doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Dates of Important British SxS Patents

On SxS 40's lovely case, Toby commented on dates for a Daw Snap action and a Woodward automatic action used on Purdey's. Here is a list of common patents used on British SxS's...which I've been using to try to date Reilly's.. I've found you can't use these definitively since guns were remanufactured or had features added later but they can be an indicator and were helpful in confirming some dates for Reilly Serial Numbers. Wonder if you all could take a look and correct me if I'm wrong...for instance I don't have the "Daw Lever" patent date in my records unless it's the 1861 patent. If anyone has specific dates for the patents and patent number if would help. These patents are stamped on the guns and sometimes a difference of several months can be important when dating a gun.

There are books with patent dates and numbers...can be pretty time consuming to go through them all:
https://books.google.com/books?id=M9bJzZ...611&f=false

1859, 07 Sep - Jones patent 2020 - underlever (aka double-grip or screw-grip)(lapsed 1862, 19 Sep)
1860, 15 Nov - Henry patent 2802 - 7 groove shallow rifling
1861 - Daw patent 203 - centerfire from a Pottet�s French patent, broken by Eley in 1865
1862 - Daw patent 1594 - Snap lever, improvement on Schneider patent no 1487 of 1861; used by Purdey
1862 - Needham patent 1544, rotating single-bolt snap-action side-lever
1862 - Westley Richards patent xxxcx - doll�s head fastener
1863, 01 May - J. Purdey patent no. 1104 - �double bite� under action bolt (see below re Scott Spindle)
J.Purdey patent no. 424 - retractable firing pins.
1863, 10 Sep - Greener patent 2231 - pinfire snap underlever - see 1873
Needham side-lever
1865, 25 Oct - Scott patent 2752 - spindle. (top lever)(purdey-scott incest for 14 years)
1865 - Needham patent xxxx - safety, firing pins and hammers to half cock
1866 - Webley patent 3022 - snap action underlever
1866 - Pape patent xxxxx - choke tubes
1866 - Hodges patent xxxx - action
1867, 05 Nov - Pape patent 70463 - wing thumb lever w/single bite
1867, 09 Feb - Stanton patent 367 - rebounding hammers
1869, 30 Dec - Stanton patent 3774 - rebounding hammer modification
1870 - Lang patent xxxxx- top lever sliding bolt action
1870 - Thomas Patent top lever �double grip� bolting system
1871 - T. Murcott hammerless system
1872, 12 Feb: H Walker patent 455- top-lever barrel bolting and safety for drop-down actions
1872 - Anson patent 3791 - fore-end fasteners
1873 - Deeley patent 1422 - fore-end fastener
1873 - Scott patent 615 - �key� fore-end fastener
1873 - Greener cross-bolt treble wedge fast locking system
1874 - Needham patent xxxx - ejector system
1875 - Scott patent 1902 - top extension
1875, 11 May - Anson & Deeley patent 1152 or 1756 - Boxlock hammerless action
1875 - �Not for ball �added
1875 - and or �choke� added
1875, 15 Sep - Scott patent 3223 - crystal cocking indicator (back action)
1876 - Thomas Woodword patent 651 - �Woodward automatic action� hammerless push-forward under-lever snap action.
1878 - Hackett snap on fore end.
1878 - W.C. Scott & sons patent 761 - coil spring back action hammerless lock
1878 - Mills patent 4980 - 3rd bite
1878 - Perks over-center ejector patent (better known as known as Southgate or Holland system)
1879 - Rigby/Bissel rising bite
1879 - Needham & Hinton patent 706 - intercepting sears on back action (bought by Scott)
1880, 16 Nov - Beesley patent 31 - Sidelock hammerless action marketed by Purdey
1883, 11 Apr - Anson & �Deeley patent, Boxlock hammerless improvement
1886 - Deeley patent 4289 - ejector system
1887 - �not for ball� dropped - Need month
1889 - Southgate patent 12314 - Beesley ejector and intercepter sear (see Perkes)
1893 - Southgate patent 8239 - ejector trip (Holland & Holland)(see Perkes)

Need specifics:
1869, 12 Jan - Pat 88, Alexander Henry
1869, 19 Feb - Pat 511 - Alexander Henry
1869, 11 May - 1448 - Alexander Henry
1869, 12 Aug - 2427 - Westley Richards
1869, 01 Dec - 3481 - Westley Richards
1869, 16 Dec - 3641 - Westley Richards
1869, 29 Dec - 3763 - Westley Richards

The Daw patent is no. 1594 of 1862 which is a set of improvements to the Schneider patent no 1487 of 1861 to which Daw had purchased the rights.
These patents are described quite fully by Crudgington & Baker in The British Shotgun Volume 1, p.100-103.
Sadly there are no schematic drawings of the patent.
I was fortunate to have one of these Daw shotguns, no 766, a few years back and could examine the way the whole thing worked and was very impressed. I don't think the lever is protected by the patent, Purdey may have latched on to the monica simply because Daw was a profligate gunmaker, used a lot of underlevers and became associated with the style.

I too use patents to date guns for import/export documentation but one has to be very careful. Unless the patent is credited on the mechanism by stamps, engraving or whatever, they can not be assumed to have been used within the protection of the patent (max 14 years) although they may give an 'earliest' date.
But yes, it does sometimes give an indication of date.

As regards the NFB mark, try the legislation date as all changes to proof rules are by act of parliment but again be careful. The proof houses are suspected for using out of date stamps for a period after a change became official and omitting new stamps for a while.
An example is the date stamps introduced by both London and Birmingham. I have seen several guns from well into the period of date stamping with none!

Thanks Toby. I've added the Daw patent to the list above. I think I'll gradually expand on the above list. It can be helpful.

I have noted in the past your extensive list of patents on guns you are selling. The information you present is unique and very complete. It's a pleasure, I'm sure, for gun scholars to have access to it.

Three useful titles on the subject of British firearm patents -

British Patents of Invention, 1617-1977 by Stephen Van Dulken (1999)

Illustrated British Firearms Patents Edited by Grancsay & Lindsay (1969)

Patents and Inventions Class 119 Small Arms 1855-1930 (seven volumes) 1993

Thanks Steve...will take a look. I kind of figured I was reinventing the wheel but didn't know where to go for the info as I was trying to confirm dates I'd come up with for Reilly SN's.

Argo,
I am a collector of firearms made by William Powell & Son. By chance, I was able
to purchase original copies of Powell's patents. What I learned is that they contain, in
some cases, substantially more information than the abridged versions in books.