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Design - Page 2

An alternative design to the Greener 'cross bolt' or  Westley Richards Dolls Head was theScrew grip - Dolls head Webley Screw Grip top extension patented by T. W. Webley and T. Brain (P. Webley & Son) under patent No: 3053 in 1882. The design made use of either the more ornate and complex Dolls Head type or a straight or blade type extension. The later dispensed with the Dolls head leaving a simpler straight slot cut in the top edge of the standing breech.Screw grip - Dolls head Although the blade design would have been less expensive to produce the Dolls head variant seems to have been the preference of W R Leeson.

 

The design is based on an external screw or thread mounted on the vertical spindle of the top lever inside the standing breech. On the upper part of the spindle, inside the standing breech is also a cam mechanism. When the top lever is operated to open the breech, the screw mechanism rotates inside the spindle assembly and places an upward lifting force on the underside of the top extension. In effect its acts as an assistance to the opening of the breech. When the breech is closed, as the sliding bolts lock into the barrel lumps, the top cam mechanism places a downward force on a stepped lug forming part of top extension. This has the effect of pushing the top extension, whether of the Dolls Head or indeed the Blade Head extension design down into the slot on the upper face of the standing breech. Once home, both the sliding bolts lock into position in the cut outs of the barrel lumps and the third bite mechanism locks home the top extension, ensuring a very strong bolting. Screw grip - Blade head

 

The Webley screw grip satisfies both aspects concerning breech burst and breech/barrel flexing. Barrel flex is overcome when the head itself is located into the slot cut in the standing breech of the action, the barrel being held secure between the fences, as can be seen in the picture above. Screw grip - Blade headThe second feature is to lock the breech closed in combination with the sliding bolts. This was achieved by a modification to the top lever spindle  incorporating a screw thread or cam type mechanism. When the breech was closed the spring mechanism of the top lever ensures the cam exerts downward force on the top extension. The combination of the two design aspects produced an exceptionally strong breech to action joint as well as an aesthetically pleasing feature.


Today, it is generally accepted that the need for a third bite is unnecessary providing quality gunmaking techniques and materials are employed.
Hidden 3rd gripAs discussed, during the Victorian era, makers could not be sure of the strength of their actions, failure could spell great danger, even potential death to the user and as a result of failure, commercial difficulty for the maker, in both legal claims and a bad name. To this end, gunmakers aired on the side of caution, Purdey for example developed their own third bite system under Patent 397 of 1878. This design incorporated a hidden extension which protrudes from the barrel above the extractor mechanism. The concept was to still retain the presence and hence strength of the third bite but one which was hidden from view. Hence the creation of the hidden third bite or hidden fastener as it is often referred to in the USA. Hidden 3rd grip

 

 

 

The design requires a slot to be formed in the vertical face of the standing breech but not so it protrudes through the top surface of the action itself giving onlookers the impression that the gun does not possess a third bite.

The mechanism functions in a similar manner as the  Webley Screw Grip, by producing a downward force on the top side of the extension via a sprung loaded cam onto the shoulder of the extension, ensuring total closure of the breech occurs. Perhaps not as elegant solution as the Webley Screw Grip design but did provide the design with the hidden "from view" element.

Hidden 3rd grip


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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