US501765A - Spring-gun - Google Patents

Description

(No'Mbdel w. H. ORAM.

SPRING'GUN.

11%. 501,765. Patented July 18;-1 893. I

v v, law gi INVENTOI? WITNESSES:-

ATTORNEYS.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM H. ORAM, OF PENAWAWA, WVASHINGTON.

SPRING-GUN.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 501,765, dated July 18, 1893.

Application filed November 8, 1892- Serial No, 451,324- (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, WILLIAM H. CRAM, of Penawawa, in the county of Whitman and State of Washington, have invented a new and Improved Spring-Gun, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to improvements in that class of spring guns which are adapted to be used in lieu of traps for the purpose of killing wild animals, either to get rid of them or for their pelts or carcasses.

The object of my invention is to produce an extremely cheap and simple device which may be made in any necessary size, which is adapted to be baited like an ordinary trap, and which when the bait is moved, will discharge a cartridge so as to shoot the animal which is at work upon the bait.

Afurther object of my invention is to construct the apparatus so that it may be safely carried and easily loaded or unloaded.

To these ends, my invention consists in certain features of construction and combinations of parts, which will be hereinafter described and claimed.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification, in which similar figures of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the views. 7

Figure 1 is a side elevation of the device embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a plan View of the same. Fig. 3 is a broken detail view, partly in section, showing the arrangement of the breech-block barrel and the looking plate; and Fig. 4 is a vertical section on the line 44 in Fig. 1.

The gun is provided with a suitable breech block 10, which is formed integral with a stock 11, the latter being preferably composed of parallel pieces united at the ends, although it may be solid if desired, and the stock has a depending leg 12, ata point near the breechblock, and at its rear end a similar but shorter leg 13, which is parallel with the leg 12. These legs are thrust into the ground when the gun is set, and they serve to hold it perfectly steady so thatit will be in proper position to be discharged, and when discharged it will shoot accurately. 1

The gun is provided with a detachable barrel 14, which has a reduced and threaded end 15, adapted to be screwed into a threaded portion of the breech-block 10. It will thus 7 be seen that a number of barrels maybe provided, each of a different'caliber, so that the gun may be used for shooting very small or very large animals.

On the under side of the breech-block opposite the rear end of the barrel, is alaterally-swinging locking plate 17, which is pivoted at one corner and on one side, as shown at 18, so as to swing outwardly, as indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 4, and at the diagonally opposite upper corner the plate is notched on the edge, as shown at 19, so as to engage a screw 19, which screws into the breech-block. The locking plate also rests in a notch 17" in the stock, (see Figs. 1 and 3,) and consequently when in position it will be held rigidly in place. At the top and near one edge the locking plate is provided with a thumb-piece 20, which projects upward and enables it to be easily manipulated.

In the center of the locking plate is a slot 21, which registers with the cartridge 16 in the barrel 14, and which is adapted to receive the striking pin 22 of the hammer 23. The striking pin 22 has at its free end and near one edge a projection 24, which is adapted to strike the primer of the cartridge, and which when in the position shown in the drawings, is adapted to strike the cartridge on the rim thus being adapted for use in connection with a rim-fire cartridge, but by turning the pin over, the projection 24 will be thrown to the center so as to strike the primer of a centerfire cartridge. The striking pin extends through the hammer and is flattened at one end, as shown at 22*, to enable it to be easily turned when necessary.

The hammer 23 swings in the stock and is provided with a flat surface 26, which is adapted to strike against the locking plate 17-. It is pivoted in thestock, as shown at 27, and it has a shank 28 extending beneath the stock, which shank is notched, as shown at 28, so as to receive one end of a spiral spring 29, which spring extends backward and is fastened at its rear end to the leg 13.

It will be seen that when the hammer is thrown back as indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 1, the spring 29 will be extended, and when the hammer is released the tension of the spring throws the upper end of the ham IOC mer violently forward so as to cause the striking pin to strike the cartridge with sufficient force to explode it. When loading the gun orcarrying it about, the spring 29 may be detached, thus limiting the liability'of the accidental discharge of the gun. The hammer is provided near its upper end and on one side with a thumb-piece 30, which enables it to be easily pulled back against the tension of the spring 29.

To the rear end of the stock 11 is pivoted an upwardly-extending trigger 31, which is pivoted at its lower end, as shown at 32, and in the frontedge of the trigger is a notch 33 to engage a boss 34 on the upper end of the hammer. A connecting rod 35 extends forward from the upper end of the trigger, and

V is pivoted to the lowerportion of a tiltinglever 36, which is arranged in a nearly vertical position, and is pivoted near the center, as shown at 37 on a supporting post 38, which extends upward from the breech-block. To the upper end of the lever 36 is pivoted the bait rod 38, which extends forward above the barrel 14, and'through a guide or keeper 30 at the front end of the barrel. The forward end of the rod 38 is bent downward and formed into a fork 40 to which the bait is secured, and this fork is arranged so as to come exactly opposite the free end of the barrel, but its diverging prongs permit a bullet when fired, to pass between them and into the head of any creature which may be nibbling at the bait.

The gun is operated as follows: The bait is secured to the fork 40, the locking plate 17 swung to one side, the cartridge 16 inserted in the barrel 14, the locking plate tipped back to position, the hammer 23 pulled back, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1, and held by the trigger 31, as already described. The legs of the gun are then pushed carefully into the ground so as to hold the barrel at the right height and point the muzzle in the right direction, or if desired, the legs may be pushed into the ground before the gun is loaded and set. When anything moves the bait on the fork 40, the rod 38 is pulled sufficiently to tilt the lever 36 and move the connecting rod 35, thus pushing back the trigger 31 and freeing the hammer 23, which is forced forward by the spring 29 and explodes the cartridge so that the bullet from the latter is discharged through the barrel 14 and into the head of the creature which is at the bait. It will be seen that by connecting the bait rod 38 to the lower end instead of the upper end of the lever 36, the hammer will be released by a push on the rod instead of by a pull.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. A spring gun comprising a supporting stock a breech loading barrel mounted thereon, a spring projected hammer 23 pivoted in rear of the breech and having a firing pin, a

vertically extending trigger 31 pivoted at its lower end in rear of the hammer and having a notch 33 to receive the upperor free end of the hammer when cooked, a lever 36 pivoted between its ends to the stock, a rod 35 connecting one end of the lever with the upper end of the trigger 31, and a bait rod leading from the other end of the trigger to the muzzle of the barrel, substantially as set forth.

2. The combination with the hammer provided with a transverse opening through it from front to rear, of a rotary striking pin 22 extending through said opening and provided at its front with a striking projection 24 and provided in rear of the hammer with a finger piece 22 for turning it, substantially as set forth.

3. A spring gun, comprising a supporting stock having suitable legs, a breech-block carried by the stock, a detachable breech-loadin g barrel secured to the breech-block, a hammer pivoted in the stock and having adepending shank, the hammer being arranged to strike a cartridge in the barrel, a spring secured to the hammer shank and to the rear portion of the stock, a swinging trigger pivoted in the stock and having a notch to engage the free end of the hammer, a lever pivoted on the breech-block and having one end connected with the trigger, and a bait rod pivoted to the outside end of the lever and extending forward in front of the barrel where it terminates in a bait-holding fork, substantially as described.

WILLIAM H. ORAM.

Witnesses:

O. G. CRAM, JOHN L. KEISER.

Images