Britain 5143
A.D. 1881, 24th November. № 5143.
Small Fire-arms.
LETTERS PATENT to Thomas William Webley and Henry Webley, both of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Gun Manufacturers, for an Invention of “Improvements in Small Fire Arms.”
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas William Webley and Henry Webley at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 24th November 1881:
Thomas William Webley and Henry Webley, both of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Gun Manufacturers. “Improvements in Small Fire Arms.”
Our improvements consist first of the following method of constructing the lifter catch, by which the extractor of revolving small fire arms is worked.
We will describe this part of our Invention in connection with a revolving pistol.
In the body of the pistol and immediately in front of the joint of the lifter catch is a tooth or cam turning upon a joint and urged forward by a coiled spring in a recess in the body of the pistol. On the front of the joint of the lifter catch is a projection on which the spring tooth or cam described bears, When after firing the body of the pistol is depressed, the said spring tooth bearing upon the said projection operates the lifter and through it the extractor. When the body has been depressed through an angle somewhat greater than that which projects the extractor to its full extent, the spring tooth or cam is liberated from the projection on the joint of the lifter catch, when the extractor snaps back into its normal position by the action of its spring. The liberation of the spring tooth from the projection on the lifter catch is effected by the knuckles of. the joint on which the body turns, between which knuckles the joint of the lifter catch is situated. These knuckles are eccentric to the centre on which they turn, and when the body has been turned through the required angle they press back the spring tooth and permit the extractor to snap into its normal position. Should the spring tooth become disabled by the breaking of its spring or otherwise, the parts act in the same manner as the parts of the ordinary construction by depressing the body through a somewhat greater angle than that by which the spring tooth is operated.
Our improvements consist, secondly, of the following method of connecting and disconnecting the axis of the revolving cylindrical bolt of revolving small fire arms to and from the block on the fixed barrel of the same. This connecting and disconnecting is effected by a spring cross pin passing through the said block, a coiled spring in the hollow head of the pin pressing it in the direction proper to withdraw it.
A cap fixed by a screw on the other end of the pin secures it in its place, the said pin being capable of a limited sliding motion by pressure upon its head. The under side of this pin has two slightly inclined cross slots or notches, The end of the hollow or tubular axis, which engages with the said spring pin, has on its under side a slot for the lifter catch to work in. Its upper half is cut away a short distance, the said cut away part terminating in a nearly semi-circular depression.
When the axis is pushed home in the block-the sides of the terminal end of the axis enter the slots in the spring cross pin, forcing it back till the semi-circular depressions in the axis are brought under the cross pin, when the said pin snaps by the action of its spring into the said depressions and effects the connection of the axis to the block. The axis is disconnected by pressing on the head of the cross pin.
Our improvements consist, thirdly, of the following method of mounting the revolving cylinders of revolving small fire arms. In the ordinary method of mounting the revolving cylinder upon its axis the rotation of the cylinder soon becomes impeded by the fouling or corrosion of the axis by the gases produced by the discharge of the arm. To remedy this inconvenience we mount the cylinder upon its axis in the following way:— The front end of the axial hole in the cylinder is expanded so as to form a cylindrical recess of somewhat larger diameter than the axix hole. This recess is made of still larger diameter at the extreme open end. That part of the recess of smaller diameter is screwed internally, and a screw collar fitting the said screwed recess and having a flange fitting the extreme open end of the recess takes into the said recess by a screwing motion, The end of the hollow axis has a flange which fits in the lower part of the said recess. When the said axis is put in its place in the axial hole in the cylinder its flange bears against the bottom of the recess. The screw collar is then screwed home in the said recess and the revolving cylinder is thereby secured on its axis, the end bearing of the revolving cylinder being formed by the inner face of the screw collar and the flange on the end of the axis. As the recess in which the said bearing is situated is closed by the screw collar, the gases produced by the explosion have no access to the bearing, and the fouling of the parts is effectually prevented.
Our improvements consist, fourthly, of the following method of ejecting the cases of spent cartridges from breech loading drop down small arms.
Underneath the rear end of the rod of the extractor is a lever pressed upwards by a spring. As the breech end of the barrels is raised the extractor is operated upon by a projection on the body in the ordinary way; but just before it reaches the end of its stroke the rear end of its rod is brought over the lever pressing on its under side. The said lever now acting on the end of the extractor rod jerks forward the extractor and objects the cartridge ease or cases.
Our improvements consist, lastly, in actuating the hand lever of small arms having concealed or internal hammers by means of a coiled spring acting in front of the said lever. The coiled spring acts upon the hand lever at a point a little below the centre on which the lever turns, and after the depression of the said lever for cocking the gun restores it to its normal position against the trigger guard.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by the said Thomas William Webley and Henry Webley in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 18th May 1882.
Thomas William Webley and Henry Webley, both of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Gun Manufacturers. “Improvements in Small Fire Arms.”
Our improvements consist, first, of the following method of constructing the lifter catch by which the extractor of revolving small fire arms is worked.
We will describe this part of our Invention in connection with a revolving pistol.
In the body of the pistol and immediately in front of the joint of the lifter catch is a tooth or cam turning upon a joint and urged forward by a coiled spring in a recess in the body of the pistol. On the front of the joint of the lifter catch is a projection on which the spring tooth or cam described bears. When after firing the body of the pistol is depressed, the said spring tooth bearing upon the said projection operates the lifter catch and through it the extractor.
When the body has been depressed through an angle somewhat greater than that which projects the extractor to its full extent, the spring tooth or cam is liberated from the projection on the joint of the lifter catch, when the extractor snaps back into its normal position by the action of its spring. The liberation of the spring tooth from the projection on the lifter catch is effected by the knuckles of the joint on which the body turns between which knuckles the joint of the lifter catch is situated. These knuckles are eccentric to the centre on which they turn, and when the body has been turned through the required angle they press back the spring tooth and permit the extractor to snap into its normal position.
Our improvements consist, secondly, of the following method of connecting and disconnecting the axis of the revolving cylindrical bolt of revolving small fire arms to and from the block on the fixed barrel of the same. This connecting and disconnecting is effected by a spring cross pin passing through the said block a coiled spring in the hollow head of the pin pressing it in the direction proper to withdraw it.
A cap fixed by a screw on the other end of the pin secures it in its place, the said pin being capable of a limited sliding motion by pressure upon its bead. The underside of this pin has two slightly inclined cross slots or notches. The 5 end of the hollow or tubular axis which engages with the said spring pin has on its underside a slot for the lifter catch to work in. Its upper half is cut away a short distance, the said cut away part terminating in a nearly semi-circular depression.
When the axis is pushed home in the block the sides of the terminal end of the axis enter the slots in the spring cross pin, forcing it back till the semi-circular depressions in the axis are brought under the cross pin, when the said pin snaps by the action of its spring into the said depressions and effects the connection of the axis to the block. The axis is disconnected by pressing on the head of the cross pin.
Our improvements consist, thirdly, of the following method of mounting the revolving cylinders of revolving small fire arms, In the ordinary method of mounting the revolving cylinder upon its axis, the rotation of the cylinder soon becomes impeded by the fouling or corrosion of the axis by the gases produced by the discharge of the arm. To remedy this inconvenience we mount the cylinder upon its axis in the following way:— The front end of the axial hole in the cylinder is expanded so as to form a cylindrical recess of somewhat larger diameter than the axial hole. This recess is made of still larger diameter at the extreme open end. That part of the recess of smaller diameter is screwed internally and a screw collar fitting the said screwed recess and having a flange fitting the extreme open end of the recess takes into the said recess by a screwing motion. The end of the hollow axis has a flange which fits in the lower part of the said recess. When the said axis is put in its place in the axial hole in the cylinder, its flange bears against the bottom of the recess, The screw collar is then screwed home in the raid recess and the revolving cylinder is thereby secured on its axis, the end bearing of the revolving cylinder being formed by the inner face of the screw collar und the flange on the end of the axis. As the recess in which the said bearing is situated is closed by the screw collar, the gases produced by the explosion have no access to the bearing and the fouling of the parts is effectually prevented.
Our improvements consist, fourthly, of the following method of ejecting the cases of spent cartridges from breech loading drop down small arms.
Underneath the rear end of the rod of the extractor is a lever pressed upwards by a spring. As the breech end of the barrels is raised the extractor 1s operated upon by a projection on the body in the ordinary way; but just before it reaches the end of its stroke the rear end of its rod is brought over the lever pressing on its underside. The said lever now acting on the end of the extractor rod jerks forward the extractor and ejects the cartridge case or cases.
Our improvements consist, lastly, in actuating the hand lever of small arms having concealed or internal hammers by means of a coiled spring acting in front of the said lever.
The coiled spring acts upon the hand lever at a point a little below the centre on which the lever turns, and after the depression of the said lever for cocking the gun restores it to its normal position against the trigger guard.
We will now proceed to describe with reference to the accompanying Drawings the manner in which our Invention is to be performed.
Figure 1 represents in side elevation; Figure 2 in longitudinal vertical section and partly in side elevation, and Figure 3 in end elevation a revolving pistol containing our improvements; Figure 4 represents the same in the act of extracting the cases of the exploded cartridges, and Figure 6 represents the same after the said cases have been extracted and the extractor returned to its normal position; Figure G represents a cross section of the pistol taken on the line a, a, Figure 2, and exhibits the construction of the cross pin used for connecting and disconnecting the bolt or axis of the rotating cylinder to and from the block on the fixed barrel; Figures 7 to 17 both inclusive represent parts of the pistol as hereinafter explained.
The same letters of reference indicate the same parts in Figures 1 to 17.
We will first describe the extracting mechanism.
b is the extractor of the ordinary kind (shown separately in Figure 7). Screwed to the extractor b is a rod c (shown separately in Figure 8), having at its end the head c² against which head c² and the flange d² on the axis d of the revolving cylinder c the coiled spring e (shown separately in Figure 9) takes its abutments. The spring e is for the purpose of giving the retiring or snapping action to the extractor and parts connected with it, as hereinafter explained; f is the lifter catch by which the extractor 6 is worked; the lifter catch f is shown separately in Figure 10. It turns on the pin or centre g, and its head bears against the head c² of the extractor rod c, and works in a slot in the underside of the axis d of the revolving cylinder. The lifter catch f has at the front of its joint part a projection h, and at its back stops or projections i, i, for limiting the depression of the body of the pistol with respect to the fixed barrel. In front of the joint of the lifter catch f is a tooth or cam & (shown separately in Figure 11) turning on the centre or pin l, and urged forward by the spring rod or pusher m. The cam k is cut away at its middle, the part of reduced thickness constituting a tooth which engages with or bears upon the projection h on the lifter catch f.
After the pistol has been discharged and it is wished to extract the cases of the exploded cartridges the body n of the pistol is depressed in the manner illustrated in Figure 4. On first depressing the body n of the pistol, the turning of the lifter catch f on its centre causes its projection h to engage with the spring tooth or cam k, as seen in Figure 4, thereby temporarily locking the said lifter catch in that position. The further depressing of the body n causes the temporarily fixed lifter catch f to operate through the rod c, the extractor b, and project the extractor from the chambers of the revolving cylinder and with it the empty cartridge cases, as seen in Figure 4, the spring e of the extractor being compressed.
When the body n has been depressed through an angle greater than that which projects the extractor to its full extent, the spring tooth or cam k is liberated from the projection h on the front of the lifter catch f, when the extractor b snaps back into its normal position by the action of the spring e, as illustrated in Figure 5. This liberation of the spring tooth or cam k from the projection k on the lifter catch is effected by the knuckles p, p, of the joint on which the body turns and between which the knuckles p. p, the joint part of the lifter catch f is situated.
The knuckles p, p, are represented separately in Figure 17. It will be seen by referring to the said Figure 17 that the parts p², p², of the knuckles p, p, are eccentric to the centre on which the lifter catch f and body b turn, and when the body has been depressed so as to bring the parts p², p², of the knuckles to bear against the parts k², k², of the spring tooth or cam k, the said tooth or cam is pressed back and the lifter catch f is liberated, and the extractor b snaps by the action of its compressed spring e into its normal position, as illustrated in Figure 5, the said spring also returning the lifter catch to its normal position. On closing the pistol after reloading it, the projection h on the lifter catch f passes below the tooth or cam k as illustrated in Figure 2, ready on again depressing the body n to be reengaged with the cam k for the extraction of the empty cartridge cases, as hereinbefore described.
We will now describe the spring cross pin and the parts for connecting and disconnecting the axis or bolt d of the revolving cylinder to and from the block on the fixed barrel. The cross pin is marked g, and is shown separately in Figure 12, This pin passes through a hole in the block n², and is capable of a slight motion in the line of its axis, a coiled spring around the said pin urging it in the direction proper to withdraw it. The said pin q is fixed in its place by the screw cap q². In the underside of the pin g are two slightly inclined cross slots or notches t, t, as best seen in Figure 12, with which the forked or cut away end of the hollow or tubular axis d of the revolving cylinder engages. The axis d is shown separately in Figure 13, and in combination with the revolving cylinder in section in Figure 14, and end elevation in Figure 15. By an examination of Figures 13 and 14, and the cross section, Figure 6, it will be seen that the end of the upper half of the axis d is cut away, terminating in the nearly semi-circular depressions at d³. It will also be seen from Figure 14 that one side of the cut away end of the axis d is inclined.
In order to connect the axis d of the revolving cylinder to the body the said axis d is pushed home in the body n and block n². The sides of the terminal end of the axis d as they pass into the block n² enter the slots t, t, in the spring cross pin g. The inclined side of the said end of the axis d forces the said pin g inwards until the semi circular depressions d³ in the axis d are brought under the cross pin g, when the said pin is forced outwards by the action of its compressed spring and snaps into the said depressions at d³, and thereby effects the connection of the axis d to the block n².
In order to disconnect the axis d from the body the cross pin g is pressed inwards by acting on its head so as to bring the notches t, t, in it opposite the fork or cut away end of the axis d, when the said axis may be withdrawn.
We will next describe our method of mounting the revolving cylinder of the pistol. The front end of the axial hole in the revolving cylinder r is expanded at r² for receiving the flange d² on the end of the hollow axis d (see Figure 14), and the front of the recess at r² in the axial hole is also expanded at r² so as to form a cylindrical recess of somewhat larger diameter than the recess at r³. The recess at r³ is made of still larger diameter at the extreme open end. The recess r³ is screwed, and in it a screw collar s (shown separately in Figure 16) is screwed, the flange on the screw collar fitting the extreme open end of the recess r³. After the axis d has been put in its place in the axial hole in the cylinder r the flange d² of the said axis d occupies the recess at r²; the screw collar s is then screwed home in the recess r³.
The revolving cylinder e is thereby secured on its axis, the end bearing being formed by the inner face of the screw collar a, and the flange d² on the end of the axis d, as will be understood by an examination of Figure 14. As the recess in which the end bearing d² of the axis d works is closed by the screw collar s, the gases have no access to the said bearing, and hence the fouling or corrosion of the axis is effectually prevented.
The improvements described and illustrated may be applied to revolving guns as well as to revolving pistols.
Figures 18 and 19 represent longitudinal sections of a breech loading drop down gun containing mechanism constructed according to our Invention for ejecting the spent cartridge cases from the barrels of the said guns, In Figure 18 the gun is represented closed, and in Figure 19 open, and the spent cartridge case ejected from the barrel. a is the barrel and b is the body; c is the extractor. Underneath the extractor rod d is a lever e pressed.upwards by the spring f. g is the nose or projection near the joint part of the body b, by which the extractor is operated. When the extractor is in its normal position, Figure 18, the end of the lever c presses on the underside of the extractor rod d. As the breech end of the barrel a is raised from the break off the extractor d is started by the nose or projection g acting on the end of the extractor rod d in the ordinary way.
Soon as the cartridge case has been started from the barrel the rear end of the extractor rod d is brought over the end of the lever e, which lever now rising acts on the end of the extractor rod d and jerks forward the extractor and ejects the cartridge case, the several parts now occupying the positions represented in Figure 19. On closing the barrel after releasing the gun the lever e is depressed by the advance of the extractor rod d, and the end of the said lever again presses on the underside of the rod, as seen in Figure 18.
Figure 20 represents in plan and Figure 21 in longitudinal section our method of actuating the hand levers of small arms having concealed or internal hammers, h is the trigger plate, to which the hand lever i is jointed at i²; i³ is the short arm of the hand lever, through the action of which the internal hammers are cocked; k is a coiled spring situated at the front of the hand lover, and acting upon the said lever at a point a little below the centre, on which the lever turns, as illustrated in Figure 21. The coiled spring k surrounds the rod l, the head of which rod has a V shaped notch, with which a V shaped tooth or projection on the hand lever engages, as seen in Figure 21. The other end of the coiled spring k takes a bearing at m on the trigger plate. When the hand lever i is depressed the rod l is lifted by the V shaped tooth or projection of the lever, and the coiled spring k is put into a state of tension, the said spring on loosing the hand lever restoring it to its normal position.
Having now described the nature of our Invention, and the manner in which the same is to be performed, we wish it to be understood that we claim as our Invention with respect to the improvements in revolving small fire arms hereinbefore described and illustrated in Figures 1 to 17 both inclusive of the accompanying Drawings,—
First. The improvements described and illustrated in constructing the lifter catch and parts connected with it for working the extractors of revolving small fire arms, that is to say, the construction of the spring tooth or cam k, k², and its combination with the lifter catch f and the knuckles p, p², on the body of the fire arm for causing the projection of the extractor on the depression of the body of the fire arm, and for effecting the liberation of the extractor and its return to its normal position after the extraction, the several parts being constructed, arranged, and working substantially as described and illustrated.
Secondly. The improvements described and illustrated in connecting and dis-connecting the axis of the revolving cylinders of revolving small fire arms to and from the block on the fixed barrel of the same, that is to say, the spring cross pin q, q², and its combination with the terminal cut away part, and the depressions d³ of the axis d of the revolving cylinder, for the purpose and substantially as described and illustrated.
Thirdly. The improvements described and illustrated for mounting the revolving cylinders of revolving small fire arms for the purpose of preventing the fouling or corrosion of the axes of the said cylinders by the gases produced by the explosion of the said firearms, that is to say, making in the axial hole in the revolving cylinder the recess r³ for receiving the flange d² on the axes of the revolving cylinder, and the recess r³ for receiving the screw collar s, for the purpose and substantially as described and illustrated.
We claim with respect to the improvements in drop down guns represented in Figures 18, 19, 20, and 21 of the accompanying Drawings,—
Fourthly. The use of the spring lover e, f, arranged and working substantially as herein before-described and illustrated in Figures 18 and 19 for ejecting the cases of the spent cartridges from the barrels of the said guns.
Figures 20 and 21 for actuating the hand levers of drop down guns having concealed or internal hammers.
In witness whereof, we, the said Thomas William Webley and Henry Webley, have hereunto set our hands and seals, this Sixteenth day of May, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and eighty two.
THOˢ. W WEBLEY. (L.S.)
HRENRY WEBLEY. (L.S.)
Witness,
Richard Skerrett,
37, Temple Street,
Birmingham.