CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN ARTILLERY, MUSQUETRY, AND OTHER FIRE-ARMS
Year: 1825

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, 1,
AUGUSTIN LOUIS HUNOUT, of Brewer Street, Golden Square, in the
County of Middlesex, Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS His present most Excellent Majesty King George the
Fourth, by His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain,
bearing date at Westminster, the Twenty-third day of April, in the
sixth year of His reign, did, for Himself, His heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said Augustin Louis Hunout, His especial
license, that I, the said Augustin Louis Hunout, my exors, admors,
and assigns, or such others, as I, the said Augustin Louis Hunout,
my exors, admors, and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no
others, from time to time and at all times during the term of years
therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and
vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick upon Tweed,
and also in all His said Majesty's Colonies and Plautatious abroad, the
Invention of CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN ARTILLERY, MUSQUETRY, AND
OTHER FIRE-ARMS," communicated to me by a certain foreigner residing
abroad; in which said Letters Patent there is contained a proviso,
obliging me, the said Augustin Louis Hunout, by an instrument in
writing under my hand and seal, particularly to describe and ascertain
.

page_text: the nature of the said Invention, and in what, manner the same is to
be performed, and to cause the same to be inrolled in His Majesty's
High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and imme-
diately after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in
and by the same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at
large appear
NOW KNOW YE that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the
said Augustin Louis Hunout, do hereby declare that the nature of the
said Invention, and the manner in which the same is to be performed,
are particularly described and ascertained in and by the Drawings
hereunto annexed; and the following description thereof (that is to say):
It consists in the construction of a peculiar short barrel or chamber,
which, for distinction sake, I call the charging barrel, because it con-
tains the charges one upon the other without communication, as herein-
after described, and in the manner of introducing and using such
charging barrel at the breech of the shooting or ordinary barrel of "all
fire-arms. The charging barrel is a; short and very strong barrel; such
as is shown at Fig. 1, of the annexed. Drawing, its bore or calibre
being determined by that of the ball or other charge which it is
intended to carry, -its-length by-the-number; of; charges (disposed as
herein-after described) which it is intended to contain, and its thickness
and strength being in every case proportionate to the strength of such
charges. The charging barrel is bored truly cylindrical on the inside,
and is solid; or else has. a, breech bit screwed into one end or where it
terminates in a role for the introduction of a hook or pin to with-
draw it from the shooting barrel in case it should stick or be difficult
to draw out; and it is made very slightly tapering or conical on the
outside, in order to insure its fitting tiglitly and accurately into the butt
end of the shooting barrel. It should be made of hammer'd iron.or
other tough metal, to insure its strength; and as I propose using any
required number of these charging barrels in the same shooting, barrel;
so as to keep up the fire almost without intermission, it-follows, .of
course, that they must all be of similar dimensions for the same or
similar sized guns. Each charging barrel must have as many touch-
holes as it is intended it sliall contain charges, such touch holes being

page_text: placed in the same line along one side of the charging barrel, or placed
on opposite sides, as at c, d, in Fig. 1, in order that these touch holes
may be conveniently for the locks for firing the charges, and similar
touch holes must be formed in the exterior or shooting barrel, corre-
sponding exactly with those in the charging barrel, and to insure their
correspondence a small stop or projection e, is formed on the larger
end of the charging barrel, and fits into a cavity formed to receive it
at f, in the butt end of the shooting barrel. In order to use and intro-
duce my charging barrel aforesaid the shooting barrel has a cavity
formed at its thick or butt end, exactly corresponding with the external
size and form of the charging barrel, which exactly fits it, in such
manner that the bore of the shooting barrel exactly coincides with
that of the charging barrel when the latter is placed in its proper
situation for use within the former, as seen at Figure 2. In order
to introduce my aforesaid charging barrel into the shooting barrel I
cause my shooting barrel to be made open at both ends, both in small
arms and ordnance, and I close the butt end of such barrel after the
charging barrel has been introduced in manner herein-after described.
Thus Fig. 2nd represents that part of a single barrelled gun or fowling
piece to which my aforesaid Invention applies. A, is the shooting
barrel, which I make to turn upon a hinge or pivot b, formed in the
metal cap Z, of the end of the wooden stock c, c, so that the breech or
butt end of the shooting barrel can be elevated to the extent shewn in
the Figure. This elevation is produced by the action of the spring d,
as soon as the breech or butt end of the shooting barrel is unlocked
and set at liberty, and the small projecting stop e, prevents such barrel
rising too far. Fig. 3, is an abutment piece or detached breeching,
which is let into and firmly attached by screws to the wood of the
stock at the part marked L, in such manner that when the butt end
of the shooting barrel is depressed or pushed down by firing it may
come against and fit very closely to the said abutment piece or
detached breeching, which thus makes the shooting barrel close, and
by retaining the charging barrel in its place renders the gun fit for
firing. To hold or retain the shooting barrel in such position a sliding
bolt is introduced into the said abutment piece or detached breeching.

page_text: as seen at m, Fig. 3; side view, and this bolt is bevilled at its enda,
and is pressed forward by a spring which causes it to lock into a notch
in the butt end of the shooting barrel whenever it is depressed, the
handle of such bolt forming the near sight of the gun; or in single
barrelled guns or pistols the sliding sight itself may form the bolt,
by sliding over the top of the end of the charging barrel instead of
locking into a notch. In order to elevate the barrel or make it
ready for charging it is therefore only necessary to draw back the
sight with the finger or thumb, when the spring d, will immediately
throw up the butt end of the shooting barrel, and the empty charging
barrel must be withdrawn and a loaded charging barrel must be sub-
stituted in its place. What has been said of the single gun applies
equally to the double barrelled gun, except that the sight operates upon
a double bolt, or one bolt with two claws, one of which locks into
the charging barrels of each the shooting barrels, as seen at Fig. 10;
for in double barrelled guns a charging barrel, as before described,
must be used in each shooting barrel. In the construction of
cannon or large guns the same principles herein-before described
apply, except that, as these have no wooded stock the elevation
and depression of the shooting barrel on a pivot for the purpose
of charging becomes unnecessary, and the abutment piece or de-
tached breeching must be attached, and that by stronger or more
powerful means, to the shooting barrel itself. Thus Fig. 4, shews the
construction of a cannon formed to admit of the herein-before mentioned
improvements. The charging barrel is formed and introduced in exactly
the same manner as before described for small arms, it is however made
larger and stronger, according to the ball and charge it is intended
to carry, and its tail for withdrawing it is also stronger and differently
formed, as in Fig. 11. The breech or butt end of the cannon is detached
as at Fig. 5, and it turns on two curved arms of iron of sufficient
strength to bear its weight when it is let down for introducing the
charging barrel, which being done it is raised up again so as effectually
to close the butt end of the gun, and is held in its proper position for
firing by two or more strong iron keys or wedges passing through holes
made to fit them in the two projecting curved arms, and also in the two

page_text: manner.
or more strong iron bolts. The hinder part of the detached breech
is made flat at the parts where the said keys or wedges come into con-
tact with it, to give them a good bearing. To release the breach these
keys or wedges must be pulled or knocked out, and when the detached
breech falls down it rests upon the two screw nuts fixed to the ends of the
arms. With respect to the manner of charging or loading my aforesaid
charging barrel I employ two means, as follows:-First, the necessary
charge of gunpowder is introduced in the ordinary way into my afore-
said charging barrel, and rammed down with any wadding, in the usual
The ball is then to be placed in a piece of linen or other cloth
or canvass, previously soaked in a mixture of wax and tallow, and cut
in a circular form, and of such size or diameter that it shall cover
rather more than half the ball. The ball so enveloped must fit the
charging barrell tightly, and it is to be rammed down with force, the
said prepared cloth being on the side next the gunpowder, and its
edges must also be rammed or caulked round the sides of the ball
as tightly as possible, when a second or even more charges of powder
and balls may be introduced upon the first without fear of cominunica-
tion, any wadding in the usual manner being placed immediately on the
ball; the latter charges being treated precisely in the same manner
as has been described for the first, except that the like precautions
are not necessary for the last ball, which may be introduced in the
ordinary manner. Secondly, the ball may be introduced into the charg-
ing barrel without the prepared cloth aforesaid, but in this case two plugs
or waddings of solid lead or other metal must be employed in artillery
or large guns, and of hollow copper or other proper material for small
arms, the one before and the other after the charge of ball; these
metallic plugs or waddings are formed like the section shewn at Fig. 9.
A circular piece of cloth prepared as aforesaid, and rather larger in
diameter than the said metallic plugs or waddings, is applied on the
opposite side, so as to cause the said plugs or wadding to effectually fill
up the bore of the charging barrel. In this state they are to be rammed
down with force, so as to effectually close the barrel, and prevent the
communication of fire from any other charge or charges which may be
introduced above it, the hollow copper plugs or wadding being filled
with a circular piece of pasteboard, leather, wood, or other fit material.

page_text: If small shot are employed, as in fowling pieces, two such hollow copper
plugs or waddings must be used, the one before and the other after the
charge of shot. Thus all the charges will be separated one from the
other, and as there may be several charging barrels to each gun o
pistol they may be kept ready charged for future use and to insure
a velocity of firing. The charges being thus separated, it follows that
there must be as many touch holes in the charging barrel as it is
intended to contain charges, and likewise in the same charging barrels
the charges must always occupy nearly the same space, in order that
the touch holes may accord with and duly fire the charges. The touch
holes are consequently separated to some distance from each other, and
therefore, for the greater certainty and facility of using fire-arms upon my
construction, I use as many locks as there are touch holes. With a view
to bring the said locks within the compass of the said touch holes in small
arms I place the cocks in reversed positions, as shewn at Fig. 6, and 7,
the lock for firing the lowest charge being constructed in the ordinary
manner, while the cock cf the lock for the upper charge (which must
be first fired) is in a reversed position, as shewn at Fig. 7. The locks
are here drawn on the common percussion principle, but those with flint
and steel will answer as well, except that they occupy more room, but
as the locks themselves form no part of my improvements, but only the
alteration in the form and disposition of them, I do not feel it neces-
sary to go into a further description of them, except to say that in
double barrelled guns two such locks must be applied to each side of the
shooting barrel, and that the two triggers of the hinder locks may
operate upon them in the usual way, as shown at Fig 8, while the
triggers of the two forelocks are made to operate by the intermediate
levers, thus bringing all the four or more triggers within a small and
convenient distance of each other. In artillery, on account of the size
of the charge, there will, however, be ample room for common flint and
steel locks, or the firing may take place with a match, as is commonly
practised. It is evident that, although I have described my charging
barrel as capable of containing and discharging several charges in
succession, yet it may also be used for a single charge like an ordinary
gun, and likewise that the shooting barrel may be made a trifle smaller
than the ball, or may be rifled with advantage, to give greater force

page_text: and a more sure direction to the ball. From the above description it wil
appear that the points of the aforesaid Invention consist in the intro-
duction of my new charging barrel, and the mode, as above described, of
loading, introducing, and fixing it in the shooting barrel; in the use of
a separate touch hole for each charge; and a separate lock, altered as
above described, to each touch hole; and of these 1 claim the exclusive
use under my aforesaid in part recited Patent. But I do not claim the
manner of causing the shooting barrel of the small arms to turn up on
a pivot and look down at the breech, and neither do I claim as the
Invention the opening of the breech of large guns or artillery for intro-
ducing the charge; but I do claim the arrangement of parts by which
the same are permitted to open, and the manner of fixing the same by
keyes or wedges, as herein-before described, as well as the use of the said
charging barrel, in whatever way the same may be formed or introduced
and fixed as parts of the said Invention, since it will be evident that
the same end and effects may be brought about by other contrivances,
differing only in form, tho' similar in principle.
In witness whereof, I, the said Augustin Louis Hunout, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-first day of October,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and twenty-