1864.] 



NEW YORK INDUSTRIAL EXHIBITION. 



61 



loading part of tlie invention consists in a sliding breech pin, which is 

 drawn back in a line with the bore by means of a le%'er, the handle of 

 which is below the butt ; thus exposing a longitudinal opening in the 

 right side of the piece immediately behind the breech end of the 

 barrel : into this opening the cartridge is placed, when by drawing 

 back the handle of the lever the l)reech pin is thrust forward, 

 pushing before it the cartridge, wliich is thuslogded within the barrel ; 

 the interior and shorter end of the lever is of solid metal, .and is so 

 placed with respect to tho breech pin as that when the latter is 

 pushed wholly forward it forms with the solid end of the lever a sub- 

 stantial joint, the longitudinal axes of the two pieces lying at an angle 

 of about 13.5° to each other. Great strength in resisting the force 

 of the discharge is claimed for this arrangement, in ccnsequence of 

 the combination of these two pieces of metal behv^somewhat similar to the 

 • "key-stone of an arch;" it must, however, be rememembei'ed that 

 the whole force of the recoil is borne by the pivot on which the lever (re- 

 presenting the "key-stone") turns, there being little or no provision (in 

 the arms examined) for relieving this pivot from the wdiole of this strain 

 (though it is conceived that an arrangement for that purpose might easily 

 bo effected by strengthening the lower part of the recess in which the 

 lever moves and causing the lever to bear against it). A small hole 

 is bored through the sliding pin in such direction as to effect the 

 necessary communication between the vent and the cartridge whentlie 

 breach pin is pushed forward ; the cartridge consists of a paper 

 cyliudfical shell cemented or tied to a small cylindrical projection at 

 the base of the buUet, which is conical ; the shell being filled with 

 powder is closed by a disc of leather cut to fit tighthj the bore of the 

 piece, and greased round its edge. A small hole is bored in the 

 centre of this disc to admit of the necessary communication between 

 the priming and the powder in the cartridge. At each discharge the 

 last disc of leather remains in the barrel and is forced forward by the 

 introduction of the next cartridge, and subsequently hlo^Yn out by its 

 discharge ; it thus cleans out the barrel, which it is said will in conse- 

 quence be left "perfectly bright after a thousand discharges." Their 

 price varies from .§2.5 to §100. 



A'eif Revolving Guns and Pistols. 



P. W. Porter, Inventor, Memphis, Tennessee. — A solid steel cylinder 

 or disc (2J inches in diameter, and about fths of an inch thick) has 

 its periphery bored with eight or nine cylindrical ch.ambcrs radiating 

 towards the centre ; each chamber being of just sufficient dej)th to re- 

 ceive a small cartridge with its ball. As this cylinder is made to 

 revolve in a recess immediately behind the breech, each chamber in 

 the cylindrical disc corresponds with the bore of the barrel, and each 

 chamber has a perforation or channel leading from its inner or rear 

 end to tho exterior (right) face of the revolving disc, where it is 

 covered by the cap or primer only when the chamber with which it 

 communicates is in a line with and opens into the bore of tlie barrel ; 

 tho lock moves backward on a hinge which allows it to close upon the 

 side of the cylinder when in use, or to be opened out whenever it 

 might be necesssary to charge or exch.ange the cylinder ; the hammer 

 is in tho interior of the lock which is of simple j'et effective construc- 

 tion ; the cylinder is turned round (so as to bring each chamber 

 successively in position) by the motion of a lever (which forms also 

 the trigger guard) downwards and forwards with the left hand ; the 

 hammer is cocked by the samo movement, so that in firing all that is 

 necessary is for the left hand to move the lever, and the right to pull 

 the trigger. A very rapid succession of discharges may be thus ob- 

 tained (as many, it is said, as forty in a minute, including the 

 exchange of cylinders), an advantage which this rifle probably 

 possesses in a higher degree than any other knoivn contrivance. 



hammer, being thrust out ivith a sort of jerk by means of a slender 

 bolt or sliding piece, which exactly fits the slit, and which having 

 ejected the disc immediately returns to be ready to force out another 

 at the moment of the hammer's descent. The little disc is thus de- 

 posited, as if by magic, immediatelj' over tii e nipple, where it is im- 

 mediately struck by the hammer, the end of which has a slightly conical 

 cavity for its reception, and so unerring and certain is this jerking of 

 the disc into its proper position, that whether the piece be held with 

 the hammer uppermost, as in the ordinary vt&y of firing, or reversed, 

 or with the muzzle pointing upwards or downwards, or in short, in any 

 conceivable position, the effect is always equally satisfactory. 



Mr. Sharp also exhibits his Brcecli-loading Rifle (patented in 1850). 

 By some accident or oversight it is not mentioned in the catalogue. 

 This rifle may probably with safety be pronounced as, all things con- 

 sidered, the best breech-loading single cliarye fire-arm yet invented ; 

 and in proof that it is generally so esteemed, it may be mentioned that, 

 since it was patented in 1850, upwards of 40,000 have been manu- 

 factured and sold ; and further, that the United States Government, 

 have, upon the recommendation of a Board of Ordnance Officers, held 

 in November, 1850, ordered a trial of them to be made by the army on 

 active service. The Board in question, after a severe trial of this 

 rifle, report that " it was fired several hundred times without cleaning, 

 during which the movements of its machinery were not obstructed :" 

 and also that "the penetration, range, and accuracy of its fire with 

 the cartridges and conical ball prepared for it, were superior to those 

 of any other breech-loading piece ofl'ered to the Board. 



Its construction is simple. A solid breech-piece of about three- 

 quarters of an inch in thickness, is inserted in a recess immediately 

 behind the chamber of the barrel, so as that tlie faces of such breech 

 piece shall slide against and completely close the same. This piece is 

 drawn downwards by moving forward a jointed lever, which forms also 

 the trigger guard ; the bore of tlie barrel is thereby completely 

 exposed, and may be looked through, thus affording great facility 

 for observing whether it is clean or foul. The cartridge with its ball 

 attached is then inserted by hand into the bore, and pressed home 

 with the thumb. The lever, or trigger guard, is then brought back, 

 which raises the breech piece, the front upper edge of which being 

 sharp, cuts off the end of the cartridge so as to completely expose the 

 powder within it to the action of the priming, which may either be the 

 common percussion cap, " Maynard's" primer, or Mr. Sharp's own 

 ingenious " pellet," above mentioned. The cartridge prepared 

 expressly for this gun is provided with a conical bullet, but any de- 

 scription of cartridge may be used, or even hose powder, by first 

 forcing forward the ball to the proper depth by means of a suitable 

 rammer, and then carefully pouring over it the requisite ohargc of 

 powder, any excess of which will be removed by the return of the 

 breech piece. For safety and precision of firing and for simplicity of 

 construction, this appears undoubtedly superior to all other breech 

 loading single charge guns. 



The prices of Mr. Sharp's Rifles are as follow : 



Carbine, Plain Octagon !$.35 



Do. with Globe Sight 43 



Do. Ornamented from $60 to 100 



Sharp's Patent Primer attached to a Shot-Gun. 



C. Sharp, inventor, and manufacturer, Hartford, Connecticut- — 

 This is an ingenious invention, and promises to become a favourite, 

 although from its recent origin it has not yet had the advantage of 

 extensive trial. The percussion primers consist of very small discs or 

 "pellets" of copper (probably not more than three-sixteenths of an 

 inch in diameter), fifty of which are contained in a small receptacle in 

 front of the lock and beneath the head of the haramer. These " pellets'' 

 are said to bo " fli> n)irf waterproof." The piece being cocked, tho 

 trigger is pulled, and although no indication whatever of any cap or 

 other priming is visible, an explosion is heard each time the hammer 

 descends ; but by slowly letting down the hammer, one of tliese 

 minute discs containing tlie priming is seen to emerge from a scarcely 

 perceptible hole in tho lock, immediately beneath tho head of the 



J. II. Fitzgibbon, of St. Louis, Missouri, exhibits a large miscella- 

 neous collection of Daguerreotypes. Many of the pictures. are well 

 executed. He also exhibits four Electrotype Copper Copies of Daguerreo- 

 types, together with the originahs from which they were taken. The 

 appearance of the copper duplicates is decidedly superior, in tone and 

 general effect, to that of the original pictures ; they have also the 

 advantage of not being reversed : it is much to be regretted that this 

 simple and very successful process is not more generally adopted by 

 Daguerreotypists. These are tho only specimens in tho Exhibition. 



Miscellaneous Philosophical Processes or Products. 

 Specimens of Electrotype Copperplates, produced at the United 

 States Coast Survey Office. — These plates arc three in number, and 

 consist of, — 1st. The original en:;ravod plate ; 2nd. A reverse or 

 Matrix obtained therefrom by electro deposit; and 3rd. A "Dupli- 

 cate" or fac-similc of the first or original plate, this last being also 

 obtained by electro deposit u|)on the reverse or matrix No. 2 ; a 

 printed proof or impression on paper from this latter completes the 

 collection, and affords satisfactory evidence of the perfect miinnor of 

 conducting the whole operation, all the most minute points and delicate 

 lines being brought out beaulifnlly sharp iinil distinct. .As the several 



