This
extract was in the Scientific American Supplement No.530 dated
27th February 1886, it appears that this article was a reprint from Engineering.
Improved
Revolver
The
Kynoch revolver, manufactured by the Kynoch Gun Factory, at Aston, Birmingham,
is the invention of Mr. Henry Schlund. It may be regarded as the most simple in
respect of lock mechanism of any existing revolver,whether single or double
action. It extracts the cartridges automatically, and combines with this
important feature strength and safety in the closing of the breech. Certainty of
aim when firing is obtained by means of a double trigger, which serves many
purposes. This secures quick repeating as in the double-action revolvers, and at
the same time the revolver is not pulled out of the line of sight, as the
trigger is pulled off by the forefinger, independently of the cocking motion,
the cocking trigger being longer than the ordinary double-action triggers. The
cocking trigger further serves to tighten the grasp, and so enables the power of
the first recoil, which affects the shooting of all revolvers, to be held in
check. The light pull-off enables a steady shooter to make surpassingly fine
diagrams.
The
upper side of the barrel is perfectly free from obstruction, so that the
sighting can be done with the greatest ease, and the entire weapon is flush and
without projections which can catch surrounding objects, with the exception of
the cocking trigger, which seems to require a second guard to render it secure
when thrusting the pistol hastily into a holster. At the same time, it should be
remembered that the cocking trigger does not effect the firing. It puts the
hammer to full cock and rotates the cylinder, and these operations may be
performed time after time with safety.
Turning
to the mechanical details, it is noticeable that no tools are required to take
the weapon to pieces and to put it together. By removing a milled headed screw
seen to the left of the general view, every individual part of the lock action
comes apart, and can be cleaned and put together again in a few minutes. This
screw is numbered 24 in Fig. 4. To load the pistol the thumb piece (marked 2 in
Fig. 4 and shown separately in Fig. 3) is drawn back, and thus withdraws the
sliding bolt, 3, from the barrel, 20. The barrel and cylinder are then tilted on
the pin, 15-a shake will effect this if only one hand be available-and as the
chamber rises, the extractor is forced back by the lifter, 15, and the empty
shells are thrown out. When the barrel has moved about 80 deg., the spring, 14,
which works the lifter, 15, is tripped, and the spring 13 carries the extractor
home ready for the fresh cartridge to be inserted. When these are in place, the
barrel and cylinder are returned to the position shown in Fig. 1, and are
automatically locked by the bolt, 3. All is then ready for firing. The middle
finger is placed on the cocking lever, and the forefinger within the trigger
guard. The cocking trigger is drawn back, taking with it the firing trigger for
the greater part of its stroke. At the same time the lifter, 8, which is pivoted
to the cocking lever, engages with a ratchet wheel (seen in Fig. 2) attached to
the cylinder, and rotates it through one-sixth of a revolution. To insure the
exact amount of rotation, a heel on the trigger, not to be seen in the
engravings, engages in one of the six slots (Figs. 1 and 2) formed round the
barrel. The end of the slot is square, and comes up against the heel, which
tightly grips the cylinder, and holds it steady while firing. A toe-piece, just
over the figure 4, in Fig. 3, holds the cylinder when the cocking trigger is in
its normal position. The cocking lever also compresses the main spring, 7, and
holds it in this state until the firing trigger, 12, is pressed by the
forefinger against the sear, 9, and the hammer, 5, is driven forward against the
cartridge. If the pistol be not fired, the release of the cocking trigger takes
the pressure off the spring, and there is thus no danger of accidental
discharge.
It
will thus be seen, says Engineering, that the weapon presents many advantages.
It can be loaded on horseback when one hand is engaged with the reins; there is
nothing to obstruct the aim, and the act of firing does not throw up the muzzle,
for the two operations of cocking and shooting are separate, and consequently
the latter needs only a very light pressure of the finger to effect it. The
breech is well protected, so that the flash from a burst cartridge cannot reach
the face of the user. The mechanism is as nearly dust proof as possible, and can
be entirely taken to pieces and cleaned in a few moments, and the whole forms as
handy a weapon as can be desired, where rapid and accurate shooting is required.