USRE1429E - buenside - Google Patents

Description

, .To aZZ whom it may concern.:

` UNITED' 'STATES 'I/JHE BUBNSIDE RIFLE COMPANY, OF IEROVIDENOE, ASSIGNEE OF AMBROSE PATENT OFFICE.

E. BURNSIDE, 0F BRISTOL, RHODE Ismmi).y

' IMPROVEMENT IN VB .Rlsl-:cl-l-iQoADlNcv Fl RE-ARMS.

speeineetion forming 'part of Lettere Patent Ne. 14,491, dated Meren 25,1856; reissue No. 1 ,429, dated March 10, 1863.

Beit known that `AMBRosE E. BURNSIDE, of Bristol, in the county of Bristol and State 4of Rhode Island, did invent vcertain new and useful Improvements in Breech -Loading Fire- Arms, of which the following is a full, clear,

. case; Fig. 4, view of theb'reech-pin detached;

Fig. 5, adetached view ofthe bolt which locks the movable,cartridge-block; Fig. 6, section on the line z z of Fig. 2.

The chief diiculty experienced in the construction and use'of breech-loading firearms arises from the tendency of the discharge to open the joint betweenthe barrel and the cartridge-block, the two being forced in contrary directions by the explosion, and, however exact the workmanship or strong the parts may be, the open joint will leak and the bearing-surfaces be fouled.

In the accompanying drawings, A is 'the stock, whicl is connected with the barrel B by a metallic breech, the sides G of which in' close the space in which the cartridge-block C operates, the top and bottom of this space being open. The cartridge-block C is of steel, and is vpivoted at D, immediately beneath the end of the barrel, to the forward portion of the breech, Fig. 2, and has within it a cavity,

P,or hole, open at its forward end,which forms the cartridge-chamber. The cartridge-block is arranged to be swung up tothe barrel, so that the orice o f-the chamber may coincide I with that in the rear end of the barreLWhere,

by a cartridge may be employed Awhich projects slightly from the cartridge-chamber and enters a short distance into the rearV end of the barrel, and thereby packs the joint between the two by its expansion at the instant of the discharge. The cartridge-block C is attached by screws, f, to the lever E, b y which it is operated, and which s formed, as seen DIVISION B. A w l inthe drawings, to serve as guard for the trigger. When the block is swung into place, as represented'in Fig. 1, its forward end abuts against the rear end'of the barrel, no portion ofthe one sliding within or upon the other.

The cartridge which is employed is seen in section in Fig. 2, and is ofa form adapted to the form ofy the, chamber in the cartridgeblock. Fig. 3 represents a section through the empty cartridge-case. As this cartridge forms the subject of another Yapplication for reissued Letters Patent made simultaneously with this, it need not here be' further described.

lcartridge-chamber is made conical or tapering, as seen in Fig. 2. The forward end of the cartridge-block'is made to abut against lthe rear end of the barrel, as already explained,

and the joint between, them is packextand the escape of gas atthis point prevented by the forward end of the cartridge, which projects a short distance from the chamber and enters the rear end of the barrel. As a portion of the ball must necessarily be ot' a diameter at least equal to 'that ofthe bore of the gun, and as the cartridge-case is necessarily larger than the ball, the chamber for coutaining'the cartridge must be of greater diameter at its forward end than the bore of the gun; and in or` der that the expanding cartridge may pack the joint between them, the bore in the barrel is enlarged, as seen 'at b, Fig. 2, that the end of --the cartridge may enter the barrel, and at the same time adapt itself exactly thereto when the cartridge-block is in its firing position. This enlargement of the bore at the rear end ofthe barrel also Yallows the projecting end of the ball to be swungin'to the barrcl'in thearc of a circle without striking orinterfering with the barrel itself. It is also necessary that thecartridge be formed with an enlargement near to its forward end,\that it may be adapted perfectly tothe enlarged end of the barrel, the enlargement of the cartridge being for the purpose of lling the necessary enlargement of the barrel. l p

It is manifest that the 'cartridgecase will be thevfollowing means:

tion the nipple dis brought is loosened and be thrown out of its prolongation of the axis of forms, as it were,

uven so forcibly into its'conicla'l chamber by the force of the discharge that means will be necessaryto aid'in ejecting it, or to loosen it,

so that it may be withdrawn by hand. For' this purpose the movable cone-seat or breechpin F is employed, which is constructed and applied `as follows: The rear portion of the piu forms a continuation of the movable cartridgeblock. Forward of this projectsfthe cylindrical portion c, which enters the block C and forms the bottom of thecartridge-chamber, a cone, d, upon the forward end of the pin enteringa depression in the end of the cartridge,

in thel center of which is a smallhole, which the ire from the cap upon the is' communicated. to the powder in triage.

through nipple d the car- Y The passage from the nipple dto thecone dz is seen dotted in Fig. l.l The breech-pin F is attached to the movable cartridge-block by the-following means: The center portion c of the breech-pin projects downat h into a mortise, k, in the block C, and transversely through the projection h is a mortise, i. y Directly .opposite the mortise i, and entirely through the block, is a smaller which is driven a rectangular pin or bolt, e', which fits tightly in the mortise in the block, but loosely in the mortise i, so that the pin F k allowed to slide freely in and out of the artrdge-chamber within a certain limit, but is prevented from dropping out when the cartridge-block is swung away from the barrel. When the cartridgeis in the chamber and theblock is in place, the breech-pin is forced back, and when thecartridge-block is withdrawn, as in Fig. 2, the breech-,pin is thrown forward for the purpose of loosening the empty cartridge-ca'sc. This may beaccomplished by pin thereis a groove, b, Vin which plays a pin, a, projecting from one side of the breech. (Seen in section in Fig. 6.) .The pin .plays loosely in the'groove, whichli's soformed that when the' chamber is returned to its place thebreech-pin is drawn back to its greatest distance, as seen dotted in Fig. 1. In this posineath the hammer, and is ready to receive its blow. As the chamber is withdrawn the breech-pin is advanced farther into it, as seen in Fig. 2; by the pin a, and the cartridge-case hand.

In order that the cartridge-block may not position by the force of the discharge, the rear f themovable breechpinis curved from a center within the axis of the barrel, and is made to bear upona seat, a small portion of which is correspondingly curved a short distance above and below the the barrel.V This a projection within the path of the breech-pin as itdescends, by 'which it is thrown forward, and when the gun is discharged the forceofthe explosion tends to retain the cartridge-block in its iring'posimortise, into In one side of the breechimmediately be.

may be easily withdrawn by' tion, for it is-manifest that the force which withdraws the block must' at the same time advance the breech-pin, and this' advance of the breech-pin cannot be produced by the force of the discharge, which tends to force it in the opposite direction. serves to throw the breech-pin forward and loosen the cartridge-case, and under some cartridge-block in its firing position; but as we may want to place the projecting surface of thebreech lower down, as at T, and also for additional security, said BURNsIDE adopted the following device for the purpose of more u nfailingly accomplishing this end.

-H is abolt which passes transversely through able cartridge-block. This bolt is cylindrical,

cartridge-block to `be returned to its place.

The bolt is then revolved by the thumb-piece or handle I, by which means its cylindrical held securely in place. In order that the piece may not be discharged 'until the bolt H has caused 'to be over the guard, as seen in red in Fig. 1, and obstruct the entrance of the finger to the trigger whenever the cartridge-block is in place and not secured by its bolt..

The two methodsof throwing forward the breech-pin, when the cartridge-block is withdrawn, which are represented and described slot b, and the projection y in the rear of the breech-pin-Will obviously not be req'uired upon the same gun, either' of them being suf- -cient for the purpose. The-latter, however, (the projectionA 31,) is the simpler of the two, and will Ain the majority of cases be preferred. Operation: The parts being in the position represented in Fig. 2, the metallic cartridge to its firing position by the operating-lever E joint between the barrel and the cartridgeon the-metallic cartridge-case, while the expansion of the extreme forward end or mouth .passage of smoke throughA the joint and keeps the parts untarnished. charged, the cartridge-block is withdrawn, and the movable breech-pin is caused to advance by the pin'a or the projection yinto the Vcartridge-case is loosened from its so that .it may easily be withdrawn by hand, if it be desired to sav'e them, tobe again employed in a similar manner. Whentheiiring chamber,

over after the cartridge-block has been withdrawn, when the empty case will fall out, and may be instantly replaced by a new one.

ciplem'ay be employed in the construction of This construction also circumstances might be sufficient to retain the the breech immediately in the rear of the movand is cut away upon one side,f, to enable the portion is caused to enter a corresponding cavity, fq, in the cartridge-block, which is thus Y been turned ir to the cavity g, the handle I is above-viz., by means of the pin "a, with its is dropped into the chamber,'which is returned and bolted by bringing up the handle I. The

block is thus covered by the enlargement upl of the cartridge-case eicctually prevents the After the gun is dis-' position seen in Fig. 2, and thus the emptyis rapid, as in action, the gun-may be turned It is evident that the above-'described prinbreechloading cannon or to rcarms of any other character or description.

What I claim as the invention of the said AMBnosE E. BURNsIDE, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The movable cartridge-block, so arranged that it may be brought up to abut against the end of the gunbarrel, with the orlice of its chamber coincident with that inthe rear of the barrel. and carried away from the barrel for the purpose of loading, substantially as set forth.

2. In combination with the movable cartridge-block abutting against the end of the barrel, enlarging the ends of the barrel, and

the cartridge-chamber, as purpose set forth.

3. The conical cartridge-chamber, operating as set forth, for the purpose described.

4. The sliding breech-pin, operating as set forth, for the purpose described. v

5. The projection in the rear of the breechpin for the 4purpose of starting the pin forward as the cartridge-block is withdrawn.

l ISAAC HARTSHORN, President of the Burnside Rifle Co.

In presence of- WM. PRATT, Y HENRY MARTIN.

described, for the

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