British 1764
LETTERS PATENT to Alfred Vincent Newton, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, for the Invention of “ Certain Improvements nr that Class op Fire-arms known as Revolvers, and in Bullets por the same.”—A communication from abroad by John Walch, of New York, in the United States of America.
Sealed the 30th December 1859, and dated the 29th July 1859.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alfred Vincent Newton at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 29th July 1859.
I, Alfred Vincent Newton, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for “ Certain Improvements nr that Class of Fire-arms known as Revolvers, and nr Bullets for the same,** to be as follows:—
This Invention relates to the construction of a revolver, the chambers in the revolving breech of which are severally capable of receiving two charges; each chamber is provided with two nipples, which are to be acted upon by two hammers so applied as to fire one charge after the other in succession before the breech-piece turns round.
The Invention also relates to the adaptation to such revolver of a trigger for operating the two hammers.
And further the Invention relates to a novel construction of bullet, by which, among other advantages, any danger of the back charges being ignited by the explosion of the forward ones is obviated.
In this fire-arm the breech-piece is made sufficiently long to contain two charges in each chamber, and the number of chambers may vary according to circumstances. The hammers, of which there are two, may be either made to work in the same plane, the hammer for the after charge passing through an opening in the forward hammer, or they may be situated side by side. They are held fast when cocked by a double trigger, the upper end of which is furnished with a fixed and a loose tripping piece. The vent holes may be either placed in a line upon each chamber, and put slanting to correspond with the respective hammers, or set out of a line with each other, and placed parallel with the line of the chamber.
The balls are made either by attaching a thin plate to a half ball by means of a small shank, or by connecting two half round balls by means of a small shank in such a manner as to leave a recess all round. This recess is filled with a composition consisting of J parts of soap and \ of oil, or its equivalent. In loading the chambers a sufficient charge of powder is put in, and then a ball either with or without paper over the powder. By ramming the ball down, the recess of the ball will become contracted or closed, and thereby the above-mentioned grease or composition will be forced out of the same, filling in every part between the ball and the barrel. By this arrangement the chamber will be well greased, and the barrel will be well cleaned at each discharge. By the forcible pressing out of the grease so as to fill every crevice between the ball and the chamber, every danger is likewise prevented by which the after charge might be ignited when the forward charge is fired off, and as this forms a perfect air-tight packing for the ball, the powder will have more force, and be able to send the ball a greater distance.
When the hammers are pulled backwards, or the arm cocked, the breech-piece will revolve one section in the usual manner, and the hammers will be held in their position by the tripping piece of the trigger; when the arm is required to be discharged, by pulling on the trigger that part of the trigger which holds the hammer for firing, the forward charge will be moved free of the hammer, and allow its spring to throw it forward and strike the cap upon the forward vent. By giving the trigger a second pull a little further back, an inclined surface or projection on the trigger will act against the loose piece of the trigger which has hitherto held fast the hammer for the after charge, and will thereby release the same to allow the hammer to discharge the said after charge. During the discharging of both the charges out of the same barrel, the breech-piece is held steady and in a line with the main barrel by a spring stop, or by the tail of the ratchet that rotates, the breech entering a notch in the rear end thereof.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed by the said Alfred Vincent Newton in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 28th January I860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, Alfred Vincent Newton, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Iler most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-ninth day of July, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-third year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, Her special license that I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, 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 “ Certain Improvements in that Class of Firearms’known as Revolvers, and in Bullets for the same,” being a communication from abroad by John Walch, of New York, in the United States of America, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, 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 Alfred Vincent Newton, 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, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say) :—
This Invention, as communicated to me by my foreign correspondent, relates to the construction of rotating breech revolvers, and consists in making the several chambers capable of receiving two charges at the same time. Each chamber is also provided with two nipples, which are to be acted upon by two hammers, so applied as to fire one charge after the other in succession before the breech piece turns round. The Invention also consists in the adaptation to such revolvers of a trigger for operating the two hammers. And further the Invention consists in a certain construction of bullet, by which, among other advantages, any danger of the back charge being ignited by the explosion of the forward one is obviated.
In the accompanying Drawing, which forms part of this Specification, Fig. 1 is a side view of the improved pistol; Fig. 2 is a section of the same; Fig. 3 is a partial plan view; Figures 4 and 5 are front and end views of the revolving breech piece ; Fig. 6 is a side view of a pistol having the vents and hammers differently arranged ; Fig. 7 is a section of the same; Fig. 8 is a plan view of the same; Figures 9 and 10 are front and end views of the revolving breech piece; Fig. 11 is a cross section, and Fig. 12 a longitudinal section of the breech ; Fig. 13 is an end view of part of the pistol. Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the Figures.
a is the barrel of the pistol, secured to the stock m in the usual manner; b is the revolving breech piece, turning upon the bolt w, and made to revolve by the cocking of the pistol or backward motion of the hammers, by means of the small dog e, attached to the lower end of one of the hammers. This breech piece is held fast while firing, either by a spring Q, as seen in Fig. 2, or by a projection 3 on the dog ef working in grooves 2, as seen in Fig. 7. This breech piece is made sufficiently long to contain two charges in each chamber, and the number of chambers may be either three, four, five, or six, or more, according to circumstances, c, c\ are the hammers, acted upon by their respective springs /, /*. These hammers may be either made as represented in Figures 1, 2, and 3, where the hammer for the after charge passes through an opening in the forward hammer c, or the same may be situated side by side, as represented in Figures 6, 7, 8, and 13. d, d , is the double trigger, by which the hammers are held fast when cocked, and afterwards set loose. The upper end of this trigger is made in two pieces, for the purpose herein-after mentioned, v, v\ are the vent holes, which in Figures 1, 2, and 3 are placed in a line upon each chamber, and put slanting to correspond with the respective hammers. In Figures 6 and 7 they are put out of a line with each other, and placed parallel with the line of the chamber. Fig. 12 shews the manner in which the holes are bored, and the position of the same, and shews a section taken at the line o, o, in Figures 10 and 11. g is a ramrod to load the chambers, which ramrod is constructed in the usual manner; h are the balls, which are made either as represented in Fig. 2, by attaching a thin plate 7 to a half ball 8 by means of a very small shank 9, or by connecting two half-round balls 8 by means of a very small shank 9, as in Fig. 7, in such a manner as to leave a recess all round. This recess is filled with a composition consisting of three-fourth parts of soap and one-fourth of oil or its equivalent In loading the chambers, a sufficient charge of powder is put in and then a ball, either with or without paper over the powder. By ramming the ball down, the recess of the ball will become contracted or closed, and thereby the above-mentioned grease or composition will be forced out of the same, filling in every part between the ball and the barrel. By this arrangement the chamber will be well greased, and the barrel will be well cleaned at each discharge. By the forcible pressing out of the grease so as to fill every crevice between the ball and the chamber, every danger is likewise prevented by which the after charge might be ignited when the forward charge is fired off; and as this forms a perfect air-tight packing for the ball, the powder will have more force and be able to send the ball a greater distance. When the hammers are pulled backwards, or the arm cocked, the breech piece will revolve one section in the usual manner, and the hammers will be held in their position by the trigger d, d\ coming against small projections or noses on their tumblers. This trigger, as before mentioned, is on its upper end made in two pieces. When the gun or pistol is required to be discharged by pulling on the trigger, that part d which holds the hammer c, by which the forward charges are fired, will be moved away from the projection of the hammer, allowing the spring/ to push the same upon the cap on the forward vent, corresponding with the forward charge, and thereby discharge the same. By giving the trigger a second pull a little further back, an inclined surface or projection on the part d will act against the second part dl of the trigger, which has hitherto held fast the hammer c1 for the after charge, and thereby release the same, and allow the hammer spring fl to propel its hammer forward, and fire the after charge. During the discharging of both the charges out of the same barrel, the breech piece is held steady and in a line with the main barrel in the manner above described or in any usual manner. After both charges have been fired off from the chamber, the hammers are pulled back again to repeat the same operation.
Having now set forth the nature of the Invention of improvements in revolvers and in bullets for the same, as communicated to me by my foreign correspondent, and explained the manner of carrying the same into effect, I wish it to be understood that under the above in part recited Letters Patent I claim,—
First, constructing revolvers with chambers in the revolving breech piece capable of receiving two charges each, and with nipples and hammers so arranged and applied as to discharge the charges in each chamber one after the other, substantially as specified, the two hammers being operated by one trigger, substantially as described.
Secondly, I claim the construction and use of a compressible ball provided with a recess filled with grease composed of soap and oil, or its equivalent, in the manner and for the purpose above described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, have hereunto set my hand and seal, the Twenty-eighth day of January, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty.
A. V. NEWTON, (l.s.)
Witness,
J. W. Moffatt,
66, Chancery Lane.