ohland
08-27-2015, 09:53 AM
Article mentions Scientific American, that article doesn't add too much.
Inventor is Ralph G Packard, # 1,202,416, granted Oct 24, 1916
Thumb Trigger Principle Applied to Military Rifle
https://books.google.com/books?id=t44wAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA147&dq=thumb+trigger&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CDAQ6AEwAGoVChMIhOC77rDJxwIVjDs-Ch1mjAqh#v=onepage&q=thumb%20trigger&f=false
American Rifleman, vol 62, No. 8, May 19, 1917, pages 147, 151
UPON the age-old general principle of the thumb trigger, a Brooklyn inventor has based what may develop into an unusual military rifle, constructed more or less along the Springfield bolt-action lines, and equipped with that boon to riflemen, a practical receiver sight.
Very little has been made public concerning the new rifle. From its outward lines, it strongly suggests the Springfield, and its firing mechanism is on the bolt action principle. If the weapon is a success its inventor has made an important discovery.
Rifle history definitely records thumb triggers at dates contemporary with those which marked the perfection of the earliest percussion-cap firearms. Even at those now remote times, firearm experts had experienced and recognized one drawback to the finger trigger, such as appears on practically all firearms: the likelihood of “pulling off” the proper alignment of sights when pressing the trigger, and the consequent necessity of perfecting a gentle trigger squeeze to counteract this possibility before good hits could be assured.
147608
The thumb triggers of the early days, as well as those whose have made later appearance, generally took the form of push buttons or of levers. These, it would appear from rifle history, have been regarded more or less as freaks and never came into very general use, so far as practical marksmanship was concerned.
147609
From the photographs of the latest model in thumb triggers, it would seem that the invention of the Brooklyn man had considerably more to recommend it than the thumb triggers of earlier vintage.
Whether the inventor took the Springfield as his model in working out his thumb-trigger idea, altering the conformation of the receiver, can not be stated.
But, regardless of whether the new style of escapement is a success or a failure, the inventor is to be congratulated upon the sights which he has provided, and which, by bringing the aperture much closer to the shooter's eye, not only makes aiming easier, but materially in creases the sighting radius.
A. B. Bowers, describing the new thumb-trigger rifle in The Scientific American, after setting forth the usual list of drawbacks which so many rifle men impute to the present service rifle, says, in part:
“The regular army rifle, while in most respects an admirable weapon, is, in the opinion of many competent observers, open to grave objections on more than one ground. In the first place, the trigger by which the rifle is discharged is located below the stock, between narrow, open-sided guards, which are far from a sufficient protection.
“Moreover, the manner of discharge, by pressure of the forefinger on the trigger, produces, in many cases, a sidewise and downward movement of the whole barrel sufficient materially to affect accuracy of aim.
“Again, many users of rifles carry them ‘cocked and locked,’ so that they may be ready for instant use. Various devices for locking the cocked guns have been devised, and one or another of these is found on most guns now made; but they are all subject to the fatal objection that they take almost as long to unlock as to cock the gun without them.
“Finally, in cold weather, when the hand needs protection, the rifleman is in a sad dilemma. The gloved finger is too stiff to manipulate with safety the trigger now in use, while a mitten, though even warmer than a glove, must be removed altogether.
“A Brooklyn inventor has eliminated these various defects, so he claims, in a new gun recently patented. In the first place, he has substituted, for the old, projecting finger trigger under the stock, a thumb trigger above the stock. In operation it is only necessary to tighten the grip of the hand slightly in order to work this trigger; and at rest it is possible to guard it by a five-sided guard.
“A long sighting radius has been obtained, without any of the disadvantages enumerated above, by attaching an orthoptic or peep-sight to the firing pin. In this way is obtained a broad base, sliding in closely fitting guides that preserve the alignment.
“The conflict between cocking and locking is automatically eliminated; for the base of the peep-sight so completely covers the thumb trigger, when the gun is at cock, that the necessity for locking is wholly removed. Finally, the motion by which discharge is accomplished is such a simple one that it can be made without the slightest difficulty, regardless of whether the hand be bare, gloved or mittened.”
While the Brooklyn inventor seems to have hit upon a new method of utilizing the thumb-trigger principle and of applying it in what appears to be a satisfactory way to military bolt-action rifles, the history of similar inventions shows that scores of gunsmiths have at one time and another for more than half a century worked along the same line.
The thumb—trigger principle has perhaps been applied to air guns and air pistols more extensively than to any - other type of weapon, and most of them have been the product of French gunsmiths.
One of the simplest forms, typifying the French conception of the thumb trigger principle, is to be found in a patent granted to one M. de Moerio in 1912. It consisted of a thumb trigger in the form of a push button, set in a depression immediately behind the “break” of the breech and designed in this instance for use upon an Anson and Deely shotgun. The principle was also regarded as being applicable to the Browning automatic pistol. In applying for his patent, M. de Moerio claimed that the use of the push button provided a gentler disengagement of the cam catch which held the hammer cocked.
147610
Another patent on a thumb trigger, similar to that of de Moerio and applicable to the Lee-Metford among other weapons, was granted in Great Britain in I897 to Louis Estevan Green and Samuel Smallwood, British gunsmiths.
The push button was also used in this instance, and was mounted upon the end of a “plunger” or rod pressure upon the button acting upon the rod and disengaging a catch so that the hammer was released.
This system was applicable to double barreled guns, and was designed so that each barrel might be fired separately. This was accomplished by fitting the lever, which released the trigger, with “steps” which operated upon “extensions of sears” on the hammer. Pressing the button lightly discharged one barrel, and pressing it home discharged the other.
Inventor is Ralph G Packard, # 1,202,416, granted Oct 24, 1916
Thumb Trigger Principle Applied to Military Rifle
https://books.google.com/books?id=t44wAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA147&dq=thumb+trigger&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CDAQ6AEwAGoVChMIhOC77rDJxwIVjDs-Ch1mjAqh#v=onepage&q=thumb%20trigger&f=false
American Rifleman, vol 62, No. 8, May 19, 1917, pages 147, 151
UPON the age-old general principle of the thumb trigger, a Brooklyn inventor has based what may develop into an unusual military rifle, constructed more or less along the Springfield bolt-action lines, and equipped with that boon to riflemen, a practical receiver sight.
Very little has been made public concerning the new rifle. From its outward lines, it strongly suggests the Springfield, and its firing mechanism is on the bolt action principle. If the weapon is a success its inventor has made an important discovery.
Rifle history definitely records thumb triggers at dates contemporary with those which marked the perfection of the earliest percussion-cap firearms. Even at those now remote times, firearm experts had experienced and recognized one drawback to the finger trigger, such as appears on practically all firearms: the likelihood of “pulling off” the proper alignment of sights when pressing the trigger, and the consequent necessity of perfecting a gentle trigger squeeze to counteract this possibility before good hits could be assured.
147608
The thumb triggers of the early days, as well as those whose have made later appearance, generally took the form of push buttons or of levers. These, it would appear from rifle history, have been regarded more or less as freaks and never came into very general use, so far as practical marksmanship was concerned.
147609
From the photographs of the latest model in thumb triggers, it would seem that the invention of the Brooklyn man had considerably more to recommend it than the thumb triggers of earlier vintage.
Whether the inventor took the Springfield as his model in working out his thumb-trigger idea, altering the conformation of the receiver, can not be stated.
But, regardless of whether the new style of escapement is a success or a failure, the inventor is to be congratulated upon the sights which he has provided, and which, by bringing the aperture much closer to the shooter's eye, not only makes aiming easier, but materially in creases the sighting radius.
A. B. Bowers, describing the new thumb-trigger rifle in The Scientific American, after setting forth the usual list of drawbacks which so many rifle men impute to the present service rifle, says, in part:
“The regular army rifle, while in most respects an admirable weapon, is, in the opinion of many competent observers, open to grave objections on more than one ground. In the first place, the trigger by which the rifle is discharged is located below the stock, between narrow, open-sided guards, which are far from a sufficient protection.
“Moreover, the manner of discharge, by pressure of the forefinger on the trigger, produces, in many cases, a sidewise and downward movement of the whole barrel sufficient materially to affect accuracy of aim.
“Again, many users of rifles carry them ‘cocked and locked,’ so that they may be ready for instant use. Various devices for locking the cocked guns have been devised, and one or another of these is found on most guns now made; but they are all subject to the fatal objection that they take almost as long to unlock as to cock the gun without them.
“Finally, in cold weather, when the hand needs protection, the rifleman is in a sad dilemma. The gloved finger is too stiff to manipulate with safety the trigger now in use, while a mitten, though even warmer than a glove, must be removed altogether.
“A Brooklyn inventor has eliminated these various defects, so he claims, in a new gun recently patented. In the first place, he has substituted, for the old, projecting finger trigger under the stock, a thumb trigger above the stock. In operation it is only necessary to tighten the grip of the hand slightly in order to work this trigger; and at rest it is possible to guard it by a five-sided guard.
“A long sighting radius has been obtained, without any of the disadvantages enumerated above, by attaching an orthoptic or peep-sight to the firing pin. In this way is obtained a broad base, sliding in closely fitting guides that preserve the alignment.
“The conflict between cocking and locking is automatically eliminated; for the base of the peep-sight so completely covers the thumb trigger, when the gun is at cock, that the necessity for locking is wholly removed. Finally, the motion by which discharge is accomplished is such a simple one that it can be made without the slightest difficulty, regardless of whether the hand be bare, gloved or mittened.”
While the Brooklyn inventor seems to have hit upon a new method of utilizing the thumb-trigger principle and of applying it in what appears to be a satisfactory way to military bolt-action rifles, the history of similar inventions shows that scores of gunsmiths have at one time and another for more than half a century worked along the same line.
The thumb—trigger principle has perhaps been applied to air guns and air pistols more extensively than to any - other type of weapon, and most of them have been the product of French gunsmiths.
One of the simplest forms, typifying the French conception of the thumb trigger principle, is to be found in a patent granted to one M. de Moerio in 1912. It consisted of a thumb trigger in the form of a push button, set in a depression immediately behind the “break” of the breech and designed in this instance for use upon an Anson and Deely shotgun. The principle was also regarded as being applicable to the Browning automatic pistol. In applying for his patent, M. de Moerio claimed that the use of the push button provided a gentler disengagement of the cam catch which held the hammer cocked.
147610
Another patent on a thumb trigger, similar to that of de Moerio and applicable to the Lee-Metford among other weapons, was granted in Great Britain in I897 to Louis Estevan Green and Samuel Smallwood, British gunsmiths.
The push button was also used in this instance, and was mounted upon the end of a “plunger” or rod pressure upon the button acting upon the rod and disengaging a catch so that the hammer was released.
This system was applicable to double barreled guns, and was designed so that each barrel might be fired separately. This was accomplished by fitting the lever, which released the trigger, with “steps” which operated upon “extensions of sears” on the hammer. Pressing the button lightly discharged one barrel, and pressing it home discharged the other.