Improvements in Adjustable Stocks, Butts, and Sighting Appliances for Guns and Rifles.
Year: 1890

page_text: Date of Application, 4th June, 1890-Accepted, 5th July, 1890
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Adjustable Stocks, Butts, and Sighting Appliances
for Guns and Rifles.
I, WILLIAM FORD, of 23, Loveday Street, Birmingham, in the County of Warwick,.
Gunmaker, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the
sane is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement :-
The object of my invention is to provide improved means of adjusting the stocks
and butts of small arms fired from the shoulder to suit the individual peculiarities of
persons in respect of bodily formation and sight so that guns and rifles having their
stocks and butts provided with my improved means of adjustment may be used as
try-guns for experimenting upon the amount of cast off or cast on, bend and length
of stock, best suited to the person so experimenting; and also to provide adjustable
sighting appliances to supplement the adjustments of the stocks and butts.
My invention consists as to its first part in severing the stock where the part
known as the hand joins the butt and there introducing compound rectilinear slides
moving in horizontal, vertical or inclined directions and provided with proper means
of locking or tightening the said slides in any position, so as to adjust the butt in
relation to the barrel or barrels as best suits the user.
In combination with the said slides I use joints of various forms such as knuckle,
hinge, and cup-and-ball joints so that the butt may be turned on such joints in
addition to the compound rectilinear sliding motions mentioned. This combination
constitutes the second part of my invention, and the third part consists in means of
moving, adjusting and fixing the butt plate so as to lengthen or shorten the butt
and also to set the butt plate at different angles to suit the shoulder of the user..
These various adjustments of the butt plate are effected by cramps, joints and
bolts. It is to be understood that efficient means of locking or tightening are
provided throughout, so that all the slides, joints and other moving parts may be
firmly fixed before firing.
The fourth part of my invention consists in means of fastening the various slides
and joints when properly regulated for the firer. To effect this I either use a pin or
screw having an excentric head which when turned acts as a cam and so fastens the
slide; or I form a cramp having a hole through which the slide passes and having
a lug on the side. The lug has a slightly tapering screw thread cut on it, and it
also has a slot cut lengthwise of the thread and passing into the hole through which
the slide passes.
It will be seen that by loosening the or tightening the nut on the taper thread I
open or close the cramp.
The fifth part of my invention consists of adjustable sighting appliances, by means
of which the line of sight may be thrown to the right or left of the centre line of the
gun or rifle. This is effected by means of a false rib with suitable slides and cramps
for setting the said false rib over to the right or left of the proper centre line of the
gun or rifle. This false rib may form part of a try-gun proper, or may be secured
temporarily to any ordinary gun or rifle by means of clips or fastenings. In any case
a special line of sighting may be obtained, and the required cast-off or cast-on may
be got by measurement.
Fig. I shews a gun fitted with my improved means of regulating the stock and
butt. Between the hand and butt is a compound rectilinear slide.
Fig. II shews an enlarged view of the compound rectilinear slide, Fig. IV shews
the separate parts of this slide in elevation and Fig. V plans of the same. The
bolt a is fixed in the hand of the gun or rifle. A square head is formed on the

page_text: bolt a, through which a screw b passes. This screw b serves to raise or lower
the piece c vertically.
A bolt d passes into the butt freely enough to allow the butt to turn upon it
when required. The cramp e which is closed by the nut f holds the bolt d firmly
in the butt when the gun or rifle is being used. The bolt d has a square head on
which the piece slides. horizontally by means of the screw a passing through the.
head of the said bolt d. Between the pieces c and h I introduce a picce i upon which
the piece o slides vertically and the piece horizontally.
"
When the piece is adjusted in relation to the piece i it is locked by the excentric
headed screws or cams kand k². The piece is locked by similar screws or cams l¹
and 12.
The cheek of the butt may be raised or lowered by means of the bolt m sliding in a
hole in the butt. The bolt m is held by a cramp n when the cheek of the butt is
properly regulated.
The butt plate may be regulated so as to lengthen or shorten the butt or may be
set at various angles to suit the shoulder of the user. This is effected by the bolts o
and p hinged to the butt plate and passing freely into the butt. When the butt plate
is regulated it is fastened by the cramps q and which are fixed in the butt and close
on the bolts o and p respectively.
Fig. III shews the cramp used throughout for locking the above-mentioned bolts.
A slot is cut down the taper lug s into the holes through which the bolt passes. A
thread is cut on the tapering lug S. To close the cramp on the bolt the nut tis
tightened on to the taper lug s.
Fig. VI shews an elevation and Fig. VII a plan of a combined slide and hinge
joint. Fitted to the hand of the gun or rifle is a solid cylindrical piece u.
the butt is a piece which turns on the piece u and slides vertically upon the same.
The piece is fixed to the butt by the bolt w, which is part of the piece v, and the
cramp which is fixed in the butt.
Fitted to
When the butt is adjusted to suit the user the set pin y is tightened and the cramp a
closed.
The compound rectilinear slide may be used in combination with the joint shown in
Figs. VI and VII or with a knuckle, cup-and-ball or any other such joints.
Fig. VIII shews the plan of a pair of barrels fitted with my adjustable sighting
appliances, Fig. IX shews a view of the breech end of the barrels, Fig. X a view of.
the muzzle, and Fig. XI a side view of the muzzle.
In Fig. VIII the false rib a is pivoted at to the cross-slide which can be
adjusted by means of the cramp d on the true rib of the barrels. Near the muzzle of
the barrels a slotted crosspiece è is fixed, and in the slot in this crosspiece fits a sliding
nut Into this nut a clamping screw g takes, and secures the forward end of the
false rib in any required position in relation to the central line of the true rib. If
the cross-slide c be released from the cramp d, the false rib a may be brought over to.
the right of the barrels. This is effected by turning the cross piece c on the pivot b.
It will thus be seen that the false rib a may be set horizontally to any required angle,
and therefore that any line of sighting needed for experiment can be secured whether
to the. right or left of the normal line given by the true rib.
Figs. XII and XIII shew clips suitable for fixing my adjustable sighting rib to
any ordinary double barrelled gun or rifle.
Fig. XII is for the breech end and Fig. XIII for the muzzle. The cross-piece c is
shewn in Fig. XII as secured by a screw cramp d'as in Fig. VIII, and in Fig. XIII
the cross piece e drops on to the two studs and 2 and is then secured by the
nuts and . The clips are tightened on to the barrels by the clamping screws j.and k..
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said Inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is
1. The compound rectilinear slides. moving in horizontal, vertical, or inclined direc-
tions as described and illustrated.

page_text: 2. The use of a knuckle, hinge, cup-and-ball or any other such joint in combination
with the compound rectilinear slides."
3. Regulating the position of the butt plate by means of the cramps, joints and bolts
as described and illustrated.
4. The excentric headed pins or screws and the cramps for securing the slides and
joints as described and illustrated.
5. The combined hinge and slide shewn in Figs. VI and VII for the purposes set
forth.
6. The adjustable false rib and appliances for adjusting and fixing the same on a
try-gun or ordinary fire-arm as described and illustrated.
Dated this 2nd day of June 1890.
WILLIAM FORD.