IMPROVEMENTS IN BREECH LOADING SMALL ARMS."
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Field Swinburn, of Birmingham, in the
County of Warwick, Gun Manufacturer, for the Invention of
DRAW TA
"
65
IMPROVEMENTS IN BREECH LOADING SMALL ARMS."
"

page_text: in the said breech-loading small-arms, which said improvements are appli-
cable more particularly to guns of the kind described in the Specification of
Letters Patent granted to me on the 13th day of January, 1872, No. 110.
The same Invention with additions is also described in the Specification
of Letters Patent granted to me on the 22nd day of Junc, 1872,
No. 1895.
In the said patented Invention the lowering of the hinged falling
block, the withdrawal of the striker, the ejection of the cartridge caso,
and the cocking of the gun, are effected by the depression and raising
of a lever on the under side of the gun. As the arrangement of parts, as
described in the Specifications of the Patents referred to, requires the use
of both hands, one being being required to hold the gun, while the other
depresses and raises the lever, the fire-arm is not well suited for the use
of cavalry; and my present Invention has for its object to adapt the
fire-arm to cavalry use by so modifying it as to enable the user to
operate the moving parts by the action of the band by which the fire-
arm is held. For this purpose I dispense with the cam or lever on the
under side of the gun, and fix on the shaft or axis, by the motion of
which the moving parts are actuated, an arm or lever, which extends
upwards from the said axis, its upper end passing through a slot in the
tang on the body and terminating in a thumb plate. In its normal
position, that is, when the parts are in the positions proper for discharge,
the said lever is nearly vertical, its top end being situated immediately
behind the joint on which the falling block turns. In this position the
thumb of the hand grasping the body of the gun can readily be raised
to the thumb plate of the lever, and by pressing thereon can depress the
lever, thereby withdrawing the striker, lowering the falling block, and
ejecting the cartridge case. After the introduction of a cartridge the
thumb is brought under the thumb plate and the lever is raised into its
normal position, thereby making the gun ready for firing. The lever
travels through an angle of about 40 to 45 degrees. At the back of the
lever is formed a closing plate, which when the lever is raised fills the
slot in which the lever works and prevents access of dust to the interior
of the gun. The lever may be retained in its raised position with the
required degree of resistance by means of the end of the closing plate
engaging with a snap at the end of the slot in which the lever travels.
Or the lever may be otherwise retained with the required force in its
raised position.

page_text: Although my Invention is especially applicable to guns of of the kind
described in the Specifications of the Patents referred to yet it may also
be applied to all guns of the same general construction, that is, having
hinged falling blocks for opening and closing the breech.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Field Swinburn in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 18th April 1876.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
FIELD SWINBURN, 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 Twentieth day of October, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in
the thirty-ninth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and
successors, give and grant unto me, the said John Field Swinburn, Her
special license, that I, the said John Field Swinburn, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said John Field
Swinburn, 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 Iuvention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN BREECH-LOADING SMALL-ARMS," upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said John Field Swinburn, 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 imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Field Swinburn, 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:-

page_text: My Invention relates to breech-loading small-arms, in which the
opening and closing of the breech is effected by the rising and falling
of a jointed or hinged block working in a mortice in the body or brecch
shoe of the fire-arm.
My said Invention consists of the improvements herein-after described
in the ssid breech-loading small-arms, which said improvements are
applicable more particularly to guns of the kind described in the Speci-
fication of Letters Patent granted to me on the 13th day of January,
1872, No. 110. The same Invention with additious is also described in
the Specification of Letters Patent granted to me on the 22nd day of
June, 1872, No. 1895.
In the said patented Invention the lowering and raising of the hinged
falling block, the withdrawal of the striker, the ejection of the cartridge
case, and the cocking of the gun, are effected by the depression and
raising of a lever on the under side of the gun. The arrangement of
parts, as described in the Specifications of the Patents referred to,
requires the use of both hands, one being required to hold the gun, while
the other depresses and raises the lever.
My present Invention has for its object to make the fire-arm more
suitable for cavalry use by so modifying it as to enable the user to
operate the moving parts by the action of the hand by which the fire-
arm is held. For this purpose I dispense with the arm or lever on the
under side of the gun and fix on the shaft or axis, by the motion of
which the moving parts are actuated an arm or lever which extends
upwards from the said axis, its upper end passing through a slot in the
tang on the body and terminating in a thumb plate. In its normal
position, that is, when the parts are in the positions proper for discharge
the said lever is nearly vertical, its top end being situated immediately
behind the joint on which the falling block turns. In this position the
thumb of the hand grasping the body of the gun can readily be raised
to the thumb plate of the lever, and by pressing thercon can depress the
lever, thereby withdrawing the striker, lowering the falling block, and
ejecting the cartridge case. After the introduction of a cartridge the
thumb is brought under the thumb plate and the lever is raised into its
normal position, thereby making the gun ready for firing. The lever
travels through an angle of about 40 to 45 degrees. At the back of the
lever is formed a closing plate, which, when the lever is raised, fills the

page_text: of the gun. The lever may be retained in its raised position with the
required degree of resistance by means of the end of the closing plate
engaging with a snap at the end of the slot in which the lever travels.
Or the lever may be otherwise retained with the required force in its
raised position.
Figure 1 of the accompanying Drawing represents in longitudinal
section a hinged falling block gun constructed according to the Patents
herein-before referred to, with which are combined the improvements
constituting my present Invention; Figure 2 represents in side elevation,
and Figure 3 in front elevation, the hand or actuating lever of the said
gun detached. The same letters of reference indicate the same parts.
a is the breech shoe in a mortice, in which the falling block works,
the said block turning on the centre c; d is the striker or striking pin
working in the block b, the said pin being struck forward to discharge
the gun by the hammer e; f, f, is the hand lever, by which the several
moving parts are actuated, the said hand lever and the hammer e
turning on the same axis g. The hammer e is situated on a square part
of the said axis, and the hand lever on a cylindrical part of the said axis.
The arm of the hand lever extends upwards from the axis the upper
end of the said arm of the hand lever passing through a slot in the
tang of the body and terminates in a thumb plate f³. In the said
arm f is a slot f³ (see Figure 3) in which the hammer e works; i is the
extractor bar operated upon by the hand lever; and k is the extracting
lever worked by the said bar.
5
ولا
In Figure 1 the parts of the gun are represented in the positions
which they respectively occupy when the gun is ready for firing. When
in this position the arm or lever f is nearly vertical, its thumb plate
end fs, being situated immediately behind the joint on which the falling
block turns. In order to open the gun to recharge it, and at the same
time to cock the hammer, the hand lever fis depressed into the position
indicated in dotted lines in Figure 1. This depression of the hand lever
is effected by the thumb of the hand of the person grasping the body
of the gun. When the gun is grasped by the hand at the part A the
thumb can be raised and made to press upon the thumb plate f³, so as
to depress the lever f to the position indicated in dotted lines. In
passing from the position represented to that indicated in dotted lines

page_text: the said hand lever causes the withdrawal of the striker d, the lowering
of the falling block b, the cocking of the hammer e, and the ejecting of
the empty cartridge case from the barrel, the parts operating in the
manner explained in detail in the Specifications of the Patents before
referred to. After the introduction of a cartridge into the barrel the
thumb of the hand grasping the gun at A. is brought under the thumb
plate f of the lever f, and the said lever is raised into the position
represented in the Drawing, and the breech is closed, and the gun is
ready for discharge. Thus the gun is held, and the moving parts of the
gun are operated for loading and brought into the position for firing by
the use of one hand only of the person using the gun. The angle through
which the lever f, f, travels is indicated by the two positions which the
said lever takes, shown and indicated in Figure 1; f' is a closing plate
at the back of the arm or lever f. This closing plate when the lever fis
raised fills the slot in the tang in which the said lever works, as
represented in Figure 1, the said back or closing plate preventing access
of dirt to the interior of the gun. By means of a spring snap the
lever is retained in its raised position and held there with the required
force. The said spring snap when the lever is raised is pushed back by
the inclined end of the closing plate f, and when the said lever has
reached its highest position the said snap 7 springs or closes upon the
said inclined end of the closing plate, as illustrated in the Drawing, and
holds the lever very firmly in its place.
Although my Invention is especially applicable to guns of the kind
described in the Specifications of the Patents referred to and illustrated
in the Drawing, yet it may also be applied to all guns of the same
general construction, that is, having hinged falling blocks for opening
and closing the breech.
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 hinged falling block guns con-
structing the hand or actuating lever, by which the raising and lowering
of the hinged falling block, the withdrawal of the striker, the cocking
of the hammer, and the ejection of the empty cartridge case, are
effected substantially as herein-before described and illustrated in the

page_text: accompanying Drawing, that is to say, dispensing with the hand or
actuating lever on the under side of the gun, and making the hand or
actuating lever extend upwards from the axis on which it turns to the
upper side of the gun, the upper end of the said lever passing through
a slot in the tang of the body, so that the thumb plate end projecting
above the said slot can be operated by the thumb of the hand grasping
the body of the gun, substantially as and for the purpose described and
illustrated.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Field Swinburn, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Eleventh day of April, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
six.
JOHN FIELD SWINBURN. (L.S.)
Witness,
RICHARD SKERRETT,
Clerk to George Shaw,
Birmingham.