USRE1053E - Improvement in breech-loading fire-arms - Google Patents

Description

UNITED STATES EDWARD LINDNER, OF NEV YORK, N.y Y. l

IMPROVEMENT IN BRlEECH-LOADlNG FIRE-ARMS.

Speciiication forming part of Letters Patent No. 23,3

October DIvIsIoN A. j

desired to convert a Vmuzzle-loading musket Y .To all whom it may concern:

Beit known that I, EDWARD LINDNER, of New York, in the county and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Fire-Arms; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which- Fgure 1 represents a broken sectional longitudinal elevation of a single-barreled gun or musket constructed according to my improvement, Fig. 2, a top view of the same, and Figs. 3, 4, and 5 views on detail of parts thereof. Fig. 6 represents a sectionalelevation, inp'art, of my improvement as applied to a cannon or piece of heavy ordnance, and Figs. 7 and 8 views of details thereof. Figs. 9 and 10 represent in longitudinal and transverse section views of my improvement as' modified to a double-barreled gun or fowling-piece.

My improvement has reference to fire-arms generally, including guns or muskets of one 4or more barrels for infantry or hand service, and cannons or other ordnance-arms of large and small caliber for artillery or field service.v It belongs in its main character or feature to ire-arms of the breech-loading description, but admits, where such preference is given, of the gun being loaded by the muzzle or barrel without impediment by the provision which is afforded for loading it at the breech, and it possesses many advantages over ordinary breech-loading guns, including an easy conversion of the ordinary muzzle-loading musket into a breech-and-muzzle-loading one.

Referring to Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 of the accompanying drawings, I cut on the rear end of the barrel A of a musket an external screwthread, a, and connect said rear Vend of the barrel with the breechB by means of ascrewthreaded sleeve, O, arranged .to fit the screwthread a on the end of the barrel and to grasp the breech by means of a projecting annular flange, b, fitting in a groove, c, ofthe breech.

The breech B may be formed by cutting a piece of the necessary length off of the rear end of the barrel, and afterward cutting the screw-thread and groove in the barrel and breech, as described, which especially may be the method of making the breech when it is 78, dated March Q9, 1859; Reissue No. 1.053, dated 2, 1860.

into a muzzle-and-breech-loading one.

The barrel may be connected with the stock by ears d, located by suitable wedges passing through the stock and ears.

The screwsleeve c is provided with a lever, D, to assist in turning the sleeve. 'Ihis lever may be made fixed or detachable at pleasure; but it is here shown jointed on a fulcrum-pin, e, to the sleeve, so that it may be shut down lengthwise with the barrel when not in use for turning the sleeve, and is formed with an ec-4 centric or cam, f, arranged to act upon alocking-pin, g, so as, by turning down the lever, as described, after the breech has been drawn tight up to the barrel, it causes the locking pin to be driven inward, to hold the sleeve from being accidentally turned.

The screw ferrule or sleeve G is provided with a projecting annular iange, b, arranged to iit a groove, c, made in or around the breech. `This annular iiange, as, also, if required, the

. sleeve at its rear end, is cut away at one part,

as clearly shown in Fig. 5 of the drawings, to permit of the breech being raised, as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 5, when the turning of the screw-sleeve C has sufficiently disconnected the breech from the barrel; but in all other positions during the turning of the sleeve said ange serves to grasp the breech and to draw it toward or `force it from the barrel. breech at its rear end is formed with a tail, h, projecting in rear of the fulcrum pin or screw t' of the breech. Upon this tail a spring, j, acts, to shoot up or lift the breech at its front end when released from grip.

The fulcrum-pin or axis c' of the breech is a lock-screw that may be readily removed at pleasure. This fulcrum-pin fits through an oblong recess in theback tail end of thebreech, and serves also to guide the breech in the lon# gitudinal movement given the latter by the screw-sleeve. The breech C is also provided with a steel wedge or hook, k, arranged to gear and ungear with a hooked spring or catch, Z. On shutting down the breech the hooked catch, l, locks on the hook 7c of the breech and holds the breech until the screw-sleeve is turned and made to urge forward the breech to establish the close joint with the barrel, when The said hooks become disengaged. 0n reversing.

' the action of the screw-sleeve to `force the breech back, the hook k of the breech acts on the top of the hooked end of the spring Z1 to force the latter back, so as not to interfere with the shooting upward of the breech when the latter is released from grip of the annular projecting flange of the screw-sleeve. The breech, which is generally made of the rear portion of the barrel of an ordinary musket to be converted into a breech-loading musket, is often too short to allow of the cone terminating its front edge to be turned. In such cases I provide the breech with an additional ring or box made of steel or hard metal. The front end of the ring or box slightlyT projects in advance ofthe breech, and is made beveled to correspond with a beveled formation to the rear of thebarrel. This ring at the front end of the breech may be extended backwardV to form in one piece the interior box or lining to the breech, as here shown, or it may be made a separate piece in continuationvof the breech. This interior lining or box, m, may either be made fast inside the breech or movable. If movable, it should be surrounded with an as- .bestus or other soft packing, n, not liable to corrosion or injury from the gas or heat 'produced in iiring, to prevent the escape of gas round or past the'box, and said box should be made somewhat shorter than the bore of the breech, so that the explosion of the gas in firing will serve to urge its beveled forward end tight against the barrel. The closing of the breech, after another charge has been inserted, will serve each time to bring back this box to be again urged forward by the explosion of the powder.

project beyond the breech in front, so that when closing the breech the ball is brought centrally within the barrel and held fast there, when the screw-sleeve C is turned to urge up the breechas far as the latter is permitted to go. Thus the ball is forced up in a straight .central direction within the barrel before firing, whereby accuracy in the lire is attained and the joint separating the breech andk barrel preserved from in 'ury. Ihebreech is pro vided at its sides, or at any other suitable part, with a guiding stop-slot, o, in which a screw-pin is arranged to project to restrict the proper elevationvof the breech. By taking said stop-screw out the breech can be lifted out for the purpose of cleaning the latter.

Inside' of the cock, and connected with it, may be arranged an iron projectionto lit, when The breech is so arranged that, when/loading, a part of the ball is allowed to l firing, the opening between thevbreech and the stock in the rear when the breech is forced home against the barrel, to prevent accidental or premature explosion of the cap, andserving to support the breech in the rear against the shock produced by the explosion.

A nre-arm constructed according to the fore going description is simple, and can be managed under all circumstances with great facility, will be found safe, and not liableto more than ordinary deterioration. For a doublebarreled gun or fowling-piece (see Figs. 9 and l0) the screw-sleeve C should be arranged to t a-serew-thread on a rod, E, sliding through the ear f, which is rmly connected to the barrels and which is furnished with an arm, r, that fits into a notch or groove in the metal between the breeehes B or of either side ofthe barrels A, and serves, on turning to the right or to the left the "screw-sleeve, to force forward or back the breeches up or from the rear ends of the barrels, substantially as in the case of the single-barreled gun or musket.

Having thus described my improvements in lire-arms, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. The method herein described for operating or closing the breech and forming a tight joint at the junction of the barrel with the breech by the employment of a screw ferrule or sleeve fitting an outer 'screw-thread on the barrel, and provided with a projecting annu lar flange for grasping and releasing the breech, and for drawing the same backward and forward in the direction of the barrel to or from the rear end thereof upon said screwthreaded sleeve, being operated substantially as herein described.

2. In combination with a movable box within the breech, constructed and operating as described, the packing thereof by means of asbest-us or its equivalent, substantially in the manner and for the purposes described.

3. Locking the screwfthreaded sleeve that operates the breech by forming Ithe pivoted lever which serves to turn said sleeve,with an eccentric or cam arranged to act upon a locking-pin by pressing down said lever after the \breech is drawn tight, as herein set forth.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name i to this specification before two subscribing witnesses.

EDVARD LINDNER. l

Vitnesses:

A. POLLAK, XV. FAIRFAX.

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