IMPROVEMENTS IN FIRE-ARMS
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Henry Wilks, of No. 69, Great Prescot
Street, Leman Street, Whitechapel, in the County of Middlesex, for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN FIRE-ARMS."
Sealed the 13th January 1865, and dated the 20th July 1864.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Henry Wilks
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
20th July 1864.
I, WILLIAM HENRY WILKS, of No. 69, Great Prescott Street, Leman
Street, Whitechapel, in the County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature
of the Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN FIRE-ARMS," to be as follows:-
In the construction of fire-arms it has before been proposed to rifle the
barrels with three or other number of grooves, into which wings or projections
on the ball have been received; the barrels of fire-arms have also been made
with a number of shallow rifle grooves, into which the ball has been caused to
expand when the piece is fired.
Now according to my Invention I combine these two systems, that is to say,
in addition to rifling the barrel with shallow grooves, into which the ball is to
be expanded on the piece being fired, the barrel is also provided with three
or other number of deep grooves, which are to receive wings or projections on
the ball.
Another improvement in fire-arms consists in forming a chamber at the
breech end of the barrel of larger diameter than the rest of the barrel. This

page_text: chamber is to receive the charge of powder, and is of such a size that the
charge of powder just fills it. I prefer to form this chamber out of a solid
piece, which is bored out to make the chamber; this is conveniently of a pear-
like form, and its mouth of such a size as to receive the rear end of the bullet
so as to close it like a stopper. The piece in which the chamber is formed is
adapted by a screw to the breech end of the barrel.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Henry Wilks in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 20th January 1865.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
HENRY WILKS; of No. 69, Great Prescot Street, Leman Street, Whitechapel,
in the County of Middlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twentieth day of July, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, in the twenty-eighth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said William Henry Wilks, Her special licence that I, the said William
Henry Wilks, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said William Henry Wilks, 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 FIRE-ARMS," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said William Henry Wilks, my executors or adminis-
trators, 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 William Henry Wilks, do hereby
declare the nature of the 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, that is to say :-
In the construction of fire-arms it has before been proposed to rifle the
barrels with three or other number of grooves, into which wings or projections

page_text: on the ball have been received; the barrels of fire-arms have also been made
with a number of shallow rifle grooves, into which the ball has been caused to
expand when the piece. is fired.
Now according to my Invention I. combine these two systems, that is to say,
in addition to rifling the barrel with shallow grooves, into which the ball is to
be expanded on the piece being fired, the barrel is also provided with three
or other number of deep grooves, which are to receive wings or projections on
the ball.
Another improvement in fire-arms consists in forming a chamber at the
breech end of the barrel of larger diameter than the rest of the barrel; this
chamber is to receive the charge of powder, and is of such a size that the
charge of powder just fills it. I prefer to form this chamber out of a solid
piece, which is bored out to make the chamber; this is conveniently of a pear-
like form, and its mouth of such a size as to receive the rear end of the bullet
so as to close it like a stopper. The piece in which the chamber is formed is
adapted by a screw to the breech end of the barrel.
And in order that my Invention may be fully understood and readily carried
into effect, I will proceed to describe the Drawings hereunto annexed.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 is a plan view, and Figure 2, a side view of a rifle having an
enlarged breech chamber, as above described; Figure 3 is a longitudinal
section of the piece, in which the breech chamber is formed; Figure 4, a
longitudinal section of the breech end of the barrel; and Figure 5, an end
view of the same.
°
The end view of the barrel shows the barrel to be rifled, as above described,
with three deep grooves a to receive the wings or projections 6 (see Figure 3)
on the ball, and also to be rifled with shallower grooves c, into which the ball
is to be expanded on the piece being fired; d is the piece in which is formed
the charge chamber for containing the charge of powder; this piece screws
on to the end of the barrel, as is shown. The charge chamber is of greater
diameter than the bore of the barrel, and is by preference formed of a pear-
like shape; the mouth of the chamber is made to fit the rear end of the
bullet, which is of a taper form on the exterior, as is shown. The piece d, in
which the charge chamber is formed, is in the rifle shown in the Drawings,
connected to the stock by means of a piece of metal, which is screwed into the
top of the stock, and also into the top of the piece d, as is shown at Figures
1 and 2; this piece of metal is also connected by screws to a plate f, portions
of which are slotted away to carry the parts comprising the lock of the rifle;

page_text: at the bottom of the plate fis a projecting tang, which is connected by screws
to the under side of the piece d; the plate has also another projection from
its under side that screws into the under side of the stock. In place, however, of
connecting the charge chamber to the stock in this manner, it may be connected
to the stock in any other suitable manner.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Henry Wilks, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Eighteenth day of January, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five.
WILLIAM HENRY WILKS. (L.S.)