IMPROVEMENTS IN FIRE-ARMS AND ORDNANCE, AND IN PROJECTILES USED THEREWITH
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Jean Baptiste Mourguet, of No. 6, Rue Boucher, in
the City of Paris, in the Empire of France, Gunsmith, for the Invention
of "IMPROVEMENTS IN FIRE-ARMS AND ORDNANCE, AND IN PROJECTILES USED
THEREWITH."
Sealed the 10th May 1861, and dated the 16th November 1860.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Jean Baptiste Mourguet
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 16th November 1860.
I, JEAN BAPTISTE MOURGUET, of No. 6, Rue Boucher, in the City of Paris,
in the Empire of France, Gunsmith, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN FIRE-ARMS AND ORDNANCE, AND IN PROJECTILES
USED THEREWITH," to be as follows:-
My Invention consists, firstly, in forming sharp and projecting ridges
spirally within the barrel of a fire-arm, cannon, or other; secondly, in two
descriptions of ball.
The one I propose for fire-arms, loading from the muzzle, will be long,
conical, and hollow for about two-thirds of its length; the hollow of this ball-
will be closed with a plug of light wood split in form of a cross, and in this
cleft will be inserted a wedge also of wood. This ball will be of less caliber
than the barrel by the entire thickness of the ridges within it, so that it may
descend without effort into the chamber and there rest upon its plugged end; the
ramrod will then be brought down upon the ball, and this will have the effect of

page_text: enlarging it, because the wedge will be driven further into the plug, forcing
the top of the plug to open, and thus enlarge the ball in the middle of its
length and also at the bottom, because the plug (which enters wholly into the
ball) is also larger at its base. By this bulging of the centre and base the
ball will hermetically fill the entire interior circumference of the barrel of the
gun, the ridges in which will penetrate and direct it, which constitutes the ball
of caliber. This ball, long, conical, and hollow, in two-thirds of its length will
possess the principle of the arrow, inasmuch as all its weight will be forward,
and this will enable it to travel to a great distance without deviation.
The ball which I propose for breech-loading fire-arms will be of the same
caliber as the barrel of the arm; it will only be provided with a light wooden
plug entirely filling its cavity, and when introduced into the chamber of the
gun will be placed close against the point from whence start the ridges or
projections within the barrel.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Jean Baptiste Mourguet in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 15th May 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JEAN
BAPTISTE MOURQUET, of No. 6, Rue Boucher, in the City of Paris, in the
Empire of France, Gunsmith, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Sixteenth day of November, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty, in the twenty-fourth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said Jean
Baptiste Mourguet, Her special licence that I, the said Jean Baptiste Mourguet,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Jean
Baptiste Mourguet, 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 Ire-
land, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN FIRE-ARMS AND ORDNANCE, AND IN PROJECTILES USED THEREWITH," upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Jean Baptiste Mourguet,
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

page_text: 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 Jean Baptiste Mourguet, 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, reference being had to the Sheet of Drawings hereunto annexed,
and forming part of this my Specification, and to the figures and letters of
reference marked thereon:-
Figure 1 shewing a musket or rifle loaded and cocked ready for discharging;
Figure 2, a musket, the barrel being separated from the breech by the descent
of the key; Figure 3, the barrel in position to receive the cartridge;.
Figure 4, a view in profile of that part of the barrel to which my system is.
applied; and Figure 5, front view of the system. Figure 6 shews the trigger
guard in its entirety, with the key and the crotchet nut of my system; Figures
7, 8, and 9, all the separate parts of the trigger guard; Figure 10, the key
shewn flat; Figure 11, profile of the key with front view of its crotchet nut;
Figure 12, profile of the key carrying its crotchet nut; Figure 13, a washer;
Figures 14 and 15, the crotchet nut in all the positions in which it may be,
seen; Figure 16, barrel of regulation musket, old style, loading by the muzzle;
Figure 17; barrel of fowling piece loading by breech or muzzle; Figure 18,
breech-loading barrel; Figure 19, section of ball or projectile, the pin or plug,
and the wooden wedge; Figure 20, head of the wooden pin or plug; Figure 21,
section of ball with pointed pin or plug; Figure 22, wooden pin or plug;
Figure 23, ball rammed home; Figure 24, ball not rammed home; Figure 25,
section of the ball, displaying the pin or plug; Figure 26, cartridge only
partially introduced to the barrel; and Figure 27, cartridge in its place, the
centre of the ball being against the starting point of the projecting ridges
forming the rifling; and Figure 28, ramrod. The Figures 16 to 28 inclusive
are drawn to natural size.
A, A, A, balls or projectiles; B, crotchet of the nut; C, key; D, projection
of the breech; H, screw of the nut; Q, rod beneath the barrel; T, washer of
nut; V, stem of nut; X, extremity of rod Q; C, wedge of ball; f, pin or
plug of ball; n, nut.
My system of rifling consists in the substitution of sharp ridges or projections
within the barrel of the fire-arm in lieu of hollow grooving as hitherto practised,
the merit of which projecting rifling will be the projection of the projectiles
with a mathematical precision and to distances never yet attained.
The balls or projectiles A, A, A, forming part of my Invention are long,

page_text: conical, and hollow in two-thirds of their length, and are composed, firstly, of a
plug fof light wood intended to fill the hollow of the ball; this is split in form
of cross; secondly, of a wedge c, also of wood (see Figure 19), which Figure
represents a section of a complete ball, that is to say, furnished with its pin or
plug fand its wedge c. This ball is smaller by the entire thickness of the
projecting ridges or rifling than the inner diameter of the barrel, which permits it
to descend without effort, and rest within the chamber upon the heel of the
plug; it is then rammed down by the weight of the ramrod (Figure 28);
which causes it to enlarge because the plug enters fully into it, spreading from:
the introduction of the wedge c, which forces the top of the peg or plug f to
enlarge in its turn, an operation which results in an enlargement in the middle
of of its length, and it also spreads at the lower end, because the base of the peg
or plug which enters wholly into the ball is also its largest part; by this
enlargement of its middle and base the ball hermetically fills the interior
circumference of the barrel, the three riflings or projections of which enter it,
and thus constitute a ball of caliber. These balls, long, conical, and hollow in
two-thirds of their length, are on the principle of an arrow, the whole of the
weight being forward, which permits them to travel a great distance without
deviating.
:
Referring to the ball for breech-loading, it should be equal in thickness to
the caliber of the barrel, and provided with one pin or plug f of light wood
filling it wholly. This ball is introduced by the breech into the chamber of the
barrel up to the starting point of the projecting ridges or rifling, as shewn in
the Drawing.
;
The advantages of my method of loading my fire-arm (and those constructed
under other systems, if desired,) consist in that the fire-arm may be loaded
while in a horizontal position, requiring neither to be lowered or moved on one
side for charging. It consists of a rod Q (proportioned to the size of the fire-
arm) placed beneath the chamber of the barrel. This rod Q is furnished with
a piece moving along the slide or rest of the barrel to facilitate the come-and-
go movement of the barrel when it is required to go forward from the breech
for the introduction of the cartridge, or to come back upon the breech when
charged. This rod Q is also provided at its extremity X with a nut of a half
circular form, on which plays the crotchet B; this crotchet B is moved by the
key C (Figures 11 and 12), which in opening. turns round the nut n, which it
causes to advance or retire at pleasure. This movement disengages the barrel
from the projection or lock D of the breech. In this position the shooter,
who holds his piece at his right side, having his right hand on the grasp, takes
bold of the barrel with his left hand, and draws it forward about four inches

page_text: from the breech, which leaves sufficient space for the introduction of the
cartridge, which being introduced, he brings (always with his left hand) the
barrel back again upon the projecting piece or lock D of the breech, two-thirds
of which enters the barrel, pushing the cartridge; in this state the left hand
remains in the same position, and with the right hand the shooter grasps the
knob of the key C, which is open (as shewn at Figures 2 and 3), and brings the
key back to its normal position, that is to say, in a straight line beneath the
rest or slide of the fire-arm. This movement of the key makes the crotchet B
turn on the nut n to press the barrel strongly against the breech.
and its adjuncts form part of the trigger guard, shewn Figure 6.
crotchet under the action of the key is shewn, Figure 13. The washer is
followed by a stem V with five faces (see Figure 15), This stem traverses the
entire thickness of the heel of the key in which it is held by the screw H.
The rod of the barrel slides in a groove let lengthwise into the hollow rest or
canal of the fire-arm.
The key C
The nut and
Having now described the nature of my said Invention and the means
by which I carry it into practical effect, I would have it understood that I do
not confine myself to the precise details herein given and illustrated in the
annexed Drawing, as modifications may be made therein or deviations there-
from without departing from the principle of my Invention, which I declare
to be and I claim,-
Firstly, rifling the barrels of fire-arms or ordnance of every descripton with
projecting ridges or rifling in lieu of grooving as hitherto.
Secondly, the ball of caliber for loading by the muzzle and that for loading
by the breech, with the mode of charging by the breech, the whole essentially
as herein-before described and illustrated by the Diagrams in the accompanying
Drawing, and whether used separately or in conjunction.
In witness whereof, I, the said Jean Baptiste Mourguet, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Thirteenth day of May, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one.