AN IMPROVEMENT IN THE MANUFACTURE OR FIREARMS
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edward Burpand, of Moudon, Canton de Vaud,
Switzerland, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVEMENT IN THE MANUFACTURE
OR FIREARMS"
Sealed the 24th December 1856, and dated the 27th June 1856.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edward Burnand at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
27th June 1856.
I, EDWARD BURNAND, of Moudon, Canton de Vaud, Switzerland, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention of "AN IMPROVEMENT IN THE MANU-
PACTURE OF FIRE-ARMS," to be as follows:-
The object of this Invention is to increase the range and accuracy of fire-
arms, and the improvement consists in substituting for the rifle grooves now
used a helical or spiral groove, the angle or pitch of which is considerably more
obtuse at the mouth of the barrel than at the breech end thereof, and varies
according to the length and calibre of the barrel of the fire-arm.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Edward Burnand in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
27th December 1856.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, EDWARD
BURNAND, of Moudon, Canton de Vaud, Switzerland, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-seventh day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, in the twentieth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, IIer heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Edward Burnand, Her special licence that I, the said Edward Burnand, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Edward
Burnand, 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 "AN IMPROVEMENT IN THE MANU-
FACTURE OF FIRE-ARMS," upon the condition' (amongst others) that I, the said
Edward Burnand, my executors or administrators, 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 Edward Burnand, do hereby declare the s
nature of the 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, that is to say
ری
The object of my said Invention, is to increase the range and accuracy of
fire-arms, and the improvement consist in substituting for the straight rifle
grooves now used a helical or spiral groove, the angle or pitch of which is
considerably more obtuse at the mouth of the barrel of the fire-arm than
at the breech end, thereof, and varies according to the length and calibre of the
barrel of the said fire-arm, which is slightly enlarged at the breech.
:
In order to explain my said Invention as completely as possible, I now s
proceed to describe the best means I am acquainted with for carrying the same
into practical effect, reference being had to the illustrative Drawing hereunto
annexed, and to the numeral figures and letters of reference marked thereon
respectively as follows:-

page_text: DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.
"
The Drawing exhibits a longitudinal and vertical section of the barrel of a
fire-arm constructed according to my said Invention. A denotes the bore of
the barrel, which should be bored perfectly true by any of the known means
of boring barrels of fire-arms; B is a helical groove formed in said barrel
either by a cutting tool or instrument passed up the same in a helical direction.
The barrel being held firmly during such time by any suitable means, or
instead of the above method the aforesaid cutting tool or instrument may be
fixed, and the barrel of the fire-arm be caused to revolve and advance against
the cutting edge of said tool in a helical direction until the groove is of the
required depth, which I propose should be of the depth which the ordinary
ifle.grooves are usually made; such depth being in proportion to the diameter
or calibre of the barrel. The angle of inclination or pitch of the aforesaid
helical groove commencing at the breech end of the barrel is such as to
produce one or more entire revolutions of the projectile by the time it has
reached the mouth of the barrel, the progressive alteration of such said angle
or pitch which I have found answer well in practice is as follows:-Suppose
for example a barrel to be three feet four inches long, I so form the said
helical groove as that it extends about one-third round the calibre of the barrel
at a distance of thirteen inches, and one-third of an inch from the breech end
of the barrel. I then continue the helix for a distance of eleven inches and
two-thirds of an inch, and finally to the mouth of the barrel; or if desirable, I
form a helical groove in the same relative proportions of the pitch, but with
two turns of the groove instead of only one, as lastly above mentioned, so as to
impart two entire revolutions to the ball or projectile before it leaves the
mouth of the barrel. As regards the mode of connecting the aforesaid barrel
to the breech and stock of the fire-arm, it may be done in the usual way, and
the projectile and gunpowder may be introduced into the barrel either at the
breech, or at the mouth thereof, as commonly practised.
7'
Having now fully described the nature and object of my said Invention of
"An Improvement in the Manufacture of Fire-arms, together with the best
means I am acquainted with for carrying the same into practical effect, I
hereby declare my Invention to consist in, and I claim the manufacturing of
the barrels of fire-arms with helical riflo grooves therein, instead of straight
rifle grooves, as commonly practised in the rifling of fire-arms, whereby I
increase the range and accuracy of flight of the projectile used therewith; and
I desire it to be distinctly understood that I do not intend to limit or confine
myself to the precise relative proportions of the variations in the angle or pitch

page_text: of the aforesaid helical groove, but reserve to myself the exclusive right of
rifling the barrels of fire-arms with helical grooves in any other proportions
than those above stated.
In witness whereof, I, the said Edward Burnand, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twentieth day of December, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six.
Witness,
C. BURNAND,
Ancien Préfet à Moudon,
Canton de Vaud, Suisse.
ED. BURNAND LT. COL. (L.S.)