AN IMPROVEMENT. IN ELONGATED BULLETS
Year: 1862

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Edward Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, for the
Invention of "AN IMPROVEMENT. IN ELONGATED BULLETS."-A communi-
.. cation from abroad by Elijah Day Williams and Cyrus West Field,
both of the City and County of New York, United States of America.
Sealed the 11th November 1862, and dated the 13th June 1862.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Edward Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
13th June 1862.
I, WILLIAM EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane,
in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for "AN IMPROVEMENT IN ELONGATED BULLETS," to be as
follows:-
This Invention consists in the combination with an elongated expanding
bullet of a headed pin and a concave expanding disc, the disc having its con-
cave side against the base of the bullet, and the pin entering the cavity thereof
and operating to produce the flattening of the disc, by which the latter is
caused to expand against the walls of and enter the rifle grooves of the for
gun
the purpose of preventing windage and obtaining for the bullet.a.rotary motion
on its axis. It also consists in making the pin and the cavity of the bullet
of a conical form, in order to produce the expansion of the cylindrical portion
of the exterior thereof at the forward part. By making the front end of the

page_text: pin conical, the cylindrical portion of the bullet will be first expanded, thus
causing the friction against the bore of the gun to begin as far forward as the
bullet shall bear against the bore, by which means the bullet will be more
quickly and perfectly, upset, its friction will be more evenly distributed, and its
centre of gravity made more nearly to coincide with the centre of the bore of
the gun, all conditions necessary to accurate shooting.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Edward Newton in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 13th December 1862.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for. Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirteenth day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, in the twenty-fifth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said William Edward Newton, Her special license that I, the said William
Edward Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
I, the said William Edward Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times
thereafter during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make,
use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "AN IMPROVE-
MENT IN ELONGATED BULLETS," being a communication from abroad, upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said William Edward Newton, by an
instrument in writing under my hand and seal, should particularly describe
and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same
was to be performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent
Office within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the
said Letters Patent:"
.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Edward Newton, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the fol-
lowing statement, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed, and
to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say) :-
:-
This Invention of an improvement in elongated bullets consists in the com-

page_text: bination with an elongated expanding bullet of a headed pin and a concave,
expanding disc, the disc having its concave side against the base of the bullet;
and the pin entering the cavity thereof, and operating to produce the flattening
of the disc, by which the latter is caused to expand against the walls of and
enter the rifle grooves of the gun for the purpose of preventing windage and
obtaining for the bullet a rotary motion on its axis. The Invention also con-
sists in making the pin and the cavity of the bullet of a conical form, in order
to produce the expansion of the cylindrical portion of the exterior thereof at
the forward part. By making the front end of the pin conical, the cylindrical
portion of the bullet will be first expanded, thus causing the friction against
the bore of the gun to begin as far forward as the bullet shall bear against
the bore, by which means the bullet will be more quickly and perfectly upset,
it friction will be more evenly distributed, and its centre of gravity made more
nearly to coincide with the centre of the bore of the gun, all of which condi-
tions are necessary to accurate shooting.
The Invention is illustrated in the accompanying Drawings, in which
Fig. 1 is a central longitudinal section, on an enlarged scale, of a bullet
constructed according to the present Invention; Fig. 2 represents side views of
the ball, pin, and disc detached from each other. A is the bullet; B, the
expanding disc; and C, the pin. The disc B is made of a piece of some
flexible sheet metal, as zinc, having a central hole large enough for the passage
of the pin, and is stamped or pressed to a concavo-convex form, in which its
circumference is about the same as that of the cylindrical portion of the bullet,
that is to say, just as large as will permit it to pass easily through the bore of
the gun. The pin C may be made of hard wood, or of some metal or alloy
harder than the bullet. An alloy of one part of antimony to nine parts of lead
will serve the purpose if the bullet is of lead. The head a of the pin may be
of the same or a rather less circumference as the bullet and disc. The length
of the pin from the front to the head to the point should be a little less than
the depth of the cavity of the bullet, and a little greater than that of the
cylindrical portion of the exterior of the latter. The cavity 6 of the bullet and
the pin are both slightly taper, smallest in front, the pin being rather less taper
than the cavity, and fitting tight enough at its point within the cavity when
its head is against the convex side of the disc, and the concave side of the disc
is against the bullet, as shown in the Drawing, to prevent it from dropping
out of the bullet, and enable it to retain itself and the disc in place before and
during the insertion of the bullet in the gun.
When the charge is fired behind the bullet, the explosive force acting against
the head a drives the pin forward into the cavity b, thus causing the expansion

page_text: .
of both the bullet and the disc, as bullet, disc, and pin move forward in the
bore of the gun, the expansion of the bullet being produced by the action of
the pin in the cavity b, and the expansion of the disc being produced by its
being flattened by the head a of the pin. Owing to the difference in the taper
of the pin C and the cavity of the bullet, and the pin fitting tightest at its
point, the bullet commences to expand in the front part of its cylindrical
portion, thus causing its friction against the bore to commence in that part,
and as the pin continues to move forward, the expansion of the bullet is
gradually continued toward the base, while at the same time its cylindrical
portion is constantly upset in rear of where the expansion is taking place by
the pressure of the head a of the pin C transmitted through the disc B; the
bullet is thus caused to become very solid throughout the whole length of its
cylindrical portion, its friction is more evenly distributed, it is caused to obtain
a good hold in the grooves, and its axis is made to coincide with that of the
bore of the gun, and extremely accurate shooting, will be the result.
Having now described this. Invention of an improvement in elongated
bullets, and having explained the manner of carrying the same into effect, as
communicated to me by my foreign correspondent, I claim as the Invention
secured to me by Letters Patent as aforesaid, the combination with an elon-
gated expanding bullet of the conical pin C and expanding disc B, as and for
the purpose herein specified.
of
In witness whereof, I, the said William Edward. Newton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal this Eleventh day of December, in the
year
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
W. E. NEWTON. (L.S.)