A CONSIDERABLE IMPROVEMENT IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF FIRE-ARMS, WHEREBY THE POWDER WILL BE MUCH MORE CONVENIENTLY PRO- TECTED FROM THE EFFECTS OF BAD WEATHER, AND AT LESS EXPENSE, THAN BY ANY METHOD HITHERTO DISCOVERED
Year: 1792

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I,
JAMES WILLSON, of the Parish of Saint Martin-in-the-Fields, in the
County of Middlesex, Esquire, send greeting.
WHEREAS His, most Excellent Majesty King. George the Third,
did, by His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain,
bearing date at Westminster, the Fifth day of July, in the thirty-second-
year of His reign, give and grant unto me, the said James Willson.
His especial license, that I, the said James Willson, during the term of
years therein mentioned, should and lawfully might use, exercise, and
vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick upon Tweed,
my Invention of "A CONSIDERABLE IMPROVEMENT IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF
FIRE-ARMS, WHEREBY THE POWDER WILL BE MUCH MORE CONVENIENTLY PRO-
TECTED FROM THE EFFECTS OF BAD WEATHER, AND AT LESS EXPENSE, THAN BY
ANY METHOD HITHERTO DISCOVERED;" in which said Letters Patent there
is contained a proviso, obliging me, the said James Willson, by an
instrument in writing under my hand and seal, to cause a particular
description of the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be inrolled in His Majesty's High
Court of Chancery within six calendar months after the date of the

page_text: said recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same (relation being
thereunto had) may more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the
said James Willson, do hereby declare that my said Invention is
described in manner following, that is to say:-
The object of my Invention is to protect the powder in the pan
of fire arms from wet, as much as may be, by casy means and at
a moderate expense. First, for .locks already in use. The method
I propose is by dovetailing, brazing, or screwing, or altogether, a piece
of brass or iron into the side of the lock and the pan next the
barrel, which shall form an arch about one line in breadth over the
touch hole, and rise from the side that joins the barrel with a bevil
upwards in an angle about sixty degrees, by which any wet that
may insinuate itself between the barrel and the hammer or upper
pan, where the powder is most exposed to its effect, is suspended
and conducted away on either side of the arch by the channel which
the bevil forms when in contact with the barrel, which bevil con-
stitutes the whole utility of the arch, as the water is thereby pre-
vented from falling into the pan, as it must naturally rather take the
direction of the passage which invites it to get down on either side of
the bridge than force its way uphill over the bevil. Where the old pan
demands, I likewise, by a piece that is laid on it, and in that case con-
nected with the arch, form a new one, and raise the sides of it about
half a line, by which the space of either side for the purpose of passage
foi the water is deepened and still increased by cutting down the front
and back between the pan, and the fence for that purpose as much as
can be afforded without injury to the lock, which frequently admits
sufficient depth for security without raising the pan. Where the pan is
made on a skeleton principle originally, nothing more than the arch and
hammer is necessary, as the purpose of raising the pan or cutting down
a channel is accomplished by the immediate evacuation of the water.
The hammer or upper pan is excavated or hollowed, as near as possible
to resemble the usual lower pan, of a moderate depth, and is projected
entirely over the the sides of which are to be wrought up nearly to
an edge, and to be shut over by the upper pan (but not so closely as
pan,

page_text: to endanger the clogging from dirt as in a box pan) as well as the arch
over which it is to come nearly down to the bottom of the bevil close
to the barrel with an edge, but hollowed or champered so as not to rest
upwards on the bevil of the arch, in order to prevent the inconvenience
that might arise by pressure and accumulation of foulness by repeated
firing. It is to be observed also, that by the sides of the pan being
brought nearly to an edge and coming into contact with the excavated
upper pan the opposing surfaces are therefore extremely inconsiderable,
and favour the separation of the dirt rather than the collection of it, as
in flat surfaces this has been proved after forty-seven sheets without
wiping. Where locks are to be made anew the skeleton pan is to be
preferred, and the arch may be made in the forgeing. The bevil arch
may be added to the barrel instead of the lock by dovetailing or
serewing, for those who prefer it, and may be said to have the advan-
tage of preventing any possible insecurity from carelessness in screwing
up the lock close to the barrel; and for those who can have any doubt
as to the sufficiency of the joint between the barrel and the arch, it is
extended from the lock about half a line and inserted into the barrel.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Willson, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Fourth day of January, in the year of
our Lord One thousand seven hundred and ninety-three.