In- PROVEMENTS IN SHOT AND SHELLS, AND OTHER PROJECTILES
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Gustavus Adolphus Smith, of Old Cavendish Street,
in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, for the Invention of "In-
PROVEMENTS IN SHOT AND SHELLS, AND OTHER PROJECTILES."
Sealed the 30th March 1860, and dated the 6th October 1859.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Gustavus Adolphus Smith
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
6th October 1859.
I, GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS SMITH, of Old Cavendish Street, in the County of
Middlesex, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN SHOT AND SHELLS, AND OTHER PROJECTILES," to be as
follows:-
My Invention consists principally in giving to an elongated projectile certain
forms, herein-after described, the object of which is to cause the projectile to
maintain or to assume and maintain a position in which its longitudinal axis
coincides with its line of flight, this result being produced by the resistance or
reaction of the air upon the projectile. I have found that in general a cylin-
drical body terminated anteriorly by a flat cone, or by any analogous figure,
whose surface lies at a very wide angle with the axis of the cylinder, tends to
assume the required position when moving through the air, and appears to bo

page_text: in a condition of stable equilibrium when in flight in that position, whereas, if
the front of the body be formed in an acute angled cone, or any conoid or
other figure, whose surface lies in general at a very acute angle with the axis
of the body, there is no such tendency to assume the required position, and no
stability of equilibrium in that position.
In order to obtain with projectiles of forms suitable for practical purposes
the property of stability above referred to, I form the heads or anterior por-
tions of projectiles in angular steps, so as to present to the action of the air a
succession of surfaces, wheroof each one lies at a very wide angle, or even at
right angles with the axis of the projectile. By preference, I form those steps
which are near the apex of the projectile, with the surfaces on which the air
will strike, quite flat, that is, at right angles with the axis of the projectile,
while those steps which are near the middle of the projectile may be placed at
an angle somewhat more oblique, but the form and number of the steps may
be varied as well as the form of the surfaces between them. The form admits
of some modifications; as for instance, the steps may be connected so as to
form a screw of one or more continuous threads. I construct shells and other
projectiles of cast iron, or other suitable material of elongated form, and of
the proper diameter corresponding with the caliber of the gun at two points,
that is to say, a little in front of the middle and at the rear or base, while
between these two points the diameter is diminished gradually, and by pre-
ference with a curved line from the middle to a point near the base, and then
expanded again to give the full dimensions at the rear end, so as to form a
tail or base of a conical or conoidal figure. On this base the air is intended
to act somewhat as it does on the feathers of a shuttlecock. I also sometimes
form upon the conoidal surface of such tail or base feathers, grooves, flutings,
or other appliances of like nature, which by increasing the action of the air
upon the tail or base may still further tend to secure the stability of the pro-
jectile when flying in the required position, and which by being arranged in
an inclined or spiral direction may tend to give to the projectile a slow rotatory
motion about its axis.
By this Invention I am enabled to construct projectiles of forms suitable
for shot, common carcase or shrapnell shells, bullets for small arms, or rockets,
and which forms have this property, that the resistance of the air acting in
lines perpendicular to the surface on which it strikes, such lines will for the
most part be nearly parallel to the longitudinal axis of the projectile, or else
will meet the line of the axis in points which lie behind the centre of gravity
of the mass, that is to say, further from the apex of the projectile; and the
result of this is, that if the projectile should happen to deviate from its correct

page_text: position, so that its axis no longer coincides with its line of flight, the resist-
ance of the air will tend to restore the projectile to its correct position, instead
of tending to increase the deviation, as is the case with elongated projectiles of
the ordinary forms.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Gustavus Adolphus Smith, in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 4th April 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GUSTAVUS
ADOLPHUS SMITH, of Old Cavendish Street, in the County of Middlesex, Civil
Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Sixth day of October, in the year of our Lord-One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-third year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Gustavus Adolphus Smith, Her special licence that I, the said Gustavus
Adolphus Smith, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said Gustavus Adolphus Smith, 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 SHOT AND SHELLS, AND OTHER PROJECTILES," upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said Gustavus Adolphus Smith, my
éxécutors 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 Gustavus Adolphus Smith, do hereby
declare the nature of tho said Invention, and in what manner the same is
to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement thereof, that is to say :-
.
My Invention consists principally in giving to an elongated projectile certain
forms herein-after described, the object of which is to cause the projectile to
maintain or to assume and maintain a position in which its longitudinal axis

page_text: coincides with its line of flight, this result being produced by the resistance
or reaction of the air upon the projectile. I have found that in general a
cylindrical body terminated anteriorly by a flat cone or by any analogous
figure whose surface lies at a very wide angle with the axis of the cylinder
tends to assume the required position when moving through the air, and
appears to be in a condition of stable equilibrium when in flight in that position,
whereas if the front of the body be formed in an acute angled cone or any
conoid or other figure whose surface lies in general at a very acute angle with
the axis of the body, there is no such tendency to assume the required position,
and no stability of equilibrium in that position.
In order to obtain with projectiles of forms suitable for practical purposes
the property of stability above referred to, I form the heads or anterior
portions of projectiles in angular steps so as to present to the action of the
air a succession of surfaces whereof each one lies at a very wide angle or even
at right angles with the axis of the projectile. By preference I form those
steps which are near the apex of the projectile with the surfaces on which the
air will strike quite flat, that is, at right angles with the axis of the projectile,
while those steps which are near the middle of the projectile may be placed at
an angle somewhat more oblique, but the form and number of the steps may
be varied as well as the form of the surfaces between them. The form admits
of some modifications, as, for instance, the steps may be connected so as to
form a screw of one or more continuous threads. I construct shells and other
projectiles of cast iron or other suitable material, of elongated form, and of the
proper diameter corresponding with the caliber of the gun at two points, that
is to say, a little in front of the middle and at the rear or base, while between
these two points the diameter is diminished gradually and by preference with
a curved line from the middle to a point near the base, and then expanded
again to give the full dimensions at the rear, and so as to form a tail or base
of a conical or conoidal figure. On this base the air is intended to act some-
what as it does on the feathers of a shuttle cock. I also sometimes form upon
the conoidal surface of such tail or base, feathers, grooves, flutings, or other
appliances of like nature, which, by increasing the action of the air upon the
tail or base may still further tend to secure the stability of the projectile when
flying in the required position, and which by being arranged in an inclined or
spiral direction may tend to give to the projectile a slow rotatory motion about
its axis.
By this Invention I am enabled to construct projectiles of forms suitable for
shot, common carcase or shrapnel shells, bullets for small arms, or rockets, and
which forms have this property, that the resistance of the air acting in lines

page_text: perpendicular to the surface on which it strikes, such lines will for the most part
be nearly parallel to the longitudinal axis of the projectile or else will meet the
line of the axis in points which lie behind the centre of gravity of the mass,
that is to say, further from the apex of the projectile, and the result of this is,
that if the projectile should happen to deviate from its correct position so that
its axis no longer coincides with its line of flight, the resistance of the air will
tend to restore the projectile to its correct position instead of tending to
increase the deviation as is the case with elongated projectiles of the ordinary
forms.
Figure 1 of the accompanying Drawing is an elevation or side view of a
cylindrical projectile, with an obtuse conical point; Figure 2 is an elevation of
a projectile with an acute conical point. I have found that a body of the
form shown in Figure 1, when moving point foremost through the air, has a
tendency to keep its axis coincident with the line of flight, while a projectile of
the form shown in Figure 2 has a tendency to diverge from the line of flight,
owing to the resultants of the pressures or resistance of the air on the conical
front meeting at a point or points entirely or for the most part in advance of
the centre of gravity of the projectile, while in the projectile shown in Figure 1
these resultants or at least a portion of them meet behind or in the rear of the
centre of gravity.
The form of projectile shown in Figure 1 would, however, experience a
considerable resistance in passing through the air owing to the comparative
flatness of its front or face; I do not therefore propose to make projectiles of the
form shown in Figure 1, but to construct them with faces presenting a series
of steps of obtuse conical or conoidal form, or formed of flat surfaces. Thus
Figure 3 is an elevation of a projectile constructed according to my Invention.
A is the body of the projectile, which fits more or less closely to the bore of the
gun or other weapon, from which it is to be discharged. a, a, a, are steps of obtuse
conoidal form; b, b, are other steps formed of flat surfaces at right angles to
the axis of the projectile. The intermediate surfaces, or what may be termed
the "risers" of the steps may be of various forms. Thus, in this Figure I
have shown some of the risers of cylindrical form, as at c, c, c, and others of
expanding conical form, as at d, d. The form of the body and the rear or base
of the projectile admits of variation, provided it be such as to be efficiently
guided by the barrel from which it is discharged. Thus in Figure 3, the body
is gradually contracted in diameter, and then expanded again to its full
diameter, forming a conical or conoidal base B. This base may be plain, or
may have ribs or feathers, as indicated by dotted lines at f,f, or it may have

page_text: grooves as indicated by dotted lines at 9,9, which may be either straight or
inclined, so as to cause the projectile to revolve upon it axis. When the
grooves are continued through the base, the force of the charge of powder acts
upon the body of the projectile.
Figure 4 is an elevation of another projectile, constructed according to my
Invention, and suitable either for ordnance or small arms. In this case the
body A is cylindrical and hollow at the base, as indicated by dotted lines, like
the Enfield and Minié bullets. The face of this projectile is formed of steps
of obtuse conical form a, a, a, a, with risers b, b, b, of cylindrical or acute conical
form.
Figure 5 is an elevation or side view of another projectile constructed
according to my Invention; Figure 6 is an end view of the same. The face
or front is formed of a series of steps a, a, a, a, a, of obtuse, conical, or flat form,
with risers d, d, d, d, of expanding conical form, and e of cylindrical form.
The body A ends in a base, having alternate feathers or ribs f.f.f, and grooves
9. g. These feathers and grooves may be straight, or inclined, or spiral, or the
ends of the feathers may be bevilled on one side so as to communicate to the
projectile a tendency to rotate on its axis. This projectile may be solid, or it
may be hollow, as indicated by dotted lines, and may be used as a shell or
hollow shot. The projectiles shown in the Drawings are intended to have
bodies of circular form in the transverse section, but it is obvious that they
may be of other forms. Thus they may be made of elliptical form in the
transverse section, to adapt them to elliptically bored barrels, or they may
be of hexagonal or polygonal form, to adapt them to barrels of such forms.
They may also be provided with bands of soft metal, or other means of causing
them to fit the barrel; or for small arms they may be made of lead or other
soft metal, and expanded in the same manner as the Enfield and Minié or
other bullets. I have described the steps as being flat or of obtuse, conical, or
conoidal form, and I wish it to be understood that by obtuse conical or
conoidal form, I wish to indicate a cone or conoid, whose surface forms such
an angle with the axis of the projectile, that the normals or perpendiculars to
such surface meet the axis entirely or for the most part at a point or points
behind, or in the rear of the centre of gravity of the projectile. The edge of
the step ought in all cases to be angular, for if it were rounded, a portion of
the surface would lie at a very unfavourable angle.
Having now described the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that what I
claim is,-

page_text: First, constructing shot and shells, and other projectiles with fronts or faces
having a series of angular steps presenting flat or obtusely conical or conoidal
surfaces, as herein-before described.
Second, constructing shot and shells, and other projectiles with fronts or faces,
having a series of angular steps presenting flat or obtusely conical or conoidal
surfaces, in combination with a base of conoidal or other analogous form, either
plain or furnished with feathers or grooves, which may be either straight or
inclined, or spiral, as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Gustavus Adolphus Smith, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Third day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty.