IMPROVE- MENTS IN BREECH-LOADING SMALL-ARMS."
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Ansell, of Birmingham, in the County
of Warwick, Gun Manufacturer, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN BREECH-LOADING SMALL-ARMS."
"
Sealed the 31st January 1873, and dated the 7th August 1872.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Ansell at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
7th August 1872.
I, WILLIAM ANSELL, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick,
Gun Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN BREECH-LOADING SMALL-ARMS," to be as follows:-
My Invention relates to breech-loading small arms of the kind called
drop down guns, and my Invention consists principally of the mechanical
arrangements herein-after described for withdrawing the strikers of the
said guns by the action of the mechanism by which the bolting and
unbolting of the barrels is effected.
I will describe this part of my Invention in connection with a drop
down gun, the bolting mechanism of which is constructed according to

page_text: the Invention for which Letters Patent were granted to me on the
2nd day of May, 1871, No. 1174. The said bolting mechanism consists
essentially of a vertical lever at the back of the break-off, acting
simultaneously on two bolts, one of them working in the rib between
the barrels, and the other taking into a lump on the under side of the
barrels. I operate upon the said vertical lever by means of a bow lever
on the under side of the gun and pressed to the guard by a spring, the
upper short arm of the said bow lever acting upon the lower arm of the
said vertical lever. The strikers are of the ordinary kind and work
in recesses in the break-off, the fore or acting ends of the said strikers
being driven through holes in the face of the break-off to discharge the
gun. The strikers are situated respectively on each side of the upper
arm of the vertical lever of the bolting mechanism. At the back of the
face of the break-off two short horizontal levers are situated, the inner
ends of the said levers nearly touching each other, and the outer ends
engaging in recesses in the heads of the strikers respectively. The said
inner ends of the horizontal levers are situated in front of the upper
arm of the vertical lever described. After discharge and for the purpose.
of unlocking the barrels, the bow lever is depressed and the upper arm
of the vertical lever is thereby pushed forward, that is, towards the
muzzle end of the gun, and presses against the inner ends of the
horizontal levers, giving them a forward motion and consequently a
contrary or retiring motion to the outer ends of the said levers engaging
in the heads of the strikers. The strikers are thereby withdrawn
simultaneously with the unbolting of the barrels. By the use of a
short bent or bents on the tumblers of the hammers the withdrawing
of the strikers raises the hammers to a short half-cocked or safe position.
Instead of working the two bolts and the withdrawing mechanism by
means of a bow lever on the under side of the gun, the said parts may
be worked by means of the slide on the tang of the break-off, as
described in the Specification of the Patent before referred to, and
although I have described the withdrawing mechanism of the strikers
as used in connection with the bolting mechanism described in the
Specification of the said Patent, yet the said withdrawing mechanism
may be applied to drop down guns having other kinds of bolting
mechanism.
My Invention further consists in simplifying in the following manner

page_text: working in the break-off is provided with a thumb plate lying on the
tang of the break-off. The lower end of this axis is square or angular
and carries a short arm situated in a horizontal plane. A recess is
made in the lump on the under side of the barrels, one side of which is
plane and the other side curved, so as to permit of the said short
horizontal arm being turned in or turned out of it by acting on the
thumb plate at the top of the vertical axis. By means of a spring
acting either on the thumb plate or on the horizontal arm the said arm
is always pressed in a direction proper to fasten down the barrels. After
charging the barrels and shutting them down the lump presses back the
horizontal arm, and when the barrels have been completely shut down
the said arm by the action of the spring snaps into the recess in the
lump and fastens down the barrels.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Ansell in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 4th February 1873.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
ANSELL, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Gun Manufacturer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Seventh day of August, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in
the thirty-sixth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and
successors, give and grant unto me, the said William Ansell, Her
special license that I, the said William Ansell, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William Ansell, 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 SMALL-ARMS," upon the condition (amongst others) that
I, the said William Ansell, 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

page_text: 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 William Ansell, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement thereof, that is to say:—
My Invention relates to breech-loading small arms of the kind called
drop down guns, and consists of the mechanical arrangements herein-
after described for withdrawing the strikers of the said guns by the
action of the mechanism by which the bolting and unbolting of the
barrels are effected.
I will describe my Invention in connection with a drop down gun,
the bolting mechanism of which is constructed according to the
Invention for which Letters Patent were granted to me on the Second
day of May 1871, No. 1174. The said bolting mechanism consists
essentially of a vertical lever at the back of the break-off, acting
simultaneously on two bolts, one of them working in the rib between
the barrels, and the other taking into a lump on the under side of the
barrels. I operate upon the said vertical lever by means of a bow lever
on the under side of the gun and pressed to the guard by a spring, the
upper short arm of the said bow lever acting through the bottom bolt
upon the lower arm of the said vertical lever. The strikers are of the
ordinary kind and work in recesses in the break-off, the fore or acting
ends of the said strikers being driven through holes in the face of the
break-off to discharge the gun. The strikers are situated respectively
on each side of the upper arm of the vertical lever of the bolting
mechanism. At the back of the face of the break-off two short
horizontal levers are situated, the inner ends of the said levers nearly
touching each other, and the outer ends engaging in recesses in the
heads of the strikers respectively. The said inner ends of the horizontal
levers are situated in front of the upper arm of the vertical lever
described. After discharge and for the purpose of unlocking the barrels
the bow lever is depressed, and the upper arm of the vertical lever is
thereby pushed forward, that is, towards the nozzle end of the gun and
presses against the inner ends of the horizontal levers, giving them a

page_text: forward motion and consequently a contrary or retiring motion to the
outer ends of the said levers engaging in the heads of the strikers. The
strikers are thereby withdrawn simultaneously with the unbolting of the
barrels. By the use of a short bent or bents on the tumblers of the
hammers the withdrawing of the strikers raises the hammers to a short
half cocked or safe position.
Instead of working the two bolts and the withdrawing mechanism
by means of a bow lever on the under side of the gun the said parts
may be worked by means of a lever on the tang of the break-off, and
although I have described the withdrawing mechanism of the strikers
as used in connection with the bolting mechanism of the Patent herein-
before referred to, yet the said withdrawing mechanism may be applied
to drop down guns having other kinds of bolting mechanism.
Having explained the nature of my Invention, I will proceed to
describe with reference to the accompanying Drawings the manner in
which the same is to be performed.
Figure 1 represents in longitudinal vertical section (partly in clevation)
a drop down gun containing my improvemements, the parts of the gun
being in position for discharge; Figure 2 is a plan of the same with the
stock omitted.
Figures 3 and 4 are plans of the body of the gun, the break-off,
strikers, and withdrawing mechanism, being represented in horizontal
section, the strikers being in their withdrawn position in Figure 3,
and in their advanced position in Figure 4; Figure 5 is an elevation
of the rear face of the break-off, the tang being represented in cross
section.
Figures 6 to 12, both inclusive, represent detached portions of the gun
as herein-after described.
The same letters indicate the same parts in the several Figures of the
Drawings.
In order that my present improvements may be the better understood
I will first describe the bolting mechanism with which the withdrawing
mechanism of the strikers is combined. a are the barrels; is the
break-off, against which the brecch ends of the barrels are held for
discharge; c and d are the two bolts by which the barrels are fastened
to the body. The bolt c is situated in the rib e between the barrels a,

page_text: and is pressed outwards or towards the break-off by a spring as
represented, the outer end of the said bolt c when the barrels are shut
down taking into an opening in the said break-off. The other bolt d
works in the body fof the gun, and takes into a recess in the lump g
on the under side of the barrels. The two bolts are geared together so
as to be simultaneously shot and withdrawn by means of the vertical
lever / situated in a vertical slot in the middle of the break-off (scc
Figure 5). The bottom of the lower arm of the vertical lever / works
in an opening in the bottom bolt d (shown separately in Figure 6),
and the top of the upper arm of the said vertical lever works in an
opening in the slide (shown separately in Figure 7) in the break-off,
and situated opposite the top bolt c in the rib. The two bolts c, d, arc
operated by means of the bow lever (shewn separately in plan of
upper side in Figure 8) on the under side of the gun, the short upper
arm of the said bow lever taking into an opening ³ in the bottom
bolt d. A strong spring m (shewn separately in Figure 9) acting upon
the short arm of the bow lever gives the return motions to the said
lever, bottom bolt d, vertical lever h, and slide k. By depressing the
bow lever the bottom bolt b is withdrawn from the lump g, and by the
action of the vertical lever the slide k pushes the projecting nose
or outer end of the top bolt c out of the break-off into its recess in
the rib. The two bolts c, d, are thus simultaneously withdrawn and
the barrels unfastened. On shutting down the barrels the two bolts
are made to snap into their respective recesses and fasten down the
barrels.
I will now describe the mechanism for withdrawing the strikers n, n,
of the gun. The said strikers work in recesses in the break-off 6 (sce
Figures 2, 3, and 4), the fore or inner ends of the said strikers being
pointed in the usual manner. When the heads or enlarged parts of
the strikers are acted upon by the hammers of the gun the said inner
or pointed ends are driven through holes in the face of the break-off
to discharge the cartridges in the barrels. One of the strikers n is
shown separately in Figure 10. Tho said strikers n, n, are situated
respectively on either side of the vertical lever h of the bolting down
mechanism; P, p, are two short horizontal levers turning on the
centres q, q, and working in horizontal recesses in the break-off (see
Figure 5). One of the lovers p is shewn separately in Figure 11. The
inner ends of the said levers nearly touch each other, and their outer

page_text: ends engage in slots or recesses in the heads of the strikers », n. The
said inner ends of the horizontal levers p, p, are situated in front of the
upper arm of the vertical lever (see Figures 3 and 4). By means of
the double spring r (shown separately in Figure 12) bearing upon the
inner ends of the two horizontal levers p, p, the outer ends of the said
levers p, p, engaging with the strikers n, n, are pressed inwards or
towards the barrels. By the pressure exerted by the spring upon the
levers p. p, the strikers n, n, are pressed towards the barrels, the said
strikers when in their withdrawn position, as illustrated in Figure 3,
pressing with their pointed ends against the bases of the cartridges, and
when in their advanced position after the discharge of the gun, as
illustrated in Figure 4, being held in that position. The said spring r
is situated in the vertical recess in which the vertical lever / works, the
cross head of the said spring engaging with the horizontal recesses in
the break-off in which the short withdrawing levers p, p, work. The
outer end of each of the heads of the strikers is engraved with the word
loaded, and below the word loaded a silver line is inlayed. When one
or other of the strikers is struck by the hammer to discharge the gun
the advanced position of the said striker in the break-off conceals the
inlayed silver line below the word loaded, and indicates that the barrel
opposite the said striker has been discharged, the word loaded indicating
that there is a cartridge case in the barrel, the said striker being
maintained in its advanced or struck position (until the unfastening of
the barrels) by the action of the double spring upon the horizontal
lever P of the said striker, as before explained.
When both the barrels have been discharged the strikers occupy the
positions represented in Figure 4, the pressure of the spring r on the
levers p, p, holding both strikers in their advanced position. After the
discharge of the gun and for the purpose of unlocking the barrels the
bow lever is depressed and the barrels unfastened as herein-before
described. As the upper arm of the vertical lever is pushed forward
to act upon the slide to release the upper bolt c the said upper arm
of the vertical lever bears against the inner ends of the horizontal
levers P. P, and presses the said ends towards the face of the break-off.
The outer ends of the said horizontal levers p, p, engaging with the
strikers n, n, have thereby a contrary or retiring motion given to them,
and by their motion withdraw the said strikers into the position
represented in Figure 3. The said strikers n, n, are thereby withdrawn

page_text: '
simultaneously with the unbolting of the barrels. On the withdrawal
of the strikers n, n, by the mechanism described, the hammers are
slightly raised by the said strikers, and by means of the scars of the
locks engaging in short bents of the tumblers of the hammers the said
hammers are held in a short half cocked or safety position.
Figure 13 represents in plan a drop down gun provided with my
Invention, in which the barrels are unfastened and the strikers with-
drawn by the operation of a lever or handle on the tang of the break-off';
Figure 14 is a side elevation of the body of the gun, and Figures 15, 16,
and 17 are parts of the same. In this arrangement the axis of the
lever or handles on the tang has at its under side an arm t, to which
the slide which actuates the top bolt is connected by the swivel or
link u.
The return motion of the levers is effected by the double
spring represented. The other parts of the gun are the same as in the
arrangement first described, and corresponding parts are marked with
the same letters of reference.
By turning aside the handle or levers in the direction indicated by
the arrow in Figure 13, the slide k is moved towards the barrels and
made to push the top bolt out of the break-off b; the bottom bolt at the
same time being withdrawn by the action of the vertical lever h which
connects the two bolts together. By the forward motion of the upper
arm of the vertical lever it operates upon the withdrawing levers,
and the latter withdraw the strikers in the manner herein-before
described.
My improvements may be applied to drop down guns having different
bolting down mechanism from that represented in the Drawings, and a
single bolt may be employed instead of a double bolt. Whether a single
or double bolt be employed I combine therewith the vertical lever h, and
withdrawing levers p, p, in such a manner that on the withdrawal of the
bolt or bolts the said vertical lever shall be caused to operate upon the
withdrawing levers, and the latter withdraw the strikers.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the manner
in which the same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that
I do not limit myself to the precise details herein described and
illustrated, as the same may be varied without departing from the
nature of my Invention, but I claim as my Invention of improvements
in breech-loading small-arms of the kind called drop down guns, the

page_text: construction and combination of parts herein-before described and
illustrated in the accompanying Drawings for withdrawing the strikers
of the said guns on the unfastening of the barrels for loading, that is
to say, the combination with a vertical lever connected with and
operated by the bolting mechanism of the gun, of two short horizontal
levers situated in the break-off, the outer arms of the said horizontal
levers being engaged with the strikers, and the inner arms of the said
levers being situated near the said vertical lever, so that on the with-
drawal of the bolting mechanism the said vertical lever operates upon
the horizontal levers, and the latter upon the strikers, so as to withdraw
the said strikers simultaneously with the unfastening of the barrels,
the said withdrawing mechanism and parts connected therewith being
arranged and worked, substantially as described and illustrated.
Also the combination with the withdrawing levers of the strikers of
a spring, whereby the said strikers are maintained in their advanced
position, for the
purpose described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Ansell, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this First day of February, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three.
Witness,
RICHARD SKERRETT,
Clerk to George Shaw,
Birmingham.
WILLIAM ANSELL. (L.S.)