US38702A - Improvement in - Google Patents

Description

No. 38,702. l PATENTED MAY 26, 1s63.-

c. M. SPENCER. Y

MAGAZINE PIRBARM.

TJNITEE STATES PuLiTENT OFFICE. i

CHRISTOPHER M. SPENCER, or BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS IMPRQVEMENT IN. MAGAZINE FIRE-ARMS.

Specification forming part of Letters'Patent No. 378,702, dated May 26, 1863; antedated January 31, 1863.

To all whom it l Be it known that I, CHRISTOPHER M. SPEN- CER, of Boston, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Repeating' Fire-Arms; and Ido hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanyin g drawings, forming part of this 'Specification, in which- Figure 1 is a side view of the breech and parts of the stock and barrel of a repeating hre-arm having my invention applied.. Fig. 2 is a central longitudinal vertical section of the same. Fig. 3 is a top'view of the Same. Fig. 4 is a side view of the movable breech detached from the arm.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the Several iigures.

This invention relates to that description of repeating hre-arms in which loading at the breech is effected automatically from a magazine within the stock.

It consists, iirst,"'-in making the passage through which the cartridges pass from the magazine into the barrel within a movable breech-piece, which is constructed and applied to swing vertically from points near its rear end, whereby some important advantages over previous constructions and arrangements of the said passage are obtained, as will be hereinafter explained.

It also consists in certain means of operating a so constructed and applied breech-piece for the purpose of loading from the magazine in the stock; and, further, in a certain mode of applying in combination with such breechpiece and of producing the operation of a device for withdrawing the discharged shells of the cartridges from tnc barrel.`

To enable .Others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I will proceed to describeits construction and operation.

. A is the breech-frame, which connects the barrelE with the stock F, having provided in `it a vertical longitudinal parallel-sided opening, all, for the'reception ofthe movable breech piece B, which is fitted snugly thereinto. and secured therein by means of two screw-pivots, I) 1),..1screwing through the sides of the frame at opposite points, and Ientering pivot-holes provided for them in the sides vof the breechpiece, near the rear end thereof. The front end of the breech-piece B is of the form of a cylindrical are concentric with the axis of the pivots b b, and the front end of the opening a a in the breech-frame isof corresponding form. The rear end of the said breech-piece is rounded,'to permit its oscillating movement. The said 4breech-piece is bored longitudinally and centrally, or nearly so, as shown in Fig. 2,

to form the passage of communication, c c, between' the magazine C in the stock and the chamber of the barrel, the said passage being large enough for the cartridges to pass freely through it, and forming practically a portion of the magazine, as it may belong enough to contain two, three, four, or more cartridges.

The cartridges in the magazine, arranged lone behind another, are pressed forward .toward the barrel by means of a Spiral` spring, d, placed behind them, so that when the front end of the passage c c is brought opposite to the open chamber of the\ barrel, the several cartridges in the magazine and .in the said passage are allowed to be all forced forward by the spring, and the front one is deposited Within the chamber in position for firing, when the chamber has been closed by the depression of the breech-piece to bring the solid portions of its face, which is above the passage c c, opposite to the barrel, and the cartridge in the chamber has been thus Separated from those in the passage c c.

The movement of the breech-piece up and down Vupon the pivots b b is all that is necessary to enable the repeated loading of the gun to be eifected, provided the Shells of the cartridges are expelled in the act of firing or drawn outthrough the rear of the chamber after every fire.`

In the hre-arm 4represented hanged cartridges are used, and the empty or discharged shells are drawn out through the rear of the chamber and over the breech-piece, which `must be depressed low enough for that puri pose after every fire and before the elevation of the breech for reloading.

In the right-hand side of the breechpiece there is a groove, ef g, whose form is shown in Fig. 4. The front part, e, of this groove has an upward inclination toward the middle, f,

s asnoef which is nearly parallel with the' top vof the breech-piece, and the 1)ack part, g, has a downward directionfrom the part f. This groove receives the end of a pin, h, which is secured to a-straight slide, D, which is fitted to work in suitable guides, t' t', secured to the outside l condition and the pin Yh-"at'the front end ,of Ythe vgrOOvecfg, as nshown in Fig. 1, the breechpiece is in condition forl ring. After firing,

' the slide D is drawn back by the knob h', and vthe pin h caused to move back along the groove e fg. In moving along the portion c of the-said groove theisaid, pin presses against the lower side andV depresses the breech-'piece low enough to expose the rear end of the chamber of the barrel openabove t to permitw the withdrawal of the empty cartridge-Shell. `Innnoving kalong the portion j' of the said groove the said pin produces no movement of the breech-piece, which is thus keptfstationary long enough tov permit the withdrawal of" the shell by the means provided for the purpose, and in moving along the part g of the said groove the said pin acts upon the upper side andpesses the breech up to the position shown in Fig-v2, in whichthe passage c o is open to the chamber toV permit the spring d to force forward the cartridges and deposit the front one inthe chamber,v

The` loading being now effected, the-slide D is. moved forward, and the pin h, in moving back along the groove gf e, brings back the breech to the proper position to close the barrel andthe magazine. g

ln a groove in the top of the 'breech-piece B there is fitted a slide, j, upon which the rear end of the ham-mer G strikes to drive the said 'slide forward, and drive its front end against the Vrear end of the cartridge in the chamber of the vbarrel to produce the explosion of the n chargetherein.

Ontheright-hand side oi" the breech-piece,- betweenitand the corresponding side of the opening a a in the frame B, there is arranged a fiat plate' of steel, H, on the front upper corner of which is formed a hook, :kfwhich is capable of moving over the top'of the .breechpiece, for the purpose' of drawing outl the empty cartridge-shells-from the bai-Tel. [n this plate there are two narrow slots, m fm, which are fitted to slide two guide-pins,

l l, secured in the breech-piece B, Vthe two slots being so arranged as to bel parallel with the middle portion, f, ofthe groove c j' g in the breech-piece B; and there lis also provided in the said plate a bent slot, a o, the front part, n, of which corresponds in width, length, and direction with the front portion, e, ofthe groove e f g, and the back part, o, of which corresponds with the party of the said groove.

When the breech is in the closed condition represented in Fig; 1 and the slide Din its most forward position, the pin h is at the front end of the slot n o vof the plate H, and the hook k is in a slight recess provided for it in the front side of the opening a a, as shown in the Fig. '1, and the part u of the slot a ois exactly opposite the part c of the groove e f The plate is free to move lengthwise of the breech-piece on the pins l l, but in no RVother direction independently of the breech-piece; f' n and while in the drawing back of thefslide D the-pin h,YV movesV along-the portion of their: Y

groove cf y, it also` moves along the portion` ln'of the groove a o without moving the plate' E relatively to the breech-piece, with which it descends, thus passing its hook k in front of the ilange of the empty shell, if there be one inthe chamber; but when the pin t arrives in the portion fof ,the slot e f g it arrives Vagainst the upper side of the part o of the slot n o, and draw-s back the plate H and hook k, while the breech-piece is-stationary in its depressed condition, andjso causes the hook k -to draw -out the shell over the top of the breech, bringing the portion o of the slot n o lopposite to the portion g of `the groove ef g, so that as the pin h completes itsbackward movement it may pass along o, 'and hence pen mit the plate H to move up and down with the 'breech-piece, but prevent its 'being otherwise moved.

, To prevent the shell escaping from the hook .k a projection or guide-piece, p, is provided on the top of the `breech-piece opposite to the hook k.

When the slide is moved forward again the pin h moves along o and g together, and does not move the plate H relatively to the breechpiece until it arrives-in the part f of the groove in the latter, when it` moves the plate and Aits hook g-forward, afterward moving along e and 'a together. r v

- The rear ends of the slot a o and groovesV fg are cut a little downward, as shown in Fig.` l, so that when the pin h is in, its mostf backward position, the breech-piece may be' raised by hand high enough to expose lits umouth above the front of the A-frame, to permit the .magazine to be filled with cartridges from the front, thereby saving the trouble of taking out the feeding-springer opening the magazine at the rear. Y

Instead of making the groovel e f q i'n the breech-piece and attaching the slide D to the frame A, the groove may be in the frame, and the slide attached to the breech-piece,

By making the passage from the magazine to the barrel in 'a vertically, -swinging breech.- piece, the greatest'simplicity of construction that is practicable in repeating re-armsis attained, and the great diiiculty that attends the movement ofthe cartridges through r ther kinds of movable breeches-viz., the catching of the cartridges at the rear orifice of the passage in the breech-is obviated,.a'sv the rear orifice of .the passage c c in the swinging breech-piece is always opposite to the mouth of the magazine C, and the said passage forms at all times a forward continuation of the magazine.

I do not claim the invention of a verticallyswinging movable breech. Nor do I claim, broadly, providing, in a movable breech, a passage of eolnmunieation between a magazine and the barrel; but

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. Combining a magazine in the stoel; of a tire-arm with the barrel thereof by means of a breeoh-piece, B, swinging from points near its rear end, and having provided in it a passage, c c, which forms a continuation of the magazine, substantially as herein specified.

2. Operating the swinging breech-piece by means of a slide, D, pin h, and groove e fg, applied Vand operating substantially as herein v set forth.

CHRISTOPHER M. SPENCER.

Witnessesv FRANK CHENEY, T. F. BoYNToN.

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