A METHOD OF AND MACHINERY FOR MANUFACTURING OR PRO PRODUCING CERTAIN DESCRIPTIONS OF GUN AND PISTOL BARRELS
Year: 1853

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles William Lancaster, of New Bond
Street, in the County of Middlesex, Gun Maker, for the Invention
of "A METHOD OF AND MACHINERY FOR MANUFACTURING OR PRO-
Sealed the 3rd November 1858, and dated the 27th August 1858.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles William
Lancaster at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with
his Petition, on the 27th August 1858.
I, CHARLES WILLIAM LANCASTER, of New Bond Street, in the County
of Middlesex, Gun Maker, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for A METHOD OF AND MACHINERY FOR MANUFACTURING OR
PRODUCING CERTAIN DESCRIPTIONS OF GUN AND PISTOL BARRELS," to be as
follows:--
The particular descriptions of barrels to which my Invention applies
are those having an elliptical bore or internal section; and my method
of manufacturing or producing the same consists in operating upon a
tube by bending and forming it into a barrel, the interior of which
shall be spirally elliptical, without being cut, rifled, or bored. And the

page_text: machinery which I have invented for so operating upon a tube consists
of a pair of rolls, the upper one of which is kept at the required dis-
tance from the lower by means of a weighted lever, which also serves
to impart the required pressure upon the tube to be operated upon, as
hereafter explained. At the back of the rolls, supported upon a suitable
frame, is a rod, the end of which nearest the rolls terminates in a pair
of fingers, grips, or claws, to grasp firmly the end of the tube as it issues
from the back of the rolls. This gripping or holding rod has imparted
to it a pulling and twisting motion from any suitable arrangement of
machinery. In a vertical line with the axes of the rolls a short mandril,
of the size of the bore of the barrel to be produced, is firmly held.
The tube to be formed into a barrel with an elliptical internal section
is passed over this mandril and between the rolls. The pressure exerted
by the weighted lever before mentioned tends to flatten the tube to a
certain extent when the gripping rod siezes hold of the tube, and
draws it with a spiral or twisting motion through the rolls and over the
mandril. A barrel with an elliptical internal section will thus be
produced without the interior of the barrel being cut.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters
Patent, filed by the said Charles William Lancaster in the Great
Seal Patent Office on the 27th February 1854.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, 1,
CHARLES WILLIAM LANCASTER, of New Bond Street, in the County of
Middlesex, Gun Maker, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-seventh day of August, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three, in the
seventeenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Charles William Lancaster, Her special
licence that I, the said Charles William Lancaster, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Charles
William Lancaster, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at
any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times

page_text: 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 In-
vention for A METHOD OF AND MACHINERY FOR MANUPACTURING OR PRO-
DUCING CERTAIN DESCRIPTIONS OF GUN AND PISTOL BARRELS," upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said Charles William Lancaster,
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 Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Charles William Lancaster, do
hereby declare the nature of my 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, reference being had to the
Drawings hereunto aunexed, that is to say:
The particular descriptions of barrels to which my Invention applies
are those having an elliptical bore or internal section; and my method
of manufacturing or producing the same consists in operating upon
a tube by bending or flattening and forming it into a barrel, the
interior of which shall be spirally elliptical, without being cut, rifled,
or bored.
The machinery which I have invented for so operating upon a tube
consists of a pair of grooved rolls, the upper one of which is kept in
contact with the lower by means of weighted levers, which serve to
impart the required pressure upon the tube to be operated upon. At
the back of the rolls, suported upon a suitable frame, is a rod, the end
of which nearest the rolls terminates in a pair of fingers, grips, or
claws, to grasp firmly the end of the tube as it issues from the back of
the rolls. This gripping or holding rod has imparted to it a pulling
and twisting motion from any suitable arrangement of machinery.
In a vertical line with the axes of the rolls a short mandril, of a
diameter equal to that of the minor axis of the bore of the barrel
to be produced, is firmly held. The tube to be formed into a barrel
with an elliptical internal section, having been first bored truly circular,

page_text: is passed over this mandril and between the rolls. The pressure
exerted by the weighted levers before mentioned tends to flatten the
tube when the gripping rod seizes hold of the tube, and draws it with
a spiral or twisting motion through the rolls and over the mandril.
A barrel with an elliptical internal section will thus be produced with-
out the interior of the barrel being cut to this particular form.
Instead of employing a gripping instrument for the purpose of
drawing forward and twisting the barrel as it passes between the
grooved rollers, I cut the grooves on the rollers spirally, varying the
amount of curve to suit the twist to be given to the barrel, and I form
the ends of the rollers cam-shaped, or attach cam-shaped picces to them
to correspond exactly with the curves of the grooves. I place friction
rollers at cach end of the rollers, so as to cause them to be shifted
cudways as their revolution brings round the curved grooves to act on
the barrel introduced between them; and by this means I give to the
rollers a compound motion, by which I am enabled to produce the
barrels of an elliptical section, and of any required amount of twist in
their length.
gun
Figure 1, of the Drawings annexed is a side elevation, and Figure 2,
a plan of an arrangement of machinery for producing twisted and
pistol barrels of an elliptical bore or internal section according to the
method herein-before mentioned. A, A, is the base plate or founda-
tion on which the different parts of the machinery are fixed; B, B, are
two standards bolted to the base plate A, and slotted out to admit the
bearings of the pair of grooved rollers C, C', the upper of one which is
free to slide upwards, but is kept constantly pressed down by means of
the weighted levers D, D. The rollers C, C', are formed of greater
diameter at their ends than in the other parts of their length, so that
they do not come in contact except at the ends. The grooves are cut at
the centre of the rollers, and consequently their edges do not meet.
The curve of the grooves is determined by the amount of flattening
which the tube under process of operation is to receive, and the amount
is limited so as not to exceed what is desired, by the ends of the rollers
working in contact with each other, the space between the edges of the.
grooves allowing the metal of the tube to be pressed out sideways with-

page_text: out obstruction. The levers D, D, before mentioned have their ful-
crums in the standards B, B, to which they are jointed by pins F, F,
and they are weighted to any required extent by means of the shifting
weight G, which is attached to a carriage H, running on flanged
wheels I, I, on the levers D, D. The rollers C, C', are geared
together so as to revolve at the same speed, by means of toothed
wheels J, (only one of which is seen in the Drawings in Figure 2,)
mounted on their axes; and they receive motion from the shaft K, (which
is furnished with fast and loose pulleys L, L, and driven from a steam
engine or other prime mover,) by means of a pinion M, on the shaft K,
taking into a spur wheel N, on the axis of the lower roller C. A.
similar effect may be produced by using ungeared rollers. O, is a
mandril rod mounted in a frame or rest E, and having at its end a
mandril of the same diameter as the length of the minor axis of the
elliptical barrel to be produced. P, is a pair of tongs or grippers
attached to the end of a strong metal rod Q. (shewn separately with its
appendages in Figure 2) for the purpose of gripping the end of the
barrel under operation, and giving it the necessary twist at the same
time that it is drawn between the rollers C, C. This effect is pro-
duced by making the rod Q, with spiral ribs corresponding to the twist.
to be given to the barrel, and causing it to be drawn through an
aperture in a fixed dise or plate R, having spiral grooves or concavities.
to suit the form of the rod by means of the endless pitch chains,
S, S, working on the pitch drums T, T', the end of the rod Q, being:
attached to a swivel picce in the cross head U, the extremities of which
are: furnished with studs or hooks a, a, projecting downwards, and
taking into the links of the chains S, S, and are also furnished with
wheels which run on the upper surface of the side rails or frames V, V.
These rails are curved upwards at their further ends so as to raise the
studs or hooks a, a, on the cross head U, clear of the chains S, S, by
the time the barrel under operation has been drawn completely through
the rollers; when thus raised the cross head is kept in a position which
allows the chains to pass it without touching, by means of springs b, b,
on which it rests. The drums T, T', are mounted in bearings in the
side rails or frames V, V, which are supported by standards V, VI,

page_text: bolted to the base plate A, and they receive motion from the roller C
so as to cause them to wind forward the chains S, S, and thus draw
forward the barrel under operation by means of bevil wheels Y, Y, Y
mounted on the shaft W, which gear respectively into the bevil wheels
Z, Z, Z, the first of which is mounted on the axis of the roller C, the
second on the axis of the drum T, and the latter on the axis of tho
drum T'.
The operation of this machine will be readily understood from the
preceding description and the explanation before given. The tubes
from which the twisted elliptical barrels are to be produced are manu-
factured in the ordinary manner adopted in making gun and pistol
barrels, and are bored out truly circular before being submitted to the
process described; they are operated on while in a cold state, or, if found
desirable, in a heated state, and leave the machine in a condition which
enables them, after having been reduced to the proper length, to be at
once fitted to the stock without any further internal finishing.
The arrangement described for giving the spiral twist to the barrels
may be considerably varied, and the same effect may also be produced
by giving the rollers themselves a compound motion, as herein-before
mentioned, instead of employing an independent apparatus worked in
connection with them. Figures 3, 4, and 5, of the Drawings annexed
represent an arrangement of machinery in which the rollers receive a
motion of this description; Figure 3, being a side elevation, Figure 4,
a plan, and Figure 5, an end view of the same. A, A, is the bed
plate of the machine; C, C', the rollers; and B, B, the standards in
which they are mounted. In this case the grooves, instead of being
cut at right angles to the axial line of the rollers, are made spiral or
curved, according to the degree of twist which is to be given to the barrel;
and the rollers are caused to be shifted endways as they revolve, by
means of the friction rollers a, a, which are mounted in bearings b, b,
on the standards B, B, and act against the ends of the rollers C, C',
which are cam-formed to correspond with the curve of the grooves cut
on their surfaces. The rollers C, C', are of greater diameter at their
ends than at the other parts of their length, and they are pressed into
contact by means of the weighted levers D; D, which are provided with

page_text: a weight G, attached to a carriage HL, as in the machine before des-
cribed. They are driven from the shaft K, by means of the wheel
gearing M, N, the rollers being geared so as to work in unison by
means of the toothed wheels J, at their opposite ends. The mandril,
with its mandril rod O, employed in this arrangement, is supported in
a rest or frame 0'; or it may be simply inserted in the whole length of
the barrel, and passed through the rollers with it, in which case no
frame is necessary to support the mandril; and, owing to the compound
motion of the rollers C, C', the barrel thus receives a spiral motion ou
its. axis corresponding to the groove on the rollers during its passage
between them. This machine is more simple than that before
described, and equally certain and effective. In working with it, the
tube to be formed into a barrel is passed over the mandril, and rests on
it, the end being just within the grip of the rollers. The rollers are
then caused to revolve, when the tube is drawn forward over the mandril,
and delivered from between the rollers in a perfectly finished state.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim
as of my Invention is,-
First, the method of producing gun and pistol barrels of an elliptical
or nearly elliptical bore or internal section, from circular barrels or
tubes previously bored, by flattening or bending them between weighted
rollers, and at the same time giving the necessary twist, either by
means of an independent apparatus having a drawing and twisting
action, or by giving a compound motion to the flattening rollers, as
herein-before described:
Second, the arrangement of machinery for producing gun and pistol
barrels of an elliptical or nearly elliptical bore or section represented
in Figures 1, and 2, of the Drawings annexed and herein-before de-
scribed, in so far as regards the combination of the weighted flattening
rollers, with the gripping and twisting apparatus for causing the
flattened barrel to be twisted as it is drawn over the fixed mandril and
between the flattening rollers: And,
Third, the machine for producing gun and pistol barrels of an ellip-
tical or nearly elliptical bore or scction represented in Figures 3, 4,

page_text: and 5, of the Drawings annexed and herein-before described, in so far
as regards the employment of the weighted spirally grooved flattening
rollers, having a compound motion imparted thereto, in the manner and
for the purpose herein-before mentioned.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles William Lancaster, have 5
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-seventh day of
February, One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four.
CHARLES LANCASTER. (L.S.)