Improve- MENTS IN BREECH-LOADING FIRE-ARMS
Year: 1871

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles Greville Harston, of Birmingham, in the
County of Warwick, Gentleman, for the Invention of "Improve-
MENTS IN BREECH-LOADING FIRE-ARMS."
Scaled the 31st October 1871, and dated the 11th August 1871.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles Greville Harston
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 11th August 1871.
I, CHARLES GREVILLE HARSTON, of Birmingham, in the County of
Warwick, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said Inven-
tion for "IMPROVEMENTS IN BREECH-LOADING FIRE-ARMS," to be as follows,
that is to say :-
This Invention refers chiefly to improvements in the "actions" of
breech-loaders upon the "falling block" principle, and upon the "Snider"
principle, though applicable with certain modifications to "actions" of
other descriptions; and it consists in such a formation and arrangement
of the parts that the striker or needle works through the block in the
direct line of the longitudinal axis of the barrel, being axially coincident

page_text: therewith; the hammer is concealed, and acts directly upon the rear
end of the needle.
In the falling block action the upper inside edges of the shoe or
block frame are under cut so that these edges slightly overlap the
corresponding meeting edges of the block when locked for firing, and
thus prevent escape of gas and the ingress of sand, dirt, or wet. The
lever for working the action is below, and may form a portion of the
trigger guard. It is furnished with a wedge piece, fitting when the
breech is open into a recess formed on the breech block, and bearing
against a lug on the under side of the block to force upwards and
close and keep the breech block when up rigidly in position. Any
convenient form of snap or catch may be used to secure the lever, upon
the axial surface of which lever a stop or bent is cut, which bears
against a shoulder on the hammer in opening the breech, so that the
motion of the lever in opening the breech cocks the hammer, takes
back the needle, and actuates the extractor, which is worked by the
end of the breech block impinging upon an arm which projects the
extractor a sufficient length to throw out the empty case.
In my improved action upon the Snider principle the lever is made
to throw open the block, cock the hammer, and throw out the cartridge
case by one operation, the traverse of the needle and hammer being
in the same lines as in the action before described, that is to say, the
needle has its axis horizontally coincident with the longitudinal axis
of the barrel, and is struck at its rear end directly by the hammer.
The actuating lever has a bent or projection upon it for cocking the
hammer in the act of opening the breech. The pin upon which the
hammer is hung has a lever arm attached to it, which arm works
with the actuating lever in a slide which has a to-and-fro motion, and
upon which slide is fixed a cam roller working in a cam groove cut upon
the hinged part of the breech block, so that as the slide is caused to
move rearwards the block is raised out of its seating in the shoe, and
thrown to the side upon the pin upon which it works. A helical
spring upon this pin retires the block, and with it the extractor for
reloading. To assist in clearly ejecting the cartridge case I form on
the bottom of the inside of the shoe a curve or incline on either side,
the block being formed to fit those curves.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Charles Greville Harston in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 10th February 1872.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHARLES
GREVILLE HARSTON, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Gen-
tleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Eleventh day of August, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, in the thirty-
fifth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said Charles Greville Harston, Her special license.
that I, the said Charles Greville Harston, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said Charles Greville Harston, 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 “Iм-
PROVEMENTS IN BREECH-LOADING FIRE-ARMS," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Charles Greville Harston, 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 Charles Greville Harston, 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, that is to say :-
This Invention refers, firstly, to certain improvements in breech-loaders
constructed upon what is known as the falling block principle by which
the breech is exposed, such improvements consisting in providing a
horizontal striker or needle working in a line axially coincident with
the central line of the barrel when in a position for firing, and acted
upon directly by a concealed hammer following the striker; any ordinary
trigger arrangement may be used.

page_text: Secondly. The Invention refers to breech-loaders upon the side
rising block principle or Snider action, in which the breech block is
raised from the side upon a hinge. The improvements herein also
consist in providing a horizontal striker or needle working in the line
above described, and also directly acted upon by a concealed hammer,
with an improved arrangement and construction of the opening and
actuating parts of the breech.
I will now proceed to describe the first part of my Invention more
fully in detail by aid of the accompanying Drawings, reference being
had to the letters and figures marked thereon.
B.
Figure 1, Sheet 1, is an elevation, and Figure 2 a section of those
portions of the action of a breech loader to which my Invention refers
shewing the breech block (a) in position for firing; Figure 3 is a similar
section of the parts without the stock, and shewing the breech block (a)
down ready for loading. Figure 4 is a cross section on the line A,
Figure 2, and Figure 5 represents the parts in plan as seen from above.
(a) is the shoe or framework of the breech, and it may be undercut or
rebated so that the breech block (a) when secured in position may have a
tight joint preventing the escape of gas or ingress of sand, dirt, or wet.
In practice I prefer to employ a sliding plate (a) for covering over
the pan and upper surface of the breech block (a) when required; this
covering plate may be binged upon the side or end of the frame of
the breech block if desired. (6) is the horizontal striker or needle
working through the block (a) in a line axially coincident with the
central line of the barrel (c) when the parts are in position for firing and
kept in position by a spring (61) acting upon the one side of a collar (62)
formed on the striker (b) and by a screw pin (6³) on the other side of the
striker (b.) (d) is the concealed hammer working upon a pin (e) and
striking the needle (6) direct in a radial line from the pin or centre (e);
(f) is the actuating lever provided with a wedge piece (g) fitting into
a recess formed in the breech block (a) and when the breech is down,
as in Figure 3 bearing against a lug or projection (h) to force upwards
and close and keep rigidly in position the breech block (a) when up,
and thus forming one point of resistance to the power of the discharge.
I use any convenient form of snap or catch such as (f¹), Figure 2, to
secure the end of the lever (ƒ) in fastening the breech, and as shown in
Upon the
the Drawings; the lever (f) also acts as the trigger guard.
axial surface of the lever (f) is cut a stop (i) to bear against the shoulder

page_text: (k) of the hammer, as seen in Figure 3, so that the movement of the
lever (f) in opening the breech will at the same time take back the
hammer into position cocked for firing; (2) is the extractor worked by
the end of the breech block (a) impinging upon the arm (1) and throw-
ing out the extractor a suitable distance; (m) is the trigger; (m³) is the
trigger sear; and (n) the mainspring.
There are thus by this arrangement three points of resistance to the
power of discharge, firstly, the hinge upon which the block is worked;
secondly, the impact of the wedge piece (9) upon the part (h) as already
pointed out; and, thirdly, that of the hammer (d) upon the striker or
needle (b).
Sheet 2 illustrates the second part of my Invention. Figure 6 is a
section of the parts shewing the hinged side breech block (a) raised
ready for charging; Figure 7 is a cross section on the line A, B, of Figure
6; and Figure 8 is a side elevation of the parts with the breech closed.
(b) is the horizontal striker or needle arranged as in the action already
described to work in the breech block (a) and in a line axially coincident
with the central line of the barrel (c) when in position for firing; (d) is
the hammer striking directly upon the end of the needle (6) in a radial
line from the centre or pin (d'); (e) is the actuating lever indicated in
dotted lines only in Figure 6; (e¹) being a pin or projection attached to
the actuating lever for cocking the hammer (d) in opening the breech;
(f), Figure 8, is a lever arm attached to the pin (d') and working with
the actuating lever (e) in the slide (g); the slide (9) has a to-and-fro
motion, and upon it is secured a cam roller (h) working in a cam groove
(i) cut upon the hinged part (a¹) of the breech block (a) so that as the
slide (g) is caused to move rearwards the block will be raised from out
of its scating in the shoe and thrown back, the reverse action of the
parts closing the breech; (/) is a pin upon which the breech block (a)
works; (1) is a helical spring for the purpose of retiring the block and
extractor (m) for reloading after the exploded cartridge case has been
jerked or forced out, and to assist in forcing out or freeing the exploded
cartridge case I form in the shoe a curve or incline (n).
Having thus described the object and nature of my said Invention, and
the manner of carrying the same into effect, I claim without confining
myself to these exact details,-
Firstly. The improvements in breech-loading fire-arms by the arrange-
ment and construction of a striker or needle working in a line axially

page_text: coincident with the central line of the barrel when in position for
firing, and operated upon directly by a concealed hammer as herein
described.
Secondly. I claim the cover or slide (a²) Sheet 1, or rebating the
inside of the breech block (a) for the purpose of excluding dust and wet,
as herein described.
Thirdly. I claim the mode of opening the breech block of arms upon
the Snider principle as described and shewn in Sheet 2 by means of the
lever arm (ƒ), slide (g), friction roller (h) and cam groove (i) actuated
by the lever (e).
Fourthly. I claim the curve or incline (n) formed in the shoe, Figure 6
Sheet 2, for the purpose of assisting the ejection of the cartridge case.
And generally I claim the arrangement and combination of the several
parts of the actions of breech-loading fire-arms substantially as herein
more fully set forth and specified.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Greville Harston, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Ninth day of February, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
two.
CHARLES GREVILLE HARSTON. (L.S.)