IMPROVEMENTS IN SMALL ARMS AND IN CARTRIDGES FOR THE SAME
Year: 1883

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Hebler of Bern, Switzerland, resident at Zürich
in Switzerland for an Invention of IMPROVEMENTS IN SMALL ARMS AND IN
CARTRIDGES FOR THE SAME
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Hebler at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 20th January 1883.
WILLIAM HEBLER of Bern, Switzerland resident at Zürich in Switzerland,
"IMPROVEMENTS IN SMALL ARMS AND IN CARTRIDGES FOR THE SAME,"
My invention relates to small arms having a bore from 6 to 10 millimetres, and
it consists in improvements in the cartridge and in the interior of the barrel.
In the rifles hitherto in use the projectile with its envelope of paper has a
smaller diameter than the barrel in its grooves, and the projectile fills out the said
grooves by being jolted or expanded by the pressure of the powder gases.
In my system illustrated by the accompanying drawings, however, the diameter
of the projectiles a with paper envelope b is from 0. to 0.1 millimetres larger than
the diameter d of the barrel in its grooves, and during the discharge of the arm the
lands c press into the projectile See Fig I.
A slightly conical part k connects the rifled portion of the barrel with the
cartridge-bed.
In the rifles hitherto in use the lands have, on an average, the same width as
the grooves while in my system the lands c or guides are much narrower than the
grooves for the purpose of pressing themselves easily into the projectile.
The flat grooves f instead of forming a sharp edge with the lands c have
rounded slopes 6. This has the purpose to obtain as gas tight cut-off without the
means hitherto employed, for instance discs behind the projectile or expansion
recesses in the same. By the oblique rounding of the groove edges a greater
cleanliness of the barrel is also obtained as compared with barrels having grooves
forming sharp edges.
The barrel, the bore of which is represented in cross-section Fig. II, has a larger
number of grooves, than hitherto usual,

page_text: These grooves are of a special shape hereinafter described, whereby the projectile
is so perfectly guided that for instance with 8 grooves neither packing discs
behind the projectile nor expansion recesses for a gas-tight cut-off are required.
See Fig III.
Owing to the larger number of grooves f the depth of the same may be greatly
diminished, with 12 grooves for instanco the depth of the grooves is only 0.09
to 0-15 millimetres, whereby the projectile is less deformed in the barrel and the
interior of the latter is kept cleaner.
Even if deviating from the principle of a largo number of grooves an accurate
guide motion with tightness is obtained by the improvements represented in
Figs IV and V.
Fig. 1V represents a cartridge for a barrel having from 6 to 8 grooves. Behind
the projectile is a disc g made of card board and impregnated with hot wax or
with cartridge grease, this disc is separated from the powder by a thin sheet of
paper as usual.
Fig V represents a cartridge for less than G grooves.
This cartridge contains immediately behind the projectile an india-rubber disc h,
then a disc of card board i steeped in wax or fat and finally a thin disc of card
board.
This small caliber is made to perform one rotation in 15 to 40 centimetres
length.
The length of the projectile in comparison with its dia:neter as well as its
absolute length is greater than that of ordinary rifle projectiles. Seo Figs VI
and VII.
The length of the projectile is from 3 to 6 times its diameter while the length
of the usual projectiles is from 2% to 23% times the diameter
The material used for the projectiles is an alloy of lead and tin or of lead and
antimony which alloy is considerably harder and more solid than the material of
which projectiles are usually inade.
The most suitable proportions are 92.parts of lead to 8 parts of tin or .96 parts
of lead to 4 parts of antimony. They may, however, vary up to certain limits.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said William Hebler in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 16th July
1883.
WILLIAM HEBLER, of Bern, Switzerland, resident at Zürich in Switzerland
"IMPROVEMENTS IN SMALL ARMS AND IN CARTRIDGES FOR THE SAME,"
My invention relates to fire arms and cartridges of small calibre (from 7 to 9
millimeters) and has for its principal object to obtain a superior accuracy of
shooting. In the accompanying drawing Fig I is an enlarged section of a part of
the gun barrel containing the projectile wrapped in paper and greased. Fig II
shows the projectile alune on a smaller scale and Fig. III the whole cartridge,
while Fig 1V is a section of the bore of the rifle on a greatly enlarged scale, the
upper left. hand quadrant showing also the projectile with paper envelope in
section, and the lower left-hand quadrant the saine in end-view.
When the projectile, with its paper envelope, has a smaller diameter than the
bore of the gun, measured in the grooves, the projectile fills the grooves chiefly in
consequence of its expansion by the pressure of the powder-gases.
In my system of small-arms, however, the projectile a, inclusive of the papor
envelope h, has a diameter equal to, or very slightly larger, than the diameter à of
the bore, inclusive of the grooves (the difference may be about 1/10 millimetre) so
that in shooting, the lands c are pressed into the projectile and its paper onvelope,
as shown in the upper left hand quadrant of Fig IV.
The paper choking. is pressed into a small recess g behind the projectile. A
slightly conical chamber connects the rifled portion of the gun-barrel with the
cartridge-bed,
In ordinary rifles the average width of the lands is the same as that of the
groove; but in the small-arms of my system the lands or guides are narrower than
the grooves, in order to facilitate their being pressed into the projectile, see
Figs. I and IV, and the grooves as well as the lands are curved concentrically to
the axis of the barrel. The transition from the grooves to the lands is formed by
inclines - rounded off by curves e, instead of forming sharp angles, which
improvement has the object to obtain a gas-tight fit without the accessories
hitherto employed, such as discs or wards behind the projectile, or an expansion-
hollow in the same. The gun barrels of my system have a larger number of
grooves than that usually employed, which grooves being of the shape described,
guide the projectile so perfectly, that neither packing discs behind the projectile
nor expansion-hollows in the same are required for preventing the escape of gases
(see Fig 11I). Owing to the gront number of grooves their depth is reduced.
For instance, if the barrel has twelve grooves their depth is only from 0.09 to 0.12
millimetres, whereby the projectile is less deformed in the barrel, and the bore of
the latter is kept cleaner.
Besides the great number of grooves of the described shape and very small
depth, my improved fire-arms have a very strong twist. Instead of making the
pitch of rifling from 50 to 70 centimetres, I use a pitch of 17 to 27 centimetres
only (one turn in 17 to 27 centimetres length).
The length of the projectile in proportion to its diameter, as well as its absolute
length, is larger than that of ordinary rifle bullets, (see Figs II).
The material for my projectiles is a hard alloy, for instance 96 per cent of lead
and 4 per cent of antimony, the relative quantity of antimony being variable
within certain limits.
Owing to the hardness of the material the compression of the projectile in
shooting is reduced to a minimum, and the friction in the barrel as well as the

page_text: '
heating is diminished, because the hard projectile is less pressed against the walls
of the barrel by the gases. Furthermore the hardness of the projectile increases its
penetrating power, because a hard projectile will be less compressed and deformod
by its impact with a resistance than a soft projectile.
The advantages gained by the reduction of calibre rendered. practicablo by the
improvements described, are a flatter trajectory, groater effective range, smaller
weight of ammunition and smaller recoil. The strong twist in combination with
the other improvements enables one to impart to a projectile a rotary motion with
a speed which will keep its axis unusually stable even at the longest ranges. For
this reason a greater accuracy of shooting may be obtained with fire arms of my
system at all ranges, than with the small arms at present in use.
In order to convert oxisting fire-arms into small boro arms of my system, it is
sufficient to exchange the barrel of the rifle for one constructed according to my
system. My small calibre cartridges are applicable for single breech-loaders as well
as for magazine rifles of various systems.
What I claim as my invention is:
The combination of a gun-barrel having a great number of specially formed
grooves, with a hard projectile of small calibre, the diameter of which inclusive of
the paper envelope is equal to or slightly greater than the diameter of the gun-
barrel measured in the grooves, substantially as described and illustrated, and for
the purpose set forth.
In Witness whereof I, the said William Hebler, have hereunto set my hand
and seal this twelfth day of July A.D. 1883