British 479
LETTERS PATENT to Timothy Walker Carter, of the State of Massachusetts, of the United States of America, for the Invention of “ Certain New aitd Usepui. Improvements nr Repeating Fire-arms.”—A communication from Joshua Stevens, of the aforesaid State of Massachusetts.
Sealed the 24th April 1855, and dated the 3rd March 1855.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Timothy Walker Carter at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 3rd March 1855.
I, Timothy Walker Carter, of the State of Massachusetts, of the United States of America, do hereby declare the nature of the Invention for “ New and Useful Improvements in Repeating Fire-arms/* to be as follows:—
Of the said Drawings, Figure 1 denotes a side elevation of a “ revolver ” pistol, constructed in accordance with my Invention, one of its lock plates being removed in order to exhibit the internal construction of the lock, and the hammer being shown as elevated. Figure 2 exhibits a view of the lock as it appears when the hammer is removed from it; Figure 3 is an inner side view of the hammer; Figure 4 is a front edge view of the same; Figure 5 is a front end view of the rotary cylinder; Figure 6 is a rear end view of the same; Figure 7 is a front end view of the breech plate of the lock and the journal on which the cylinder revolves.
In these Drawings, or in such of them as the same may be shown, A represents the lock case or handle of the fire-arm or pistol; B, the percussion hammer or cock; C, the trigger; D, the rotary cylinder or magazine; E, the barrel; F, the journal, on which the rotary cylinder D is supported and revolve; G is the percussion nipple; H, the trigger spring; J, the main spring, connected to the hammer by means of a stirrup K; L, the lever, for turning the magazine or cylinder D; M is the bolt of the said cylinder.
The hammer is provided with a small notch a, for the catch part b of the trigger to take into, in order to set said hammer to a full cock. When the hammer is made to actuate a “ Maynard primer(for which the fire-arm delineated in the Drawings is prepared,) it may be provided with a small impelling pawl c, arranged upon it as seen in the Drawings; this, however, forms no part of my Invention. A stationary journal N for the hammer to rotate upon is placed in the lock case, and by the side of this hammer is a tumbler 0, which rotates freely on the journal N, and is moved thereon by means of an arm d projecting from the trigger, and made to work into a notch e formed in the tumbler, as seen in the Drawings, and particularly in Figures 8 and 9, which are views of opposite sides of said tumbler. To this tumbler the turning level L may be jointed, the ends of the lever being placed within a recess/formed in the tumbler, as seen in Figure 9 ; the said recess being provided with a bearer x, against which the lever L rests, when and so that it may be elevated by the tumbler.
In Figure 9 the lever L is represented by dotted lines. A spring g projecting from the tumbler rests on the upper side of the lever L, and serves to press down the front end of the lever at proper times. The upper part of the tumbler is formed with a catch or notch h and a cam i, which operates on a tail hook of the bolt M, for the purpose of withdrawing it and the bolt, the said bolt being moved forwards by means of a spring p projecting upwards from the lower part of the lock case, and made to enter a small recess or notch n formed in the tail hook o, such tail hook being jointed to the bolt, so as to be capable of moving freely in a vertical plane.
During the rotation of the tumbler by the trigger the catch h will be carried into contact with the part r of the tail hook, and will draw back the tail hook and its bolt, until the cam i acting against the tail hook shall force the part r entirely above the catch h, which taking place the bolt will be set free, so as to be moved forward by its spring, the action of which is such as not only to move the bolt, but to press its tail hook downward towards the tumbler. By arranging the notch n below the point p, as seen in the Drawings, the spring is caused to operate upon the tail hook, so as to depress it in the manner as specified. The cylinder D being provided with a series of charge chambers s, s9 s, is to have imparted to it such an intermittent rotary motion as will bring the touch-holes of its several chambers (such touch-holes being represented in Figure 6, at t, t, t, and their directions being represented therein by dotted lines,) successively into line with the bore of the barrel. The rear end of the cylinder is provided with locking recesses u, u, and a ratchet or turning cams v, v, v, arranged as seen in Figure 6, they being constructed and made to operate with respect to the bolt and turning lever, essentially like those in common use in many pistols having revolving magazines, cylinders, or a series of barrels. During the reciprocating rotary movement of the tumbler, produced by the movement of the trigger and spring H thereof, the turning lever or finger L will be moved forward and upward against the bearing face of a tooth of the ratchet, and be subsequently drawn backward away from the ratchet, while the spring g will force it downward, so as to cause it to pass over the next succeeding tooth of the ratchet. While being moved by the tumbler, the bearer x comes in contact with the turning lever, and forces it upward.
I would further remark, that when the turning lever L is forced against the tooth of a ratchet during the time the cylinder is being revolved, there is to such lever no forward motion such as would tend to crowd the cylinder in a longitudinal direction against the barrel or its front support. This action of the lever is very important, and prevents any of that serious friction of the cylinder against the barrel or front bearing which is often produced by a spring or pawl, so acting as to press the cylinder forward while in the act of turning it around. From the rear side of the hammer there projects a cam pin w9 which should be so made and applied, that while the hammer is in the act of descending, it may so act against the tail hook o, as to elevate or keep elevated the said tail hook so far above the catch h of the tumbler, that such catch may pass by and not act on the part r, in case the movement of the trigger is so rapid as to render the cylinder liable to be rotated before the charge fired by the action of the hammer has left its chamber in the cylinder. In this case, or when the trigger is moved back with too great rapidity, or without effecting any rotation of the cylinder, it must be suffered again to move forward before it can produce such a movement of the cylinder. This done daring the next backward pull of the trigger, the hammer being down upon the nipple, the catch of the tumbler will so act against the tail hook of the bolt as to draw the bolt backward, and enable the turning mechanism to revolve the cylinder.
As the rapidity of the back movement of the trigger should be such as to allow a charge to fully leave its chamber before the cylinder is again rotated, if we allow the locking bolt to commence its backward movement at the instant the hammer strikes on the nipple, the interval of time required to draw the bolt out of its recess in the cylinder will be ample for the explosion of the charge and its exit from the chamber; we should therefore be particular that the locking bolt is not retracted before the hammer strikes down on the nipple. The cam pin eases down the tail hook of the locking bolt, so that it may be caught by the catch of the tumbler, after or about the time the hammer has struck on the nipple, provided the movement of such catch has not been so rapid as to pass by the part r. In case the back movement of the catch has been too fast, the locking bolt will not have been withdrawn from the cylinder; consequently no rotation of the cylinder can take place until such bolt is so withdrawn, and it cannot be withdrawn without suffering the trigger to move forward and again pulling it backward. Were it not for the cam pin or some equivalent element, a too rapid rearward movement of the trigger would be likely to cause the bolt to be drawn and the cylinder rotated, before a charge after explosion could fairly leave its chamber. The herein described and represented arrangement and combination of the trigger and its spring, a rotary tumbler, separate from the trigger and moving on a separate pin or journal, the turning mechanism, and the locking or unlocking mechanism, afford important advantages in the within described repeating fire-arm provided with revolving cylinders, or a series of barrels.
I am aware that by a single pull or back movement of a trigger the lock hammer has been elevated, the cylinder unlocked and revolved, so as to bring up to the hammer the percussion nipple of a chamber to be discharged, the cylinder locked, and the hammer set free, so as to be thrown down by its spring; these several operations having been effected in the order stated, while the restoration of them to their proper positions for another pull of the trigger has been produced during the return or forward movement of such trigger. I am also aware that a rotating chambered cylinder has been combined with a lock in such manner that by the operation of lifting the hammer, the cylinder has been rotated to the extent required to bring a loaded chamber in line of a barrel, preparatory to the discharge of the load thereof.
I am also aware that there has been combined with a rotary cylinder and its hammer or cock mechanism by which the act of lifting the hammer would cause the cylinder to be liberated or unlocked, (to admit of its being rotated,) and subsequently relocked, so that said cylinder may be held in a proper position during a discharge from it.
I would remark that my Invention operates very differently from such, as in it the hammer is not elevated by force acting through the trigger, it being only discharged by such force, and is elevated by a separate power, or that of the hand of the person applied to it. This feature, however, is not new, and is found in fire-arms whose cylinders are rotated by means of power acting through their hammers.
In my Invention the fall of the hammer and the discharge of its chamber take place before and not after the cylinder is rotated, so as to bring a loaded chamber in line with the barrel, such rotation following a discharge and bringing up to the priming element the next chamber to be fired. All this is accomplished by power applied to the trigger, and during one entire backward movement of it.
In my Invention the unlocking of the cylinder immediately follows the discharge of the hammer or cock, the turning of such cylinder next taking place, and being succeeded by the locking of it preparatory to the next fall of the hammer. With my Invention, while I retain all the advantage of the hammer to be cocked by the hand or thumb of a person applied directly to it, and to be maintained at cock by the trigger, so that a slight pull on the trigger will suffice to set it off, I get rid of that strain of the main spring on the trigger which results whenever the hammer is elevated by force applied to the trigger, such strain being often productive of painful and injurious consequences. The only strain on the finger is that of the trigger spring and the power required to rotate the cylinder. In rapid firing it becomes desirable to have as little power as possible exerted in the elevation of the cock or hammer, when it is raised by the application of the thumb directly to it. If to the power required to rotate it any additional amount of force must be brought to bear upon it, in order to effect the rotation of the cylinder; this additional power, especially when a lock becomes foul, is an obsticle to rapid firing. But when such power, as in my Invention, is applied through the trigger, and to immediately follow a discharge, the hand and fore finger are in a very favorable position to effect the rotation of the cylinder.
I claim so combining the trigger, the hammer, and the mechanism for rotating the cylinder, that by a single pull on and during the back movement of the trigger, the hammer shall be discharged or set free from the trigger, (so as to fall on the nipple when the touch-hole of one charge chamber of the cylinder is in connection with it,) and the cylinder subsequently rotated, so as to bring up to the percussion nipple or its equivalent the touch-hole of the next chamber of the series thereof.
And in combination with the mechanism for turning the cylinder, and that for locking and unlocking it, I claim a cam pin (projecting from the hammer), or its equivalent, for preventing the cylinder from being unlocked, or for locking it, in case the movement of the trigger is so rapid as to render the cylinder liable to be rotated before the charge fired by the action of the hammer has left its chamber.
I do not claim jointing an impelling pawl directly to the lower part of a percussion hammer, so that by the reciprocating rotary movement of the hammer the said pawl may be moved against and drawn away from the ratchet of the revolving cylinder; nor do I claim jointing a lever directly to the trigger, so that by the movement of the trigger such lever may be moved against one tooth of the ratchet, or drawn back over the next succeeding tooth, and against a spring acting upon the rear end of the lever; but what I do claim is, the herein-before described and represented arrangement and combination of the trigger and its spring, a rotary tumbler, separate from the trigger and moving on a separate pin or fulcrum, a turning mechanism of the cylinder, and the locking and unlocking mechanism thereof, by which arrangement and combination, during and by a back and forward movement of the trigger, the cylinder will be locked or unlocked, and have an intermittent rotary motion imparted to it, and the cock or percussion hammer be actuated essentially as specified. I also claim the bearer x, or its equivalent, in combination with the turning lever L, and the part or tumbler to which it is connected or jointed, and by which motion is imparted to the said turning lever, as specified; this combination attaining an important advantage, as herein-before explained.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed by the said Timothy Walker Carter in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 18th August 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, Timothy Walker Carter, of the State of Massachusetts, of the United States of America, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters Patent, bearing date the Third day of March, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, in the eighteenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said Timothy Walker Carter, Her special license that I, the said Timothy Walker Carter, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Timothy Walker Carter, 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 of “ Certain New and Useful Improvements in Repeating Fire-arms,” [the same being communicated by Joshua Stevens, of the aforesaid State of Massachusetts,] upon the condition [amongst others] that I, the said Timothy Walker Carter, 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 Timothy Walker Carter, 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 Specification and the accompanying Drawing, letters, figures, and
references thereof:—
Of the said Drawings Figure 1 denotes a side elevation of a revolver pistol, constructed in accordance with the Invention, one of its lock plates being removed in order to exhibit the internal construction of the lock, and the hammer being shown as elevated. Figure 2 exhibits a view of the lock as it appears when the hammer is removed from it; Figure 3 is an inner side view of the hammer; Figure 4 is a front edge view of the same; Figure 5 is a front end view of the rotary cylinder; Figure 6 is a rear end view of the same; Figure 7 is a front end view of the breech plate of the lock and the journal on which the cylinder revolves.
In these Drawings, or in such of them as the same may be shown, A represents the lock case or handle of the fire-arm or pistol; B, the percussion hammer or cock ; C, the trigger; D, the rotary cylinder or magazine; E, the barrel; F, the journal on which the rotary cylinder D is supported and revolved; G is the percussion nipple; H, the trigger spring; I, the main spring connected to the hammer by means of a stirrup K; L, the lever for turning the magazine or cylinder D; M is the bolt of the said cylinder.
The hammer is provided with a small notch a for the catch part b of the trigger to take into, in order to set said hammer to a full cock. When the hammer is made to actuate a “ Maynard primer” (for which the fire-arm delineated in the Drawing is prepared,) it may be provided with a small impelling pawl c arranged upon it, as seen in the Drawings. This, however, forms no part of the Invention. A stationary journal N for the hammer to rotate upon is placed in the lock case, and by the side of this hammer there is a tumbler 0, which rotates freely on the journal N, and is moved thereon by means of an arm d projecting from the trigger, and made to work in a notch e formed in the tumbler, as seen in the Drawings, and particularly in Figures 8 and 9, which are views of opposite sides of said tumbler. To this tumbler the turning lever L may be jointed, the end of the lever being placed within a recess / formed in the tumbler, as seen in Figure 9. A spring g projecting from the tumbler rests upon the upper side of the lever L, and serves to press down the front end of the lever at proper times. The upper part of the tumbler is formed with a catch or notch h and a cam t, which operates on the tail hook of the bolt M for the purpose of withdrawing it and the bolt, the said bolt being moved forwards by means of a spring P projecting upwards from the lower part of the lock case, and made to enter a small recess or notch n formed in the tail hook o, such tail hook being jointed to the bolt, so as to be capable of moving freely in a vertical plane.
During the rotation of the tumbler by the trigger, the catch h will be carried into contact with the part r of the tail hook, and will draw back the tail hook and its bolt until the cam i, acting against the tail hook, shall force the part p entirely above the catch h% which taking place the bolt will be set free so as to be moved forwards by its spring, the action of which is such as not only to move the bolt, but to press its tail hook downward towards the tumbler. By arranging the notch n below the joint p, as seen in the Drawings, the spring is caused to operate upon the tail hook, so as to depress it in the manner as specified. The cylinder D being provided with a series of charge chambers s, s, s, is to have imparted to it such an intermittant rotary movement as will bring the touch-holes of its several chambers (such touch-holes being represented in Figure 6, at t, £, £, and their directions being represented therein by dotted lines) successively into line with the bore of the barrel. The rear end of the cylinder is provided with locking recesses u, u, and a ratchet or turning cams v, v, v9 arranged as seen in Figure 6, they being constructed and made to operate with respect to the bolt and turning lever essentially like those in common use in many pistols having revolving cylinders or magazines or a series of barrels. From the rear side of the hammer there projects a cam pin w9 which should be so made and applied, that while the hammer is in the act of descending, it may so act against the tail hook 0, as to elevate or keep elevated the said tail hook so far above the catch h of the tumbler, that such catch may pass by and not act on the part r, in case the movement of the trigger is so rapid as to render the cylinder liable to be rotated before the charge fired by the action of the hammer has left its chamber in the cylinder. In this case, or when the trigger is moved back with too great rapidity without effecting any rotation of the cylinder, it must be suffered to again move forwards before it can produce such a movement of the cylinder. This done during the next backward pull of the trigger, the hammer being down on the nipple, the catch of the tumbler will so act against the tail hook of the bolt as to draw the bolt backward, and enable the turning mechanism to revolve the cylinder.
As the rapidity of the back movement of the trigger should be such as to allow a charge to fully leave its chamber before the cylinder is again rotated, if we allow the locking bolt to commence its backward movement at the instant the hammer strikes on the nipple, the interval of time required to draw the bolt out of its recess in the cylinder will be ample for the explosion of the charge and its exit from the chamber. I should therefore be particular that the locking bolt is not retracted before the hammer strikes down on the nipple. The cam pin eases down the tail hook of the locking bolt, so that it may be caught by the catch of the tumbler after or about the time the hammer has struck on the nipple, provided the movement of such catch has not been so rapid as to pass by the part r. In case the back movement of the catch has been too fast, the locking bolt will not have be withdrawn from the cylinder; consequently no rotation of the cylinder can take place until such bolt is so withdrawn, and it cannot be withdrawn without suffering the trigger to move forward and again pulling it backward. Were it not for the cam pin, or some equivalent element, a too rapid rearward movement of the trigger would be likely to cause the bolt to be drawn, and the cylinder rotated before a charge after explosion could fairly leave its chamber.
I am aware that by a single pull or back movement of a trigger the lock hammer has been elevated, the cylinder unlocked and revolved, so as to bring up to the hammer the percussion nipple of a chamber to be discharged, the cylinder locked, and the hammer set free, so as to be thrown down by its spring, these several operations having been effected in the order stated, while the restoration of them to their proper positions for another pull of the trigger has been produced during the return or forward movement of such trigger. I am also aware that a rotating chambered cylinder has been combined with a lock in such manner that, by the operation of lifting the hammer, the cylinder has been rotated to the extent required to bring a loaded chamber in line of a barrel preparatory to the discharge of the load thereof. I am also aware that there has been combined with a rotary cylinder and its hammer or cock mechanism by which the act of lifting the hammer would cause the cylinder to be liberated or unlocked, to admit of its being rotated, and subsequently relocked, so that said cylinder may be held in a proper position during a discharge from it.
I would remark that my Invention operates very differently from such, as in it the hammer is not elevated by force acting through the trigger, it being only discharged by such force, and is elevated by a separate power, or that of the hand of a person applied to it. This feature, however, is not new, and is found in fire-arms whose cylinders are rotated by means of power acting through their hammers. In the Invention the fall of the hammer and discharge of its chamber takes place before and not after the cylinder is rotated, so as to bring a loaded chamber into line with the barrel, such rotation following a discharge and bringing vp to the priming clement the next chamber to be fred. All this is accomplished by power applied to the trigger, and during one entire back movement of it.
In the Invention the unlocking of the cylinder immediately follows the discharge of the hammer or cock, the turning of such cylinder next taking place, and being succeeded by the locking of it preparatory to the next fall of the hammer. With the Invention, while I retain all the advantages of the hammer to be cocked by the hand or thumb of a person applied directly to it, and to be maintained at cock by the trigger, so that a slight pull on the trigger will suffice to set it off, I get rid of that strain of the main spring on the trigger which results whenever the hammer is elevated by force applied to the trigger, such strain being often productive of painful and injurious consequences. The only strain on the finger is that of the trigger spring, and the power required to rotate the cylinder. In rapid firing it becomes desirable to have as little power as possible exerted in the elevation of the cock or hammer when it is raised by the application of the thumb directly to it. If to the power required to elevate it any additional amount of force must be brought to bear upon it, in order to effect the rotation of the cylinder, this additional power, especially when a lock becomes foul, is an obstacle to rapid firing. But when such power, as in the Invention, is applied through the trigger, and to immediately follow a discharge, the hand and fore finger are in a very favorable position to effect the rotation of the cylinder.
I claim so combining the trigger, the hammer, and the mechanism for rotating the cylinder, that by a single pull on and during the back movement of the trigger the hammer shall be discharged or set free from the trigger, (so as to fall on the nipple when the touch-hole of one charge chamber of the cylinder is in connection with it,) and the cylinder subsequently rotated, so as to bring up to the percussion nipple or its equivalent the touch-hole of the next chamber of the series thereof.
And in combination with the mechanism for turning the cylinder, and that for locking and unlocking it, I claim a cam pin (projecting from the hammer), or its equivalent, for preventing the cylinder from being unlocked, or for locking it, in case the movement of the trigger is so rapid as to render the cylinder liable to be rotated before the charge fired by the action of the hammer has left its chamber.
I do not claim jointing an impelling pawl directly to the lower part of a percussion hammer, so that by the reciprocating rotary movement of the hammer the said pawl may be moved against and drawn away from the ratchet of the revolving cylinder; nor do I claim jointing a lever directly to the trigger, so that by the movement of the trigger such lever may be moved against one tooth of the ratchet, or drawn back over the next succeeding tooth, and against a spring acting upon the rear end of the lever; but what I do claim is, the herein-before described and represented arrangement and combination of the trigger and its spring, a rotary tumbler, separate from the trigger and moving on a separate pin or fulcrum, a turning mechanism of the cylinder, and the locking and unlocking mechanism thereof, by which arrangement and combination, during and by a back and forward movement of the trigger, the cylinder will be locked or unlocked, and have an intermittent rotary motion imparted to it, and the cock or percussion hammer be actuated, essentially as specified. I also claim the bearer os, or its equivalent, in combination with the turning lever L, and the part or tumbler to which it is connected or jointed, and by which motion is imparted to the said turning lever, as specified; this combination attaining an important advantage, as herein-before explained.
In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my signature and seal, this Nineteenth day of July, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five.
TIMOTHY WALKER CARTER. (l.s.)