Patent: William Westley Richards

British 911

LETTERS PATENT to William Westley Richards, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Gun Manufacturer, for the Invention of “ An Improvement or Improvements in Repeating or Revolving Fire-arms.”

Sealed the 29th June 1855, and dated the 24th April 1855.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Westley Richards at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 24th April 1855,

I, William Westley Richards, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Gun Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the Invention for “ An Improvement or Improvements in Repeating or Revolving Fire-arms ” to be as follows:—

My Invention consists in applying to repeating or revolving fire-arms the mechanism of the ordinary gun lock, with the following additions and modifications :—To the body of the pistol or fire-arm I attach a plate and frame, the frame having the form of the outline of the stock, and the said plate occupying part of the space enclosed by the said frame. A piece of wood of a suitable form is placed on each side of the said frame, and being secured in their places by screws; the said pieces of wood constitute, with the said frame, the stock of the fire-arm. The plate contained within the said stock carries the mechanism of the ordinary gun lock, with the following alterations and modifications:— Upon the tumbler of the said lock are placed the lever and stop, by which the revolving chamber is urged forward and held in its proper place, which said lever and stop are commonly used in revolving or repeating fire-arms ; I therefore do not think it necessary to describe the same. I also vary the form of the trigger on which the forefinger presses to discharge the fire-arm, so as to make the said trigger convenient for use in the changed position which the lock has in the fire-arm. The end of the trigger is nearly parallel to the stock, and is pressed towards the stock in discharging.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed by the said William Wcstley Richards in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 15th October 1855.

TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, William Westley Richards, 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 Twenty-fourth day of April, 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 William Westley Richards, Her special licence that I, the said William Westley Richards, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William Westley Richards, 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 “ An Improvement or Improvements in Repeating or Revolving Fire-arms,” upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William Westley Richards, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what maimer 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 Westley Richards, 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 Rowing statement thereof (that is to say) My Invention consists in applying to repeating or revolving fire-arms the mechanism of an ordinary gun lock, with the additions and modifications herein described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawing.

Figure 1 represents, in side elevation, a revolving or repeating pistol constructed according to my Invention, the wood constituting the stock being removed for the purpose of exhibiting the works in the interior, a is a plate, of the form represented in side elevation in Figure 2, and in end elevation in Figure 3. The upper part of the plate a carries the head b9 to which the axis of the revolving chamber c is attached; the fixed barrel d is also attached to the head b at e. The plate a is fixed in a frame /, the said frame/having the form of the outline of the stock, and constituting the said stock when wooden sides are attached on either side thereto. Figure 4 represents, in side elevation, (the said elevation being of the side the reverse of that represented in Figures 1 and 2,) the plate a, head b, and frame /. The plate a carries the cock and the whole of the mechanism excepting the trigger g, which, together with its guard h, is attached to the framing/. The mechanism of the lock differs from the ordinary mechanism of a gun lock in the following respects:—Upon the tumbler l of the lock I place the lever i, i, the pointed end of which engages in teeth on the face of the revolving chamber c; when the hammer or cock Jc is cocked, the pointed end of the lever i9 i9 is raised, and urges round the revolving chamber c. m is a stud, attached to the end of the lever n9 which said stud engages in the holes o, o9 of the revolving chamber c9 and bolts or fixes the said chamber. During the cocking of the hammer Jc, the tumbler l raises the end nl of the lever n9 a pin on the back of the tumbler l (shown in dotted lines) engaging under the end n1 of the lever n. When the hammer k has been raised to its fullest extent, the pin on the back of the tumbler escapes from under the end n1 of the lever, and a spring p raises the end of the lever carrying the stud m, and fixes the revolving chamber c, by causing the stud m to engage in one of the holes o. The trigger, and the sear on which the said trigger acts, differ somewhat in form from the ordinary trigger and sear; the difference in form of the said trigger and sear being rendered necessary by the position of the mechanism of the lock, but as the Drawing exhibits the exact forms which I give to the trigger and sear, I do not think it necessary to further describe the same. Instead of putting the cock outside the lock, as shown in Figure 4, the said cock may be fixed on its axis inside the lock, as is practised in the manufacture of the ordinary saddle pistol and the ordinary revolving pistol.

Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and the manner of carrying the same into effect, I wish it to be understood that I do not limit myself to the precise details herein described, as the same may be varied without departing from the nature of my said Invention; but I claim as my

Invention,—

Firstly, constructing revolving or repeating fire-arms in the manner herein described, and illustrated in the accompanying Drawing, that is to say, applying to revolving or repeating fire-arms the mechanism of an ordinary gun lock, with the additions and modifications described and represented.

Secondly, attaching the mechanism of repeating or revolving fire-arms, constructed in the manner herein described, and illustrated in the accompanying Drawing, to a plate and frame, the said plate being situated in the interior of the stock, as herein described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawing.

In witness whereof, I, the said William Westley Richards, have hereunto set my hand and seal, this Twelfth day of October, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five.

WILLIAM WESTLEY RICHARDS, (l.s.)

Witness,

George Shaw.