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British patent 2067
LETTERS PATENT to William Tranter, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Gun Manufacturer, for the Invention of “ Improvements in Fire-arms.”
Sealed the 17th October 1862, and dated the 19th July 1862.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Tranter at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 19th July 1862.
I, William Tranter, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Gun Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for ** Improvements in Fire-arms,” to be as follows: —
My Invention consists in the first place in the use of a stop or holder for the revolving chamber in the form of a spring lever with a hooked end adapted to be acted upon by a tooth or projection on the front of the tumbler or hammer when the latter is raised previous to firing, thereby withdrawing the stock and liberating the chamber, the spring of the lever forcing forward the usual stud and locking the chamber when the tooth or projection on the tumbler or the hammer has passed out of the hooked end of the lever.
My Invention consists in the second place in the use of a bridle or cover for the works of a revolver which may be removed with facility so as to admit of the works being examined as required. For this purpose the axletree pin on which the hammer moves is screwed fast in the body by a screw formed on it close to the head of the said pin. The axletree pin is also screwed at the end for the bridle or cover to be screwed on it. The bridle or cover is milled at the upper part so as to enable it to be screwed and unscrewed as required.
My Invention consists in the third place in the use of a centre rod for the chamber to revolve on, with a spring or spring lever acting in a slot or cavity in the rod, which spring on being compressed into the cavity allows the rod to be withdrawn from the body in order to take out the chamber when required.
My Invention consists in the fourth place in adapting and applying to ramrods a lubricating brush or elastic fabric or substance capable of holding lubricating material for the purpose of lubricating the inside of the rifled barrel each time it is loaded.
And my Invention consists in the last place in forming the grooves of rifle barrels in the shape of a hyperbolic curve for the purpose of getting rid of angles in the cross section so as to admit of the lubricating rod cleaning the barrel or softening the deposit therein with facility.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by the said William Tranter in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 17th January 1863.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, William Tranter, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Gun Manufacturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters Patent, bearing date the Nineteenth day of July, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, in the twenty-sixth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said William Tranter, Her special license that I, the said William Tranter, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William Tranter, my executors, administrators, or 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 nr Fire-arms,” upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William Tranter, 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 William Tranter, do hereby declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to bo performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement (that is to say):—
My Invention of “ Improvements in Fire-arms,” consists in the first place in the use of a stop or holder for the revolving chamber in the form of a spring lever with a hooked end adapted to be acted upon by a tooth or projection on the front of the tumbler or hammer, when the latter is raised previous to firing, thereby withdrawing the stop and liberating the chamber, the spring of the lever forcing forward the usual stud, and locking the chamber when the tooth or projection on the tumbler or the hammer has passed out of the hooked end of the lever. The said spring lever works on a pivot fixed in the frame and is composed of two arms, one on each side of the pivot, one of which arms has a spring, and carries the usual stud for holding the revolving chamber by passing into one of its notches or cavities, and the other has a hooked end, formed with an inclined face so as to allow the tooth or projection on the tumbler or on the hammer (which tooth or projection has a correspondingly inclined surface) to pass over it, when the hammer is projected on to the nipple, but the bottom of the said hooked end projects slightly from the face of the lever, thereby forming a catch for the said tooth or projection. By this arrangement, when the hammer is raised, the tooth or projection is brought under the projecting part of the hooked end of the lever, and raises such end, by which the other end of the lever on the opposite side of its pivot is depressed, and the stud thereon withdrawn from the notch or cavity of the revolving chamber, the spring of the lever carrying the stud forward again into the notch or cavity when the hooked end of the lever is liberated.
My Invention consists in the second place in the use of a bridle or cover for the works of a revolver, which may be removed with facility so as to admit of the works being examined as required. For this purpose the axletree pin on which the hammer moves is screwed fast in the body by a screw formed on it close to the head of the said pin. The axletree pin is also screwed at the end for the bridle or cover to be screwed on it. The bridle or cover is milled at the upper part so as to enable it to be screwed or unscrewed as required. The axletree pin is formed of increased diameter at the end where it is screwed into the frame, such end terminating in a screw head ; it is then plain (or without a screw thread) in the central part on which the hammer works, and there is a screw thread on the other end in order to admit of the bridle or cover being screwed on it in such a manner as to close up the hole in the side of the frame, and cover the works, the milled edge of the bridle or cover alone projecting from the outer surface of the frame.
My Invention consists in the third place in the use of a centre rod for the chamber to revolve on, with a spring or spring lever acting in a slot or cavity in the rod, which spring on being compressed into the cavity allows the rod to be withdrawn from the body, in order to take out the chamber when required. There is also a slot or cavity in the frame into which the spring of the rod passes, whereby the rod is held firmly in its position.
My Invention consists in the fourth place in adapting and applying to ramrods a lubricating brush or elastic fabric or substance capable of holding lubricating material for the purpose of lubricating the inside of the rifled barrel each time it is loaded.
The object of this application of a lubricating material is to soften the deposit from the previous discharge each time the gun is loaded, thereby preventing an impediment to the passage of the succeeding projectile up the barrel. The lubricating fabric or substance may consist of rings of felt, which may be put on the end of the rod and secured by a screw, but I do not confine myself to this mode of applying the same.
And my Invention consists in the last place in forming the grooves of rifle barrels in the shape of a hyperbolic curve, for the purpose of getting rid of angles in the cross section so as to admit of the lubricating rod cleaning the barrel or softening the deposit therein with facility.
Hitherto the said grooves have been made of various forms in the cross section, but under my Invention they are made of the form of a hyperbolic curve, which may be varied in its size and proportions as required.
Having thus described the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I hereby declare that what I claim as of my Invention is,—
First, the spring lever stop for the revolving chamber acted upon by a
rejection on the tumbler or the hammer as herein-before described.
Secondly, the bridle or cover for the works of a revolver as herein-before described.
Thirdly, the mode of holding the centre rod of the revolving chamber herein-before described.
Fourthly, the application to ramrods of a lubricating brush or substance for the purpose herein-before described.
And lastly, the rifling of the barrels of fire-arms with grooves in the form of a hyperbolic curve in the cross section.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Tranter, have hereunto set my hand and seal, this Seventeenth day of January, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three.
WILLIAM TRANTER. (l.s.)
Witness,
William Spence,
50, Chancery Lane,
Patent Agent.