striker passes; the base of the conical spring bears against this plug, and the
smaller end of the cone presses against a collar on the striker, and so presses
this collar to the bottom of the recess in the breech plate. By unscrewing
this screw plug from the face of the breech plate which is towards the barrels,
the spring and strikers can at once be removed, which is an important feature
of this part of my Invention. The holes through the breech plate through
which the strikers pass I make in a line with the barrels, the forward end of
the strikers comes opposite the cap in the centre of the base of the cartridge,
and the rear end of the striker I arrange to be struck by the tumbler of the
lock, and when the strikers are so acted on by the tumblers their forward ends
are forced beyond the breech plate, and caused to explode the cap of the

page_text: cartridge. On the exterior of the lock plate levers are placed on the tumbler
axles, by which the lock can be brought to half and full cock; or the stem of
each striker may be struck by one end of a lever which is jointed to the body,
the other end of the lever being struck by the hammer of the lock. The catch
by which the barrels are held when in position for firing is commonly worked
by a bent lever which passes under the trigger guard; and in order to ensure
that the barrels shall not be turned on their hinge before the strikers have
been withdrawn, so as no longer to project beyond the breech plate or body, I
cause an incline or cam on this lever to act either directly or through another
lever on a lever placed at the back of the breech plate or body; this lever
when turned on its centre is (in a double barrelled gun) caused to press back
the tumblers of both locks, and move them both back to half cock; or the
levers may be actuated by an incline on the steel lump of the barrels ; for this
purpose the incline is caused to act on a slide which passes through a hole in
the body, and this slide acts on the levers which raise the tumblers.
In constructing back sights for rifles the leaf or flap of the sight I make of
a bar, turning at its lower end on a rule joint; on the lower end of the flap I
attach a spring which, when the flap is in a vertical position presses down on
to a flat surface fixed at one end of the hinge, and presses back the flap as far
as the rule joint will allow; one advantage of this is that it allows of the flap
being carried by a narrow cross slide, which can be readily removed or
replaced on to the rifle; or a spring may be attached to the cross slide, and
its end caused to press into notches formed in the end of the joint on which
the flap turns. When the flap is composed of a bar as above mentioned, the
bar carries a slide which can be slid to and fro along it; this slide projects
out from one side of the bar, and is suitably formed for a tube which projects
out from the centre of a disc to screw into; the disc has a small hole or
aperture through its centre, as is now commonly the case. And when
using telescope sights a glass may be placed in the tube, and held there
by a second tube screwing into the interior of the tube on the disc. In
order to raise or lower the slide on the bar 1 employ a screw which lies in
a semicircular recess formed along the same face of the bar as that from
which the slide projects; the end of the screw nearest to the hinge is received
in a suitable hole or bearing just above the hinge; the bearing for the
opposite end of the screw is formed by the top of the bar being curved over
and a hole for the screw to pass through being formed through the portion so
curved over. On the top of the screw is a head which bears on the bar at
the top of the hole, and two lock nuts are screwed on to the screw, which
lock nuts come just below the hole, so that the screw cannot move endwise;

page_text: to permit of lock nuts being so placed on the screw the face of the bar
against which the screw lies is recessed opposite the lock nuts. The slide has
hinged to it a piece, having on one face of it a screw rack into which the
screw gears; but by turning this piece on its hinge the rack can be freed from
the screw, and then the slide can readily be slid along the bar approximately
to any desired position; if the rack be then again turned into gear with the
screw, the slide may by turning the screw be brought to the exact position
required. In place of this the screw may if desired pass through a solid nut
on the slide, or the slide may carry a small worm to gear with a screw rack
on the face of the bar, and this worm may then if desired be connected to the
slide by a hinge, so that it may if desired be disengaged from the screw rack.
The bar is made with inclined sides, so that it will appear thus in section
and the slide is made in two parts which are connected together by screws;
each has an incline upon it, which when the parts are placed on the bar and
screwed together fit against the inclined sides of the bar.
The fore sights of rifles are now commonly composed of a cross slidė
carrying on its top a tube, into which aperture or other sights may be inserted,
and they are then usually held by a set screw; in place of this in the exterior
of the inner tube I form a notch, into which notch the end of a spring carried
by the outer tube enters, and thus holds the inner tube securely. When the
inner tube is to carry a glass for a telescope site, then I enlarge the diameter
of that portion of the tube that is to project beyond the outer tube, and into
this enlarged part of the tube a glass that fits accurately within it is placed,
and it is held there by a small ring or tube screwing into the enlarged end of
the tube.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,"filed:
by the said Thomas Bissell in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
27th November 1865.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
BISSELL, of 75, Topley Street, Southwark, in the County of Surrey, Gun Maker, a
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-seventh day of May, in the year of our Lord
'One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, in the twenty-eighth year of Her
reigu, did, for Herself, Her leirs and successors, give and grant unto me,

page_text: the said Thomas Bissell, Her special licenco that I, the said Thomas Bissell
niy executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Thomas
Bissell, 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, AND IN SIGHTS FOR RIFLES," upon the condition (amongst
others), that I, the said Thomas Bissell, 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Thomas Bissell, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, that is to say:-
The first part of this Invention is applicable to breech-loading fire-arms, in
which the breech ends of the barrel or barrels are exposed by turning the
barrel downwards on a hinge, and which fire-arms are intended to be loaded.
with cartridges which are contained in cylindrical cases, provided at the
centre of their rear ends with a cap or with a patch of detonating material, by
which the explosive compound in the case is to be ignited, and this part of the
Invention consists of an improved arrangement of mechanism for withdrawing.
the empty cartridge cases from the breech end of the barrels after that the
gun has been exploded.
Cartridges of the above description are now made with a projecting flange
around the rear end of the case, a portion of which flange, when the cartridge
is inserted into the breech end of the barrel of the fire-arm, overlaps the edge,
of the extractor (which is a sliding piece at the breech ends of the barrel or
barrels), so that when the extractor is moved backwards away from the breech
ends of the barrels the cartridge case or cases are drawn back with it, and the
empty cases may then be readily removed by hand. In order to cause the
extractor to move in this manner I place on the under sides of the barrel or,
barrels and close to their breech ends a lever, one end of which is connected
to the sliding piece called the "extractor," and the other projects downwards
from the under-side of the barrels, and when the barrels are turned. down on;

page_text: their hinge this end of the lever is brought against an incline carried by the
fixed breach or body, which causes the lever to turn on its centre and to give
the requisite motion to the extractor.
Figure 1 shews a longitudinal section of so much of a double-barrelled gun
as is necessary to illustrate this portion of my Invention. a are the barrels,
capable of turning down on a hinge at 6, into the position shewn by the red
lines. The barrels when in position for firing are in the arrangement shewn
in the Drawing locked by a rotating bolt or catch c which is worked by a
lever d as is usual. The extractor e, which is carried at the breech end of
the barrels is shewn separately at Figures 2, and at Figures 3 is shewn a
longitudinal section, and at Figure 4 an end view of the breech end of the
barrels with the extractor removed. The extractor has two pins or rods pro-
jecting from it which are received into suitable holes formed between the
barrels. These pins serve as guides to guide the extractor in its to-and-fro
movement in the larger pin. e' is a slot through which the upper end of a lever f
passes; this lever lies in a recess in the lump below the barrels and turns on
a pin f¹ carried by this lump. When the barrels are in position for firing,
and consequently when the face of the extractor is level with the breech face
of the barrels, the lower end of the lever f projects out from the recess in the
lump and outers a recess g¹ in the fixed breech plate or body g. The back of
this recess is formed to an incline or curve in order that when the barrels are
turned down on their pin b (into the position shewn by the red lines) the
lower end of the lever f, by coming in contact with the incline or curve, may
be forced back in the recess into the lump and the extractor be so caused to
move away from the breech ends of the barrels, thus drawing back the
cartridge cases. When the barrels are turned back into their original position
so as to be ready for firing, the extractor is moved back towards the barrels by
coming against the face of the breech plate or body g. The incline or curve
at the back of the recess g¹ is by preference so formed as at first to move back
but slowly the lower end of the lever f, as more power is required to start the
cartridge case than to move it back after it has once been started.
I would state that I am aware that it has before been proposed to give
motion to the extractor by a lever connected with it, I do not therefore claim
the same, but what I claim in respect to this part of my Invention is, the
giving motion to the sliding piece called the "extractor" by a lever that is
acted on by an incline on the breech plate or body as above described.
When using cartridges such as are above described, the cartridges are
usually exploded by small sliding rods called "strikers," which, when the gun
is to be exploded, are forced forwards by the hammer of the lock against the

page_text: cap at the rear end of the cartridge. The strikers at other times are pressed
backwards away from the rear ends of the cartridges by springs.
According to my Invention I employ for this purpose springs made from a strip
of metal wound spirally around a cone, so that if the cone be flattened the coils
of the springs may lie one within the other. The spring is arranged to act on
the strikers in the following manner :--The strikers are composed of small rods
which pass through and are capable of sliding lengthwise in holes through the
breech plate or body which closes the breech ends of the barrel or barrels in
the face of the breech plate which is towards the barrels. The hole around
each striker is enlarged, and in the recess so formed is placed one of the
conical springs, the stem of the striker being passed through the centre of the
conically coiled spring. The mouth of the recess is closed by a screw plug
which has a hole through its centre through which the end of the striker
passes. The base of the conical spring bears against this plug and the smaller
end of the cone presses against a collar on the striker and so presses this
collar to the bottom of the recess in the breech plate. By unscrewing this
screw plug from the face of the breech plate, which is towards the barrels, the
spring and strikers can at once be removed, which is an important feature of
this part of my Invention. The holes through the breech plate through which
the strikers pass I make in a line with the barrels; the forward end of the
strikers come opposite the cap in the centre of the base of the cartridge and
the rear end of the striker I arrange to be struck by the tumbler of the lock,
but to this I lay no claim, and when the strikers are so acted on by the
tumblers their forward ends are forced beyond the breech plate and caused to
explode the cap of the cartridge. On the exterior of the lock plate levers are
placed on the tumbler axles by which the lock can be brought to half
and full cock, but to the so arranging the locks of guns I lay no claim.
At Figure 5 is shewn a section of a striker having a spring such as above
described combined with it. In this Figure a is the striker, composed of a
rod of metal having a collar around it at a¹; b, the conical spring pressing at
one of its ends against the collar a', and at its other end against the plug c,
which screws into the forward end of the hole through the breech plate or
body; and d is a plug screwed into the other end of the hole. This plug is
employed in order to give support to the striker, it also prevents the striker
being forced too far forward by the tumbler of the lock. The striker passes.
through holes formed through the centre of both plugs, and its forward end
comes opposite the cap in the centre of the base of the cartridge whilst its rear
end comes in a position to be struck by the tumbler of the lock. When the
striker is forced forward by the tumbler the conical spring is flattened, and

page_text: when the tumbler is drawn back the spring regains its original form, and
again presses back the striker. In the face of each of the plugs-c are, as is
seen in the front view at Figures 6 (which represents three views of the body)
two small holes for a suitably formed key to fit into in order that the plug
may readily be unscrewed. In place of the stems of the strikers being struck
by the tumblers of the locks, the stem of each striker may according to my
Invention be struck by one end of a lever which is jointed to the body, the
lever being itself struck by the hammer of the lock. Such an arrangement for
working the striker, is shewn in the sectional view, Figure 7. In this Figure
å is the striker, and c the lever jointed to the body; the lever c is to be struck
at the point by the hammer of the lock. The catch by which the barrels.
are held when in position for firing is commonly worked by a bent lever
which passes under the trigger guard, and in order to ensure that the barrels.
shall not be turned on their hinge before the strikers have been withdrawn so
as no longer to project beyond the breech plate or body, I cause an incline or
cam on this lever to act either directly or through another lever on a lever
placed at the back of the breech plate or body; this lever when turned on its
centre is (in a double-barrelled gun) caused to press back the tumblers of
both locks and move them both back to half cock.
At Figure 8 is shewn a plan view of the lever d (for working the catch by
which the barrels are held) constructed with an incline, or cam surface h upon
it as above described.
In the arrangement shewn in the Drawing the incline.h on the lever comes
against the lower end of a lever i, the upper end of which lever comes against
the: lower end of a lever k, that at its upper end is formed with two projections,
which respectively come in front of projections on the tumblers of the locks.
When the lever d is pressed on in order to release the catch which locks the
barrels, without having first drawn back the tumblers of the locks to half cock
(by means of the lever handles m on the exterior of the lock plates), the
incline h on the lever & comes against the lever i, and any further movement
of the lever must then cause the lever i to turn, and by so doing turn the lever k,.
and thus press back the tumblers of the locks. I, however, by preference, so
form the incline on the lever d that the lever i cannot be turned to release
the catch by which the barrels are held if the tumblers of the locks have not
previously been drawn back to half cock. In place of the arrangement above
described a lever may be employed actuated by an incline on the steel lump
of the barrels; for this purpose the incline is caused to act on a slide which
passes through a hole in the body, and this slide acts on a lever which is to
raise the tumblers.

page_text: In constructing back sights for rifles the leaf or flap of the sight I make of
a bár turning at its lower end on a rule joint; on the lower end of the flap
I attach a spring, which when the flap is in a vertical position presses down
on to a flat surface fixed at one end of the hinge, and presses back the flap as
far as the rule joint will allow; one advantage of this is that it allows of the
flap being carried by a narrow cross slide, which can be readily removed or
replaced on to the rifle; or a spring may be attached to the cross slide; and its
end caused to press into notches formed in the end of the joint on which the
flap turns.
At Figures 9 and 10 are shewn two back siglits for rifles constructed
according to this part of my Invention; the hinge upon which the flap or bar
turns is in each carried by a slide a, which is to slide in dovetail guides in a
block b; this block shewn at Figures 9 is formed suitably for being let into
the wooden stock in rear of the barrel, as is commonly the case; the block
for carrying the slide a may, however, be otherwise formed. In the arrange-
ment sliewn at Figures 9 the spring for pressing back the flap is connected at
one end by a screw to the lower end of the flap. The outer end of the spring
when the flap is raised to a vertical position presses on to the top of the small-
square c formed on the end of the pin of the hinge: When the flap is lowered
the spring gives way, and is carried round with the flap until its end bears
against the side of the square c; the spring then tends to hold down the flap.
In the arrangement shewn at Figure 10 the spring is fixed by screws to the
slide a, and it is so formed that its end presses towards the end of the hinge
upon which the flap turns. The spring bas a small V projection upon it,
which when the flap is in a vertical position enters a V notch in the flap at the
end of the hinge. A V notch is also formed in the flap for the end of the
spring to enter when the flap is turned down, as seen in Figure 11*.
When the flap is composed of a bar, as above mentioned, the bar carries a
slide, which can be slid to and fro along it; this slide projects out from one
side of the bar, and is suitably formed for a tube which projects out from the
centre of a disc to screw into; the disc has a small hole or aperture through its
centre, as is now commonly the case; and when using telescope sights a glass
may be placed in the tube, and held there by a second tube screwing into the
interior of the tube on the disc. A glass held in this manner is shewn in the
sectional view; Figure 11; in this view e is the disc; f, the tube projecting
from it, and screwing into the slide 9 that slides on the flap of the sight, the
flap in the arrangement shewn being composed of a bar h, as I prefer it to be.
i is the glass; and k, the tube screwing into the interior of the tube f to retain
the glass in its place. In order to raise or lower the slide on the bar forming

page_text: the flap of the back sight of a rifle, I employ, as shewn at Figure 9, a screw,
which lies in a semicircular recess formed along the same face of the bar as
that from which the slide projects; the end of the screw nearest to the hinge
is received in a suitable hole or bearing, just above the hinge; the bearing
for the opposite end of the screw is formed by the top of the bar being curved
over, and a hole for the screw to pass through being formed through the
portion so curved over. On the top of the screw is a head, which bears on
the bar at the top of the hole, and two lock nuts are screwed on to the screw,
which lock nuts come just below the hole, so that the screw cannot move
endwise to permit of lock nuts being so placed on the screw. The face of the
bar against which the screw lies is recessed opposite the lock nuts. The screw.
may either work into a solid nut on the slider or into a rack, as shewn in the
Drawing.
I claim the forming the flap of the back sight of a rifle in the manner above
described.
When the back sights of rifles are constructed in such manner that the
slider receives its to-and-fro motion by means of a screw, or by a worm on the
slider. gearing into a rack on the flap, I form them in such manner that the
slider may readily be thrown out of gear with the screw or rack, in order that
it may quickly be slid along by hand approximately to any desired position on
the flap, and be then again put in gear with the screw or screw rack, and be
accurately adjusted to the desired position. In each of the arrangements
shewn at Figures 9 and 10 the slider can be so thrown in and out of gear.
The slider in the arrangement shewn at Figure 9 has for this purpose a
piece o hinged to it, having on one face a screw rack, into which the screw
gears; by turning the piece o on its hinge the rack can be freed from the
screw. When the rack is to be in gear with the screw it is held in gear by the
catch p catching over a small pin on the piece o. In the arrangement shewn
at Figure 10 the piece o hinged to the slider carries a worm r, which. gears
into a screw rack on the flap h. When the worm is to be in gear with the
rack, the piece o is held by the catch p. When, however, the catch is released
the piece o can be turned round on the pin s so that the worm may be thrown
out of gear.
When the flap of the back sight of a rifle is composed of a bar, I, according
to my Invention, form the bar with inclined sides, so that it will appear
thus in section, and the slide is made in two parts, which are connected
together by screws; each has an incline upon it, which, when the parts are
placed on the bar and screwed together, fit against the inclined sides of the

page_text: bar. The sliders shewn at Figures 9, 10, and 11 are both made in this
The fore sights of rifles are now commonly composed of a cross slide
carrying on its top a tube, into which aperture or other sights may be inserted,
and they are then usually held by a set screw; in place of this I form a notch
in the exterior of the inner tube, into which notch the end of a spring carried
by the outer tube enters, and thus bolds the inner tube securely. A fore sight
so constructed is shewn at Figures 12. The inner tube x is there shewn to
have a bead sight fitted within it, but the inner tube may be an aperture or
other sight. When the inner tube is to carry a glass for a telescope sight,
then I enlarge the diameter of that portion of the tube that is to project
beyond the outer tube, as shewn at Figure 13, and into this enlarged part of
the tube a glass (seen at y) that fits accurately within it is placed, and it is
held there by a small ring or tube screwing into the enlarged end of the tube.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Bissell, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-seventh day of November, in the year
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five.
THOS. BISSELL. (L.S.)