IMPROVEMENTS IN FIRE-ARMS AND CARTRIDGES
Year: 1866

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Westley Richards, of Birmingham, in the County
of Warwick, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN FIRE-ARMS AND
CARTRIDGES."
Sealed the 22nd March 1867, and dated the 8th December 1866.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Westley Richards at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 8th
December 1866.
I, WESTLEY RICHARDS, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN FIRE-
ARMS AND CARTRIDGES," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in fire-arms and cartridges.
Cartridges for breech-loading fire-arms are commonly made by me with a
wad of felt saturated with grease at the base for making a tight joint when
the piece which receives the cartridge is fired, and this wad has afterwards to
be pushed on into the barrel and fired out with the next shot. Difficulty is
experienced in the use of such cartridges in cold climates as the wad hardens,
and there is then some trouble in pushing it forward out of the chamber into
the bore of the piece; to obviate this I form the mouth of the chamber
slightly smaller in diameter than the bore, so that immediately the wad is
started forward it is free to pass through the barrel. For facility of manu-
facture I screw the barrel into a socket at the fore end of the body; the barrel,
enters some distance into but not through the socket, so that the back of the

page_text: socket forms a portion of the chamber which contains the cartridge when
the piece is loaded, and it is here at the back of the socket that the slight
contraction before spoken of is formed.
In central-fire cartridges for breech-loading fire-arms it is common to
employ an ordinary percussion cap fitted into a suitable holder secured in the
base of the cartridge; the mouth of the cap is directed towards the charge,
and a small peg or "anvil" is enclosed between the cap and its holder; then
when the cap is struck from the outside it is driven against the peg or anvil
and exploded, the fire passes forward to the charge, whilst the exploded cap,
keeping its place maintains a tight joint and prevents escape in rear. Such
percussion arrangements have always heretofore been combined with rigid
cartridge cases requiring to be drawn back out of the breech after firing; now
this operation of drawing back the cartridge usually involves a considerable
loss of time, and the cartridges also constructed in this manner are expensive.
According to my Invention I combine such a percussion arrangement with a
cartridge case suitably constructed for being pushed on into the barrel after
firing and shot out with the next round.
By preference I proceed as follows:-I form a powder case by rolling paper
into a tube which I close at the end, and I drop into this tube a disc of
pasteboard to strengthen the bottom; this disc has a hole at the centre into
which is fitted the cap holder of the percussion apparatus, the said holder
having first had a ring or wad of felt or similar material placed upon it, thus
the cap holder becomes the means (entirely or in part) of securing the soft
wad to the base of the cartridge; lastly, I attach another ring wad of felt
saturated with grease to the base of the cartridge, and thus the percussion
arrangement is covered and protected, a passage only for the needle or striker
being left at the centre of the wad.
SPECIFICATION in, pursuance of the conditions. of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Westley Richards in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 8th June 1867.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, F, WESTLEY
RICHARDS, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent; bearing date the Eighth day of December, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, in the thirtieth year of Her reign, did, för
Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me; the said Westley

page_text: Richards, Her special licence that I, the said Westley Richards, my execu-
tors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Westley
Richards, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN FIRE-
ARMS AND CARTRIDGES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Westley Richards, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing
under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, 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 Westley Richards, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, that is to say :-
This Invention has for its object improvements in fire-arms and cartridges.
Cartridges for breech-loading fire-arms are commonly made by me with a
-wad of felt saturated with grease at the base for making a tight joint when
the piece which receives the cartridge is fired, and this wad has afterwards to
be pushed on into the barrel and fired out with the next shot. Difficulty is
experienced in the use of such cartridges in cold climates, as the wad hardens,
and there is then some trouble in pushing it forward out of the chamber into
the bore of the piece; to obviate this I form the mouth of the chamber
slightly smaller in diameter than the bore of the chamber, so that when the
wad is pushed forward it is able to pass through the barrel much more freely
than heretofore. For facility of manufacture I screw the barrel into a socket
at the fore end of the body, the barrel enters some distance into but not
through the socket, so that the back of the socket forms a portion of the
chamber which contains the cartridge when the piece is loaded,,and it is
here at the back of the socket that, the slight contraction before spoken of
is formed.
Figure is a longitudinal section of a portion of the barrel and body of a
breech-loading fire-arm suitable for taking a cartridge such that after firing
the case may be pushed on and fired with the next shot.
a is a portion of the body, and b a part of the barrel. The bore of the
piece is chambered or expanded at its rear end as heretofore, except that a

page_text: portion of the bore of the chamber within the body, say, the last inch, or
thereabout at the breech end, is contracted to the extent by preference of from
01 to 02 of an inch, that is to say, so that it will only just pass freely the
bullet with the paper around it. The change of diameter is not obtained by
forming a sudden shoulder, but the one diameter is sloped off gradually into
the other, and the change is distributed over, say, half an inch of the length,
or thereabout. This contracted part of the bore receives the plunger or
stopper which enters the rear end of the chamber, and the wad at the rear of
the cartridge, and holds it until the charge is fired, and then when it is pushed
on by the next cartridge as soon as it is dislodged from the contraction
it is able to pass with sufficient freedom through the barrel, even should it
since the last shot was fired have become hard by exposure to cold. The
apparatus for closing the breech may be such as is described in former
Patents granted to me.
I would remark that the method of connecting the barrel with the body is
not in itself a novel feature of this Invention, but its employment in the pro-
duction of a bore with a contraction at its breech end is very convenient, as it
allows of the barrel being bored uniformly from end to end. The contraction
at the end of the bore, which is an essential feature of this part of this
Invention, may however be otherwise obtained.
Another part of my Invention relates to central-fire cartridges for breech-
loading fire-arms. In central-fire cartridges for breech-loading fire-arms it is
common to employ an ordinary percussion cap fitted into a suitable holder
secured in the base of the cartridge; the mouth of the cap is directed towards
the charge, and a small peg or "anvil" is enclosed between the cap and its
holder; then when the cap is struck from the outside it is driven against the
peg or anvil and exploded, the fire passes forward to the charge, whilst the
exploded cap, keeping its place, maintains a tight joint and prevents escape in
rear. Such percussion arrangements have always heretofore been combined
with rigid cartridge cases requiring to be drawn back out of the breech after
firing. Now this operation of drawing back the cartridge usually involves a
considerable loss of time, and the cartridges also constructed in this manner
are expensive, and an extractor has to be fitted to the fire-arm. According to
my Invention I combine such a percussion arrangement with a cartridge case
suitably constructed for being pushed on into the barrel after firing and shot
out with the next round; or the arrangement of the percussion apparatus may
be reversed, and the mouth of the cap directed towards the rear end of the
cartridge, the cap having a small hole in its top to communicate the flame to
the charge. I attach also a ring wad of felt saturated with grease to the base

page_text: of the cartridge, and thus the percussion arrangement is covered and pro--
tected, a passage only for the striker being left at the centre of the wad..
Figure 2 is a longitudinal section of a cartridge constructed according to
my Invention, it is such as is suitable for a rifle of 577 bore, and is represented.
double.the real size; Figure 3.shows, the form of the piece of paper from
which the tube of the cartridge is made, it is represented of its natural size;.
Figure 4 represents the same piece of paper with. its edge turned over to
prepare it for use; when so turned over the edge is secured by a little gum or
cement at each end. In forming the cartridge a maundril is used, and the
paper is rolled up into a tube upon it, and its edge fixed down by gum or
cement to prevent the paper unrolling: When the case thus prepared is dry.
the bullet is pushed into it, and the case is then ready for charging; the
powder is introduced, and the end of the tube (formed by the doubled edge
of the paper) is turned in upon it, a small disc of gummed or cemented paper
having first been put on to the powder which holds the edges of the tube
when they are pressed down upon it. The cartridge being so far made a wad
of felt having a hole through its centre is taken, and a metal "bat cap "
(marked a in the Drawing) is placed through it. For large bore cartridges it
is advisable to place a disc 6 on the hat cap to give it a firmer support, or the
rim of the "hat cap" may be made larger. Within the hat cap is a peg or
"anvil "c, formed by punching a piece of the form shown out of sheet metal, and
also within the hat-cap is the percussion cap d passing over the peg or anvil,
and with its open end directed towards the charge which it is to fire. Another
wad of felt e is attached behind the first, so that the wads enclose the flange
of the hat cap between them and protect the cap from injury or chance blows.
A convenient way of connecting the two wads is to sew them the one to the
her; the second wad is perforated at the centre for the passage of the
ker which is to explode the percussion cap. The wads with the hat сар,
anvil, and percussion cap being thus combined they are applied to the
cartridge, the paper disc at the base of the cartridge is perforated and the
nose of the bat cap is thrust through it, and the face of the first felt disc
having previously been coated with glue or cement the parts become firmly
attached. The cartridge is completed by saturating the wad at its base, and
also the portion of the paper case which surrounds the bullet with lubricating
material. It will be observed that a small groove or choke is formed in the
case at the base of the bullet, it is produced by tying a thread around the
cartridge, and it serves both to hold grease and to give a convenient amount
of flexibility to the cartridge. Figures 5, 6, and 7 show similar views of a
small bore cartridge. In these cartridges I prefer that the paper at the rear

page_text: end of the cartridge should be twice folded. The paper employed should be
thin and tough. As already mentioned it is possible (although less con-
venient) to reverse the arrangement of the percussion apparatus, so that the
peg c receives the blow of the striker and communicates it to the percussion
cap. This arrangement may be further described, as the converting the hat
cap a into a percussion cap by charging it with fulminating powder, and either
using a plain cap d to assist in making a gas-tight joint or omitting this cap
altogether.
I claim as respects the manufacture of cartages the combining a peg or
anvil and percussion cap with a soft wad and cartridge case in such manner
that after the charge has been fired the whole may be pushed on into the bore
of the piece and fired out with the next shot.
I also claim the application to the base of a cartridge of a perforated wad
in combination with a percussion cap and peg, so as to protect the said cap
and peg from accidental violence, but allow them to receive directly the blow
of the striker, as herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Westley Richards, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Eighth day of June, in the year of our Lord One-
thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven.
WESTLEY RICHARDS. (L.B.)