An Improved Sporting Hammerless Gun.
Year: 1890

page_text: Date of Application, 22nd May, 1890
Complete Specification Left, 23rd Mar., 1891-Accepted, 20in June, 1891
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
An Improved Sporting Hammerless Gun.
I ADOLPHE AGNEL of No. 6 Place Chavanelle St. Etienne in the Department
of the Loire and Republic of France, Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature
of this invention to be as follows:-
This invention relates to an improved sporting hammerless gun termed the
"Gladiator" which has the advantage over all other known guns of giving great
precision in shooting, precision which results from the system that I have used and
which consists in two sears or tumblers placed on the upper surface of the small of
the stock. These scars serve as triggers to fire the gun; they are placed in
recesses and it is by means of a pressure of the thumb that they are acted upon
without in any way disturbing the shooting at the moment of aiming.
My Gladiator gun may be made with drop down or fixed barrel; it may be
with or without ejector without modification of its principle; finally, in guns with-
out ejector there will be extractors permitting the extraction of the cartridges one
after the other, or both together, without ejection.
I will first describe the principle of my drop down gun.
The barrel is dropped
by means of a key or lever placed beneath the break-off; this key acts on a bolt
which has a double effect: 1° Unlocking the barrel which drops by its own
weight: 2° Cocking of the hammers or strikers commenced by the movement of
the bolt and completed by the action of the barrel dropping down.
When the hammers are at the end of their journey they fall into the notch of
the sears placed at the head of the hammers in the breech. These scars slightly
project outward, but they are protected by two thumb pieces into which the thumb
of the right hand is introduced to cause the firing. A transversal pin fixes these
sears or tumblers by their centre in the breech.
A single double branched spring placed vertically gives power to each hammer
by, the aid of a link or chain and at the same time determines the position of the
sear during the cocking.
I will now explain the extraction of the cartridges. This is done on each side
by an eccentric which draws the extractor backward when the barrel is opened.
As regards the ejection it is produced by another eccentric which is driven against
the extractor by the release of a spring when the extracting movement is made, the
barrels having been fired.
It is evident that for cach barrel there is an extractor, an extraction eccentric,
an ejection eccentric and a plate spring, the two springs may however be united
and form but a single spring split in the middle. In the case of a gun without
ejector, the spring and the ejection eccentrics are dispensed with.
I will now describe the principle of the gun with fixed barrel.
As in the drop-down gun, there are no triggers these being replaced by the sears
or tumblers actuated by the thumb of the right hand and inclosed in the thumb
pieces.
The barrel being fixed the firing mechanism on each side is placed upon a plate
pivoting to the right or to the left turning upon a strong pin in order to permit the
loading and unloading of the gun. An iron block or lump attached to the barrel
supports the pins around which these evolutions of the plate take place and further
serve as separation between the two firing mechanisms. These firing mechanisms
are each composed of a hammer or striker, a spring and a scar or tumbler as in the
drop-down barrel. In short it is the firing mechanism which is displaced on each
side of the gun instead of the barrel dropping down for the reloading of the gun.

page_text: There remains to explain how the opening of these plates carrying the firing
mechanism is produced.
Beneath the breech is a key or lever which sets in motion the bolt. This bolt
serves, 1° to cock the hammers or strikers by drawing them backward. 2° to
cause the opening of the plates carrying the firing mechanism, and that in the
following manner. For this purpose the bolt is of a U form but the branches
instead of being straight are bent outward (U). Between the branches of this U
of special form, is a spring with two arms opening in the same direction as those of
the bolt. The plates which carry the firing mechanisms are hollowed in part
of their length to permit the arms or branches of this U both to enter into a
groove formed in their thickness. The double branched spring is fixed to the
block which supports the hinge, and when the gun is closed the two branches of
this spring are entered between the two plates carrying the firing mechanisms and
themselves upheld by the two parallel arms of the Ū shaped bolt.
The arms of the bolt are then engaged in the groove or recess in the plates
carrying the firing mechanisms. Acting on the lever the bolt is withdrawn from
this groove, the two branched spring is no longer compressed and acts on the plates
which themselves no longer upheld by the arms of the bolt turn around their
hinge and leave the openings of the barrels free. Returning the lever to its place,
the bolt by the spreading apart of its branches or arms again seizes the plates by
the outer sides of the groove or recess formed in their thickness, and brings them
together again. In completing its movement the bolt again takes them between
the two parallel branches and brings them into their final position for the firing of
the gun.
The key or lever which acts upon the bolt in the drop-down gun or in that with
fixed barrel is formed of two symmetrical volutes the one being fixed and the other
forming the actual lever; I may also use a key in form of a ring to receive the
finger.
A double branched spring serves to aid the closing movement of the key.
Finally in both arms the safety is the same.
the right side of the fire arm or beneath it near the lever or key; this stud actuates
It is composed of a stud placed on
a piece in form of square terminated at the other end by a fork. A spring always
brings back this piece square with the tumbler, and it is the fork which by the aid
of a rod acts upon an oscillating lever the ends of which come on to the sears or
tumblers when it is desired to be at safety. In consequence of the ar.angement of 3
this oscillating piece, when a shot is fired and the stud is no longer pressed upon
the other mechanism is brought back to safety. The stud is formed of a screw
which when removed or pushed in brings the gun into a state of permanent safety,
so long as it is not replaced or that it is not slightly unscrewed.
Dated this Twenty-second day of May 1890
1
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
An Improved Sporting Hammerless Gun
I ADOLPHE AGNEL of No. 6 Place Chavanelle, St. Etienne, in the Department
of the Loire and Republic of France, Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature
of this invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
4
This invention relates to an improved sporting hammerless gun which may be 5
made in different ways, that is to say, with drop down or with fixed barrels, without
the various pieces entering into the composition of the fire arm being altered as to
their working and general form.

page_text: Gife ace mpanying drawing
Figure 1 represents in section and in elevation the breech of a drop down gun of
my invention, the barrels being dropped and the hammers at full cock;
Figures 2 and 3 are detached parts of this gun;
Figure 4 is a modification of the firing mechanism;
Figure 5 represents in elevation the breech of my gun with fixed barrels, the
breech closing plate not appearing, as hereinafter explained;
Figure 6 part of the gun Figure 5 detached.
I will first describe my gun with drop down barrels :-The barrels are dropped
by the action of the finger upon the lever G (Figures 1 and 2). This lever
actuates a bolt A having a double action. 1° That of releasing the barrel, which,
when the bolt moves backward (on the lever G being pulled) is no longer held by
its catch M and drops by its own weight. 2° That of cocking the hammers,
which is effected by the arms (see Figure 3) of the bolt A in the backward
movement of this bolt.
b
When these hammers are sufficiently drawn back they fall into the notches of
the sears D (Figure 1) placed in the breech above the hammers C. These sears
are fixed to the breech by means of a pin passing through the breech, and may turn
upon this pin as upon an axle. These sears slightly project above the breech in
two thumb rests intended to give passage to the point d (Figure 1) and these
thumb rests are broad enough to admit the thumb which pressing upon this end d
of the sears fires the gun.
The spring E serves:-1° To give impulsion to the hammer to permit it to
explode the cartridge. 2°. To keep the sear D in position when the hammer is at
full cock. This spring acts on the hammer C by the aid of the connection or
link ..
The pin serves to fix the lever G in the breech, and the spring J
(Figure 2) to bring back the lever to its first position when, by the action of the
finger thereupon, it has been displaced to cause the dropping of the barrels.
The same side of the gun is shown at Figure 2 as at Figure 1, but with this
difference, that the frame is removed to show the lever G and its connection with
the bolt A, as well as the spring J which serves to bring the lever G to its first
position when it has been moved therefrom.
The bolt A is shown in plan view Figure 3 with its arms or projections 6 serving
to seize the hammers C and bring them to full cock.
The action of this gun will be easily understood:-A pull on the lever G,
retires the bolt A, which no longer holding the barrels they may drop; in this
movement the bolt A has also, by its arms b, cocked the hammers C; the
spring E is now compressed and it is only necessary to act upon the end d of the
sear D to fire the gun, which is done with the thumb of the right hand.
gun
The gun I have just described is discharged by the direct action of the thumb on
the sear; I may without in anyway altering the system make the same fire arm
with triggers. In this case the lever instead of being of the form shown outside the
gun at Figure 2 (that is to say forming a ring), passes, as in other drop down
guns, round the trigger guard. The sears do not project to the outside as in the
fired from above, but they have a tail 7 Figure 4, which figure shows the relative
positions of the scar D, the spring E, the trigger G and the hammer C, when the
gun is no longer to be fired from above, but with triggers. It will be seen that
the trigger pressing on the tail 7 of the sear D causes this latter to move in the
direction of the arrow and frees the hammer..
I may use a safety arrangement consisting of a system of levers which wedge
the sears when the gun is not in active use, the sears being released by the pressure
of the hand upon a stud when taking aim.
I will now proceed to describe my gun with fixed barrels, by reference to
Figures 5 and 6. Figure 5 showing the breech of the gun closed by plates or
hutters hereinafter described, but which are here assumed to be transparent in
order that the pieces forming the firing mechanism which are fixed on these plates

page_text: may be seen; and Figure 6 showing, upon a reduced scale, the position which these
shutters take in relation to the breech when they are open.
Like the gun with drop down barrels this gun with fixed barrels may be
made either with exterior sears to be acted upon directly by the thumb, or with
triggers.
This gun
is composed of the same essential parts combined in the same way as in
the drop gun, but instead of being placed upon the fixed frame of the breech and
on each side, they are placed upon two plates or shutters Q, which pivot on pins,
the one to the right, the other to the left, for the purpose of permitting the loading
of the gun and the removal of spent cartridge cases. These shutters Qeach
contain a battery, that is to say all the pieces by which the firing of the gun is
effected, namely:-for each battery, a hammer C, a sear D, and a spring E.
AU shaped bolt R serves to permit the opening and ensure the closing of the
breech. This bolt is set in movement by the lever G (Figure 5) to which it is
fixed. When the plates or shutters Q are closed, the two arms of this bolt R enter
two openings r formed in the thickness of the shutters and secure the closing of
the breech.
When the lever G is pulled it draws the bolt R backward bringing its arms out
of their seats r, thereby liberating the shutters Q, which the two small springs K
(Figure 5) then throw open to the position shown Figure 6.
To close the plates or shutters Q it is only necessary to bring them towards each
other with the left hand while drawing the bolt R backward by the lever G; on
then releasing the lever, the bolt R is carried forward, its arms enter their seat r,
and the breech is closed.
This gun with fixed barrels may be made either with exterior sears as shown
at Figure 5, or with triggers, in which case the sears will undergo the modifications
(as to shape) which I have shown. Figure 4.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. The gun with drop down barrels substantially as hereinbefore described and
shown Figures 1, 2, 3 and 4 of the accompanying drawing, whether arranged to be
fired from above or by means of triggers.
2. The gun with fixed barrels substantially as hereinbefore described and shown
Figures 5 and 6 of the accompanying drawing.
3. In a small arm, the sears D arranged to operate the discharge of the arm by
the pressure of the thumb of the right hand substantially as hereinbefore described
and shown Figures 1 and 5 of the accompanying drawing.
4. In a small arm with fixed barrels, the closing of the breech in the manner
substantially as hereinbefore described and shown Figure 6 of the accompanying
.drawing.
Dated this Twenty-third day of March 1891.