IMPROVEMENTS IN FIXED AMMUNITION FOR FIRE-ARMS, AND TOOLS FOR
Year: 1870

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Timothy James Powers, of the City and State
of New York, and United States of America, for the Invention
of "IMPROVEMENTS IN FIXED AMMUNITION FOR FIRE-ARMS, AND TOOLS FOR
Sealed the 10th March 1871, and dated the 1st October 1870.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Timothy James Powers
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 1st October 1870.
I, TIMOTHY JAMES POWERS, of the City and State of New York, and
United States of America, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN FIXED AMMUNITION FOR FIRE-ARMS, AND TOOLS
FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF THE SAME," to be as follows:-
:―
I make a cartridge case for breech-loading fire-arms to be withdrawn
from the breech after firing, the said case including the butt being
made wholly of paper or some non-metallic material and fabric in
contradistinction to being made wholly or partly of metal. I make
the body of a paper cartridge of a tapering form externally, while

page_text: internally the tube is cylindrical. I use a priming device for a centre-
fire cartridge formed of a percussion cap enclosing within it an anvil
held and sustained in the centre of the butt of the case within a short
sectional tube that is struck up out of a star-shaped piece of metal plate
in place of being drawn up out of a disc of metal into a solid tube. I
combine with a percussion cap a metallic anvil that is placed within the
cap and confined there by gathering or crimping in the open end of the
cap upon the anvil.
I apply a metallic gas check to the butt end of
that description of centre primed cartridge cases that have the end wall
of the butt perforated, through which perforation the fire of the priming
is communicated to the charge in the cartridge. I combine with a
paper or other non-metallic cartridge case a metal butt in such a manner
that the same may be primed in the rim of the butt while the fire of
the priming shall be communicated to the charge through the centre of
the butt. I make a shot case for either breech-loading or muzzle-
loading guns of a paper or other non-metallic tube by corrugating or
folding in the paper at the forward end upon itself and pressing the
same into shape, and then preparing the same by slitting the body of
the tube longitudinally if necessary to open after leaving the gun and
thus liberating the shot. I use a set of tools composed of a die and
two co-operating punches designed to form and press the butt of the
non-metallic case referred to above. One punch has a shoulder against
which one end of the tube abuts. The punch and tube are then forced
into a die which has at the bottom a series of thin projections or
partitions which make a corresponding series of folds or indentations in
the lower end of the tube, thus folding and closing it over the conical
end of the punch; it is then with the punch transferred to a smooth
die, and in that subjected to severe pressure between the punch and die
which flattens down the folds forming a smooth cone-shaped closed
end. Several longitudinal incisions may be made in the tube so that
when the case charged with shot leaves the gun it will readily separate
into several sections or pieces and liberate the shot. The case thus
made after being filled with shot is closed at the butt end by laying in
upon the shot a wad made of paper or some other suitable material,
and securing it by pasting over the end a disc or strip of paper. This
shot case may be used for muzzle-loading arms or may be placed in a
cartridge for breech-loading arms.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,,
filed by the said Timothy James Powers in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 1st April 1871.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, TIMOTHY
JAMES POWERS, of the City and State of New York, and United States.
of America, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the First day of October, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy, in the thirty-fourth
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give. and
grant unto me, the said Timothy James Powers, Her special licence
that I, the said Timothy James Powers, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others, as I, the said Timothy James Powers, 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 FIXED AMMUNITION FOR FIRE-ARMS, AND TOOLS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF THE
SAME," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Timothy
James Powers, 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 Timothy James Powers, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement, reference being had to the accompanying
Drawing forming a part of this Specification :-
The first part of my Invention relates to the fabrication of a cartridge
case designed for breech-loading fire-arms, and to be withdrawn from the
breech after firing, that is made, including the butt, wholly of paper
or some non-metallic material and fabric, in contradistinction to being
made wholly or partly of metal.

page_text: The second part of my Invention relates to giving to the body of a
paper cartridge a tapering form externally while internally the tube is
cylindrical.
The third part of my Invention relates to the priming device for a
centre-fire cartridge, formed of a percussion cap enclosing within it an
anvil held and sustained in the centre of the butt of the case within
a short sectional tube that is struck up out of a star-shaped piece of
metal plate in place of being drawn up out of a disc of metal into a solid
tube, as more fully hereafter described.
The fourth part of my Invention relates to combining with a percussion
cap a metallic anvil that is placed within the cap, and confined there
by gathering or crimping in the open end of the cap upon the anvil.
The fifth part of my Invention relates to applying a metallic gas check
to the butt end of that description of centre-primed cartridge cases that
have the end wall of the butt perforated, through which perforation
the fire of the priming is communicated to the charge in the cartridge.
The sixth part of my Invention relates to combining with a paper
or other non-metallic cartridge case a metal butt in such a manner that
the same may be primed in the rim of the butt, while the fire of
the priming shall be communicated to the charge through the centre
of the butt.
The seventh part of my Invention relates to the fabrication of a shot
case for either breech-loading or muzzle-loading guns, of a paper- or
other non-metallic tube by corrugating or folding in the paper at the
forward end upon itself and pressing the same into shape, and then
preparing the same by slitting the body of the tube longitudinally,
if necessary, to open after leaving the gun, and thus liberating the
shot.
The eighth part of my Invention relates to a set of tools, composed
of a die.and two co-operating punches designed to form and press the
butt of the non-metallic case referred to above as forming the first and
fourth parts of my Invention.

page_text: Figures 2 and 2¹ are similar views of the same tube in the first stage
of its manufacture into a cartridge case.
Figures 3 and 4 are similar views of the two remaining stages in the
manufacture of said case to completion; and Figures 3 and 4¹ are butt
end views of the same.
Figure 5 is an end view of a coil of paper used for filling in and
strengthening the butt of the case; and Figure 5¹ is a longitudinal
sectional view of the same.
Figures 6, 61, 62, 63, 6, 6%, show the parts in detail of the devices
employed for priming the case.
Figure 7 is a central sectional view of a set of tools which I employ
to form, press, and consolidate the butt of the case.
Figure 8 is a view, partly in section, of a centre-primed cartridge case,
to which is to be applied a gas check to cover the aperture in the butt
of the case, through which the fire of the priming communicates with
the propelling charge of the cartridge.
Figure 9 is a central sectional view of a cup-shaped piece of metal,
designed for the gas check; and Figure 9¹ is a bottom or end view of
the same.
Figure 10 is a similar view of the same case, with the gas check
applied.
Figure 11 is a central sectional view of a paper or other non-metallic
cartridge case, designed to receive a metallic butt, which is to be primed
in the rim or flange of the butt, the fire of the priming to be com-
municated to the powder in the case through the centre of the butt;
and Figure 11' is a butt end view of the same.
Figure 12 is a central sectional view of the metallic butt, and
Figure 12¹ is an end view of the same.
Figure 13 is a similar view of the same case with the metallic butt
applied and attached.
Figure 14 is a central sectional view of a die employed to perform the
first operation of closing the end of a paper tube designed for a shot
case, and Figure 14¹ is an end view looking into the die.
Figure 15 is a similar view of a punch having upon it a paper tube
that has been submitted to the action of the die, Figure 14 and
Figure 15' is an end view of the same.

page_text: Figure 16 is a similar view of the same, but showing the tube with
the end completely closed; and Figure 16' is a transverse section of
the same.
Figure 17 is a similar view of a die in which the operation of closing
and finishing the end of the tube may be performed in conjunction
with the punch F of Figure 16; and Figure 17' is an end view looking
into the die.
Figure 18 is an external view of a cartridge case with a shot case
attached.
Figure 19 is a similar view of a shot case prepared to be used in a
muzzle-loading gun.
The non-metallic cartridge case shown complete in Figure 4 may be
made of simple paper or of any suitable kind of textile fabric or of
layers of paper and cloth combined. It is made by first forming a tube,
as shown in Figure 1, by coiling a sheet of paper or other non-metallic
material around a mandril, the several coils being caused to adhere
together by some adhesive substance, then to close the end intended for
the butt of the case the body of the tube is gathered and folded in
sharply upon itself over the end of a mandril as shown in Figure 2
when it is placed in the die, Figure 7. To fill in and support the butt a
closely wound coil of paper is now prepared, b, Figure 5, and placed in
the case as seen in Figure 7; this coil of paper as shown will be found
a cheap and convenient material for an efficient filling for the butt, but
any other suitable material may be used; then by means of the
punches C and D in Figure 7, which are made to approach cach other
until the punch D reaches the dotted line z, z, the punch C is brought
down to the dotted line x, x, when the pressure will consolidate and
form the butt into the proper shape with an annular projecting base as
shown in Figures 3 and 4. The projections i, j, on the punch D entering.
the centre of the butt form a recess to receive the priming device and
perforate the centre for the transmission of the fire of the priming to
the gunpowder within the case. The butt may be made of any other
desired form by giving the corresponding form to the die in which it is
pressed. To form a centre priming for this case I first cut from a sheet
of any suitable metal (zinc, copper, or brass will answer, though if
preferred iron may be used) a star-shaped piece shown in Figure 6,
and then by means of a suitable punch and die I strike it into the
form of a cylindrical cap, Figure 6³, the ends d, being turned out-

page_text: ward to form a sectional flange, and one or more perforations being
made in the bottom. This flanged tube is then forced into the recess
in the centre of the butt, the sections d of the flange being pressed
into and embedded in the butt end surface of the case, Figure 3.
In order to more securely hold the tube in its place notches c may
be cut in the edges of the several sections, which when the tube is
formed will leave small spaces or openings between the sections, then
by inserting the tube into the centre of the coil 6 before it is pressed
in the die Figure 7, the paper opposite these openings will be pressed
into them forming projections that will hold the tube in place. I then
take a percussion cap f and insert in it a small piece of metal e to
serve as an anvil, one edge of it resting against the percussion priming
in the bottom of the cap. To secure this in the cap I press the open
end of the cap into a suitably shaped die, thus crimping or gathering
it in upon itself as seen in Figure 6. Thus formed the percussion
cap containing its own metallic anvil may be fabricated complete in.
quantities, and transported, handled, and used like a common percussion
cap. After the cartridge case is completed as shown in Figure 3, and
if preferred after it has been loaded with powder and projectile the
percussion cap may be inserted in the tube y, the open end with one
edge of its anvil resting against the bottom of the tube as seen in
Figure 4. As is evident a blow on the outer end of this cap will fire it,
and the fire will be communicated to the gunpowder in the case through
the aperture 9. After being fired the exploded cap may be removed
and another inserted, and thus the same case may be repeatedly used.
"
I have here described a convenient and efficient mode of priming the
cartridge in the centre of the butt, but any other suitable method of
priming may be employed, such as a percussion cap placed within the
butt to be fired by a pin inserted through the wall of the butt near the
end similar to that used in the " Lafoucheux cartridge. A cartridge
case thus constructed of paper, or cloth, or both, costing a mere trifle as
compared with metal, and requiring but little machinery in its manu-
facture is in every respect as serviceable as and in some respects superior
to cases made of metal.
In the fabrication of the cartridge case above described, instead of
paper any suitable woven non-metallic fabric or animal membrane may
be used, so also may a combination of these several materials, all being
regarded by me as the equivalents of paper for this purpose.

page_text: For the purpose of facilitating the introduction of the cartridge into
the breech of the gun in the act of loading, and the removal of the case
after firing, it is desirable to form the body of the case slightly taper
from the butt towards the bullet. Figures 20, 21, and 22 represent a
ready and convenient method of tapering my paper case externally
while the interior is made cylindrical. The paper intended to be coiled
into a tube is cut into the form represented by Figure 20. The
portion a¹ to b¹ being rectangular or having its opposite sides parallel
and remaining portion 6¹ to c¹ being triangular as shown. It is to be
coiled on a cylindrical mandril commencing at the end a¹ when the
rectangular portion a² to 61 will constitute one or more coils and the
triangular portion 6¹ to c¹ will form several additional outer coils
imparting to the wall of the case a spirally increasing thickness and
the tube an increasing diameter from the end a¹ towards the butt c².
By forming the case in this manner I not only secure the desired
tapering shape, but as the taper is in the wall or substance of the tube
the greatest thickness and consequent strength is given to the case
where the greatest strain comes in firing, namely, at the butt. When
the tube has been thus made it is to be completed and formed into a
cartridge case in the same manner as the tube shown in Figure 1.
"
In all cartridges that have the butt perforated for the purpose of
admitting the fire of the priming to the gunpowder within the case there
is a liability to an escape through this aperture of the gases generated in
the explosion of the cartridge. To obviate this escape I form a gas
check by cutting from a sheet of very thin metal a disc large enough to
form when "struck up a shallow cup (Figure 9) that will just fit on to
the butt of the cartridge (Figure 8). After the case is primed this cup
is placed upon the butt and the edge or rim is gathered or crimped in,
over, and upon the flange of the butt of the case as seen in Figure 10.
This forms an easily fabricated, cheap, and entirely efficient gas check,
which may be applied to all cartridges that have perforated butts whether
made of metal, paper, cloth, or other material.
There is in use a large number of breech-loading arms, both military
and sporting, constructed to fire the cartridge by striking it on the rim
of the butt, and for these the cartridge must be made upon what is
denominated the rim-fire principle, that is to say, the fulminate priming
must be placed in the annular projecting base of the butt. All of this
description of cartridge cases have hitherto been made either entirely of

page_text: metal or with a metal butt having simply a paper tube attached to it..
The rim-fire paper case represented in Figure 13 differs essentially from
any in use. It is constructed by first making a case of paper, or cloth, or
both combined having a strong solid butt, as seen in Figure 11, similar in
all respects to Figure 3 except that instead of forming an annular pro-.
jection around the base of the butt the external diameter of the butt end
is for a short distance made a little less than that of the rest of the tube
and with a shoulder u, so that when a metallic butt is placed upon it the
tube with the butt will form a straight cylinder. An aperture v is made
through the centre and several grooves & radiating from this central
aperture to the periphery are pressed into the surface of the end. A butt,
Figure 12, is then made of sheet metal in the same manner as the common
rim-fire metallic cartridge case. It is made of suitable length and
diameter to fit snugly upon the butt end of the paper case, and after being
primed with fulminates in the rim pis placed upon the case and fastened
by being crimped in at its upper edge upon the paper as seen at w.
is evident that when the priming in this case is exploded by a blow upon
the rim p the fire from it will traverse the grooves t and enter the case
and be communicated to the gunpowder through the central orifice v,
thus combining the advantages of the rim-fire metallic butt with the
paper case, the base of which is filled in and strengthened at the same.
time the propelling charge is actually fired in the centre. If preferred
channels or a channel may be opened from the rim to the centre of the
butt for the fire of the priming by corrugating the base of the metal butt
or in any other manner.
It
My improved shot case is made as follows:-I take a piece of paper
tube made in a manner similar to that descriptive of Figure 1 of suitable
length, and place it upon a punch F, Figure 15, having a shoulder u¹,
against which one end of the tube abuts. The punch and tube are then
forced into the die, Figure 14, which has at the bottom a series of thin
projections or partitions which make a corresponding series of folds or
indentations in the lower end of the tube, thus folding and closing it
in over the conical end of the punch F, as seen in Figure 15; it is then
with the punch transferred to the smooth die, Figure 17, and in that
subjected to severe pressure between the punch and die, which flattens
down the folds 1, forming a smooth cone-shaped closed end. Instead of
the cone represented any desired shape may thus be given to this closed
end of the tube. The walls of this tube should be made no thicker than

page_text: necessary to retai their shape, anu men i found to be needed severa
longitudinal incisions n', cutting partly or wholly through the wall of the
tube may be made so as to weaken the wall at the several incisions to
the end, that when the case charged with shot leaves the gun it will
readily separate into several sections or pieces and liberate the shot.
The case thus made after being filled with shot is closed at the butt end
by laying in upon the shot a wad made of paper or of some other suitable
material and securing it by pasting over the end a disc or strip of paper.
This shot case may be used for muzzle-loading guns constructed as shown
in Figure 19, or it may be placed in a cartridge for breech-loading arms
as shown in Figure 18.
Having thus fully described my said Invention I claim,--
First. A cartridge case designed for breech-loading fire-arms and to
be withdrawn from the breech after firing, made with the exception of
the priming device wholly of paper or some equivalent non-metallic
substance in contradistinction to being made wholly or partially of metal
substantially as specified.
Second. A cartridge case made as firstly above claimed where the
same is formed with taper walls substantially as shown in Figures 20,
21, and 22.
Third. The combination with the butt of a cartridge case of a per-
cussion cap placed and held within the sectional tube when the said tube
is struck up out of a star-shaped piece of metal plate, instead of being.
drawn up out of a disk of metal into a solid tube, substantially as
described.
Fourth. A percussion cap containing within it a metallio anvil e
which is confined within the cap by the crimping or gathering in of
the open end of the cap upon the anvil as shown and described.
Fifth. Applying a metallic gas check to the butt end of that description
of centre-primed cartridges that have the end wall of the butt of the case
perforated for the purpose of permitting the fire of the priming to
be communicated to the gunpowder within the case substantially as
described.
Sixth. Combining with a paper or other non-metallic cartridge case a
metallic butt in such a manner that the said butt may be primed in its

page_text: is exploded shall be communicated to the gunpowder within the case
through the centre of the butt, substantially as described.
Seventh. A shot case made of a tube of paper or some other equivalent
non-metallic substance when formed and fabricated substantially as and
for the purpose specified.
Eighth. A set of tools designed to press and form the cartridge case
first above claimed composed of the die B and the two co-operating
punches C and D constructed, arranged, and operating substantially as
described.
T. J. POWERS. (L.S.)