4. Sheets-Sheet 1.

W. S. SMOOT.
REPEATING FIREARM.
No. 97,82l Patented Dec. 14, 1869.

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 4. Sheets-Sheet 2.
W. S. SM00T,
REPEATING FIRE ARM.
No. 97,821. Patented Dec. 14, 1869.
 4. Sheets-Sheet 3.
W. S. SMOOT.
REPEATING FIREARM.
No. 97,821. Patented Dec, l4, l869.

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WILLIAM SYDNEY SMOOT, OF WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.
Letters Patent No. 97,821, dated December 14, 1869.
s-os---prep-as-s-s

IMPROVEMENT IN REPEATING FIRE-ARMs

the Schedule referre to in these letters Patent, and making part of the same

To all vihon it may concern: A stud, i, and groove, in the front edge of the key,
Be it known that I, WILLIAM SYDNEY SMOOT, of. limit the amount of angular movement of the latter.
Washington, District of Columbia, have invented a The firing-pin or plunger li passes through the cen
new and improved Forn of Repeating Fire-Arm, of tre of tle breecil or recoil-lblock B, and communicates
which the following is a full and exact description, ref the blow of the hammer J to the cartridge.
erence being made to the accompanying drawings. Instead of this arrangement of hammer and firing
The nature of my invention consists in the arrange pin, I have devised the plan shown on Sheet No. 2,
ment and mode of locking the sliding breech; in the where the firing-pill is hollow, to contain a spiral main
arrangement and peculiar action of the carrier whicla spring, and constitutes tle lammer.
conveys the cartridges from the magazine to a con This latter arrangement is somewhat cheaper, but
venient loading-position; in the device for withdraw I prefer that shown on Sheet No. 1.
ing the exploded cases; and in the use of a sliding A head on the rear end of the firing-pin passes up
wedge, for holding the several cartridges in the maga through a slot in the recoil-block, and enters an ob
zine firmly in their respective positions, when it is de lique-sided notch in the Jocking-key, (see dotted line,
sired to use the arm as a single loader. fig. 6,) so that the act of unlocking the breech forces
Figure 1, Sheet No. 1, is a longitudinal section; back the firing-pin out of contact with the cartridge,
Figure 2, an exterior view of the receiver; and sets the hammer, it half cock.
Figures 3 and 4, front and plan views of carrier; A lip, h, extending forward, covers the space be
Figures 5 and 6, plan and side views of breecla or tween the firing-pin and key, to prevent the entrance
recoil-block; of dirt.
Figure 7, a transverse section in rear of the clam The hammer J is pivoted at n to the sides of the
ber; and w receiver, and is half cocked, as inst described, by the
Figure S, a transverse section through the locking act of unlocking the breecli, and full cocked in the act
key. of withdrawing the breech to its loading-position.
Sheet No. 2 shows the same arrangement of breech The arrangement of the trigger, main-spring, &c.,
and carrier coinbined, with a direct-acting hammer does not cliffer from that now in use.
alid spiral main-spring. The nagazine-tube G is placed under the barrel,
The barrel A is of any convenient size or calibre, and may be covered by the stock. Its rear end is let
and screws into a receiver or breech-lousing, C. into the receiver, and inclined upward, to facilitate
In the accompanying drawing, the various parts are the passage of the cartridges into the carrier.
plotted full size, and adapted for a barrel of half-ineh In the bottom of the magazine is a sliding rod, 20,
bore, carrying a cartridge two and it quarter inches in moved back and forth by the eccentrie stud F, and
lengtlu. having its under side formed into a series of ratchets,
The breech-block B slides back and forth on top of corresponding in number and position with the oblique
tle receiver, and is held isi place by ribs t t, which faced studs on the lower side of the magazine-tube.
side in grooves in the upper portion of the housing. The cartridges are fed to the rear, into the carrier
(See dotted lines, fig. 8) I, by a spiral spling, d. This spring is provided with
The block B is supported against the recoil by an a guiding-linger, b, at its rear end.
annular eccentric key, I, mounted on a cylindrica in fablvating this magazine-tube, I prefer making
(offset or stella, 3, on the rear portion of the breech it in halves, divided longitudinally, and with a slot
block, and lield in place by a ferrule, N, which screws between the two pieces, in which slot slides a stud,
on the said steal in rear of the key, and is further se on the plunger b, said stud and slot performing the
cured by a set-screw or pin. function of guiding and limiting the movement of the
This ferrul: . is given the same exterior shape as p?unger.
the body if the breech-plug. In cross-section this tube is elliptical, with a verti
The eccentric key I, is capable of a vibratory move cal major axis, so as to allow space for the rod C,
ment upon ille stem B, so as to pass into or out of without unnecessarily increasing the bulk of the mag
the slot in the receiver, for the purpose of locking or az?ne.
unlocking the breech. The carrier E is pivoted to the sides of the receiver
The shape of this key is pecular, being under-cut, at E, above the centre of the magazine, so that when
as show in in fig. 1, to resist any upward component of in its lower position, it shall form an incline, up which
the recoil that may result from a yielding of the metal the cartridges may be forced by the spiral feeding
of the breecll, and wedge-shaped in the direction of spring, and is capable of a limited vibration upon its
its angular movement, to close the breech firmly pivot, so as to lift the cartridge into line with the
against the barrel. barrel.
 97,821
2
An arm, I", extends from the upper side of the car the rear of the magazine, over the top of the vibrating
rter-block, and engages with a shoulder at the front carrier. After the insertion of each cartridge, the car
end of the slot in the under side of the breech-block, rier holds it in the magazine, as explained. Then close
when the latter is withdrawn, so as to obtain the nec the breecli. On again pulling back the breech-plug,
essary vibration of the carrier from the backward the rear cartridge in the magazine, which has been
movement of the breech. allowed to pass into the carrier by the depression of
A spring, (), is attached to the under side of the the latter, consequent upon the closing of the breech,
carrier, and bears against a shoulder on the receiver, passes up the inclined carrier-block, and, by a con
to hold the carrier in such position, relatively to the tinuation of the backward movement of the breech,
magazine, that the passage of cartridges therefrom which vibrates the carrier upon its pivot E, is lifted
is prevented, except when the carrier is forced down, into line with the barrel. The same backward move
by the breech-plug. - ment of the breech, cocks the hammer. The closing
The cartridges which I propose using in this gun 'of the breech forces the cartridge into the chamber.
are formed with a depression in the base, at the bot On again unlocking and withdrawing the breech,
tom of which depression is the priming. after the discharge of the arm, the same, operation of
The bullets are truncated, so as to fit over the sides the various parts obtains, with the exception, that as:
of this 1ecess, and loe thus prevented from resting the exploded case is withdrawn by the lever-catch,
against the priming. the succeeding cartridge cannot pass all the way into
On either side of the carrier-block are lever-catches
H, pivoted at a', and pressed together by springs p", so the carrier until the flange-end of the preceding car
tridge-case is freed from the retractor, when the en
as to grasp the cartridge while in the carrier, and pre tering cartridge is thrown forcibly up the incline with
vent its accidental expulsion. 'sufficient power to eject the exploded case from the
Inclines r r are formed on the sides of the receiver, l'eceiver. The rearward movement of the cartridges
and operate in connection with the lever-catches H, in the magazine is effected by the spiral feeding
to hold the latter in such position as to permit the spring. . •
free passage backward of the cartridge, while the car To use the arm as a single loader, the button F is
lier is in its lower position, but allow the said lever turned so as to move forward the slide 2C, by which
catcles to grasp tle cartridge in any otler position the several cartridges are firmly held in their respec
of the cal''ie'. tive positions.
These catches may be arranged to control the pas I know that previous to my invention; guns have
sage of Cartridges from the ?hlagazine by forming tlhem been made with reciprocating breech-plugs, sliding in
in such mannel' that their extreme front ends shall a receiver, or housing in rear of the barrel, and locked
project inward further than the other portion, so that in a variety of ways; but I am not aware that any gun
the flange of the rearinost of the 'cartridges in the has ever been made with a breech sliding in grooves
magazine may rest against the front ends of these on top of the receiver, and locked against the recoil
atches at the same time that the cartridge in the by an annular eccentric key, as in my invention. . . .
carrier passes freely. R I also know that the cartridge-magazines of repeat
The cartridge-retractor, which I have designed to ing fire-arms have been arranged to hold the cartridges
operate in colnection with my sliding breech, consists separate from each other, as in the -invention of V,
of a leyer-catch, O, pivoted to the breech at p, formed Fogarty, patented in 1865. i
with a tooth, s, that bears against the side of the re In the case referred to, the magazine iš divided lon
ceiver, and holds the hook O' firmly against the side gitudinally, and the two parts, which are movable
of the case. . with respect to each other, are held together by a
A groove is formed in the side of the receiver at M, spring-clip.
to permit the retractor to disengage itself from the The cartridges rest in oblique-sided grooves in the
cartridge-shell, and embrace the flange of that next magazine-walls, and are kept apart only by the press
inserted. ure of the spring closing the two halves of the maga
A stud, V, is formed on the face of the breech-plug, zine togetler.
opposite the Cartridge-retractor, and the flange of the In my invention, the magazine is rigidly attached
shell is held firmly between it and the front end of the to the barrel and receiver, and no part is movable ex
lever (). -
IBoth the retractor and stud are placed above the
cept the sliding rod 20, which is actuated by the turn
button F, to wedge the several cartridges against the
centre of the barrel, to hold the sliell down until its side of the magazine, by a positive movement of the
front end is removed from the chamber. rod and eccentric stud.
A spling, at, is placed under the lever O, to disen I also know that cartridge-retractors Ihave been
gage it from the shell, when permitted by the groove made to lock positively against the flange of the case,
M, im tle side of the receiver. as in the invention of C. B. Richards, patented Au
Fm place of the arrangementjust described for dis gust 18, 1868; and this, broadly, as well as the other
engaging the lever () from the cartridge after the re devices above mentioned as being old, I disclaim.
moval of the latter, the device shown in figs. 5 and 3 What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure
may be used. This differs from the above only in the by Letters Patent of the United States, is- .
employment of an oblittle-faced stud Z, on the carrier 1. The combination of an annular key or eccentric
block, to act in connection with the tootl s, for the sleeve L., vibrating. upon the exterior of the breech
purpose of freeing the lever-catch O from the car block, with the continuous solid breech-block B and
tridge-case, toward the end of tle backwartl movement feathers t t, the whole forming a breech-system, re
of the lu' (cf. ciprocating upon the top of the frame, and available
Operation of the Arm. throughout its entire length, for the reception of a
main-spring and guiding-flange or featler.
To load: Revolve the locking-key L upon its cem 2. The combination of the spring Q with the car
tre, by means of the lhandle II. This withdraws the Iriel-block H, and a magazine-tube, G, loaded from
point of the firing-pin from contact with the cartridge above and in rear, the whole being arranged in such
priming, by means of the oblique-sided notch in the manner, that after the insertion of each cartridge into
upper portion of the key acting in connection with the the magazine, the carrier shall be caused to partially
stud on tle head of the pin, at the same time that it cover the mouth or entrance thereof, to prevent the
disengages the key from its seatin the receiver. Draw expulsion of the cartridge. . .
lackthesliding-breech plug, and passthecartridges into 3. The wedge-faced bar 2C, operating in connec
tion with a series of inclines on the bottom of the 5. The retaining-fingers H, in combination with the
magazine, to hold the cartridges firmly in place. pivoted carrier-block E, and inclines r r, on the sides
4. A cartridge-retractor, consisting of a lever-catch, of the breech-frame, the whole operating substantially
D, hinged to the sliding breech-block, and operated as and for the purpose set forth. .
upon by the side of the frame, to force it against the - W. S. SMOOT.
cartridge-case during the forward movement of the
breech, and by a spring, it, shoulder, 2, or other Witnesses:
equivalent device, to disengage it from the flange of the PETER RIORIDAN,
cartridge toward the latter portion of its backward RUDOLPH WALTER.
movement.