British 2824
Revolver Fire-arms.
LETTERS PATENT to John Adams, of Queen’s Road, Dalston, in the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of “ Improvements in Revolver Fibe-
ARHS.”
Sealed the SOth April 1858, and dated the 7th November 1857.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Adams at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 7th November 1857.
I, John Adams, of Queen’s Road, Dalston, in the County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the Invention for “Improvements in Revolver Fire-arms,” to be as follows:—
This Invention has for its object improvements in revolver fire-arms. For these purposes, in place of the hammer striking directly on the cap which is placed on a nipple as heretofore, it moves a sliding bolt which strikes the cap, and the end of this bolt is made larger than the hole through which it passes, so as to deflect the products of the explosion of the cap, and prevent them from passing back so as to annoy or injure the user of the weapon. In place of the combined apparatus heretofore used, when cocking and discharging the hammer by the trigger, a link is attached to the upper end of the trigger by a pin joint; the end of this link has a catch formed on it, which drops into a notch formed at the lower end, and under the axis of motion of the hammer the link is released from the catch by a projection when the hammer has been drawn up to the full height. By arranging the action in this way, I am enabled to slot out the body almost entirely by the use of circular cutters. In place of the pin or axis on which the cylinder revolves being retained in position as heretofore, it is securely held by the ramrod lever, which moves on an axis below the pin or axis of the cylinder. The outer end of the ramrod lever is retained securely under the barrel, by being notched, in such manner as to pass between two projections fixed to the under side of the barrel. The elbow or bend of the ramrod lever comes against the outer end of the pin or axis on which the barrels revolve, and retains it from moving outwards till the outer end of the ramrod has been depressed. In constructing the body of a revolving fire-arm, it is made in two parts in the following way:—
One part consists of the fixed barrel, the piece which runs along the top of the rotating barrels, and of a piece which passes down behind the revolving barrels, and which may be formed into a shield. In order to attach these parts to the remaining parts of the body (which are made in one piece), there is a feather or projection formed longitudinally on the under side of the fixed barrel at its end nearest the revolving barrel, and this feather or projection enters a slit in the corresponding part of the second piece, and is fixed there by pins. In a similar way the second junction is made ; there is a vertical slit formed in that part of the first piece which descends behind the revolving barrels, and this receives a vertical feather or projection on the other piece.
The cylinder of barrels is prevented revolving by a safety bolt, which moves out of the shield in a circular course, and locks the barrels so as to secure the caps on the nipples from being acted on by the hammer.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed by the said John Adams in the Great Seal Patent Office on the Tth May 1858. ‘
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, John Adams, of Queen s Road, Dalston, in the County of Middlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters Patent, bearing date the Seventh day of November, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, in the twenty-first year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said John Adams, Her special licence that I, the said John Adams, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said John Adams, 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 Revolver Fire-arms/’ upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said John Adams, 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 John Adams, 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:—
This Invention has for its object improvements in revolver fire-arms, and consists, first, in interposing between the hammer and the cap on the nipple a bolt sliding through a hole in the frame of the fire-arm, such bolt being enlarged at its end which comes in contact with the cap, so as to deflect the products of the explosion of the cap, and prevent them from passing back through the hole in the frame to annoy or injure the user of the weapon. Figure 1 is a longitudinal section of part of a revolver fire-arm, constructed according to my Invention, a is a hollow steel plug screwed into a hole tapped through the back of the frame of the fire-arm; b is a steel bolt, the enlarged head of which strikes and explodes the cap on the nipple, when the hammer descends; the stem of the bolt b slides through a hole of suitable size in the end of the plug a, and it has coiled round it a spiral spring c, which by acting against the nut d, pushes back the bolt b, when the hammer is raised.
With respect to this part of my Invention, I would remark that I am aware that a bolt has before sometimes been interposed between the hammer and the cap on the nipple; I do not claim the use of such a bolt, but what I do claim is the forming the end of the bolt larger than the whole through which it passes, so as to deflect the products of the explosion of the cap, and prevent them from passing back.
Another part of my Invention consists in substituting for the arrangements heretofore employed in the locks of fire-arms, when the hammer has been capable either of being raised and released by once pulling the trigger, or of being raised or cocked by hand before discharging the piece, the following combined apparatus:—To the upper end of the trigger a link is attached by a pin joint, and the end of this link has a catch formed on it, which drops into a notch formed at the lower end, and under the axis of motion of the hammer; the link is released from the catch by a projection when the hammer has been drawn up to the full height. By arranging the action in this way, I am enabled to slot out the body almost entirely by the use of circular cutters. Figure 2 shews a lock or action arranged according to this part of my Invention ; and Figures 3 shew the parts separately, a is the trigger; and b is the link attached to it by a pin joint; c is the hammer which has a notch d formed in it at its lower end and under its action of motion ; into this notch the catch at the end of the link b falls when the hammer is down, and by drawing back the trigger the hammer is raised. When the hammer has been drawn up to a sufficient height, the projection at the end of the link b comes in contact with the hammer, and throws the catch out of the notch cK When the hammer is raised or cocked by hand, the sear d falls into the notch