Year: 1887

page_text: Date of Application, 10th Mar., 1887
Complete Left, 8th Dec., 1887
Complete Accepted, 13th Jan., 1888
1. ALFRED VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 6 Bream's Buildings,
Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, do hereby
declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
This invention relates to means for stopping or reducing the recoil of guns, by
providing a force which will tend to push the gun forward whilst the recoil tends to
push it backwards.
To this end there is attached to the exterior of the gun, by preference near the
muzzle, a small tube, somewhat like a pistol tube, the breech or closed end of which
is directed towards the muzzle of the gun, whilst its open end points towards the
breech of the gun. This small tube receives a charge of guncotton, or of quick and
simokeless powder, which will emit flame, but no smoke and no burning particles.-
A small venthole in the main gun is made to communicate with a small hole in the
aforesaid tube, through which, when the powder flame in the gun reaches the muzzle,
the charge in the small tube becomes ignited.—As that tube has no opening directed
towards the muzzle of the gun, but only in the opposite direction, it is clear that the
flame produced by the ignition of its charge, having a very high tension, will act as a
rocket, and tend to drive the tube, and consequently the gun to which it is attached,
in a forward direction.-By reason of the high tension of the gas produced by the
guneotion or other charge, (which tension can be increased or decreased as desirable
by increasing or decreasing the outlet directed towards the breech of the main gun),
the flame disperses so quickly as not to molest the man who fires the gun.
NEWTON & SON,
Agents for the Applicant

page_text: Improved Means for Compensating for the Recoil of Guns.
I, ALFRED VINCENT NEWTON of the Office for Patents, 6 Bream's Buildings,
Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, do hereby
declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement
This Invention (as communicated to me by my foreign correspondent) relates to
means for neutralizing the recoil action of guns. To this end, a force is provided
which, on the gun being fired, will tend to thrust the gun forward, whilst the recoil
acts in the opposite direction.
The Figure in the accompanying drawing illustrates the application of the invon-
tion to a breech-loading fire-arm, the muzzle end of the arm, with the addition
thereto, constituting the subject matter of the invention, being shown in section.
Situate immediately below the muzzle of the barrel a is a small tube b, closed at its
fore-end, and open towards the rear. This tube may be firmly fixed to, or form part
of the gun-barrel a, the interior of which communicates with the bore of the said
tube by means of a lateral opening c.
When the gun is being loaded, a small charge of quick and smokeless, or almost
smokeless powder, such as gun cotton, is inserted in the tube b. On firing the
gun, so soon as the bullet has passed that part of the bore where the opening e gives
access to the interior of the tube b, the flame of the powder will rush and ignite the
gun cotton charge, and cause a discharge rearwards of the gases of combustion,
which, rushing out under very high tension through the opening d, will act after the
manner of a rocket, and tend to drive the gun forward, thereby counteracting the
recoil action of the gun.
Seeing that the utmost limit of recoil from a rifle does not exceed the energy of
18 kilogrammeters, the effort to be exercised by the gun cotton charge is not very
.great, and a quantity of that material equivalent in power to the charge of gunpowder
in the fire-arm, suffices for the purpose. The greater the tension under which the
gas of the gun cotton, or its equivalent, escapes into the air, the smaller will be the
charge needed.
This tension will depend on the nature of the explosive used, on
the density to which it has been compressed, on the size of the opening e, which, if
enlarged, makes the ignition more vivid and the explosion more violent, and especially
on the size of the outlet d. The outlet d night, if desired, be partly closed, after
charging the tube b, by any suitable mechanical contrivance, but it is obviously more
convenient to lengthen the tube b, and reduce the diameter of its bore, thereby
reducing the vent without reducing the charge.
Of course, care must be taken not to charge the tube with fulminate or such
violent explosive as would render the tube liable to burst.

page_text: The recoil reducer herein described is applicable to all kinds of fire-arms.
The flame of the gun-cotton charge, on rushing out from the outlet d, is so quickly
quenched by contact with the atmosphere, as to remove all liability of injury thero-
from, to the holder of the gun.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said
Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, as communicated to
me by my foreign correspondent, 1 declare that what I claim is :-
The means above described for compensating for the recoil of guns.