Elric
Well-Known Member
Sub-Target Rifle
Hmm, "Sub-Target Gun Company" Rifle, pisol, and coin operated pistol versions?
https://patents.google.com/?assignee=Sub-Target+Gun+Company
" than a hundred patents which were granted to him by the United States Government between 1885 and 1915, the more important ones... for a sub-target gun in 1903"
The SUB-TARGET MACHINE by the Wilkinson Sword Co.
http://www.rifleman.org.uk/Wilkinson_sub-target_machine.htm
The Electrical Engineer, vol 36, November 24, 1908, pages 740-741
https://books.google.com/books?id=edIfAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA740&dq=target+rifle&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjM45LDv6DYAhVJ3mMKHeAgDJ0Q6AEIPzAF#v=onepage&q=target rifle&f=false
A J. Comber, King's Prize Winner, 1905, using Sub-Target Rifle.
It is appropriate at a time when the nation is being roused to the importance of rifle shooting and the provision of more facilities for instruction that attention should be called to the sub-target rifle, invented by Mr. Henry Havelock Cummings, of Boston, Mass. The principle of this rifle may be explained with the aid of the accompanying illustrations. It will be seen that a strong and heavy upright pillar supports in any position required for shooting—standing, kneeling, or prone—a substantial tube. Above this tube there is placed a delicate rod capable of radial movement in all directions. At the forward extremity of the rod a needle point is fixed, and in a little grooved frame a small card target, about the size of a visiting card, is placed. That is the sub-target. The objective target is an ordinary target, placed preferably 20 yards away, which is ringed to proper dimensions to appear the size of a standard target at any desired distance, say 200 or 500 yards. An ordinary rifle is used for taking aim, being very ingeniously connected to the machine. For this purpose a carriage is provided, to which the rifle is attached. The carriage is mounted on ball bearings, and is connected to a steel radial arm swung on a four-point universal joint on the tube, which is called the " head " of the machine. This arm moves coincidentally with the line of sight along the rifle barrel, and transfers its gyrations, through an ingenious ball differential movement, to the scoring needle.
The weight of the parts attaching the rifle to the instrument is exactly balanced by the weight of the counter-poised ball seen in the illustrations, so that the marksman has only the weight of the rifle to support, and sufficient freedom of movement is given to allow of the rifle being aimed off the target in any direction. The relation of the objective target 20 yards away and the sub target on the machine itself is determined by calculation of angles, but to allow for variations in eyesight, or constant peculiarities of aiming, the tube ("head") may be adjusted both vertically and horizontally by means of screws. These variations from the normal are recorded on two dials, one corresponding to degrees of elevation on the back sight, the rifle cooked, and the marksman aims at the objective target and pulls the trigger. On the tiny sub-target every movement of the rifle is indicated by the delicate pointer until at the pulling of the trigger the car darts forward and takes the impress of the needle, exactly corresponding to the aim on the objective target.
Details of " Carriage " and " Head," Sub-Target Rifle.
The little sub-target is electrically actuated. There is a dry battery in the pillar, and the tube, or " head," contains a powerful magnet, the armature of which impels the target on to the needle when the circuit is closed, and the other to lateral movement for windage. In using the machine the marksman may first sight the rifle with the radial arm locked, so that if any adjustments are necessary to get the sights properly aligned on the bolt's eye these adjustments can be made. Satisfied as to that, the radial arm U released, This closing of the circuit results from pulling the trigger, a block of metal being placed within the breech of the rifle, to which is fitted mechanism for the purpose. Within this metal block is a cylinder parallel to the chamber, and at the forward end of it is a steel plunger reeling upon the upper one of two platinum-tipped phosphor-bronze plates. When the trigger is pulled, the firing pin drives a piston through the cylinder and compresses the air in it in such a way that the steel plunger is caused to bring the two phosphor-bronze plates in contact and close the electric circuit. This process of air compression, in lieu of a more direct action, is adopted to delay the impress of the needle on the sub-target, until a slight interval of time has elapsed, to correspond with the period occupied by the movement of the firing pin, the ignition of the charge, and the travel of the bullet up the barrel. There can be used, if desired, a blank cartridge in the rifle, but as the apparatus is designed for aiming, not for shooting, this serves no purpose beyond that of accustoming the user to the noise of the discharge. Windage allowance can be taught by the instructor purposely deflecting the apparatus from its normal direction, with the aid of a lateral adjustment lever.
Thus there is nothing of the " exhibition-toy " character about this sub-target rifle. On the contrary, it is an invention of great practical utility, at once overcoming the difficulty with regard to sites for ranges, and simplifying the work of instruction to a remarkable degree. There are thousands of would-be marksmen who lack the time necessary to attain proficiency under the old conditions, but the sub-target rifle provides the means for changing all that. It even makes instruction at borne a possibility, and for use in schools should prove invaluable In the United States and Canada it has been widely adopted, and is also used in H.M. Navy and Army. But its sale is by no means limited to the services and schools ; it has a much wider field, and will, no doubt, do more to effect the end which Lord Roberts has in view than all the talk in the world. Readers interested might do worse than call on the Wilkinson Sword Company, Limited, 27, Pall-mall, London, S.W , where the sub-target rifle may be inspected.
Hmm, "Sub-Target Gun Company" Rifle, pisol, and coin operated pistol versions?
https://patents.google.com/?assignee=Sub-Target+Gun+Company
" than a hundred patents which were granted to him by the United States Government between 1885 and 1915, the more important ones... for a sub-target gun in 1903"
The SUB-TARGET MACHINE by the Wilkinson Sword Co.
http://www.rifleman.org.uk/Wilkinson_sub-target_machine.htm
The Electrical Engineer, vol 36, November 24, 1908, pages 740-741
https://books.google.com/books?id=edIfAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA740&dq=target+rifle&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjM45LDv6DYAhVJ3mMKHeAgDJ0Q6AEIPzAF#v=onepage&q=target rifle&f=false
A J. Comber, King's Prize Winner, 1905, using Sub-Target Rifle.
It is appropriate at a time when the nation is being roused to the importance of rifle shooting and the provision of more facilities for instruction that attention should be called to the sub-target rifle, invented by Mr. Henry Havelock Cummings, of Boston, Mass. The principle of this rifle may be explained with the aid of the accompanying illustrations. It will be seen that a strong and heavy upright pillar supports in any position required for shooting—standing, kneeling, or prone—a substantial tube. Above this tube there is placed a delicate rod capable of radial movement in all directions. At the forward extremity of the rod a needle point is fixed, and in a little grooved frame a small card target, about the size of a visiting card, is placed. That is the sub-target. The objective target is an ordinary target, placed preferably 20 yards away, which is ringed to proper dimensions to appear the size of a standard target at any desired distance, say 200 or 500 yards. An ordinary rifle is used for taking aim, being very ingeniously connected to the machine. For this purpose a carriage is provided, to which the rifle is attached. The carriage is mounted on ball bearings, and is connected to a steel radial arm swung on a four-point universal joint on the tube, which is called the " head " of the machine. This arm moves coincidentally with the line of sight along the rifle barrel, and transfers its gyrations, through an ingenious ball differential movement, to the scoring needle.
The weight of the parts attaching the rifle to the instrument is exactly balanced by the weight of the counter-poised ball seen in the illustrations, so that the marksman has only the weight of the rifle to support, and sufficient freedom of movement is given to allow of the rifle being aimed off the target in any direction. The relation of the objective target 20 yards away and the sub target on the machine itself is determined by calculation of angles, but to allow for variations in eyesight, or constant peculiarities of aiming, the tube ("head") may be adjusted both vertically and horizontally by means of screws. These variations from the normal are recorded on two dials, one corresponding to degrees of elevation on the back sight, the rifle cooked, and the marksman aims at the objective target and pulls the trigger. On the tiny sub-target every movement of the rifle is indicated by the delicate pointer until at the pulling of the trigger the car darts forward and takes the impress of the needle, exactly corresponding to the aim on the objective target.
Details of " Carriage " and " Head," Sub-Target Rifle.
The little sub-target is electrically actuated. There is a dry battery in the pillar, and the tube, or " head," contains a powerful magnet, the armature of which impels the target on to the needle when the circuit is closed, and the other to lateral movement for windage. In using the machine the marksman may first sight the rifle with the radial arm locked, so that if any adjustments are necessary to get the sights properly aligned on the bolt's eye these adjustments can be made. Satisfied as to that, the radial arm U released, This closing of the circuit results from pulling the trigger, a block of metal being placed within the breech of the rifle, to which is fitted mechanism for the purpose. Within this metal block is a cylinder parallel to the chamber, and at the forward end of it is a steel plunger reeling upon the upper one of two platinum-tipped phosphor-bronze plates. When the trigger is pulled, the firing pin drives a piston through the cylinder and compresses the air in it in such a way that the steel plunger is caused to bring the two phosphor-bronze plates in contact and close the electric circuit. This process of air compression, in lieu of a more direct action, is adopted to delay the impress of the needle on the sub-target, until a slight interval of time has elapsed, to correspond with the period occupied by the movement of the firing pin, the ignition of the charge, and the travel of the bullet up the barrel. There can be used, if desired, a blank cartridge in the rifle, but as the apparatus is designed for aiming, not for shooting, this serves no purpose beyond that of accustoming the user to the noise of the discharge. Windage allowance can be taught by the instructor purposely deflecting the apparatus from its normal direction, with the aid of a lateral adjustment lever.
Thus there is nothing of the " exhibition-toy " character about this sub-target rifle. On the contrary, it is an invention of great practical utility, at once overcoming the difficulty with regard to sites for ranges, and simplifying the work of instruction to a remarkable degree. There are thousands of would-be marksmen who lack the time necessary to attain proficiency under the old conditions, but the sub-target rifle provides the means for changing all that. It even makes instruction at borne a possibility, and for use in schools should prove invaluable In the United States and Canada it has been widely adopted, and is also used in H.M. Navy and Army. But its sale is by no means limited to the services and schools ; it has a much wider field, and will, no doubt, do more to effect the end which Lord Roberts has in view than all the talk in the world. Readers interested might do worse than call on the Wilkinson Sword Company, Limited, 27, Pall-mall, London, S.W , where the sub-target rifle may be inspected.
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