IMPROVEMENTS IN FIRE-ARMS.
Year: 1874

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Andrew Wyley, of Barker Street, Aston Manor,
in the County of Warwick, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
FIRE-ARMS.
وو
Sealed the 9th October 1874, and dated the 27th June 1874.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Andrew Wyley at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
27th June 1874.
I, ANDREW WYLEY, of Barker Street, Aston Manor, in the County of
Warwick, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN FIRE-ARMS," to be as follows:
My Invention in the first place refers mainly to fire-arms with
falling block" in which last I mount a small bell-crank lever, the
upright arm of which acts upon the "striker" pin while the lower arm
is struck by a mainspring." The spring is bent by the descent of the
block or by an appendage on the main lever, and retained by a trigger
detent. I fix the mainspring by a dovetail piece on its rear, and it passes
C

page_text: through a bridge on the upper or it may be the lower strap into which
bridge the connecting pin is screwed.
56
Instead of straps I sometimes use a strong round tang which carries
the mainspring and trigger spring, and in some cases a hammer and
trigger as well. A taper tail pin supplemented by a set screw in the
tang draws the wood and iron together. If the tang is parallel to the
barrel's axis instead of passing down the hand part of the stock it is
screwed up by a peculiar nut on its rear end. The end of the "action"
is sometimes shaped concentric with this tang or with an upper strap
similarly rounded, and in all cases made to grip the wood securely. I
use an extractor to which the first impulse is given by a cam "surface
on the block or by an appendage to the lever, the final jerk being given
by the block striking a tooth near the centre of motion of the extractor.
I sometimes use one of the common bell crank form. With a vertically
falling block I use either a lever with fixed fulcrum or one in which the
rear arm is jointed direct to the block, and the front arm to a sliding bar
which wholly or in part impels the extractor. The lever is retained by
a spring catch on the guard, the fore part of the latter being sometimes
suppressed.
A horizontal motion lever may be used, the large
eye" of which
forms a "nut" in which a screwed or spiral cut stem attached to the
block descends. When the block is descending the striker is withdrawn
or allowed to enter the block by means of cross arms on the bell-crank
lever or on the striker coming in contact with fixed " cams."
With an angular falling or hinged block I sometimes dispense with
the lever, the block being supported and operated by a sliding piece with
short arms which run in grooves straight in the "block" and curved in
the "shoe."
By the above improvements and by cutting away metal where not
required I can in most cases use a continuous "stock." I fasten the
fore part of the stock by screws, the heads of which are passed through
holes in the under part of special "rod pipes "sunk in the wood. These
screw into conical shaped studs soldered to the barrel or into rings on
same. One of these last may carry a strong vertical sliding "back
sight," the "V" of which is protected in a semicircular recess. The
front pipe carries the swivel. A shoulder on the "rod" engages with
the nose cap" which I reduce to a segment of a tube. Between the
*

page_text: shoulder and head of the rod I form a swell of soft metal. With a short
"fore end" I use a
ઃ
3 piece rod carried in the same, the longest piece
retaining the other two.
"
Where a plain
cup
<
cross pin" is used to fasten the fore end or "butt" I
"the ends, so that it may be driven out more readily. The stock
may be attached to other breech loaders, as above shown, and to muzzle
loaders so far as the fore end is regarded.
"
The peculiar percussion arrangement also is applicable to fire-arms
other than those with falling blocks, as to the common "double barrel "
with "suap
lever. In this the bell-crank lever and trigger may be
mounted on a pin in the rear of the break off, and the snap lever on a
pin below the face of the latter. The action of the lever cocks the
mainsprings (single or double) which are mounted in covered slots in
the under part of the "body." The "snap" spring is placed at the
bottom of the recess made for the "lump." These springs may occupy
the same position in a snap gun with internal hammers which last are
placed concentric with the "lever."
65
My Invention further refers to certain parts of fire-arms already
patented by me, and described in Specifications No. 1785, A.D. 1864,
and No. 425, A.D. 1871. In the former I describe guns in which the
force of the explosion is borne by a vertical T shaped block or by a
locking ring. By cam" surfaces on these the striker pin in one case
and the hammer in the other were partially drawn back. I now
construct these cams large enough to draw the striker which is actuated
by a spiral spring, half an inch or more when it is retained by a detent
engaging its rear end or by a detent on the trigger. When a mainspring
hammer and trigger are used I mount them on the tail part of the "shoc"
or on a separate piece let into the upper part of the stock, in which casc
the tail pieces of bolt and shoe may be dispensed with. The safety bar
is placed centrally in the tail part of the bolt when this is retained, and
the stops which restrict the motion of the bolt and T piece are made, so
that these may be readily detached. Vent holes are used to prevent
danger from a faulty cartridge, and the same result is attained by giving
the upper sides of the "breech bolt," a square or flat instead of a
rounded bearing.
I sometimes attach the locking ring or the bolt if capable of revolving

page_text: In the latter Specification I describe arms in which a transverse block
is used moved by a handle or by the stock.
In the two forms first described I find it preferable to place the trigger
in front of the hammer and dispense with the curved rib on the block.
I place the cam by which the striker is withdrawn within the block at
the extreme rear of the curved saddle. The lower part of the extractor
is made so as to leave no gap externally, and one or two projecting studs
admit of the trigger plate being more securely fastened.
When the hinge is dispensed with the cocking is produced by a cam
on the saddle acting against a curved piece on the hammer stem. A
similar arrangement can be applied to arms in which a single barrel
swivels horizontally. Where the block and stock are united as in the
pistol of the sort first described I now mount the hammer on a solid
projection on the block and use a double mainspring, and double spring
for the catch, both fixed without screws, and operate the extractor by a
projecting stud. The sights are made large and rounded to prevent
injury to the hands. I apply this system also to rifles and shot guns by
brazing on a lump below the same, or screwing the barrel into a piece
´somewhat shorter than the cartridge. In other fire-arms on the same
system the barrel is made to swivel on a conical plug projecting from
the block, being retained by a collar and "cutter' or by a screwed
"nut" which projects over the end of the plug. In the case of double
barrels a "washer "is placed below the nut a cam shaped "feather"
on which operates an extractor or extractors. The percussion is that
shown in Figure 25, slightly modified. Safety bars or spring catches.
are used with all the above forms, except in the case when an external
hammer is used which admits of half cock.
°
66
"
""
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Andrew Wyley in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 26th December 1874.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ANDREW
WYLEY, of Barker Street, Aston Manor, in the County of Warwick,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-seventh day of June, in the year

page_text: of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four, in the thirty-
eighth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Andrew Wyley, Her special licence
that I, the said Andrew Wyley, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Andrew Wyley, 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
FIRE-ARMS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Andrew Wyley, 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 Andrew Wyley, 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 thereof, reference being had to the Drawings here-
unto annexed, that is to say:
My Invention has reference mainly to the percussive mechanism of
breech-loading, and the modes of attaching the metal work to the
stock.
The improvements are set forth in the accompanying Drawings, in
which is given a partial longitudinal vertical section of the "action" Or
working parts of each arm, with the various improvements applied
generally, supplemented by similar transverse sections of such arms
along planes, the position of which is indicated by dotted lines.
In Figures 48 and 49 plans or views of the working faces are also
given. Details are shown in one or other of the above ways or in rough
perspective, of which Figures 3, 6, 7, 12, 18, 37, 38, 54, 55 are examples.
The scale is one-half the lineal dimension, but Figures 18, 26, 27, 37,
38, 43, and 44 are unreduced. Similar letters refer to similar parts.
In fire-arms with falling block I mount a small bell-crank lever C in

page_text: the latter, the upright arm of such lever acting upon the striker pin by
a fork at its upper end, or by entering a slot in such pin, while the other
arm is struck by a mainspring, the free end of which is "bent" by the
descent of the block or by an appendage on the main lever, and retained
by a trigger detent. A hollow is made in the trigger plate or in the
lever to give the mainspring full play. With a vertically falling block I
use a lever with fixed fulcrum and single or double link L, Figures 8
12, and 13, or one in which a rigid arm 7 is jointed direct to the block,
Figure 1, and the fore part to a sliding bar E, which impels the extractor
x at first slowly, afterwards with rapidity. A spring catch to retain
the lever is mounted on the guard, Figure 1, or on a prong from the
trigger plate, Figures 5, 12, and 20. A horizontal motion lever may be
used (Figure 14), the large eye of which forms a nut, in which the
screwed or spirally cut stem of the block descends when the lever is
turned round. The screwed stem is slit vertically to admit of the
play of the mainspring, and of the insertion of the bell-crank lever c²..
When the block begins to descend the striker is withdrawn within the
former by means of cross arms forming a continuation of C, coming into_
contact with cam surfaces cut in the thin plates F', which form the
sides of the channel in which the block descends, as shown in Figure 7,
or the arms may project from the rear end of the striker g', Figures 1
and 2, working against cams on the upper part of the plates F, which
last are continued upwards inside the checks of the "body" A..
. By the employment of the above thin plates instead of cheeks of
uniform thickness, and by rounding or lightening the remaining metal,
Figures 12 and 12ª, a continuous stock may be used, from which the
barrel and action may be removed by unscrewing the trigger plate P.
The mainspring is mounted on the "tang" or upper strap J, Figures 1
and 8, in which case the trigger sear T' is passed through a slot near the
head of the spring, or this position may be reversed, Figures 12 and 14,
no slot being here required, and in such case a heel on the bell-crank C
takes the pressure of the spring as the block descends, and thus draws
back the striker without any cam action. With the mainspring thus
reversed one or two lateral bell-crank extractors are used. The extractor,
Figure 8, is operated first by the lever prong, and afterwards by the
block.
C
WL
11

page_text: •
and the mainspring on the upper strap, as in the former case, or,
better still, in a groove in a central tang, Figure 20. The spring is
cocked by a prong on the lever p. The main prong of the lever with-
draws the striker by means of the "fin" h, Figure 28, or by a slight
projection on the fore part of the bell-crank, Figure 20. In arms with
tilting barrels I mount the bell-crank lever on a "pin" in the rear of the
"break-off." With a single barrel the mainspring and trigger are
mounted on the tang J¹ (Figure 16). With a double barrel the springs
are mounted in grooves cut out of the lower part of the "body," which
arc closed by an extension of the trigger plate, or, better, by filling
pieces b, Figures 19, 23. They may also be mounted in holes drilled out
of the body, and enlarged at the rear end.
The triggers, or combined sears and triggers, I prefer to mount on a
stud projecting from the body or from the trigger plate, as shown in
Figures 8, 17, and 19. The horizontal arms of the sears S¹ work in
transverse holes in the stud, and they are retained in position by the
triggers T, which are slid into dovetails on their inner ends. Small
screws, passing quite through the sear arms, keep the triggers in place.
The barrels are held down by a simple snap lever, the spring of which is
placed in the bottom of the recess for the lump, as shown, or the lever
may be used in conjunction with sliding bolts. For the simple lever L³
in single guns a locking tumbler and side lever may be substituted.
In double guns the hole at one side through which the lever pin is
passed is closed by a screw, Figure 17. The cocking prong on the
lever p is of T shape in double barrels.
Though I prefer the mainspring in all those above, arms to act by
percussion on the bell-crank lever, the ordinary tumbler cock may be
interposed, as shown in Figure 23. In this the sears and triggers aro
on the same principle as the last, but mounted on the rear of the
body somewhat narrowed. If this gun is still further modified by
substituting inclined strikers for the bell cranks and direct strikers, it
will still differ from any existing form in the mounting of the lock
action.
In Figure 20 it will be seen that the action is attached to the butt
by means of a cylindrical stem J, which carries the mainspring and
trigger spring, and which may have a nut to screw up at its rear end,
as in the Martini, or be drawn up by a tail pin, as shown, or by a

page_text: transverse taper pin f, Figure 25. Such pin, shown also in Figures 50
and 52, may be a plain wire cupped at each end for facility of punching
out. To prevent wear or compensate for same the hole in the wood
may be "bushed" and a set scrow a used, Figures 20, 25. Such a
stem may be made to carry, besides the mainspring, a hammer and
trigger sear, in fact the entire lock, whether of the ordinary kind,
Figure 50, or of the spiral spring class, Figure 25. Such stem is made
as far as practicable concentric with the rear of the "action." In the
form with spiral spring lock, Figure 25, the striker is pushed back by
the lever prong p². The stem may be parallel to the axis of the barrel
and pass quite through the hand part of the stock, as in Figure 50,
being drawn up by a cone-headed tail pin. In such arms as require
the upper part of the stock, cut away to admit the cartridge, the upper
strap may be of lune-shaped section, J, Figure 42, its lower surface
being concentric with the rear of the action; the segments m are left
projecting to grip the wood.
Instead of the tail pin, Figure 50, a peculiar shaped nut may be used
to draw up the stem J*. It is shown in Figure 58. Two slots cross this
at right angles, and a turnscrew inserted in any of the four openings
serves to screw up. By using thin washers of paper, &c. under the
nut it may be made to stop at the proper place.
Figure 28 shows a gun of the Martini type, in which all the lock (the
trigger excepted) is mounted on a central stem.
My Invention further refers to the lock or percussion apparatus of
certain fire-arms, for which I have already received Letters Patent.
In the Specification of No. 863, A.D. 1867 (by an oversight in my
Provisional Specification of the 27 June 1874, erroneously given as
No. 1785, A.D. 1864), I describe arms in which the force of the
explosion is borne by a vertical T piece or by a locking ring. By cam
surfaces on such ring or T piece the striker pin in one case, in the
other the hammer, was partially drawn back. I now construct these
cams or inclines large enough to push back the striker or hammer their
full distance. This is carried out as shown in Figures 30 and 33. In
the first the striker actuated by a spiral spring is pushed back by the
ascent of the T piece I', caught by the spring detent n by its tail end
and released by the upright pinj when the last is pressed by the trigger.
In the second where the bolt is locked by a revolving ring o with

page_text: opposite lugs or screw threads, such ring is continued backwards as a
quadrantal cam q, which acting on the pendent arm of the striker pin
draws the latter back. When, after loading, the bolt is returned and
locked, the said arm is caught by a spring detent n', which is relcased
by the trigger. The strap J³ is a separate piece and has a recess in
which the lower lug or screw segment travels till it meets the stop
piece y, which has a groove to admit the striker arm. Where the
ordinary mainspring is used I mount it on a strap like the last, the forc
part of which carries the other parts of the lock, or I mount the main-
spring on the tail part of the shoe by a dovetail stud M³, Figure 35,
which is slid in through a slot afterwards filled by part of the stop
piece y. The forked stop piece y¹, Figure 30, is kept up by a spring,
and may be depressed by means of the notch at its lower end far
enough to allow the bolt to be removed. I sometimes make the upper
section of the bolt square instead of round (Figure 36. The locking
ring may be attached to the stock, which serves as handle. The other
features of this construction being retained, especially the rib for filling
up the open space.
In the pistol, Figure 52, the ring of is attached to a break off B³ and
turns with the butt. The spring D" falling into notches in B³ retains
the ring in the locked, unlocked, and middle or safety position. The
covering spring D³, Figures 32 and 33, acts in an analogous way. In
both forms the draw of the bolt is regulated by a screw pin or spring
stud passing through the shoc and entering a groove in the side of the
bolt. While the break-off revolves the pin R, Figures 52 and 55, being
inflexibly joined to the bolt, is stationary, and the quadrantal cam on
its head cocks the hammer. The bolt is shown double ribbed, and the
cartridge extracted by the hook a falls out below, but it may be
ejected in other known ways.
The Specification of my former Patent, No. 425, A.D., 1871, as
occupied with arms in which a transverse block is used moved by a
hand-piece or by the butt.
In the two forms first described I find it preferable to place the trigger
in front of the hammer and dispense with the curved rib on the block,
allowing the hammer to strike into a cam-shaped recess on the latter,
Figure 42. If a cam is used to draw back the striker pin I place it at
the rear of the cylindrical segment on which the block travels. It acts

page_text: on a pendent arm on the said pin, Figure 59, but a spiral or other
spring may be used instead, Figures 39 and 45.
Figures 39 and 40 show the second form thus modified, the trigger
being mounted on a pin screwed in from the left-hand side, and its
spring in a hole in front, or in a groove, as shown, which groove is
partly filled up by a fin on the guard which is secured by a cross pin.
The lower part of the extractor is made of a.curved outline so as to
enter a recess, and thus leaves no open gap as in the original form.
This form of extractor I apply not only to this arm and that shewn in
Figure 45, but also to those shown in Figures 20 and 28, and it is also
applicable to arms with vertical falling block as well. In each case
suitable recesses are formed on the front of the block to act first on the
lower incline and afterwards on the square shoulder. They must not
interfere with the cartridge bearing. The trigger plate is rivetted per-
manently on two studs, Figure 44, or fixed by two screws, the smaller
entering a projecting stud over the hinge pin (Figures 42 and 43). When
the hinge is dispensed with the cocking is performed by a cam on the
saddle-shaped or lower part of the block acting on a curved piece on
the hammer (Figure 45). A circular rib c, which in its lower part
slopes gradually into the block, retains the latter in its seat, the trigger
plate, in this case, is attached as was the guard in the last by a fin at
its fore end. The pin & serves as a stop till turned one half round, when
the block may be pushed to the left and withdrawn. The extractor acts
as in the last.
The method of cocking above described is applicable to fire-arms in
which a single barrel swivels on a vertical axis horizontally. Figure 47
shows it applied to a pistol where a cam on the lower flat of the barrel,
acting on the curved segment on the hammer, brings it to the full cock.
Figure 49 is a plan of the "body" of same; and Figure 48 shows the
bottom of the barrel. A bar extractor sliding in a dovetail is pushed
out when its fore end abuts against the end of the gap e in the raised
disc Y which takes most of the resistance. The barrel end, which is of
spherical outline, interlocks by a bottom flange, and the mainspring is
carried in a tang, such as already described. s is a spring stop to retain
the barrel in the closed position. The bases of the cartridges should be
punched out to the proper curve of the break-off.
Where the block is united with the butt as in pistol, Figure 28,
in the Drawing attached to the Specification of the last-mentioned

page_text: Patent, I now mount the hammer on a projection from the block instead
of on the connecting pin, and use a double mainspring, and a double.
or V spring for the catch mounted as shewn, Figure 51, and operate the
extractor by a stud on the break off travelling in a groove in the
opposite face under the connecting pin Z, Figure 50.
The sights, Figures 56 and 57, I make large and rounded so as not to
injure the hand when opening the pistol, or when grasping it by the
muzzle end as a club. In other fire-arms of this sort the barrel is made
to swivel on a taper plug projecting from the block. It is retained by a.
screwed nut Q, Figure 50, projecting over the plug so that it may be
screwed up by the edge of a common turnscrew. A collar and cotter
may be used instead. The nut or collar may be sunk in a recess in the.
lump, and be rounded off so that a wooden forc end is not required..
The tank J, already described, may form one piece with the taper plug,
as shown.
Safety bars or stops arc, used in the above arms where they do not
admit of half-cock; thus the trigger is blocked by a sliding bar; Figures
1, 14, 20, at its lower part, at its upper part in Figures 8 and 34, and
by a bell-crank lever, Figure 12.
In Figure 35 the cock is caught by the hook on the end of the central
bar D. In this case, or whenever the scar and trigger are one, the
blocking is not absolute, but springs and yields to a certain amount
of force, otherwise the gun could not be operated in the blocked
state.
In Figures 16, 19, and 23 the "bell cranks" c³, c³, which act on the
striker are blocked by the levers D³, D', till the last are pressed by the
thumb in taking aim.
In Figure 30 the pin j is blocked by the sliding rod D'.
In Figures 28 and 50 the sliding bar De pushed into a hole in the
hammer blocks it at full-cock.
In Figure 25 the detent D³ is pressed upwards by the spiral spring
and interlocks by a square tooth with the tail of the striker (which
passes through a mortise in same) in case of an accidental pull of
the trigger. When firing D³ is pressed down by the thumb and prevents
this result. After interlocking the striker must be recocked by the
lever,

page_text: An arrangement n² very similar to the above, except that the locking
tooth is of such a form as to admit of its being pressed out of the
"bent" in the tail of the striker by the upward action of the trigger
performs the functions of a scar in the form of action, Figure 34.
In attaching the stock in order to shorten the upper or lower strap
when either has to carry the main spring, I attach the latter by a
dovetail piece at its rear end, Figures 1 and 39, the blade passing
under a bridge piece into which the connecting pin is screwed. I
attach the fore part of the stock by screws, the heads of which are
passed through holes in the lower part of special rod pipes, Figures
9 and 10, and screw into conical-shaped studs, hard or soft, soldered
to the barrel or into rings on the same. The last is more applicable to
the rearmost fastening, the ring of which may be formed with check
pieces so as to carry the vertical sliding sight described by me in
former Specifications. The V of this sight is protected in a semi-
circular recess, but without any "shade," and is of any of the common
forms, Figure 60.
In the case of a short fore end I attach it by a plain taper pin,
as in Figure 50, or by a screw taking into a stud on the barrel
on the sight ring above described. In this stud is an opening large
enough to admit the three sections of a cleaning rod, the longest
of which being screwed into a nut or into the "body" where admissible
retains the other two. This compound rod may be used with a "band"
attachment. The nose cap in long stocked arms I reduce to a thin,
hardened, nearly semi-cylindrical tube with a prominent belt into which
the retaining pin is screwed, and with a slight "burr" at its fore part
to retain the cone of the rod, Figure 61. To prevent this hard conc
injuring the rifling I place between it and the head a double-coned or
spindle-shaped protuberance of the iron part of the rod, or other soft
metal (u), Figure 11.
And having thus described my improvements I claim as follows:-
First. The use of the bell-crank lever 0 intermediate between the
mainspring and the striker pin, and the methods of mounting and
operating the same as described and illustrated in the Drawings
annexed.
Secondly. I claim the method of mounting the main lever on a mov-
able fulcrum, shewn in Figure 1.

page_text: Thirdly. I claim the method of withdrawing the striker pin by fixed
cams, as described and shown.
Fourthly. I claim the methods of mounting the mainspring, as shown
in Figures 1, 35, and 39.
Fifthly. The method of attaching the fore end of the stock, as
described and shown in Figures 9 and 10, and its application to all
long-stocked fire-arms.
Sixthly. The method of attaching the butt in divided stocks, or stocks
.without "fore ends" by means of a cylindrical tank carrying the whole
or greater part of the lock, as described and shown in Figures 20, 25,
28, 47, 50, and 52.
Seventhly. The rounding of the lower part of the upper strap con-
centric with the rear of the body, as shown in Figure 42.
Eighthly. The use, in addition of projections, internally concentric
with the above tangs to embrace the wood of the stock, as shown in
Figures 20, 42.
Ninthly. I claim the cupping of the ends of the transverse taper
pin (f), Figures 25, 50, 52.
Tenthly. I claim the application of an extractor 24, Figure 20, similar
to that described by me in Specification, No. 425, A.D. 1871, to fire-
arms with vertical or angular falling block, and the improvement on
the "toe" of same, as above described.
Eleventhly. The method of operating the extractor shown in Figures
1 and 8.
Twelfthly. I claim in connection with the improvements in arms
with vertically falling block, the cutting away the metal where not
required for strength so as to admit of a continuous stock, as shown in
Figures 12 and 12".
Thirteenthly. I claim the substitute for the ordinary nose cap,
Figure 61.
Fourteenthly. I claim the soft metal swell " on the cleaning rod or
ramrod with a view to protect the rifling.
Fifteenthly. I claim the method described of carrying a 3 part
cleaning rod in a short "fore end."

page_text: Sixteenthly. The use of a vertical sliding back sight in connection
with the methods of fastening the fore ends above described, and the
modifications of the head of same.
Seventeenthly. I claim the method shown in Figures 17, 19, and 23,
of mounting the mainsprings in slots in the under part of the body.
Eighteenthly. I claim in guns with tilting barrels the cocking prong
on the snap lever acting as shown in Figures 16, 19, and 25, and the
disposition of the spring in connection with same.
Nineteenthly. I claim the methods shown in Figures 30, 31, 32, 33,
and 34, of bringing the arm to full-cock by the ascent of the T piece,
or a partial turn of the locking ring O, and in connection with these
the spiral spring, strikers, and trigger detents.
Twentiethly. I claim the methods above described and shown of
mounting the lock action in guns of this class when a mainspring
and tumbler cock are used, and the employment of a bolt of the section
shown, Figure 36, for greater safety.
Twenty-firstly. I claim the method shown of placing the safety slides
D', D, centrally in the tail piece.
Twenty-secondly. I claim the method of mounting the stop picces
∙y, y', y² so as to admit of the bolt being readily detached.
Twenty-thirdly. I claim in the form, Figure 52, the method shown
of operating the locking ring by the butt of the fire-arm instead of a
special lever.
Twenty-fourthly. I claim in the form of arm, Figures 39, 40, 41,
and 42, the placing of the trigger before the cock, as shown; the recess 2
in the block instead of a projecting circular rib; the new position of
the cam for drawing the striker, whereby the striker arm can be made
of one piece with the latter; and the modes described of fastening the
trigger plate.
Twenty-fifthly. In the form, Figure 45, I claim the method of a
cocking by a cam acting on a curved projection on the hammer, as
shown, and the form of the rib or segment c, which method of cocking
I claim as applicable to fire-arms in which the barrel swivels horizontally,
as shown in Figures 47, 48, and 49.

page_text: Twenty-sixthly. I claim in the form Figure 51 the new method of
mounting the hammer and springs, and the improved method of
operating the extractor by a stud projecting from the swivelling
break off; also the improvement in the sights of this arm, as described.
Twenty-seventhly. I claim in the form Figure 50, in addition to
the cylindrical tang and its belongings, the cupping out or so forming
the rear of B as to clip the wood securely and the overhanging,
nut (
In witness whereof, I, the said Andrew Wyley, have hereunto
set my hand and scal, this Twenty-sixth day of December One
thousand eight hundred and seventy-four.
ANDREW WYLEY. (L.S.)