IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR CLEANING FIRE-ARMS
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alexander Henry, of Edinburgh, in the County of
Mid Lothian, Gun Maker, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
APPARATUS FOR CLEANING FIRE-ARMS."
Sealed the 24th April 1860, and dated the 11th February 1860.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alexander Henry at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 11th
February 1860.
I, ALEXANDER HENRY, of Edinburgh, in the County of Mid Lothian, Gun
Maker, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN APPARATUS FOR CLEANING FIRE-ARMS," to be as follows, that is to
say:
This Invention relates to the arrangement and adaptation of a convenient
apparatus for quickly and effectively washing out the interior of gun barrels
when such are fouled by the deposit of the gunpowder after continuous firing.
Under one modification the apparatus consists of a short piece of brass tube,
one end of which has a thread formed on it; this screw is made to correspond
to the internal screw at the side of the barrel in which the nipple is fitted.
The other extremity of the brass tube has a piece of flexible tubing adapted
to it, which terminates in a perforated nozzle piece. The tubular end of the.
apparatus is screwed to the gun barrel, the nipple having been previously
removed; the nozzle piece is placed in a vessel of water, and the water is
caused to pass either by suction or otherwise to and fro into the barrel. By

page_text: this means the barrel is effectively cleansed from all impurities without wetting
or soiling the lock or other parts of the gun.
A second modification consists in making the brass tube to screw on to the
nipple; this, however, is not so quick a mode of cleaning the barrel as the
stream of water is greatly contracted by the comparitively small aperture of
the nipple.
A third modification consists in making the end of the brass tube to fit gun
nipples, which are smooth on the exterior; a projecting shoulder is formed on
the outside of the cleanser tube, so as to admit of the hammer of the lock
resting upon the shoulder, and thus keep the socket tube firmly in its place.
The other part of the apparatus consists of a funnel-shaped cup, which is
made to fit the muzzle of the gun, and so prevent any water that may rise
above the barrel from flowing over, and thus avoid soiling or rusting the exte-
rior of the piece. A still more important point, however, in the use of these
cups is, that they prevent the cleaning rod from injuring the rifle grooves near
the mouth of the barrel. The accuracy of the projectile's flight being deter-
mined by the more or less perfect state of the grooves within two or three
inches of the muzzle. The cups may be made of metal, india-rubber, or other
stable material, by preference they are of a shallow bowl-like form with a
short tube opening from the bottom. The exterior of the tube is covered with
a piece of vulcanised india-rubber or other soft water-proof material to prevent
injury to the grooves of the rifle, and at the same time to hold the cup steadily
in the barrel.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Alexander Henry in the Great Scal Patent Office on the
11th August 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALEXANDER
HENRY, of Edinburgh, in the County of Mid Lothian, North Britain, Gun
Maker, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eleventh day of February, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty, in the twenty-third year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Alexander Henry, Her special license that I, the said Alexander Henry, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Alexander
Henry, my executors, administrators, or assigns, should at any time agree

page_text: with, and no others, from time to time and 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 APPARATUS
FOR CLEANING FIRE-ARMS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said Alexander Henry, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal,
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 Alexander Henry, 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 Drawings, and to the letters and
figures marked thereon, that is to say:-
My said Invention relates to the arrangement and adaptation of a covenient
apparatus for quickly and effectively washing out the interior of gun barrels
when such are fouled by the deposit of the gunpowder after continuous firing.
Under one modification the apparatus consists of a short piece of brass tube,
one end of which has a thread formed on it; this screw is made to correspond
to the internal screw at the side of the barrel, in which the nipple is fitted.
The other extremity of the brass tube has a piece of flexible tubing adapted
to it, which terminates in a perforated nozzle piece. The tubular end of the
apparatus is screwed to the gun barrel, the nipple having been previously
removed; the nozzle piece is placed in a vessel of water, and the water is
caused to pass either by suction, or otherwise to and fro into the barrel. By
this means the barrel is effectively cleansed from all impurities without wetting
or soiling the lock or other parts of the gun..
A second modification consists in making the brass tube to screw on to the
nipple; this, however, is not so quick a mode of cleaning the barrel, as the
stream of water is greatly contracted by the comparatively small aperture of
the nipple.
A third modification consists in making the end of the brass tube to fit gun
nipples, which are smooth on the exterior, a projecting shoulder is formed on
the outside of the cleanser tube so as to admit of the hammer of the lock
resting upon the shoulder, and thus keep the socket tube firmly in its place.
The other part of the apparatus consists of a funnel-shaped cup, which is made
to fit the muzzle of the gun, and so prevent any water that may rise above
the barrel from flowing over and thus avoid soiling or rusting the exterior of.

page_text: the piece. A still more important point, however, in the use of these cups is,
that they prevent the cleaning rod from injuring the rifle grooves near the
mouth of the barrel. The accuracy of the projectile's flight being determined
by the more or less perfect state of the grooves within two or three inches of
the muzzle. The cups may be made of metal, india-rubber, or other suitable
material, by preference they are of a shallow bowl-like form with a short tube
opening from the bottom. The exterior of the tube is covered with a piece of
vulcanized india rubber or other soft waterproof material to prevent injury
to the grooves of the rifle, and at the same time to hold the cup steadily in
the barrel.
And in order that my said Invention may be properly understood, I shall
now proceed to describe the several Figures upon the explanatory Sheet of
Drawings, which I have hereunto appended for the purpose of showing certain
modifications, under which my improvements may be judiciously carried out in
practice, that is to say,-
Figure 1, on the accompanying Sheet of Drawings, is an elevation partially
in section, showing one arrangement of my apparatus for cleaning fire-arms;
Figure 2 is a sectional elevation of the nozzle cup, which fits into the end of
the barrel; Figure 3 is an elevation of a more complete apparatus, and
Figure 4 is a plan corresponding to the upper part of Figure 3. The modi-
ficaiton shown in Figure 1 consists of a piece of flexible or vulcanised india-
rubber tubing A, the upper end of which is fitted to a brass socket-piece B.
This socket is made with an internal screw to fit the external screw of the
nipple C. The free extremity of the tube A is placed in a vessel of water; the
end of the ramrod is bound with a piece of cloth, so as to fit the barrel suffi
ciently tight to prevent to some extent the passage of air past it. With this
arrangement, when the operator draws the ramrod up and down the water in
the vessel is caused to pass into. and out of the barrel through the tubular
passage in the nipple, and in this way the barrel is speedily and effectually
cleansed. A still more effective and quicker way of cleansing the barrel of the
piece is to remove the nipple altogether, and screw into the aperture the sup
plementary socket piece D. This part is made with two external screws, one
fitting the internal screw of the socket piece B, and the other the aperture in
the barrel from which the nipple has been removed. By this mode of operat
ing a much larger current of water is forced to and fro, and the cleaning
operation is accomplished in less time. In order to prevent the grooves of rifle
barrels being injured near the muzzle by the action of the ramrod during the
cleansing, a muzzle cup E, Figure 3, is fitted to it. This cup serves also to
receive any surplus water that may be drawn up by the action of the ramrod

page_text: and thus prevent its overflowing and soiling the barrel and lock of the piece.
The cup E is formed of metal, but it may be made of india-rubber, wood, horn,
or other suitable material capable of being turned or otherwise shaped to the
required figure as delineated in the accompanying Drawings, where it is
shown the full size, it has two circumferential grooves formed in the tubular
part, in which are fitted two rings F of india-rubber; these rings are suffi-
ciently thick to project a little beyond the metal of the tubular part of the cup.
When the cup is placed in the muzzle of the barrel the rings are compressed,
and the cup is held firmly in its place, and at the same time the grooves of
the rifle are completely protected from injury. If preferred, the whole of the
tubular part of the cup may be covered with a piece of india-rubber tubing.
In this apparatus provision is also made for the nipples, which are made smooth
on the exterior. At the lower end of the tube A is fitted a brass or other metal
socket G, the extremity of which is hollowed to fit the smooth nipple. On the
side of the socket piece G is formed a lateral projection H, so that when the
socket is placed on the nipple the hammer or degbead is caused to rest upon
the projecting part and so retain the socket firmly in its place during the
cleansing operation; instead of the socket piece G it is preferred in some cases
to fit to the end of the tube A a perforated cap or end piece, which being
placed in the vessel containing the water for cleansing the gun prevents the
admission thereto of particles of dirt or foreign matter. The modification of
the apparatus, as delineated in Figures 3 and 4, is designed to be still more
useful than that shown in Figure 1. To the end of the flexible tube A is
adapted the nozzle piece B, which screws into the crosshead C; the two parts
are secured together by means of the milled-headed screw F. The head of this
screw has an internal screw formed in it, which fits the nipple aperture in the
barrel, or it may have adapted to it a socket piece similar to that shown at
B, in Figure 1. The lower extremity of the key D is made box-ended or with
a square cavity for the ready removal of the nipple or other square-headed
screws about the gun. To the box-ended extremity of the key D is also fitted,
when required, a small turnscrew for screwing in and removing the counter-
sunk screws of the piece. At one end of the crosshead C is a nipple primer
I, which screws on to the crosshead; this primer is made tubular and fits on
to the nipple. The primer serves to contain a small quantity of fine powder
to charge the nipple with, should the gun miss fire. The exterior of this
primer may be notched or roughened on the exterior so as to form a jag to
screw on to the small end of the ramrod, which when bound with tow serves
as a cleanser for cleaning out the barrel. In front of the key D is a pricker
E, which is useful for pushing a little fine powder down the nipple primer and

page_text: into the tube of the nipple. The upper end of the key D has an internal
screw formed in it, by means of which it may be attached to the end of the
ramrod and so serve as a handle thereto. The key D is squared externally at
the upper part, and it fits a corresponding opening in the crosshead C; the
two parts are secured together by means of the milled-headed screw F. The
head of this screw has an internal screw formed in it, which fits the end of the
ramrod, and at the lower part is a steel screw for extracting bullets from the
gun barrel. Thus, in this arrangement the whole of the apparatus for cleaning
the gun and taking it apart is combined in a very portable form, and so as to
be always available.
.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried
into effect, I would observe in conclusion that what I consider novel and
original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by the berein-
before in part recited Letters Patent is,-
.
First, the general arrangement and construction of apparatus for cleansing
fire-arms, as herein-before described and delineated in the accompanying
Drawings.
Second, the application to and use of in gun cleansing apparatus of a set of
socket pieces or nozzles to suit screwed or smooth nipples, as well as the
nipple aperture in the barrel, as herein-before described and shown in Figure 1
of the accompanying Drawings.
Third, the application to and use of in gun cleansing apparatus of a muzzle
cup, for preventing the overflow of water over the barrel as well as injury
thereto, as herein-before described and shown in the accompanying Drawings.
Fourth, the combination of the gun cleansing apparatus with a gun key and
other useful adjuncts, as herein-before described and delineated in Figures 3
and 4 of the accompanying Drawings, or any mere modification of the same.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alexander Henry, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Seventh day of August, One thousand eight
hundred and sixty.
ALEXANDER HENRY.
(L.S.)