Scientific American Supplement, No. 601, July 9, 1887Various
Science
Scientific American Supplement, No. 601, July 9, 1887
Various
Science -- Periodicals
The magazine, M, is simply a sheet iron or steel box of a size to hold
five cartridges, but there seems no reason why it should not be of
larger dimensions. It is detachable from the rifle, and is inserted from
underneath into a slot or mortise in the stock and in the shoe, in front
of the trigger guard. A magazine catch, C, just above the trigger guard,
engages in a notch, N, in the rear of the magazine, the projection, L,
first entering a recess prepared for it in the shoe. There is a magazine
spring, D, at the bottom of the magazine box which pushes the cartridges
up into the shoe. The point of the top cartridge is pushed into the
projection, L, and this keeps the lower cartridges in their places in
the box while the latter is detached; when the magazine is inserted in
the rifle, the withdrawal of the bolt causes the top cartridge to be
slightly drawn back, so that it is now free to be fed up into the shoe
by the magazine spring, D.
There is a later pattern of magazine, which has its front face quite
plain, with no projection, L, as the magazine catch was found sufficient
to hold the box in its place. To prevent the cartridges being pressed
out of the magazine before the latter is inserted in the rifle, there is
a strong spring placed vertically in one side of this box, the curved
upper end of which bears upon the top cartridge; when the magazine is in
its place in the shoe, this side spring is so acted upon that it ceases
to hold down the cartridges in the box.
To use the rifle as a single loader, formerly the magazine had to be
detached, when a spring plate in the shoe, which is pushed aside by the
insertion of the magazine, starts back into its place and nearly fills
the magazine slot, so as to prevent cartridges falling through to the
ground when fed into the chamber by hand. The later pattern, however,
has two notches on the magazine for the catch, C, to engage in. When the
magazine is inserted in the slot only as far as the upper notch, the
rifle can be used only as a single loader, but on pressing the box home
to the second notch, the magazine immediately comes into play.
The magazine can be released from the slot by an upward pressure on the
lower projecting end of the magazine catch, C, which is covered by the
trigger guard.
_Improved Lee_.--This rifle is precisely similar in principle to the
Lee, the chief difference being that the magazine is permanently fixed
in its slot underneath the shoe, and in front of the trigger guard. The
cartridges are inserted from above. There is a stop by means of which
the cartridges can be prevented rising up into the shoe, and which forms
a sort of false bottom to the slot in the latter, so that the arm can be
used as a single loader.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account