IMPROVEMENTS IN LARGE AND SMALL FIRE-ARMS, AND IN THE PREPARATION OF THEIR CHARGES."
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Simon Holland, of Woolwich, in the County of
Kent, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN LARGE AND SMALL
FIRE-ARMS, AND IN THE PREPARATION OF THEIR CHARGES."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Simon Holland at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
27th September 1854.
I, JOHN SIMON HOLLAND, of Woolwich, in the County of Kent, Engineer,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
LARGE AND SMALL FIRE-ARMS, AND IN THE PREPARATION OF THEIR CHARGES," to be
as follows:
My first improvement consists in making a cartridge in the following
manner :-I provide a disc or plug to go to the breech, which disc or plug is
to be connected to another disc or plug at the other end of the cartridge by
means of rods, tubes, or ligatures, which rods, tubes, or ligatures will have to
be rent asunder before pressure comes upon the ball or other missile, thus
giving more time for the powder to ignite; or they may be connected directly
with a ball, and arranged in a spiral form, so that on being rent asunder they
shall give a rotatory motion to the ball or missile. The gun may or may not

page_text: have a hole at the breech in the direction of its axis, to force out the disc or
plug after having been fired.
My second improvement consists in making a core in a cartridge of a more
easily ignitable material than the powder of which the great bulk of it is
formed. This core may be made of powder composed of the same materials as
common powder, but of different proportions; it may be made of fulminating
mercury mixed with other substances.
My third improvement consists in enlarging the bore at or near the breech
of the fire-armis, so as to form a chamber for 'the reception of the cartridge or
powder. Before proceeding to do this, I propose to test the barrels in the
following manner, for should they be made and charged after my method or
any other method, they may still, not throw the ball in a vertical plane, owing
to one side being stronger than the other, and thus allowing of deflection from
the internal pressure of the exploded powder. For this purpose I fix one end
firmly, and to the other attach a finger pointer, then force water into the
interior, thereby causing a deflection, which will be indicated by the finger
pointer and a suitable index; this test to be applied before making the chamber
at the breech.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Simon Holland in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 27th March 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
SIMON HOLLAND, of Woolwich, in the County of Kent, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-seventh day of September, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the eighteenth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said John Simon Holland, Her special licence that 1, the said John Simon
Holland, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said John Simon Holland, 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 "In-
PROVEMENTS IN LARGE AND SMALL FIRE-ARMS, AND IN THE PREPARATION OF THEIR
CHARGES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said John Simon

page_text: Holland, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, should par-
ticularly 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 John Simon Holland, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, 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 first improvement consists in making a cartridge in the following
manner-I provide a disc or plug to go to the breech, which disc or plug is to
be connected to another disc or plug at the other end of the cartridge, by means
of rods, tubes, or ligatures, which rods, tubes, or ligatures will have to be rent
asunder before pressure comes upon the ball or other missile, thus giving morè
time for the powder to ignite; or they may be connected directly with the ball,
and arranged in a spiral form, so that on being rent asunder they shall give a
rotatory motion to the ball or missile. The gun may or may not have a hole
at the breech in the direction of its axis, to force out the disc or plug after
having been fired.
Figure 1 of the Drawing annexed is a sectional elevation of a cartridge
constructed according to this improvement. a is the disc or plug; and b, the
rod, which must be rent asunder; c, the case or bag of the cartridge;; d shews
the manner of fastening the case or bag to the disc or plug, by means of twine
or thread wound round and outside the case or bag, and thus bringing the two
together. 9 is the space to be filled with powder. Figure 2 shews the
improvement when the disc or plug is fastened to the shot by the rod b. The
letters a, b, c, d, and g refer to the same parts as in Figure 1. e shews a part
of the rod cut away, so as to cause it to break at that part; and fis
the shot.
My second improvement consists in making a core in a cartridge of a more
easily ignitable material than the powder of which the great bulk of it is
formed. This core may be made of powder composed of the same materials as
common powder, but of different proportions; it may be made of fulminating
mercury mixed with other substances.
The object of this improvement is to cause a more simultaneous explosion of
the parts of a cartridge. When explosion of a large cartridge takes place, the
first effect of the explosion of one part is to compress the other parts, and thus
render them more difficult of explosion.

page_text: My third improvement consists in enlarging the bore at or near the breech
of the fire-arms, so as to form a chamber for reception of the cartridge or
powder.
This improvement is shewn at Figure 3, where a is the enlarged chamber,
the object of which is to give a more compact form than that of a long cylinder
to the charge when it is a large one. To obviate the difficulty of filling the
chamber through the bore, I make the vent large enough to admit of the
powder being readily passed through it, and I obviate the usual evils of a
large vent by means shewn in Figures 4 and 5. a is a steel sliding piece,
having a small vent hole b, and a larger one c; d shews the enlarged vent of
the gun. To charge the gun I bring the hole c under the vent d, and then
pass down the powder. Before firing I bring the hole 6 below the vent d, and
thus secure the advantages of a small vent. e is a pin through, and ƒ a pro-
jection on, the sliding piece a, to stop its sliding motion at the proper places for
the holes b and c being fair with the vent d.
Before proceeding to do this, I propose to test the barrels in the following
manner, for should they be made and charged after my method or any other
method, they may still not throw the ball in a vertical plane, owing to one
side being stronger than the other, and thus allowing of deflection from the
internal pressure of the exploded powder. For this purpose I fix one end
firmly, and to the other attach a finger pointer, then force water into the
interior, thereby causing a deflection, which will be indicated by the finger
pointer and a suitable index; this test to be applied before making the
chamber at the breech.
This improvement is shewn at Figure 6. a is the lower part of a gun-barrel
to be tested, and a' the upper part of it; b is the hydraulic pump nozzle on to
which the barrel is screwed; c is a cap screwed on to the muzzle of the barrel,
a screw being provided on the muzzle of the barrel, which must afterwards be
removed. d shews india-rubber or other suitable packing; e is a rod attached
to the lower part of the barrel, having at the upper end the index disc f. 9 is
a rod attached to the barrel near the muzzle, and having a finger pointer h.
The action of these various parts is as follows:-Should a great pressure of
water be forced into the harrel, and one side of the barrel be a little stiffer
than the other, a deflexion will take place, which will be shown by the pointer
h on the index f.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention in the several
parts thereof, I declare that I do not confine myself to the details herein-before
described, so long as the distinguishing character of any part of my said
Invention is retained; but what I claim is,

page_text: First, the mode of fixing a rod to a disc or plug in such manner that the
rod must be broken before pressure can come upon the shot or projectile; or
when fixed to a disc at one end and to the shot at the other, the rod shall be
broken before the shot can move.
Secondly, I claim the mode of making a cartridge with a core, as
described.
Thirdly, I claim the enlargement of the bore at the breech.
And, fourthly, I claim the manner of testing the barrels and registering
their defects, as represented in the Drawing hereunto annexed.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Simon Holland, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-seventh day of March, One thousand
eight hundred and fifty-five.
J. SIMON HOLLAND. (L.s.)
Signed, sealed, and delivered by the said
John Simon Holland, in the presence of
HI. SILVERLOCK.