Gun Digest Book of Classic American Combat Rifles by Terry Wieland

Author:Terry Wieland [Wieland, Terry]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-1-4402-3017-2
Publisher: F+W Media
Published: 2011-04-19T04:00:00+00:00

1875 Design Fails

The March, 1896, issue of the now long-defunct English Arms & Explosives magazine reported that in 1875 Mr. James Lee had offered the British authorities a Martini-Henry rifle with the block operated by the hammer, instead of by the lever, and in various trials it had given some wonderful results in the rapidity of firing. Spare cartridges were carried in a single column type magazine, but not fixed to the rifle, which was a single shot. Instead, the magazine, which would hold 30 rounds, was hung from the left shoulder. Upward of 28 shots per minute were fired with the rifle, but it still did not satisfy the requirements of the British for a new rifle. The model offered the British was no doubt the solid-frame Martini-type based on the 1872 patent, rather than the model which was produced at the Springfield Armory about this time.

A vertical (Martini-type) action Remington-Lee rifle, which resembles the Springfield model but which would not chamber a 45-70 cartridge, was listed in Flayderman’s catalog No. 70. It had a two-piece stock with full military fore-end and two bands. The barrel length was given as 32½ inches, with Remington markings on top. Minor manufacturing differences, such as frame contours, top of the breechblock, etc., indicate that this may have been an 1872 model of the type offered to the British.

On April 27, 1875, U.S. Patent No. 162, 481 was issued to Lee for a magazine box, but the specifications have not been located. It is therefore not known whether this is the magazine referred to in the British trials above.

Following his failure to interest the British in a rifle, Lee apparently returned to the U.S. to work for the Winchester Repeating Arms Co., for whom he is reported to have developed a refinement of their lever action Model 73. This was in 1877, and he was still attempting to perfect a rifle the U.S. government would accept.

On August 7, 1877, U.S. Patent No. 193, 831 was issued to Lee, “of Milwaukee …” also covering an “Improvement …” The application was dated October 9, 1876. (Lee is not listed as being in Milwaukee after 1874, but three years later this address still appears on patent papers.)

The 1877 design was also based on a hammer-operated Martini action. The breechblock was lowered by shoving forward on the thumbpiece of the hammer, but the hammer was a one-piece type instead of the two-piece as previously. The new hammer was a rebounding model, only in contact with the firing pin during the firing cycle. The V-shaped mainspring, with spurs added, was the only spring in the entire action, performing all necessary acts required of a spring. Other improvements were in the shape of the firing pin, the pivot pin for the breechblock, and the sear, plus a slightly reshaped receiver and trigger guard assembly. Altogether there were only 15 parts in the 1877 design, including 7 pins. The design was simple, easy to operate, and apparently reliable, but the fact remained that it was a single shot at a time when repeaters were becoming the vogue.

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