USRE3860E - Improvement in breech-loading fire-arms - Google Patents

Description

W. C. HICKS.

Breech Loading Fir Arm.

No. 3,860. Reissued March 1, 1870.-

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UNITED STATES PATENT/ OFFICE.

IMPROVEMENT IN BREECH-LOADING FIRE-ARMS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 16,797, dated March 10, 1857 Reissue No. 1,952, dated May 9, 1865; Reissue No. 3,798, dated January 18, 1870; Reissue No. 3.860. dated March 1, 1870.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, WILLIAM CLEVELAND HIoKs, formerly of New Haven, in the State of Connecticut, now of Summit, in the State of New Jersey, made an invention of a new and useful Improvement in Fire-Arms; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description and specification of the same. 1

The object of my invention is primarily to extract from the breech of a fire-arm the cartridge, or the remnant thereof, which remains after firing, and secondarily to insure the explosion of the percussion-primer.

To this end my invention consists of certain combinations and arrangements of one or more extracting-hooks, the reciprocating breech-pin or breech-closer of a fire-arm, and the chamber in the breech of"a fire-arm, in which the cartridge is received. These combinations are specified at the close of this schedule.

My invention is applicable to breech-loading fire-arms of various constructions; and in order that it may be fully understood I may refer to a pistol manufactured at the time of my invention by the Volcanic Repeating-Arms Company, with my improvements applied thereto, said pistol being in other respects substantially the same as that described in the patent granted to Horace Smith and D. B. \Vesson the 14th day of February, A. D. 1854,. I will describe also such parts of said pistol as are important to a clear understanding of my invention.

Figures 1 to 5, inclusive, represent views of parts of the pistol detached from the residue and considerably enlarged.

The said pistol has a barrel, A, which is constructed to be loaded at the breech with a cartridgesuch as is represented in Figs. 4 and 5-having at its butt an internal brass flange, t, which, being elastic, yields when pushed forward by an inclined instrument, and tends to regain its original form when the instrument has passed by it. The percussionprimer on has the form of a cake, which is supported near the powder a, by a steel disk, 8, and is covered by a thin disk of cork, g. The barrel A of the pistol has an enlarged chamber, h, at its rear end, for the reception of the cartridge, the chamber being deep enough to receive within it the entire cartridge,including its flange t. The cartridge is pushed into the chamber by means of the breech-pin E, operated by means of a lever,

for the purpose of moving said breech-pin and its connections to and fro. The pistol is fired by the operation of a hammer, which is arranged to operate through the intervention of the breech-pin and its appurtenances upon the primer in the cartridge.

The construction of the cartridge and the mode of firing it being such as above stated, my improvements were applied to the pistol in the mode represented in the accompanying drawings, as follows: The extracting-hook R is applied to the forward end of the breechpin, although this feature does not constitute any partof my invention, and said hook is in this case used as the striking-instrument for striking the percnssion-primer m in addition to performing its function of extracting the cartridge. Moreover, two hooks, R B, were used, forming in this example two strikinginstruments. As the flange t of the cartridge used with the pistol is made of elastic metal, which will yield to permit the hooks to pass by it, they are'made rigid by being formed upon a cylindrical plug or stock, V, and are connected with the breech-pin by driving said stock V into a socket formed in the front end of the breech-pin. nected with a lever, the extracting-hooks, being connected with the breech-pin, are combined with said lever, so that when the lever is turned in one direction the extractinghooks are moved forward, and when the lever as far as the thickness of the flange thereof, so

that the shoulder e of the hook may engage with certainty with the forward side of the cartridge flange. hooks are used, each is arranged to act at one As the breech-pin is con- Each extract- Moreover, although two side only of the flange of the cartridge, their I tween the parts without striking them against f bills both pointing in the same direction, so

that when the cartridge is withdrawn from the chamber it may be readily disengaged from the bill of the hook by moving the cartridge in the plane of the profile of thehook, which could not readily be done if two hooks, when two are used, were arranged at opposite sides of the cartridge-flange, so as to hold the cartridge between them.

When the pistol is to be loaded, the movement ofthe lever opens the breech by moving the breech-pin or breech-closer backward in the longitudinal line of the barrel, or thereabout, and withdraws the extracting-hooks, while the movement of the lever in the opposite direction first impels the cartridge into the chamber of the breech. When, however, the cartridge reaches the shoulder d at the front end of the chamber, its forward movement is stopped, and then the continued movement of the lever impels the extractinghooks forward past the edge of the flange t, and as the point of each is inclined or sloped off in advance of its shoulder, the bill of the hook readily passes over the edge of the flange,

which, being of thin metal,yields to the pressure of the hook. When the shoulder of the hook has passed by the edge of the flange t,

.the latter, being elastic, tends to resume its original position, and the shoulder of the hook engages with the flange, so that if the lever be then moved to open the breech the hooks will extract the cartridge by reason of their engagement with its flange. It will be noticed also that thetfirst movement of the breechpin in opening the breech of the barrel and its last movement in closing the breech take place in the longitudinal line of the barrel or th ereabout.

In the volcanic fire-arm referred to the construction of the cartridge with a thin flexible flange permits the extracting-hook to be rigidly secured to the breech-pin; but this feature is not claimed as a peculiarity of the invention.

The construction of the cartridge with the primer arranged in its interior in the line of movement of the point of the extracting-hook,

after passing the flange, enables the hook to be used as the striking-instrument for transmitting the blow of the hammer to the primer on, although thisuse of thehook doesnot affect in any manner its operation in extracting a V cartridge, and is not essential to it; but the movement of the breech-pin or closing-piece longitudinally with the barrel, or thereabout,

at the time of opening and closing the cartridge-chamber is important, and is a distinguishing feature of the invention.

The reason why two striking-instruments are used and are an improvement upon one is as follows: When a single striking-instrument is used, the cake of percussion-powder forming the primer, being struck at about its center, frequently splits into partsand allows the striking-instrument to pass forward bethedisk-support of the primer. Hence the fire-arm frequently fails to discharge; but two striking-instruments will hold some portion of the cake between their points, so that it cannot escape, and consequently some portion of it is certain to be struckbetween the points of the striking-instruments and the disks-support, and the fire-arm is sure to fire.

The other parts of the pistol which I have described are the same in construction and operation as the corresponding parts of the pistol described in said patent of Smith and Wesson of February 14, A. D. 1854, and manufactured by the Volcanic Repeating-Arms Company, as previously referred to by me. In that firearm two extracting-hooks were used but they were so arranged that when advanced their bills were outside of the periphery of the car tridge and of the chamber in which it was received; consequently, they could not engage with the cartridge-case unless its butt were first expanded by the blow of the striking-instrument hence the loaded cartridge could not be withdrawn by the hooks, and the latter could be used only to extract an expanded and empty cartridge-case. As the bill of my extracting-hook when moved forward is within the periphery of the cartridge-chamber and within the space occupied by the cartridgeflange, it must of necessity engage with the cartridge-flange whether the cartridge has been fired or not, and consequently can be used to withdraw a loaded cartridge.

Having thus described the form in which I first applied iny improvements, I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Pat- 'ent l. The combination, substantially as set forth, of the breech-closing piece, moving longitudinally with the barrel, the cartridge chamber at the butt of the barrel, and the reciprocating extracting-hook arranged in such manner that its bill enters within the periphery of the said chamber, so that it may engage with the flange of the cartridge therein when the breech isclosed by the forward movement of the closing-piece, even though the cartridge be not expanded.

2. The combination, substantially as set forth, of the breech-closing piece moving longitudinally with the barrel, the cartridgechamber at the butt of the barrel, and the reciprocating extracting-hook arranged in such manner that when the barrel is closed by the forward movement of the closing-piece, and when the bill of said hook is in its most forward position, the said bill is both within the periphtraeting-hooh described arranged in such man-, I forms the two functionsof transmitting a blow ner that but one side only of the flange of the to the primer and of extracting the cartridge cartridge is engaged with the bill of a hook remnant from the breech of the firearm. inside of the cartridge-chamber, thereby ena- In testimony whereof I have hereto set my bling the cartridgeremnant to be readily dishand this 9th day of February, A. D. 1870. engaged from the extracting-hook.

T 4. The combination and arrangement, sub- OLEVELALD S stantially as set forth, of the hook, with the Witnesses:

breech-closing piece moving in the line of the JAMES M. HIoKs,

barrel in such manner that the said hook per- V. L. BENNEN.

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