IMPROVEMENTS IN CANNONS, GUNS, AND FIRE-ARMS
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Joseph Whitworth, of the City of Manchester, in the
County of Lancaster, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
CANNONS, GUNS, AND FIRE-ARMS."
Sealed the 27th February 1855, and dated the 1st December 1854.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Joseph Whitworth at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
1st December 1854.
I, JOSEPH WHITWORTH, of the City of Manchester, in the County of Lan-
caster, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN CANNONS, GUNS, AND FIRE-ARMS," to be as follows:-
Firstly, in constructing cannons, guns, and the barrels of fire-arms in
several separate parts, and uniting them by means of screws, belts, or similar
contrivances, whereby I am enabled to make them of more uniform strength and
greater accuracy than can be accomplished by the modes hitherto adopted;
and in making the same of a combination or amalgamation of certain metals
for the external and internal parts thereof, whereby I gain strength in the
former and hardness in the latter.
Secondly, in an improved mode of breech-loading, by using a screw for
withdrawing and more effectually tightening the breech.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Joseph Whitworth in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
31st May 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOSEPH
WHITWORTH, of the City of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, Engineer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Royal
Letters Patent, bearing date the First day of December, in the year
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 Joseph Whitworth, Her special licence that I, the said Joseph Whitworth,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Joseph
Whitworth, 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 CANNONS,
GUNS, AND FIRE-ARMS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Joseph Whitworth, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, 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 Royal Letters Patent..
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Joseph Whitworth, 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
(that is to say):
My Invention consists, firstly, in constructing cannons, guns, and the
barrels of fire-arms in separate parts, and uniting together,-by-means-of-hoops.
or belts, two or more segments-made-of_a_particular shape (as herein-after
described), which when so united form a cannon, or other piece of ordnance,
or the barrel of a fire-arm, the interior of which may be rifled, not by boring
and cutting grooves in it, as in the ordinary mode, but by making the interior
in the form of a hollow polygonal spiral or screw of the requisite pitch and
number of threads. The spiral figure adopted may have any number of sides,
as may be found-most suitable to the size of the piece; for an ordinary rifle
I have found it advantageous to employ from six to eight sides, and for a
twelve pounder cannon nine sides, as shewn in the Drawings annexed. Great

page_text: accuracy is required in making the segments, as each should be the exact
counterpart of another; the surfaces of their edges intended to be brought_in
contact must be perfectly true, and be so shaped that the lines of junction in
every case shall follow the course of the spiral, and bisect, at every point one
of the angles of the hollow spiral figure formed by all the segments when
united.. Their exterior surfaces may correspond in shape to their interior, or
may be circular, so as-to-form-when-hooped together a conical surface tapering
from the breech to the muzzle. The inner surfaces of the hoops or belts for
uniting the segments will correspond with the outer. surface of the segments
on which they are fitted. The said hoops or belts may be made of any
required breadth, the most economical, and may be forced on the segments, so
as to produce the requisite degree of tightness by a screw at the muzzle. The
breech is formed. by screwing a cap on the breech end of the segments which
is pierced for, the touch hole, and the trunnions are attached to one of the
hoops or belts. The different parts of the cannon or gun barrel may be
made of different materials; thus, the segments may be of cast or wrought
iron, or of wrought iron and steel, or other suitable metal, and the hoops or
belts may be of malleable iron or other metal, according as the quality of a
particular metal in point of hardness or, strength renders its employment
desirable for a special purpose, as to withstand friction or resist a great strain.
A second series of belts may be used outside the others for giving additional
strength. These may be made of comparatively thin steel, and been put on
hot would adjust themselves, and prevent the necessity of boring and turning.
By this method of constructing cannon or barrels of fire-arms in segments,
it is obvious that the material will be comparatively easily dealt with, while
the requisite accuracy may be attained in shaping the segments. It is
necessary that the segments should contain a sufficient mass to give the piece
solidity and steadiness in firing; at the same time it will be found, that if the
hoops or belts be made of a malleable metal, that it will yield to great pressure.
The danger of a gun bursting from an overcharge of gunpowder will be
obviated, because the strain will be distributed throughout the length of the
segments, and by forcing the hoops or belts to give way will cause the joints
of the segments to open longitudinally, thus acting as safety valves, allowing
the gases generated by the explosion to escape through the joints so opened.
The piece may be spoiled by overstraining the parts, but its liability to burst
will be prevented. In the case of heavy pieces of ordnance the facilities of
transport.are much increased, as by removing the hoops or belts the various
parts may be disconnected and transported separately. I also propose to cast
the barrel in one piece, and to cut a slit or slits along the angles, following the

page_text: spiral course of the grooves, the slit or slits to be filled by wedge pieces
inserted from the outside, to which, if made thin, the spiral shape can be given
them in a heated state. Up to a limited size of cannon this mode of con-
struction might be desirable for the sake of economy, as it also allows of the
adoption of wrought-iron hoops in combination with the cast-iron or other
metal, as in the case of the segments before referred to. When it is important
that the weight in a small cannon or fire-arm should be diminished, instead of
constructing them in segments, as above described, I find it more convenient
to make the tubular part in one piece, giving to its interior, however, the
spiral figure, as before described, when segments were employed. I make the
exterior to taper from the breech to the muzzle either of the ordinary conical
figure, or of a spiral angular figure, corresponding with the figure of the
interior, so that in any transverse section there is uniformity of thickness and
strength of metal. In the case of cannons so constructed, the trunnions are
cast on; and the piece made open at both ends, to facilitate the operation of the
tool employed in shaping the interior; and when the cannon or fire-arms are
made breech-loading, a cap is screwed on to form the breech, in the manner
herein-after described; when they are made to load at the muzzle, the breech
is screwed in. It is to be observed that I have found it desirable to employ
for my improved ordnance and fire-arms projectiles specially adapted to them
(for which I obtained provisional protection on the 23rd day of April 1855),
being partly conical in shape, but having in the part which is in contact with
the barrel, spiral lines and surfaces cut upon them so that they exactly fit its
interior. The description of my improvements will be fully understood by
referring to the accompanying Drawings.
Fig. 1 is a longitudinal section, Fig. 2 a side view, Fig. 3 an end view,
and Fig. 4 a cross section, of my improved cannon. A1, A2, A3, represent
the segments of the barrel, one of which is shewn detached at Figs. 5, 6,
-and-7. The segments are of a spiral shape, with a conical exterior surface,
and a polygonal spiral shape in the interior; they taper from-the-breech-to
the muzzle, being thicker and stronger-at-the-breech-end.;.each end is provided
with a screw, screwed to receive respectively the breech piece B, and the
muzzle hoop C, which have corresponding threads cut in their interior.
C, C, C, C, C, C, C, C, are the hoops which fit on to the conical surface
of the segments (hoop C carrying the trunnions), and are forced towards the
breech piece B by the action of the screw in the muzzle hoop C', so as to
unite the segments A', A2, A3, together, and thus form the barrel of a cannon.
My improved mode of constructing cannons with a cast-iron barrel in one
piece, having a slit cut through it, is shewn in section Fig. 8, in which A is the

page_text: barrel, having a bore similar to that already described, and a slit through one
of its angles, which follows the spiral course of the interior. a is a thin
segment of metal, which is inserted in the slit from the outside; C is one of the
hoops, which are similar to those shewn in Figs. 1 and 2.
My improved apparatus for breech-loading consists of the wedge picce D, D,
which takes into a suitable opening or slot in the breech piece B, B, and has
at its upper end a steel piece 6 fitted into it. The side of the wedge piece
D, D, next to the barrel has a surface-perpendicular to the axis of the barrel,
whilst the surface on its opposite side is inclined to it at a small angle. E, E,
is a screw of coarse pitch, having a collar c, c, at its upper end, which fits into
a recess in the wedge piece D, D, and is retained therein by the bush d, d,
and pins e, e; the other end of screw E, E, passes through the nut F, F, and
has a hand wheel G, G, by which it is turned. The nut F, F, is fastened
to the breech piece B, B, by the screws f,.f.. H, H, is an opening formed in
the breech piece B, through which the cartridge or charge is passed to the
barrel, the wedge piece D, D, being previously withdrawn by the screw E, E;
the wedge piece is then forced up against the inclined edge of the breech
piece B, B, and its front surface is brought into close fitting contact with the
end of the barrel. In its passage upwards, the steel piece b may be used to
cut off the end of the cartridge if desired, or it may be provided with a cutter
for that purpose, having a projecting ledge to prevent the powder or dust from
falling.
In my improved rifle, represented by Figs. 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, the peculiar
features being in the barrel and the breech, I have not shewn the stock,
lock, or hammer in detail, as they are the same as in ordinary fire-arms.
Fig. 9 is a side view, Fig. 10 a plan, Fig. 11 transverse section at the breech,
and Figs. 12, 13, cross sections of the barrel, one taken near the breech-and
the other near the muzzle. A, A, is the barrel, the cross section of which
at any part exhibits externally the same polygonal outline as internally, and
viewed longitudinally has similar spiral lines and surfaces to the interior; it
tapers from the breech to the muzzle. B, B, is the breech piece, screwed on
to the end of the barrel A, A, and attached to the stock of the gun by the
tail piece b, b, and screws c. The breech piece B, B, has a vertical slot or
opening at d, d, into which is fitted a wedge piece D, D, and screw E, E, as
described in the case of the cannon. At the lower end of the screw is a
collar c, c, which abuts against and passes through a plate F, dovetailed in
the breech piece B. G is a milled-headed screw wheel, by which the screw d
is turned; b is a steel piece attached or welded to the wedge piece D; e is the
nipple, screwed into a piece f, which is fastened to the side of the wedge

page_text: piece D by screws. The stock s, s, is cut away at this part to allow the
nipple e to project sufficiently far to be struck by the hammer. The cartridge
or charge is inserted in the manner described above in treating of the breech-
loading of cannon. The fire-arm cannot be discharged until the wedge piece
is raised to its proper position, as in any other the nipple is too low to be struck
by the hammer.
Having thus fully described the nature and particulars of my said Invention,
and the manner of carrying the same into practical effect, I desire it to be
distinctly understood that I do not confine myself to the exact details herein
set forth, as such may be varied or modified without departing from the
principle thereof; but I claim, as herein described and shewn in the Drawings
annexed,
Firstly, the several combinations of parts forming (when put together) the
barrels of ordnance or fire-arms having a polygonal spiral shape.
Secondly, the use of the spirally-shaped segments.
Thirdly, the adoption of the polygonal spiral for rifled ordnance and
fire-arms.
Fourthly, the combination of parts forming the breech-loading apparatus.
In witness whereof, I, the said Joseph Whitworth, have hereunto set
my hand and seal; this Thirtieth day of May, One thousand eight
hundred and fifty-five.
JOSEPH WHIT
URTH.
(L.S.)
Signed, sealed, and delivered by the within-named
Joseph Whitworth, in the presence of
E. J. HUGHES,
Patent Agent,
Manchester.