IMPROVEMENTS IN PROJECTILES
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Lynall Thomas, of Hill Street, Berkeley
Square, in the County of Middlesex, Gentleman, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN PROJECTILES."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Lynall Thomas
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
11th September 1861.
I, WILLIAM LYNALL THOMAS, of Hill Street, Berkeley Square, in the
County of Middlesex, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN PROJECTILES," to be as follows:-
My Invention consists in constructing an elongated projectile, as hereafter
described, with a leaden or other suitable soft metal jacket, which is expanded
by means of an iron or other hard metal sabot in manner hereafter stated.
I form the shot or projectile with an overhanging head, and with inden-
tations or steps at the tail end thereof. The projectile is cylindrical, except
for a small distance from the tail end, where it is, by preference, oval in
section; it is then formed cylindrical down to its base. I place on the tail or
rear end of the projectile an iron or other hard metal sabot or cup, in the
inner surface of which steps or spaces corresponding with the indentations in
the shot itself are formed. The indentations are so managed that when the
cup or sabot is fitted on to the projectile, annular spaces are left between
the outside of the shot and the inside of the sabot. The diameter of the
shot is made equal by filling up the space between the shoulder or flange on
the head and the top of the sabot with lead or other soft metal. Upon the
firing of the projectile the sabot is driven up on the rear end thereof, and its
upper edges force the lead or other soft metal jacket up and outwards, and
cause it to be expanded into the rifling or grooves of the gun.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Lynall Thomas in the Great Seal Patent Offico
on the 11th March 1862.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
LYNALL THOMAS, of Hill Street, Berkeley Square, in the County of Middlesox,
Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eleventh day of September, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fifth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said William Lynall Thomas, Her special licence that I, the said William
Lynall Thomas, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said William Lynall Thomas, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
should at any time agreo 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 PROJECTILES," upon the condition (amongst others) that T,
the said William Lynall Thomas, my executors or administrators, by an instru-
ment 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 William Lynall Thomas, 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 thereof, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto
annexed, that is to say :-
My Invention consists in constructing an elongated projectile, as hereafter
described, with a leaden or other suitable soft metal jacket, which is expanded
by means of an iron or other hard metal sabot, in manner hereafter stated.
I form the shot or projectile with an overhanging head, and with inden-
tations or steps at the tail end thereof. The projectile is cylindrical, except
for a small distance from the tail end, where it is, by preference, oval in
section; it is then formed cylindrical down to its base. I place on the tail
or rear end of the projectile an iron or other hard metal sabot or cup, in tho
inner surface of which steps or spaces corresponding with the indentatious in

page_text: the shot itself are formed. The indentations are so arranged, that when the
cup or sabot is fitted on to the projectile, annular spaces are left between the
outside of the shot and the inside of the sabot. The diameter of the shot is
made equal by filling up the space between the shoulder or flange on the head
and the top of the sabot with lead or other soft metal. Upon the firing of
the projectile the sabot is driven up on the rear end thereof, and its upper
edges force the lead or other soft metal jacket up and outwards, and cause it
to be expanded into the rifling or grooves of the gun.
Figure 1 of the accompanying Drawings is a longitudinal section of a shot
made according to my Invention; Figure 2 is an elevation of the same with
the soft metal removed; and Figure 3 is a vertical section through the lines
x, y, of Figures 1 and 2.
a is the body of the shot made of cast iron; b, b, are irregular surfaces for
holding on a leaden jacket, and 6', 61, are steps at the rear end of the shot.
The line v, w, indicates the ovalized portion both in the projectile and sabot;
c is the iron sabot at the rear end of the shot, and d, d, are steps on it
corresponding with those marked b', 6', on the shot itself; e, e, are annular
spaces between the tail of the shot and the sabot; f is the lead or other soft
metal between the sabot and the head of the shot; the space 9 between the
sabot and soft metal is filled with some lubricating material, as also the
annular groove h in the soft metal. When the projectile is used as a shell, a
space, included within the dotted lines i, i, is left in the casting for receiving
the charge.
And baving now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim the construction
of elongated projectiles, as herein-before described, with a leaden or other
soft metal jacket which is expanded when the explosion takes place by an iron
or other hard metal sabot, acting as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Lynall Thomas, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Tenth day of March, One thousand eight
hundred and sixty-two.
STY TUNATT THOM
W. LYNALL THOMAS. (L.D.)