Patents
In a previous post on GunNutz, by RRCo, it was mentioned in “The Ross Rifle Story” that a rifle was designed and issued patent 1347576. The OP gave 1247576 as the Patent number, probably a typing error. However, it is possible that the Ross Rifle Story is in error. (Yes, I can feel the Mob gathering at SMELLIE’s house, holding the Tar and Feathers, for my suggesting such an outrageous thing.) In my Defence, I would like to point out that United States Patent 1347576 was issued to H.S Cornish for a Liquid Mixing and Delivery Apparatus and Patent 1247576 for a Cigar Vending Machine.
Patent 1340943 was a patent assigned to T.H. Eickhoff and O.V. Payne. It was filed with the U.S. Patent office on November 26, 1917 and assigned a Patent on May 25, 1920. It is based on the Blish locking system of an inclined plane, with ramps and slots internally on both sides of the receiver.
In an article on the development of the Thompson Sub-Machine Gun, by Theodore Eickhoff, he met General John Thompson when Thompson became Chief of Ordinance on 1908 and Eickhoff was hired as Engineer the same year. Thompson was interested in developing a semi-automatic rifle and needed a draftsman to study military rifles in the U.S. and other nations.
At the beginning of WW1, Thompson took a Consulting Position with Remington Arms, who were producing Pattern 14 Enfield rifles. Eickhoff at this time went to Civilian employment. In summer 1916, Thompson telegraphed Eichhoff asking for a meeting at Thompson’s home in Media, Pennsylvania. Thompson gave his Ambitions on providing a semi-automatic rifle for the U.S. Military, and his search of Patents, with emphasis on the Blish principle. He was confident that a breech action could be made, and hired Eickhoff to investigate design and build an automatic rifle. Preliminary work was undertaken using Blish Patent 1131319, dated March 19, 1915 as a basis of a design for an automatic shoulder rifle.
Thompson agreed to Eichoff’s suggestion to design and make a trial mechanism to try out the principle and study the action and determine it’s feasibility. This action was manufactured by the Warner and Swasey Company of Cleveland, Ohio. Thompson was personally acquainted with Warner, Swasey and F.C. Scott, and to quote Eickhoff, “The Colonel had very great confidence in the Company to produce only the highest quality of workmanship, and he wanted the mechanism to be of highest quality.”
The mechanism gave promise of functioning, but seemed to require changes or improvements after testing. This model used the standard 30-06 Service cartridge, and after a long series of tests, it was found that the cartridges needed a slight lubrication for the rifle to function efficiently.
Thompson was recalled to the Army as a Brigadier General when the U.S. entered the War in 1917. In the same year, Oscar V. Payne applied for a position with the company and was hired. This Group found that the rifle mechanism could operate reliably with waxed cartridges in rifle calibres.
The Cleveland Company became convinced that a rifle calibre cartridge would not function without lubrication, but that the .45 Automatic Colt Pistol cartridge would. Work on the rifle design was suspended, and the design of the Thompson Sub-Machine gun began. O.V. Payne was to design the gun, and tests were carried out to determine the angle for the Blish lock to function best. The first design used a web belt, but testing showed it to jam readily. The web belt feed was dropped, and the gun designed for 20 round box magazines, and 50 and 100 round drum magazines. WW1 ended before the gun could begin to be in production. Work on the rifle then resumed.
Thompson did not like the idea of waxed ammunition, but suggested lubricating oil pads inside the magazine. The design Group rejected this idea for obvious reasons, so began to design another rifle. Because of the higher pressures, they rejected the wedge and initiated the rotating screw type of locking mechanism. They designed and built a shoulder rifle using the rotating screw type locking lugs, but it still needed ammunition that was lightly lubricated to function properly.
In the Fall of 1920, the Cleveland shop was closed down, most of the employees dismissed, and a few employees were moved to Hartford, Connecticut where they acted as Consultants to the Colt’s Patent Firearms Manufacturing Company, who were to produce the Thompson Sub-Machine Gun in quantity for the Auto Ordinance Corporation. Shortly after the move, O.V. Payne left the company, and T.H. Eickoff left in 1924.
To quote Eickoff, “After leaving the Auto Ordinance Corporation, I was in occasional correspondence with the Company regarding the design of an autorifle for the British cartridge.”
Unfortunately, the Patent drawings would not download from the site using Google. However, the patent does not feature a vertical sliding wedge but refers to a screw type mechanism for locking.
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