IMPROVE- MENTS IN ORDNANCE AND IN CARRIAGES AND PROJECTILES FOR THE SAME.
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Perceval Moses Parsons, of Blackheath, in the
County of Kent, Civil Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN ORDNANCE AND IN CARRIAGES AND PROJECTILES FOR THE SAME.'
"
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Perceval Moses Parsons
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 22nd March 1872.
I, PERCEVAL MOSES PARSONS, of Blackheath, in the County of
Kent, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of my said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN ORDNANCE, AND IN CARRIAGES AND PROJECTILES FOR THE
SAME," to be as follows:-
:-
My improvements in ordnance relate, firstly, to the method of manu-
facturing the inner tube and other tubes of guns when made of steel.
According to the usual method an ingot of steel is first cast, and then
drawn down under a steam hammer into a solid cylinder which is after-
wards. bored and turned. By this process the atoms or crystals of the

page_text: metal are drawn out lengthways together with any air bubbles and other
flaws existing in the original casting, which latter, thus form lines of
weakness extending in a longitudinal direction ready to develope into
splits when the tube is subjected to internal strain. Now in manu-
facturing the steel tubes of guns according to my Invention, the fibres
of the metal and any lines of weakness caused by air bubbles or other
flaws in the original casting are placed in a spiral instead of a longi-
tudinal direction, and are thus rendered comparatively innoxious. To
effect this object I first cast the ingot of steel as usual, then draw it
down by hammering or otherwise until it approaches the finished size,
leaving the two ends square or of such other convenient form as may be
necessary, the ingot or block is then brought to a suitable heat in a
furnace, and twisted a sufficient number of times, which can be accom-
plished by fixing one end in a box or chuck attached to an axle, which
is made to revolve in suitable bearings, while the other end is gripped
and held stationary in fixed jaws or turned in the opposite direction.
By this operation the fibres at and near its exterior, together with any
lines of weakness caused by defects in the original casting, which were
previously placed in a longitudinal direction, are thereby made to assume
the spiral direction required, it is then rehammered, and if necessary the
operations may be repeated.
The same process may be employed in the manufacture of steel tubes,
which are forged hollow, the ingot in that case being cast with or having
a hole afterwards made through it, then drawn down on a mandrell and
twisted as before described.
My improvements relate, secondly, to the method of constructing steel
lining tubes for guns intended for insertion into smooth bore cast-iron
guns for the purpose of converting them into rifled guns, or into a cast-
iron casing for the purpose of making new guns, and which tubes are
also applicable to guns having an exterior of wrought iron on the well-
known Armstrong or Fraser system.
In guns hitherto constructed on the first named system, the tube
surrounding the breech end of the A or inner tube which forms the bore
of the piece, has been formed in one piece, cast in a hoop, and drawn
down lengthways, by which process of manufacture longitudinal lines
of weakness are liable to be developed in the manner before described.
Now according to my Invention instead of making the second tube in
1.

page_text: one piece as hitherto practised I employ a number of separate rings or
hoops of convenient width formed by hammering or rolling or by both
operations, combined in such a manner that the diameter of the ring is
increased during the operation, and the metal is thereby extended or
› drawn out circumferentially, and the fibres and any lines of weakness
developed by flaws in the original casting are placed in a circumferential
direction. The inner or A tube being turned to the requisite size I
shrink or force on to its breech end a sufficient number of these rings
bored to the requisite size, side by side, to form the reinforce or B tube.
I then turn them, leaving bands or fillets at their edges of slightly
larger diameter than the intermediate portion between them. I then
prepare another series of rings of the requisite size to envelope the first
series; these I bore out with an annular recess in each corresponding to
a pair of bands or fillets of two adjacent rings of the first series; this
second series of rings are then expanded by heat, and placed over the
first series in such a position that they will break joint with them, and
so that the bands or fillets formed on the edges of the first series will fit
into the annular. recesses formed in the second series, by which means
the rings will be connected longitudinally and form in effect a continuous
tube, and may be treated as such to impart longitudinal strength to the
inner tube by means of shoulders and screws, or simply by the adhesion
of their surfaces or by other means.
In some cases the A tube may be reinforced by a layer of rings in
conjunction with a tube made in one piece, either surrounding or sur-
rounded by it, in which case the rings may be plain, and when only a
single additional layer is required to reinforce the A tube, rings may
be used each having about half their thickness turned away for a portion
of their width on one side, and a corresponding portion on the other side
bored out so as to fit on to the part turned down on the adjacent ring,
slight shoulders being formed to lock into each other and connect them
longitudinally; or when the A tube has sufficient longitudinal strength
alone, or in combination with the outer casing, the requisite number of
plain rings may be simply shrunk or forced on to its breech end in one
or more layers, such tube forming the bore of the whole piece.
In guns hitherto constructed with a wrought iron exterior on the
Armstrong and Frazer systems, the steel inner tube has not been rein-
forced at all by a second tube of steel, but is entirely dependent on the
wrought-iron casing for support. Now my improvement as regards

page_text: guns of this description consists in reinforcing the A or inner tube with
a second tube of steel shrunk or forced on to its breech end, or by
separate rings, or by both combined, in the manner lastly herein-before
described, for the tubes to be inserted into cast-iron casings.
My improvements relate, thirdly, to the form of the breech end of the
lining tube, and the interior of the cast-iron casing into which it is
fitted, and the general combination of the parts in guns of this description.
In guns hitherto constructed on this system, the breech end of the lining
tube where the reinforce occurs, and the recess made in the breech end
of the casing to receive it have been made conical, which form requires
special machinery to bore out the casing, and offers difficulties to the
proper fitting of the tube, in order to obviate which I form the breech
end of the tube cylindrical, and reduce it in diameter in steps towards
the nozzle, and make the interior of the casing of a corresponding form.
The tube is inserted into the cast-iron casing at the breech end, and is
secured by a breech screw, and in order to ensure greater security and
relieve the breech screw of a portion of the recoil, I employ in com-
bination with the same a nut screwed on to the end of the A tube, let
into a recess, bored out of the muzzle end of the cast-iron casing.
My improvements in carriages for ordnance relate to their general
construction, and to the means of checking the recoil. According to
the usual method of constructing wrought-iron carriages, they are formed
of plates strengthened by angle and T iron and united by rivets, the
langrage from which if struck by a shot would be very destructive.
Now according to my Invention I construct sides or brackets by forging
and welding solid iron bars together into a skeleton framing, suitably
designed to sustain the weight and recoil of the gun, which I connect
together by cross transomes also formed of solid bars of wrought
iron.
The object of my improvements in checking the recoil is to do away
with the use of compressors or other complicated apparatus, and to
render the friction between the carriage and the slide or platform due to
the weight of the gun and the carriage sufficient of itself. For this
purpose I make the sliding surfaces on the platform or slide upon which
the carriage rests inclined sideways, and to effect this I fix on to the
slide or platform a rail of an angular or shape in cross section, and
provide grooves of a corresponding shape in the carriage to fit thereon;

page_text: the weight being thus applied at an angle with the sliding surfaces the.
effect of the weight in producing pressure on the surfaces, and con-
sequently friction is increased in proportion, that is to say, the more
acute the angle the greater will be the friction, and vice versa. The
angle of the rail being made sufficiently acute to produce the requisite
friction to check the recoil of the heaviest charge intended to be used
it can be adjusted for lighter charges by taking a portion of the weight
on the fore and rear trucks, which can be adjusted for that purpose by,
set screws or other convenient means, and the latter can also be fitted
with an eccentric axle to lift the carriage off the rails for the purpose of
running the gun up in the usual way.
The object of my improvements in projectiles is to give them increased
power to penetrate armour-plated structures. For this purpose I form
the body of the shot of hard cast iron, either chill cast or of white iron.
cast in sand, leaving a portion behind the head of rather less diameter
than the full size; around this portion I shrink on a hoop or tube of steel
or wrought iron.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Perceval Moses Parsons in the Great Scal Patent
Office on the 21st September 1872.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, PERCEVAL
MOSES PARSONS, of Blackheath, in the County of Kent, Civil Engineer,
send greeting.
'
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-second day of March, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in
the 35th year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said Perceval Moses Parsons
Her special license that I, the said Perceval Moses Parsons, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Perceval Moses Parsons, my executors, administrators, or 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.

page_text: ,,
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands,
and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN ORDNANCE, AND IN
CARRIAGES AND PROJECTILES FOR THE SAME,' upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Perceval Moses Parsons, my executors or
administrators, 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 Perceval Moses Parsons, 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, reference being had to the accom-
panying Drawings, and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that
is to say-
My said improvements in ordnance relate, firstly, to the method of
manufacturing the inner tube and other tubes of guns when made of
steel. According to the usual method an ingot of steel is first cast and
then drawn down under a steam hammer into a solid cylinder, which is
afterwards bored and turned. By this process the atoms or crystals of
the metal are drawn out lengthways together with any air bubbles and
other flaws existing in the original casting, which latter thus form lines
of weakness extending in a longitudinal direction ready to develope into
splits when the tube is subjected to internal strain. Now in manu-
facturing the steel tubes of guns according to this part of my Invention
the fibres of the metal and any lines of weakness caused by air bubbles
or other flaws in the original casting are placed in a spiral instead of
in a longitudinal direction, and are thus rendered comparatively
innoxious. To effect this object I first cast the ingot of steel as usual,
I then draw it down by hammering or otherwise until it approaches
the finished size, leaving the two ends square or of such other convenient
form as may be necessary, the ingot or block is then brought to a
suitable heat in a furnace and is twisted a sufficient number of times,
which can be accomplished by fixing one end in a box or chuck
attached to an axle which is made to revolve in suitable bearings,
while the other end is gripped and held stationary in fixed jaws or
turned in the opposite direction. By this operation the fibres at and

page_text: the requisite size, side by side, to form the reinforce or B tube. I then
turn them, leaving bands or fillets at their. edges of slightly larger
diameter than the intermediate portion between them, I then prepare
another series of rings of the requisite size in relation to the first series;
these I bore out with an annular recess in each corresponding to a pair
of bands or fillets of two adjacent rings of the first series; this second
series of rings are then expanded by heat, and placed over the first series
in such a position that they will break joint with them, and so that the
bands or fillets formed on the edges of the first series will fit into the
annular recesses formed in the second series, by which means the rings
will be connected longitudinally and form in effect a continuous tube,
and may be treated as such to impart longitudinal strength to the inner
tube by means of shoulders and screws or simply by the adhesion of
their surfaces or by other means.
In the Drawing hereunto annexed, Figure 1 shews a longitudinal
section of a gun with a cast-iron casing having the steel inner tube
constructed in this manner. a is the inner tube; b, b, are the first
series of rings with bands or fillets on their edges; c, c, the second
series of rings, with annular recesses bored in them, each embracing
a pair of the bands or fillets of the first series; and d is the cast-iron
casing of the gun.
In some cases the inner or A tube may be reinforced by a layer of
rings in conjunction with a tube made in one piece, either surrounding
or surrounded by the layer of rings, in which case the rings may be
made without the bands or fillets. This arrangement is shewn in
Figure 2 which is a longitudinal section of a gun. On one side the
rings are shewn surrounded by the tube in one piece, and on the other
they are shewn surrounding it. a is the inner tube; b, b, are the rings
surrounding it; and c is the tube in one piece surrounding the rings;
and on the other side c¹ is the tube in one piece surrounding the inner
tube a; and b¹, b', are the rings surrounding the tube in one piece; c¹
and d is the cast-iron casing.
When only a single additional layer is required to reinforce the inner
or A tube, rings may be used, each having about half their thickness
turned away for a portion of their width on one side, and a corre-
sponding portion on the other side bored out so as to fit on to the part
turned down on the adjacent ring, slight shoulders being formed to lock

page_text: into each other and connect them longitudinally. This arrangement is
shewn by Figure 3, where a is the inner tube, and b, b, are the series
of tubes surrounding it locked into each other, and d the outer casing
of cast iron. When the inner or A tube which forms the whole bore
of the gun has sufficient longitudinal strength, alone or in combination
with the outer cast-iron casing, the requisite number of plain rings
may be simply shrunk or forced on to its breech end in one or more
layers.
In guns hitherto constructed with a wrought-iron exterior on the
Armstrong and Fraser systems, the steel, inner tube has not been rein-
forced at all by a second tube of steel, but is entirely dependent on the
wrought-iron casing for support. Now my improvement as regards guns
of this description consists of reinforcing the A. or inner tube with a
second tube of steel shrunk or forced on to its breech end, or by separate
rings, or by both combined, in the manner lastly herein-before described
for the tubes to be inserted into cast-iron casings. This combination is
shown by Figure 4, which is a longitudinal section of a gun thus con-
structed. On one side a series of rings are shewn, and on the other a
single tube.
a is the inner or A tube; b, b, are the steel rings, and 61
the steel tube in one piece surrounding it; and c, d, e, f, are the tubes
of coiled wrought iron of which the remainder of the gun is built up.
My improvements relate, thirdly, to the form of the breech end of the
lining tube and the interior of the cast-iron casing into which it is fitted,
and the general combination of the parts in guns of this description. In
guns hitherto constructed on this system, the breech end of the lining
tube where the reinforce occurs, and the recess made in the breech end
of the casing to receive it, have been made conical, which form requires
special machinery to bore out the casing, and offers difficulties to the
proper fitting of the tube, in order to obviate which I form the breech
end of the tube cylindrical, and reduce it in diameter in steps towards
the muzzle as required, and make the interior of the casing in a corre
sponding form. The tube is inserted into the cast-iron casing at the
breech end, and is secured by a breech screw, and in order to ensure
greater security and relieve the breech screw of a portion of a recoil, I
employ in combination with the same a nut screwed on to the end of
the inner or A tube, let into a recess bored out of the muzzle end of the
cast-iron casing. These improvements are shewn in Figures 1 and 2, in
which it will be seen that the lining tube is cylindrical and reduced in
'

page_text: wrought iron, which are forged and welded together so as to form the
skeleton frame represented, and 6, 6, are the cross transoms of solid
wrought iron connecting the two frames together; c, c, are the rails of
an A form, and d, d, are plates attached to or made in one with the
carriage, forming a groove which fits on to the rail; e, e, are the rear
trucks, and ff, the fore trucks, which run on rails provided for them
alongside of the rails c. The rear trucks e are mounted on an eccentric
axle g, which is carried by brackets secured to the frame by screws i, i,
passing through slots in it, so that its height can be adjusted by the set
screws k, k. The same arrangement may be applied to the fore
trucks ff. The action of the carriage would be thus :-Suppose that the
side of the rails is made to an angle of twenty degrees from the vertical,
this would cause a pressure on the rubbing surfaces of about three times
that due to the same weight resting on a horizontal surface; and
assuming that this pressure would produce more than sufficient friction
to control the recoil of the gun with the heaviest charge required, the
amount of recoil for less charges can be adjusted by putting some of the
weight on the rear trucks e, which is done by turning the set screws k, k.
The rear trucks e also serve the purpose of lifting the carriage entirely
off the rails on to the trucks, to enable the gun to be run out, by turning
round the eccentric axle g by means of handspikes inserted into the
sockets S, and moved from the position indicated by the dotted lines 'm
To prevent the axle turning round beyond the position required
when adjusted, the stops 1, 1, are provided.
to n.
The object of my improvements in projectiles is to give them increased
power to penetrate armour-plated structures. For this purpose I form
the body of the projectile of hard cast iron, either chill cast or of white
iron cast in sand, leaving a portion behind the head of rather less dia-
meter than the full size; around this portion I shrink on a hoop or tube
of steel or wrought iron.
.
Figure 7 is a longitudinal section of a shot thus constructed. a is the
body of the shot, and b is the hoop or tube of steel or wrought iron; and
Figure 8 is a longitudinal section of a shell. a is the body of cast iron,
and 6 is the tube of steel or wrought iron, in this case closed at its
rear end, and which embraces the body only a portion of its length,
and extends behind it so as to form a powder chamber of increased

page_text: Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my
said Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or
carried into effect, I would observe in conclusion that what I consider to
be novel and original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to
me by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is,-

page_text: Eighth. The method of constructing projectiles of hard cast iron com-
bined with hoops or tubes of wrought iron or steel, as and for the purpose
herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Perceval Moses Parsons, have
to this my Specification set my hand and seal, the Twentieth
day of September One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two.
P. M. PARSONS. (L.S.)