US172243A - Improvement in revolving fire-arms - Google Patents

Description

REVOLVING FIRE-ARM.

Patented Jan. 18,1876.

C. D m T G M N S A W H H P A R G D H h EDWARD P. BOARDMAN AND ANDREW J. PEAVEY, OF LAWRENCE, MASS.

IMPROVEMENT IN REVOLVING FIRE-ARMS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 172,243, dated January 18,1876; application filed June 24, 1875.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, EDWARD. P. BOARD- MAN and ANDREW J. PEAVEY, of Lawrence, in the county of Essex, State of Massachusetts, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Pistols, of which the following is a description sufficicntly full, clear, and exact to enable any person skilled in the art or science to which our invention appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, forming a part of this specification, in which- Figure l is a side elevation, and Fig. 2 a vertical longitudinal section.

Like letters of reference Indicate correspondng parts in the different figures of the drawmg.

Our invention relates to that class of pistols generally known as revolvers; and consists in a novel construction and arrangement of the parts, as hereinafter more fully set forth and claimed, by which the size of the implement is greatly reduced, while its effectiveness is increased.

It is well known that pistols of this nature, when constructed with a stock or handle of sufiicient proportions to enable. them to be held in the hand and discharged inthe usual manner without depending upon the barrel to steady the same, aretoo cumbersome to be conveniently carried in the pocket. It is also well known that most pistols, whether revolvers or otherwise, require cockin g by an inde pendent or entirely different motion of the hand from that made in discharging the same-- thatis to say, the hammer is drawn back and set by one movement and the trigger pulled by another, thus rendering it impossible, in many instances, to fire as rapidly as desirable.

Our invention is designed to obviate this objection and difficulty; and to that end we make use of means, the nature and operation of which will be readily understood by all conversant with such matters from the following description In the drawing, A is the stock or body; B, the barrel; Q, the cylinder; and D, the pushpin or trigger-rod. The cylinder, which is of the ordinary construction, is arranged to revolve on the pintle or axis R, having the pull or head T, and is provided with a seriesof cartridge-chambers, arranged in parallelism with each other, and with the barrel B, in the usual-manner. A lever, V, is pivoted in the lower part of the stock, and to one end of this lever there is jointed the locking-pin or bolt U, Workingvertically in a hole in the stock, its upper end fitting into a groove, S, cut around the pintle R, and into which it is forced by the expansive action of the coiled spring W beneath the free end of the lever. Pivoted in a proper socket or cavity, formed within the breech of the pistol, there is a hammer, m, provided with a spring, N, the expansive action of which tends to force the hammer in the direction of the cylinder Q. Do the lower part of the hammer, contiguous to the cylinder, there is a flange or projection to which is pivoted a click or pawl, P, provided with the spring 0. This spring has one of its ends attached to the interior of the stock, its

opposite or free end resting upon the pawl,

and forcing it down into contact with a series of ordinary ratchetteeth, (not shown,) arranged in circular form on the end of the cylinder. A pin, K, is fitted to work in a hole drilled vertically in the hammer, and beneath this pin there is a coiled spring, L, the action of which causes it to protrude slightly above the top of the hammer, forming a yielding stud or dog. The stock A is extended somewhat above the barrel B, and provided with a longi-' tudinal aperture or hole, in which the rod D is fitted to slide freely in parallelism with the barrel, being kept from revolving by the pro at H. The outer end of the rod is also drilled to receive the short coiled spring 1', the inner end of which rests against the rod, and the outer end against the pull G, the action of the spring tending to keep the pull in a vertical position. Attached to the stock beneath the rod D, and arranged to extend over the cylinder Q, there is a flat spring, X, provided upon its lower face with the stop or catch Y, which is fitted to work in a series of depressions or nicks, a, formed in the periphery of the cylinder Q, and corresponding in number with the number of chambers therein.

In the use of our improved revolver the spring V is depressed, withdrawing the pin U from the slot S, thus enabling the pintle It and cylinder Q to be removed,'when the cylinder may be charged or loaded with cartridges in the usual manner, and again returned to position. The pistol is then held in the palm of the hand, the end of the barrel B resting on the second finger, the forefinger being placed around the pull G, which should be elevated, as shown in Fig. 2. The rod D is then pulled or forced inwardly, the tooth J being thus brought into contact withthe pin K, pushing the hammer m back, and causing the pawl P to act against the ratchet on the cylinder R to revolve the same, the catch Y being meantime raised out of the nick a. As the rod D continues to advance, and the cylinder to .revolve, the hammer m will be thrown back to full cock, when the tooth J will escape or pass by the pin K, leaving the spring N to force the hammer down upon the cartridge with a sharp percussive blow and explode the same. Just prior to the tooth J passing or escaping the pin K, as described, one of the loaded chambers in the cylinder will be brought into such a position that its axial or central line will be coincident with that of the barrel B, in which position it will be held by the stop Y falling into one of the nicks a, thus properly securing the cylinder before the discharge takes place. The rod D being now released the expansive action of the spring F will force it outwardly, causing the tooth J to pass over the pin K, the spring L yielding for that purpose, and thus bringing the parts again into theposition shown in Fig. 2, preparatory to firing anothershot.

The pull Gserves not only as a finger-piece, with which to pull the rod 1), but also as a guard or stopple to prevent foreign substances from entering the barrel B, as seen in Fig. 1.

"concaved at Z, to enable the pistolvto be heldmore securely by the finger on which the barrel is rested, as described. The boss h on the rod D is so formed, and the springX so arranged, that the boss elevates the catch Y as the boss advances, until the hammer is nearly ready to strike, when the catch is released and permitted to fall into one of the nicks, as described. The hammer m being entirely concealed within the stock or breech, the pistol is in a -great measure prevented from being accidentally discharged after the manner of ordinary pistols.

It. will be obvious that the spring F may be dispensed with by employing a ring attached to the rod D, and so arranged that the rod may be worked both ways by the finger inserted in the same, without departing from the spirit of our invention also, that the pull G may be pivoted or rigid, as preferred.

Having thus explained our improvement, what we claim is 1. In a pistol, substantially such as described, the sliding rod D and hammer m, combined to operate substantially as specified.

2. In a pistol, substantially such as described, the hammer m, provided with the spring-pin K, substantially as set forth.

3. In a pistol, substantially such as described, the pull G, arranged to operate substantially as set forth.

4. I11 a pistol, substantially such as de-' scribed, the cylinder Q, barrel B, hammer m, pawl P, and rod D, combined to operate substantially as specified.

5. In a pistol, substantially such as described, the boss h, in combination with the spring-catch Y, substantially as set forth and specified.

Witnesses:

O. A. SHAW, JOHN C. SANBORN.

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