US50048A - Improvement in breech-loading fire-arms - Google Patents

Description

T. L. STURTEVANT. Breech-Loading Fire-Arm.

Patented Sept. 19, 1865.

I mam,

UNITED. STATES PATENT OFFICE.

THOMAS L. STURTEVANT, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

IMPROVEMENT IN BREECH-LOADING FIRE-ARMS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 50,048, dated September 19, 1865.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, THOMAS L. STURTE- VANT, of Boston, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Breech-Loading Fire-Arms; and I do hereby declare the same to be fully described in the following specification and represented in the accompanying drawings, of which Figure 1 is a longitudinal section of a firearm providcdwith my invention, the barrel in such section being exhibited as at its lowest position relatively to the stationary breech. Fig. 2 is another longitudinal section, showing the barrel elevated readyfor reception of a cartridge, which while being inserted in the barrel is to enter it at its rear end, which is open. These tigures also exhibit the operative mechanism or parts 'in their respective positions assumed by them, when the barrel is either up or down, relatively to the breech.

The nature of my invention consists in a combination for elevating the barrel and operating the cartridge-shell discharger thereof.

In the drawings, A denotes the barrel, and B the stock, of the lire-arm, such barrel being held to the stock by a hinge-joint, a, such as will enable the barrel to be moved from the position shown in Fig. 1 into that represented in Fig. 2, the rear end of the barrel in the one case being against and so as to be closed by the front face of a stationary breech or abutment, 0. In the other case the rear end of the barrel is shown as elevated above such abutment and open to allow the expulsion of a cartridge-shell from and the reception of a fresh cartridge into the barrel.

For elevating the barrel I make use of a lever, D, which turns on a fulcrum, b, extendin g transverselythrough the stock. Thelonger arm, (I, of the lever answers as a guard for the trigger a of the lock. The shorter arm, 0, while the lever is in the act of being moved in one direction on its fulcrum, is to act against the barrel so as to pry or force it upward in a manner to elevate the rear end of the barrel above the breech O.

A cam or curved projection, f, extends downward from the barrel, and is formed and arranged thereon as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. This projection or cam not only facilitates the elevation of the barrel, but subsequently serves, with the lever, to retain or hold the barrel at the extreme of its elevation. The projection also affords a convenient means for the connection ot' the stirrup g of a spring, E, with the barrel, such spring being arranged within and fixed to the stock, and to operate so as to depress the rear part of the barrel while the longer arm of the lever may be in the act of being pulled rearward.

A slide or cartridge-shell discharger, F, ar ranged with respect to the barrel in manner as represented in the drawings, and so applied to the barrel as to be capable of being moved longitudinally thereof, has a spring, h, for drawing it into place. It also has a cammed stud, t, projecting down from it. There is a small lever or latch, 70, arranged within the upper arm of the lever D,.and having its tail or lower arm to rest against a spring, l, the fulcrum of the said latch being shown at m in the drawings. During a forward movement of the longer arm of the lever D the latch, by its action against the cammed stud, will force the diseharger F rearward beyond the barrel, so as to expel a cartridge or waste shell thereof from the barrel, in case such a cartridge or shell may be in place therein. A continuation of the movement of the lever will also cause the latch to pass ed the front end of the stud, so as to allow the discharger to be drawn back to place by the contractile power of the spring it. While the lower arm of the lever D is in the act of being retracted the barrel will be depressed into place against the breech U, and the latch will be borne back against the cammed stud and will pass by and beyond it, ready for acting against during the succeeding movement of the lever.

I claim- The combination for elevating the barrel and operating the cartridge-shell discharger, in manner as described, the same consisting of the lever D, the spring h, the stud 1 and the spring-latch k, the whole being arranged together substantially as set forth.

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