British 626
LETTERS PATENT to John Deane, junior, of King William Street, in the City of London, Gun Manufacturer, for the Invention of “ Improvements in Revolving Fire-arms/*
Sealed the 5th September 1862, and dated the 8th March 1862.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Deane at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 8th March 1862,
I, John Deane, junior, of King William Street, in the City of London, Gun Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for “ Improvements in Revolving Fire-arms,” to be as follows:—
My Invention relates to pistols, rifles, and other small fire-arms in which there is a revolving breech chamber, and consists in so constructing the chamber and breech as to admit of such chamber being loaded at the rear, as hereafter explained.
My Invention consists in boring the revolving chamber entirely through, and in fitting at the rear of such chamber an independent breech-piece or shield ; through this breech-piece and on one side an aperture is made, through which a cartridge is inserted into one of the compartments of the revolving chamber. The chamber is turned so as to present another compartment, and so on until the whole of the compartments have been charged. A shield connected to one end of a bolt free to move on a pin connected to some fixed part of the arm is then brought down to close the aperture in the breech-piece, and the pistol or gun is fired by the hammer striking through an aperture, made for the reception of the nose thereof in the shield, on a cap, or detonating powder at the rear of the cartridge. The chamber and the breech-piece, or shield, are capable of being removed when a revolving chamber of the ordinary construction, and fitted with nipples, may be substituted. Should the prepared cartridges be exhausted, it may be desirable to unship my breech-loading chamber and breech, and use the arm as an ordinary revolving chamber pistol or gun. In like manner my breech-loading chamber and its appurtenances may be applied to breech-loading guns and fire-arms where a revolving chamber of the ordinary construction is now used.
SPECIFICATION ii^ pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed by the said John Deane in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 8th September 1862.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, John Deane, junior, of King William Street, in the City of London, Gun Manufacturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters Patent, bearing date the Eighth day of March, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, in the twenty-fifth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said John Deane, junior, Her special licence that I, the said John Deane, junior, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said John Deane, junior, 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 “ Inpbovekxnts nr Revolving Fire-arms,’* upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said John Deane, junior, 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 Deane, junior, 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 thereof, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, that is to say:—
My Invention relates to pistol, rifles, and other small fire-arms in which there is a revolving breech chamber, and consists in so constructing the breech as to admit of such chamber being loaded at the rear, as hereafter explained.
My Invention consists in the employment of an independent breech-piece or shield, together with a revolving chamber, in which the compartments for receiving the charge are bored or formed entirely through the length of such chamber. Through this breech-piece, and on one side, an aperture is made, through which a cartridge is inserted into one of the compartments of the revolving chamber. The chamber is turned so as to present another compartment, and so on until the whole of the compartments have been charged. A plate connected to one end of an arm free to move on a pin connected to some fixed part of the arm is then brought down to close the aperture in the breech-piece, and the pistol or gun is fired by the hammer striking through an aperture made for the reception of the nose thereof in the shield, on a cup, or detonating powder at the rear of the cartridge.
Figure 1 of the accompanying Drawings is a side elevation of a revolving pistol, showing my Invention applied thereto; Figure 2 is a face view; Figure 3 a back view, and Figure 4 is a section through the line x, y, of Figure 3 of the independent breech-piece.
a is the chamber, with compartments for holding the charge, bored throughout the length of the chamber, free to revolve on a spindle in the usual manner; b is the independent breech-piece passed over the spindle, it is planed out at the back to form a recess, into which the lump c enters; the sides d, d, overlap the sides of the lump; e is the aperture through which the spindle passes ; / is the slot through which the lever for causing the rotation of the chamber works ; g is the opening to allow of the hammer striking the cartridge, and h is the aperture through which the cartridges are inserted into the compartments in the revolving chamber. The entrance to the aperture in the shield is rounded off to facilitate the insertion of the cartridges, t is a plate on the end of an arm k, free to turn on the pin l. This plate is turned to cover the aperture h after the chamber has been charged. It is turned up, as shewn by the dotted lines, to allow of the insertion of the cartridges into the compartments in the chamber. The chamber, and the breech-piece or shield are capable of being removed, when a revolving chamber fitted with nipples may be substituted. Should the prepared cartridges be exhausted,, it may be desirable to unship the brecch-loading chamber and breech, herein* before described, and use the arm as an ordinary revolving chamber pistol or gun. In like manner my Invention may be applied to breech-loading guns and fire-arms, where a revolving chamber of the ordinary construction is now used.
And having now described the nature of ray said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I am aware that the compartments for holding the charges in revolving chambers in fire-arms have heretofore been formed entirely through the length of such chambers, and therefore I lay no claim to the construction or separate employment of such revolving chambers; but I claim as my “ Improvements in Revolving Firearms,” the employment of an independent and movable breech-piece or shield, in combination with a revolving chamber, in which the compartments for containing the charge are bored or formed entirely through the length of such chambers.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Deane, junior, have hereunto set my hand and seal, this Sixth day of September, One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two.
JOHN DEANE, Jm (l.s.)