Single- or double-action tripping mechanism for four-barrelled pistols

A tripping mechanism for a pistol having four barrels, a firing pin for each barrel, a hammer mounted for movement between a cocked position away from the firing pin and a firing position toward the firing pins, a rotating head rotatably mounted to the hammer and rotatable into successive positions to strike successive firing pins when the hammer is moved into its firing position, head rotating means engaged with the head to rotate the head with movement of the hammer toward its cocked position, and a trigger mounted for movement between a rest position and a control position, said tripping mechanism comprising:

• a connecting rod connected to the trigger for movement with movement of the trigger, said connecting rod having a disengaging tappet, an arming tappet and a portion spaced from the trigger and being adjacent to the hammer;
• a trip lever having first and second extremities, said hammer having a cocking tooth, said trip lever being movable into a position with said first extremity thereof engaged with said cocking tooth when said hammer is in its cocked position, said second extremity being in a path of movement of said disengaging tappet, said connecting rod being movable to move said disengaging tappet against said second extremities to move said trip lever so as to disengage said first extremity from said cocking tooth, said connecting rod being moved by movement of the trigger from its rest position to its control position;
• and
• the hammer having a frontal shoulder engageable by said arming tappet of said connecting rod with movement of the trigger from its rest position to its control position, said hammer having a step extending from said shoulder and overlying said portion of said connecting rod which is spaced from the trigger, said portion of said connecting rod engaging against said step with further movement of said connecting rod to disengage said arming tappet from said frontal shoulder when the hammer has been moved to its cocked position by movement of said connecting rod, the continued movement of said connecting rod causing said disengaging tappet of said connecting rod to engage said extremity of said trip lever to move said first extremity of said trip lever away from said cocking tooth of the hammer.