IMPROVEMENTS IN TARGETS
Year: 1881

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Herbert John Haddan, of Kensington, Middlesex, for an
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN TARGETS." A communication from abroad
by George Ligowsky, of Cincinnati, Ohio, United States.
CÓMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said Herbert John Haddan at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 18th August 1881.
HERBERT JOHN HADDAN, of Kensington, Middlesex. "IMPROVEMENTS IN
TARGETS." A communication from abroad by George Ligowsky, of Cincinnati,
Ohio, United States.
The object of this Invention is to provide a cheap and readily manufactured
substitute for pigeons and other birds unnecessarily sacrificed in trap shooting.
This substitute, or flying target as I have called it, consists of a concave or saucer
shaped device composed of burnt clay or earthenware, or other suitable material
that will readily fracture as soon as struck by a shot from the sportman's gun.
Furthermore, said fragile. target has glued or cemented to the exterior of its rim a
tongue, which is to be grasped by the jaws or clamp of any suitable trap capable of
projecting the target in the desired manner. The target being thus thrown by a
force applied near its periphery receives an axial rotation that ensures the utmost
accuracy of flight, while the concavity of the device serves to imprison the air as
soon as the velocity of the target is spent.
Consequently the target descends gradually and is not broken in case it falls on
hard ground. In the annexed Drawings, Fig. 1 is a plan showing the preferred
method of attaching the tongue to the target; Fig. 2 is an enlarged horizontal
section of the same; Fig. 3 is an enlarged vertical section thereof; Figs. 4, 5, and 6
are sections of modifications of my Invention. The body or shell A of the target
may be of a suitable size and of any concave shape capable of producing the desired
results; said body having cast with it a rim, moulding, flange, or bead B, to which
latter member of the device is attached the tongue C. Said target A. B. 'is.
.

page_text: composed of clay, or earthenware, or pottery, or any other material that can be
readily and cheaply moulded into the desired shape, and which, when properly
burnt will be so fragile or brittle as to be shattered or cracked in pieces as soon
as struck by a shot or other projectile thrown by the sportsman.
The tongue C is made of a thin piece of wood, or paste-board, or leather, or any
material or composition of materials capable of being securely attached to the
target with ordinary glue, or its equivalent size or cement. D represents a washer
or stiffener composed preferably of the same material or materials as the tongue
or of any other moderately flexible substance, said washer having a slot E to
admit the attached end of said tongue C. One end of this tongue C is first
enlarged or upset by being rasped or rubbed over coarse sand-paper, after which
act the opposite end of said tongue is passed through the slot E of washer D. The
upset end of the tongue and inner surface of said washer are then dipped in glue
or other size or cement, and bound with clamps to the rim B until the glue has set
or bardened. I have found spring clothes-pins especially convenient for this
purpose. When thus applied it is evident the tongue is glued both to the target
and washer, and cannot be detached therefrom except by a force sufficient to
destroy said target. If desired, the tongue and washer and that portion of the
target adjacent to said washer may be coated either with paraffine or shellac
varnish or other water repellant that will prevent the glue or cement being
weakened by absorbing moisture; or a water-proof glue may be used. In Fig. 4
the tongue and washer are shown as attached to a flattened portion F of the target,
which face F may be relatively thicker than the body A. In Fig. 5 the tongue is
doubled in the middle and then bent back on itself, thereby affording two
shanks c, c, that are cemented to the rim. In Fig. 6 the tongue has two
shanks c, c, of unequal length, of which shanks the shorter one cll is glued to
the top of the rim B, and the longer one c¹¹ to the bottom edge thereof.
Finally, the tongue C and stiffener D may be composed of papier mache or other
material, either moulded or cast of the desired shape. To use this flying target or
substitute bird its tongue is grasped by the jaw or clamp of any suitable trap or
throwing device, the bird being inverted so as to present its concavity toward the
ground, as seen in Figs. 4, 5, and 6, The throwing arm of the trap is now caused
to swing around very quickly in a plane about horizontal, and is then suddenly
arrested in its motion, thereby releasing the target from the clamp. Evidently the
target will now be projected with a velocity proportioned to the tension of the
throwing spring, and being actuated by a force applied to its periphery, said target
has imparted to it a very rapid axial rotation that ensures the utmost accuracy of
flight, and it is while the target is thus skimming through the air that the
marksman shoots at it in the usual manner. The moment the target is struck by
a shot or other projectile its fragile nature causes it to be shattered in pieces, and
thus affords the most convincing proof of a hit being made. But if the device
should not be struck by a shot it will gradually alight on the ground, which
gradual descent is occasioned by the air being imprisoned or cushioned in the
concavity of the target. Consequently the target will not be broken in case it
should descend on hard or stony ground.
The target may be made of any resonant metal so as to give audible notice of
being struck; or if preferred it may have applied to it a fulminate capable of
emitting more or less smoke as soon as a shot strikes the device. Finally, the
target may be coated with phosphorous so as to be luminous at night, and its
exterior may be either corrugated, channelled, or grooved so as to oppose a rough
surface for the shot to strike against and thereby avoid glancing.

page_text: 2. The tongue C glued or cemented to the exterior of a flying target, and
strengthened by a slotted washer D, E, or its equivalent, for the purpose described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Herbert John Haddan, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Seventeenth day of August, A.D. 1881.
H. J. HADDAN. (L.)