IMPROVEMENTS IN BREECH-LOADING FIRE-ARMS
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Charles Green, of No. 13, Duck Lane,
Edward Street, in the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN BREECH-LOADING FIRE-ARMS."
Sealed the 10th June 1870, and dated the 11th December 1869.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Charles Green
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 11th December 1869.
I, WILLIAM CHARLES GREEN, of No. 13, Duck Lane, Edward Street,
in the County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN BREECH-LOADING FIRE-ARMS," to be as
follows:-
In constructing that class of breech-loading fire-arms in which in order
to expose the breech ends of the barrels the barrels are caused to turn down
on a pin near their breech ends, and which class of guns are generally

page_text: known as drop guns, I form the metal body which carries, as is usual,
the pin upon which the barrels turn, and which has also formed with it
the breech plate which is to close the rear ends of the barrels in such
manner as to carry the lock actions. To effect this I form the body
with a projection on its under side in rear of the breech block; through
this projection slots are formed to receive the triggers, thus doing away
with the trigger plate, and the pins upon which the sears turn screw into
a lump on this projection. The tumblers are formed with hollow axes
which are received in holes in the body, and the tumblers are suitably
formed to act as hammers or strikers to explode the cap or ignition of
central-fire cartridges placed in the breech ends of the barrels, holes
being formed in the breech block for the striking end of the hammers
to pass through. The holes in which the hollow axes of the tumblers
turn are formed as near as may be to the front face of the breech block.
At the front of each of the tumblers a projection is formed for the main-
spring to act on, and the mainsprings lie in slots formed in the sides of
that part of the body which is in front of the breech block; these slots
are covered over with lock plates as usual. The hollow axes of the
tumblers may be carried through these lock plates to carry hammers
to act on pin cartridges, or they may carry indicators to show when
the locks are at full cock. A safety bolt turning on a vertical pin
carried by the projection in rear of the breech block may by a thumb
picce at one side of the gun be turned into such a position as to come
above the shanks of both sears when the locks are at full cock and pre-
vent them being released by the triggers. Other arrangements of lock
action may similarly be carried by the breech block. The tang which
extends back from the top of the breech block and which is usually
forged in one piece with it I make separate from it, and recess its end
into the top of the breech block and secure it there by a screw pin; the
other end of the tang is recessed as usual into the top of the wooden
stock and is held there by screw pins. The before-mentioned projection
at the rear of the bottom of the body is also fixed by screw pins to the
under side of the wooden stock. Recesses are made in the end of the
wooden stock where it comes over the projection in rear of the breech
plate to allow of the hammers or strikers and other parts of the lock
action playing freely. The sliding bolt or catch which is employed to
lock the barrels works as usual in a slot through the body and engages
with a hook on the under side of the barrels, and this bolt I arrange to
be worked to and fro by a curved arm fast on the centre of a spindle

page_text: which passes through the hollow axes of the tumblers and extends from
one side of the body to the other. The curved arm is formed in one
piece with a hollow axis which has a key way cut through it, and a key
fast on the centre of the spindles fits into this key way. The hollow axis
of one of the tumblers has a similar keyway cut through it to allow the
spindle and the key upon it to be passed through. On one end of the
spindle is an arm lying along one side of the gun, and by turning
this arm the bolt can be drawn back. The bolt is constantly pressed
forward by a spring acting on a projection on the hollow axis keyed on
the spindle; this spring lies in a recess in the projection in rear of the
body. The hollow axis keyed on the spindle also carries an arm which
when the spindle is turned by the lever handle at its end comes against
the hammers or strikers and moves them back to full cock at the same
time that the bolt which retains the barrels is drawn back.
The lock actions of drop guns, such as above described, may be carried
by lock plates in the ordinary manner, whilst the working of the bolt
for locking the barrels and the moving back the hammers to full cock is
effected by an arm on a spindle which passes through the axes of the
tumblers, and has a lever arm fixed on one of its ends to lie along one
side of the gun in the manner above described. In place of the tumblers
being formed with hollow spindles to be received in holes bored for them
in the body the body may have hollow axes fixed in it for the tumblers
to turn on, and the spindle herein-before mentioned would then be passed
through these hollow axes.