IMPROVEMENTS IN BREECH-LOADING FIRE-ARMS AND PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION
Year: 1870

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Bethel Burton, in the Office of V. & R. Blake-
more, of 46, Leadenhall Street, in the City of London, Engineer,
for the Invention of " IMPROVEMENTS IN BREECH-LOADING FIRE-ARMS AND
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Bethel Burton at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
4th May 1870.
I, BETHEL BURTON, in the Office of V. & R. Blakemore, of 46,
Leadenhall Street, in the City of London, Engineer, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN BREECH-LOADING
FIRE-ARMS AND CARTRIDGES THEREFOR," to be as follows:-
This is an improvement on my former Patent, dated May 26th, 1868,
No. 1736. The action of turning the bolt cocks the gun, so that neither
in opening nor in closing the breech is any blow or force required, as is
the case with other bolt guns. By this action the piston is also with-
drawn within the face of the bolt, so that premature discharge in closing
the breech is impossible.

page_text: Another improvement consists in the construction of the parts
connected with the trigger, so that the arm can be fired apart from
the stock, but not until the bolt is screwed up and entirely secured.
The next improvement consists in the mode of throwing out the
cartridge from the breech when withdrawn from the barrel, which is done
by the use of a pin in the bolt.
.
Another improvement consists in the mode of feeding cartridges from
the magazine to the breech, this is effected by means of a crank lever
and a spring stop in front of the magazene, which prevents the cartridges
from crowding on the one admitted on to the feeder.
Another portion of my Invention is in the mode of constructing the
cartridge which enables me to do away with the necessity of pulp in
the base, by which means a shorter cartridge is obtained. This is also
effected by a peculiar shaped rivet which unites the head or base of the
cartridge to the sides or forward part of the cartridge, which also
serves as a cup and mandril for the cap to explode the charge.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Bethel Burton in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 29th October 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, BETHEL
BURTON, in the Offices of V. & R. Blakemore, of 46, Leadenhall
Street; in the City of London, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fourth day of May, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy, in the thirty-
third year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Bethel Burton, Her special licence
that I, the said Bethel Burton, my exécutors, administrators and assigns,
or such others as I, the said Bethel Burton, my executors, adminis-
trators, 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-

page_text: LOADING FIRE-ARMS AND CARTRIDGES THEREFOR," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Bethel Burton, 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 mouths next and immediately after the date of the said Letters
Patent.
NOW KNOW. YE, that I, the said Bethel Burton, 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
following statement, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto
annexed, and to the letters & figures marked thereon, that is to say :-
Fig. 1 is a side view of the arm ready to fire; Fig. 2 is a longitudinal
section of the same; Fig. 3, the bolt and cover detached from the screw
support with the spiral spring and piston projecting from the chamber
of the bolt; Fig. 4 is the lever which works the bolt with the screw
support attached; Fig. 5 is a front view of the same; Fig. 6 is a front
view of the bolt; Fig. 7, a view of the piston; Figs. 8, 9, 10, 11, 12,
and 13 are sections of my improved cartridge.
In describing the parts, a is the stock; b, the barrel; c, the breech;
d, the screw support; d', the lever attached thereto; d², the spiral spring
in the lever between the pin d³ and screw d'; e, the cover; and e¹, the
bolt in one piece; f, the piston rod; f', a rib on the piston; f², a groove
in the end of the piston; f³, the finger or scar; ft, the trigger; g is the
spiral or main spring; ½, the extractor; ', the pin for ejecting the
cartridge; h, a pin for fastening in the extractor; i, a groove in the breech
at the end of the barrel; i, a hole through the breech into the groove; j, a
bevel on the under side of the front end of the bolt; k, the position of
the hole for the pin ', in the bolt; 1, the trigger spring; m, a stop pin
in the screw support; n, a groove in the screw support in which the
ribf works; o, a groove in the finger f³; and p, a groove in the after
part of the cover e; q, a cam or incline on the coupling or end of bolt c¹.
The breech is bored out and secured to the barrel in the usual way, and
in the rear end of breech there is formed a sectional screw corresponding
with the one on the screw support d; the whole of the threads of the
screw in the breech are removed for three-eighths and sixteenth of an
inch; the screw d on the support, Fig. 4, is not cut close up to the face of

page_text: the lever for three-eighths and sixteenth of an inch, but is left solid; a
groove is made close up to the face of the lever and down to the diameter of
the bolt, and one-half the distance from the face of the lever to the screw d,
on the edge of which a bevel is made to fit a corresponding bevel P in the
cover e, which forms a dovetail. The screw support d is bored out, as
seen in dotted lines; the end of the bolt is turned down to fit the
thickness of the metal being divided, the strength of both is equal; a hole
is bored out in the screw support and into the lever, same size as the
hole in the bolt, for the piston and spring to work in, the parts are then
pushed into each other and the lever turned, when they are firmly united
together in the manner seen in Fig. 2. In order to prevent the lever
from turning until in its proper place, I make a hole in the lever to
within a sixteenth of an inch of the front face of the lever; I then make
an oblong hole clear through, which leaves a shoulder on the inside;
in the other end of the hole I fit a screw d'; I make a pin d³ to fit in this
hole by filing off two sides which forms a shoulder or head on the pin,
the head of which I make about one-sixteenth of an inch and place the
pin in the hole, I then put in the spiral spring and the screw which keeps
them in place. In the rear end of the cover e I make a slot in which
the point of the pin d³ can readily enter; in coupling together the bolt
and screw support, the pin is pushed back until the end of the cover e
comes against it; the lever is turned until the stop m meets the side of
the cover e, the point of the pin d³ then enters the slot in the cover, and
prevents the lever from turning until the bolt is pushed forward, when
the point of the pin d³, which projects above the top of the cover, strikes
against the end of the breech at c, and is pushed back and out of the slot
in the cover e, which allows of the lever turning and uniting the
sectional screw threads of the breech with those of the screw support,
which supports the bolt against the explosion of the charge; it is then in
the position seen in Fig. 1; when the lever is turned for the purpose of
withdrawing the bolt, the pin d³ immediately enters into the slot of the
cover as before. The bolt c¹ is bored out to receive the piston, as indi-
cated by dotted lines; on the end of the bolt, at q, an incline or cam is
cut, on which the point of the rib f' of the piston works; the rear end of
the rib enters the groove n in the screw support when the latter is
united to the bolt when the lever is turned, the rib f¹ being in the
groove n causes the piston to turn with the lever, and the point of the
rib to run up the incline or cam q, compressing the spring and forcing
the piston back, so that the face of the piston at f² does not come in

page_text: contact with the finger ƒ³ until the bolt is pushed forward and the
sectional screws commence to engage in each other. The pressure of
the spring upon the piston is then transferred from the cam on to the
finger, consequently, in opening or closing the breech there is no force
required. The bolt is allowed to move in and out by means of an oblong
slot X
× in which the end of the finger f³ works. By making
the coupling of the screw support with the bolt behind the finger I do
away with the necessity of a cross slot to allow the bolt to work on the
finger, by which I strengthen the bolt very materially. I strengthen the
bolt additionally by the cover and bolt being in one piece, the cover
serving for a strap in keeping together the bolt and screw support. In
the cover from / to ², I make a hole, as seen by dotted lines, I take a
wire, the size of the hole, and form an extractor; a cross pin /² in the
cover e passes partially through the extractor and retains it in place,
the pin ', being longer than the hole in which it works projects into the
slot X
of the pin
×, so that when the bolt is pulled sharply out the end
strikes against the finger, f³ is driven forward strikes the
head of the cartridge, and expels it from the chamber of the-breech, as
indicated in Fig. 2. Upon the pin there is a flat, and in the under
side of the bolt there is a set screw the point of which passes up, and on
to this flat on the pin ¹ allows the pin to move in the hole, but prevents
it from coming out. The breech is formed so as to allow the bolt and
cover to pass in and out, a strap running from c to h, Fig. 2, passing over
the cover gives the necessary strength. An opening is cut in the breech
in front of the strap to allow access for a cartridge in and out of the
chamber of the breech, which opening is filled up by the cover e when in
place, see Fig. 1.
In order to prevent the arm from being fired until the bolt is entirely
screwed up I groove the end of the piston, and into this groove I cut an
opening the thickness of the finger at f, and in the finger, at o, I cut a
groove corresponding to the groove in the piston, which engage each
other when the bolt is pushed home and the lever turned into the
position seen at Fig. 1. The opening in the piston is then brought
opposite the finger f³, the finger is then free to be pulled down by the
trigger f. The piston is then released and is forced forward by the
spiral spring g delivering a sharp blow on the cap, ignites the fulminate
and fires the charge.
In order to carry the arm with safety when loaded and the breech

page_text: closed, a bolt on the outside rear end of the breech resembling the bolt
of a door is made to enter a hole in the lever, which prevents the lever
from turning, and while in that position the tongue and groove on the
finger and piston f engage each other and prevents the possibility
of firing the arm. To fire the arm remove the bolt out of the hole
in the lever, turn the lever until the screw support is entirely screwed
up and the arm is again ready to fire. The safety against premature
discharge of the arm is not depending on the tongue and groove on the
finger and piston; the end of the rib f' on the piston would come in
contact with the cam g on the bolt before the point of the piston struck
the cap should the trigger be pulled before the breech bolt was entirely
screwed up, which makes the arm doubly safe.
Should damaged cartridges be used, in order to prevent gas escape
from coming in the face and eyes of the person firing the arm, and from
clogging the bolt, thereby preventing its free action, I make a groove i in
the breech at the end of the barrel. Through the breech I make a number
of holes into this groove, as seen at 1, Fig. 1, the gas escaping from the
damaged cartridges enters this groove i, and out through the holes i, in
the breech.
I form a lip on the end of the barrel, Fig. 2, which I bevel off, I also
bevel off the under side of the bolt j, as seen at Figs. 2 and 3, and fit the
end of the bolt close up to the end of the barrel. The bevelled lip on
the barrel allows the cartridge, when placed in the chamber of the breech
to slide into the chamber of the barrel by the forward motion of the bolt,
without the necessity of entering the cartridge by hand into the chamber
of the barrel, which very much facilitates the loading of the arm. The
end of the bolt being recessed forms a support for the head of the
cartridge and prevents it from dropping down from the hook of the
extractor while it is being pulled out of the chamber of the barrel, and
expelled therefrom by being struck by the pin h¹ in the bolt in the
manner described.
I make my cartridge case with the base thereon of felt or paper pulp
by one and the same process, after the manner of making felt hats, or by
any other suitable means, the base being formed smooth and even can be
more securely rivetted to the metal base, Fig. 11, than though the end;
of the case was turned round to form a base; the case may be made of
sheet brass or other metal, if desired. The rivet, Figs. 10 and 12, is made
of brass or other suitable metal, Fig. 10, to form an anvil, but the rivet,

page_text: Fig. 12, may be used with a loose anvil if preferred. In putting together
the different parts of the cartridge I place the rivet, Fig. 10 or 12, in
the metal cup, Fig. 9, and solder them together to prevent the gas escaping
between them, and place them in the cartridge case; I place the base or
head, Fig. 11, on the outside and turn the ends of the rivet over, rivetting
the whole firmly together, in the manner seen at Fig. 13.
What I claim as my Invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent
is,-
First. The manner of constructing the lever and screw support Fig. 4,
as described and set forth.
Second. The manner of constructing the bolt and cover, Fig. 3, in
connection with the screw support and lever, Fig. 4, the extractor /, and
cjector h¹, in the manner described and set forth.
Third. The manner of constructing the breech to receive the stop m
and dovetail on the screw support, as described and set forth.
Fourth. The manner of constructing the piston, Fig. 7, and fingerƒ³
in connection with the bolt Fig. 3 and screw support Fig. 4, for the
purposes described and set forth.
Fifth. The recess or outlet for the gas in the breech at i and i¹, as
described.
Sixth. The lip to allow the cartridge to slide into the barrel from the
chamber of the breech, as described.
Seventh. The mode of constructing and combining my cartridge,
Fig. 13, as described and set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Bethel Burton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-ninth day of October, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy.