US58937A - Improvement in magazine fire-arms - Google Patents

Description

G. W. BRIGGS. MAGAZINE FIRBARM.

Patented Oot. 16, 1866.

INVENTOR'.

GEORGE W.

BRIGGS, OF NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR T() OLIVER F. VINCHESTER, OF SAME PLACE.

lMPROVEMENT IN MAGAZINE FIRE-ARMS.

Specication forming part of Letters Patent No. 58,937, dated October 16, 1866.

To all whom it may concern:

Bc it known that l, GEORGE W. BRIGGS, of New Haven, in the county of New Haven and State of Connecticut, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Repeating Fire-Arms; and I do hereby declare the following, when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings and the letters of reference marked thereon, to be a full, clear, and exact description of the saine, and which said drawings constitute part of this specification, and represent, in

Figure 1, a side view; Fig. 2, a top View; Fig. 3, a sectional side view with the magazine closed; Fig. 4:, a longitudinal central section with the magazine open; Fig. 5, a section through the frame on lineX X looking to the rear; Fig. 6, a section of the carrier-block on the saine line. Figs. 7, S, and 9 are detached views illustrating the operation of the magazine.

My invention relates to an improvement in the repeating lire-arms patented by Horace Smith and Daniel B. Tesson the 14th of February, 1854; improved by B. T. Henry, patented October 16, 1860; in which several metallic cartridges are placed in a tube or magazine beneath the Vbarrel of the arm and carried therefrom to the barrel by the movenient of the trigger-guard; and my invention consists in an improvement in the said tube or magazine, whereby the cartridges may be placed therein with greater facility and without other objections which exist to the tube as heretofore constructed.

Before proceeding to describe my improvement, I will first describe the construction of the operative parts of the arm.

A is the barrel, of any known construction; B, the frame, to the forward end of which the barrel is secured, and to the rear end a wooden stock, C. In the frame B, and directly in the rear of the barrel, is formed a chamber or mortise, D, in which is placed a carrier-block, E, the oice of which is to receive a cartridge from the magazine and raise it for insertion into the barrel; also to throw the discharged shell from the arm after it has been withdrawn from the barrel. For this purpose the said carrier-block E is constructed with a chamber,

E2, (see Fig. 6,) to receive the cartridge from the magazine, and it is moved up within the chamber or mortise l) to present the cartridge to the barrel for insertion, and down when the cartridge has been removed from the carrier to the barrel, and is thus moved by means ot' the lever F, one end of which lies within the carrier-block E, the other hung to the pivot G.

H a lever, serving both as a trigger-guard and as au instrument by which the several mechanical parts of the arm are made to operate. lt is hung to the pivot G, upon which both the levers F and H may be freely moved.

By moving the lever H from the position denoted in Fig. 3 to that denoted in Fig. 1,a shoulder, u, formed upon the lever ll strikes a corresponding shoulder, b, upon the lever F, raising the said lever and carrier-block lil, as d'enoted in Figl. By returning the said lever H, the ripper arm, I, of the lever Il strikes another shoulder, c, on the said lever F, and returns the lever F, with the carrier-block E, to the position denoted in Fig. t

The breech-pin L is hollow, ot' cylindrical form, through which passes a piston, M. The rear end of the said pin L is formed, as seen in Figs. 3 and 4, so as to 'attach upon either side to a pivot, d, a link, N, of a toggle'joint, as denoted in broken lines, Fig. L. The other links, P, of the toggle are hinged to the frame by a pivot, c, and the two links hinged together at j'.

The upper arm, I, of the lever ll extends up between the two toggle-joints, and through the said arm I a pin, g, passes, extending out upon either side so as to enter a slot or groove, It, upon the inside of the links l), so that as the lever H is moved, as from the position in Fig. 3 to that in Fig. 4, the pin y will act to close the toggle and draw back the breechpin L, which moves freely back and forth in the frame ll, as denoted in Fig. 4, and by the return of the lever H will extend the toggle and return the breech-pin L, as seen in Fig. 3.

The raising of the carrier-block lil, as before described, occurs after the breech-pin has been drawn back, and the breech-pin is returned before the return of the carrier-block, passing through the chamber E2 in the earrie1-block,ior the purpose (as more fully hereafter shown) of removing the cartridge from the chamber E2 in the carrier-block to the barrel. Therefore, in order to allow the carrierblock to return, it is necessary to cut a slot, E, from the chamber E2 up through the carrier-block, as seen in Fig. (i. This slot must be narrower than the chamber in order to prevent the accidental removal of the cartridge in the said chamber, as also to cause the raising of the carrier-block to eject the discharged and withdrawn shell; and that this narrow slot may pass down over the breech-pin, which is nearly the same diameter as the chamber in the carlieublock, the breech-pin is reduced upon its two sides, as secu in Figs. 2 and 3. On the lower side of the breech-pin L is formed a projecting lip, i, and upon thc upper side a spl'ing-latch, m. A cartridge, lt, lying upon the carrier-block, as seen in Fig. 4, will, by the return of the breech-pin L, be. forced into the rear of the barrel, the lip `1T entering a recess, n, below, and the. latch m, rising and hooking over the tlange of the cartridge, will enter a similar recess, r, above, as seen in Fig. 3, so that when the breech-pin is withdrawn the latch m will hold and withdraw thc cartridge or discharged shell, as the case may be.

rThe piston )l is enlarged to form a shoulder, as denoted at s, at the rear of the pinV L; thence extends back through the frame, and so as to slide freely therein to the hammer S, so that when the pin is drawn back, as before described, the said piston will force the haulmer back to full -cock, as denoted in Fig. 4, and, on being returned to the position denoted in Fig. 3, will leave the hammer held at fullcock by the trigger T, which, when released in the usual manner, will, by the reaction ofthe mainspring U, ily back to theposition denoted in Fig. .3, striking the end ofthe piston M. To the inner end ol' thc piston M is fixed a collar, i, having proiecting points .r upon either side. (See Fig. 5.) larger diameter than that part of the piston M to which it is attached, and the recess made in the breech-pin to receive the said collar is made a little deeper than the thickness of thc collar, so as to allow the piston M, with the collar f, to move back, so that when the pin L is forced up against the cartridge, as before described, the projecting points a', as they press againstthe cartridge,will force the piston back, and thus situated, when the hammer strikes the piston M, as before described, the pro- `iecting points .1' will indent the metal of the cartridge. suilieicntly to explode the fuhninate and ignite the powder within the cartridge.

A separate spring, c, for eacll of the levers F and ll is secured upon the frame, the ends of which bear, one upon the lever H, as seen in Fig. 3, to retain the lever in its home posi tion, as in Figs. l and 3, thc other upon the lever F, (sec Fig. 4,) for the purposes more fully hereafter described. The lever H is held in its position against the frame by means of a thumb-screw, 'W, or an equivalent therefor.

The said collar t is oi' This completes the general construction of that part ofthe arm contained within the frame as heretofore constructed.

The space in the frame where the operative parts are placed is inclosed by a plate, S3, upon each side of the frame.

In the magazine as originally constructed, and as shown and described in the patent ot' Smith and Wesson before referred to, the magazine or tube was fixed to the barrel, and a slot cut through the entire length of the tube, through which a pin or projection from the follower within the tube extended, by means of which the follower was drawn up to near the muzzle end of the said tube, where the follower, with the spring and the upper portion of the tube, were turned to one side, so as to allow the cartridges to be inserted within the tube; then the upper portion of the tube, with the follower and spring, were returned, so that the follower would again enter the tube and force the cartridge toward thc rear or lower end of the tube into the carrier, for the purpose hereinbcfore described.

In this construction a great objection has existed from the fact that the. open slot upon the under side of the tube would admit more or less dirt, or other substances foreign and injurious to the proper workings of the follower and spring, within the magazine, and the necessary complication in the construction ofthe upper part of the magazine and barrel reuders them very liable to get out of repair.

I will now proceed to describe my improvements, for which l seek Letters Patent.

I construct a tube, A', nearly or quite the length of the barrel, to be placed beneath the barrel, as seen in Figs. 1, 3, and 4, secured to the barrel by bands B Bf, and so as to move freely in the said bands to or from the frame, as from the position in Fig. 3 to that in Fig. 4. The lower or rear end of the tube I make thicker than the portion above, for the purpose of forming a shoulder, a', to rest upon the frame, also to form a guide, c', which moves within a groove, d', on the under side of the barrel, which stops the tube from being withdrawn farther than is necessary for the insertion of cartridges. (See Fig. 4.) W'ithin the said tube A', 1 place a follower, (i, and upon it a lielical spring, (denoted in red,) closing the upper cud of the tube by a plug, D. A thin ledge around the inside of the tube at its lower or rear cud prevents the follower from being forced from the tube by the pressure of thc spring thereon. [n one side of the enlarged portion ot' the tube I place a springlatch, E4, which hooks onto the frame, as denoted in Figs. l and 7.

To till the tube or magazine A with car tridgcs, release the tube from the frame by pressing the latch down, as denoted in Fig. 8, slide thc tube forward, as denoted in Fig. 4, and insert the cartridges one upon another, as in Fig. 9, forcing the follower into the tube until the tube is filled or the requisite number placed therein; then return the tube or niagazine to the position denoted in Figs. 1, 3, and 7. The spring within the tube A will force the column ot' cartridges down until the last one, R, inserted will enter the chamber E2 in the carrier-block E, (see Fig. 3,) from which position it will be carried up to the position in Fig. 4 and inserted into thc barrel, and the block returned to receive a second cartridge, as before described.

When the rst cartridgehas been discharged, as in Fig. 3, withdraw the shell, as before described. The latch m upon the breech-pin will hold the discharged shell until the carrierblock is again raised, when the block will strike the shell, tip it up from the lip t' until the carrier is nearly up toits full height, when the spring z will fall into a notch, fw, on the lever F, giving a sudden movement to the carrier, which will. eject the discharged shell entirely from the arm, as denoted in Fig. 4; and thus the operation of' tiring may be continued until all the cartridges within the magazine have been each in their turn discharged.

1n tllin g the magazine with cartridges, a notch, j", upon the under side of the latch catches upon the cartridges, as seen in Fig. 9,

to prevent the cartridges from being accidentally forced out; but when the latch is raised to lock upon the frame, as seen in Fig. 8, the notch f will be so far above the cartridges as to allow them to move freely over it.

Should it be desirable to move the tube or magazine from the frame while the cartridges are placed therein, it would bc necessary to hold the cartridges to move with the tube. For this purpose I place a pin, a', through the latch E4, its upper end or head serving as a button or knob upon which to press the latch to release the tube from the frame.

The pin n is of suiicient length, so that when pressed down, as in Fig. S, it will stop the cartridge from being forced out by the spring within the tube, and when removed from the frame and the pressure upon the latch removed the notch f will catch und hold the cartridge, as before described.

By my improvement, thus fully described, the tube or magazine is a close cylinder, and so simple in construction that the objections to the original tube as herein referred to are entirely overcome.

Having therefore fully described my invention, what l claim as new and useful, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

Constructing and arranging the tube or magazine, in combination with thc barrel of' the arm and the carrier-block, so as to be operated substantially as and for the purpose specified.

GEORGE W'. BRIG iS.

Witnesses:

JOHN E. EARLE, M. A. HINE.

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