IMPROVEMENTS IN GUNS
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Hinkes Cox, of Brockwell House, Dul-
wich, in the County of Surrey, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
GUNS."
Sealed the 7th February 1865, and dated the 13th August 1864.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Hinkės Cox
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 13th August 1864.
I, WILLIAM HINKES Cox, of Brockwell House, Dulwich, in the County
of Surrey, do hereby declare the nature of the Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN GUNS," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in guns. For these pur-
poses mechanism is applied to each gun in such manner as to cause the ball
or projectile to receive a rotatory motion, interior of the gun, by the mechanism
applied thereto in contradistinction to the rotatory motion heretofore obtained
by rifling, or by rotation of the gun itself.
The arrangement of the mechanism applied to a gun when carrying out my
Invention may be varied, but the projectile is to be caused to rotate within
the
gun before and when the charge is igniting by a shaft passing through
the breech end of the gun, and capable of turning freely therein. The
forward end of such shaft is to enter into, or be otherwise connected with, the
projectile so as to cause the projectile to rotate when the shaft is rotated by

page_text: any suitable power applied thereto. The passage of the shaft through the
breech of the gun is to be rendered close so as to prevent the escape of the
gases in that direction.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Hinkes Cox in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
13th February 1865.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
HINKES Cox, of Brockwell House, Dulwich, in the County of Surrey, send
greeting.
Her Letters
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria,
Patent, bearing date the Thirteenth day of August, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, in the twenty-eighth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Williams Hinkes Cox, Her special licence that I, the said
William Hinkes Cox, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said William. Hinkes Cox, 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. GUNS,"-upon-the-condition (amongst others.)
that I, the said William Hinkes Cox, 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, William Hinkes Cox, 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
following statement thereof, that is to say:
This Invention has for. its object improvements in guns. For these
purposes mechanism is applied to each gun in such manner as to cause the
ball or projectile to receive a rotatory motion. interior of the gun by the
mechanism applied thereto in contradistinction to: the rotatory motion hereto-
fore obtained by means of rifling or by rotation of the gun itself.

page_text: The arrangement of the mechanism applied to a' gun, when carrying out
my Invention, may be varied, but the projectile is to be caused to rotate
within the gun before and when the charge is igniting by a shaft passing
through the breech end of the gun and capable of turning freely therein.
The forward end of such shaft is to enter into or be otherwise connected with
the projectile so as to cause the projectile to rotate when the shaft is rotated
by any suitable power applied thereto. The passage of the shaft through the
breech of the gun is to be rendered close so as to prevent the escape of the
gases in that direction.
. Having thus stated the nature of my said Invention, I will proceed more
fully to describe the same.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 shows an external view, partly in section, of a gun, and Figure 2
a section on a larger scale. If my Invention is to be applied to an old gun,
I would, for example, take an old 68-pounder gun or other gun, and I would
bore through the breech, in the same line with the axis of the piece, a hole of
sufficient diameter to admit of a steel shaft passing through it; near one end
of this shaft there should be a steel plug fitting the bore at the breech end of
the gun with a washer at the back; on the front end of this plug the steel
shaft should be continued to such a length as will enable it to pass through
the centre of the charge and enter the shot or projectile. The steel shaft
passing through the breech is to be continued back through a cone or pulley
which immediately before discharging the gun is to be set in rapid motion by
means of a band driven by steam or other motive power, or it may be done
by hand.
On reference to the Drawings it will be seen that whatever velocity of
rotation is given to the shaft the same will be imparted to the shot or pro-
jectile. It is known that the largest rifle guns in Her Majesty's service give
velocity of rotation equal to about 60 to 70 revolutions in a second. Now
any desired velocity of rotation can be obtained by the means before
mentioned.
The foregoing description refers to the adaptation of my Invention to old
smooth-bored guns. If it should be considered desirable to strengthen these
old guns at the breech so as to enable heavier charges of powder to be used,
the same can be easily done by placing a wrought-iron coil round the breech,
as shown in Figure 2.
With regard to the manufacture of new guns, I recommend that they
should be built on the coil principle. They can be made very much lighter

page_text: than is now required because the great strain upon the gun consequent on the
system of rifling will be dispensed with; these guns can therefore be made
with larger bores so as to fire very much heavier and therefore larger shot
with less strain on the gun and less recoil than is given from even the largest
gun now in Her Majesty's service.
It will be evident that by my Invention the following important results
will be achieved:-An elongated or spherical shot can be fired from a smooth-
bore gun having a greater initial velocity than can be procured from any rifled
gun, with less recoil, because of less resistance to the shot passing out of the
bore, and with a more rapid velocity of rotation, and, therefore, a greater, range
and accuracy than is now obtained from any gun.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Hinkes Cox, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Tenth day of February, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five.
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