A NEW OR IMPROVED INSTRUMENT OR APPARATUS FOR CONVERTING BREECH-LOADING SMALL ARMS INTO MUZZLE-LOADING SMALL ARMS, AND AN IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS IN CARTRIDGES POR BREECH-LOADING SMALL ARMS
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles Reeves, of Birmingham, in the County of
Warwick, Manufacturer, for the Invention of "A NEW OR IMPROVED
INSTRUMENT OR APPARATUS FOR CONVERTING BREECH-LOADING SMALL ARMS
INTO MUZZLE-LOADING SMALL ARMS, AND AN IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS
IN CARTRIDGES POR BREECH-LOADING SMALL ARMS."
Sealed the 19th July 1861, and dated the 81st January 1861.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles Reeves at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 31st
January 1861.
I, CHARLES REEVES, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Manu-
facturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "A NEW
OR IMPROVED INSTRUMENT OR APPARATUS FOR CONVERTING BREECH-LOADING SMALL
ARMS INTO MUZZLE-LOADING SMALL ARMS, AND AN IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVE-
MENTS IN CARTRIDGES FOR BREECH-LOADING SMALL ARMS," to be as follows:-
My Invention of a new or improved instrument or apparatus for converting
breech-loading small arms into muzzle-loading-small arms consists of a metallic
cup having an external diameter equal to the internal diameter of the charge
chamber of the breech-loading small-arm. The said cup is thin on its sides, but
thick and strong at bottom, and on the outside of the bottom of the said cup I
fix a washer of leather or soft metal, or other soft material. The said cup when
put into the charge chamber of a breech-loading small arm is placed at the
rear end of the said chamber, the leather or soft metal or material on the base

page_text: of the cup being in contact with the plug or closer with which the breech end
is closed. The small arm may now be used as a muzzle-loading small arm,
the said cup or instrument, or apparatus defending the plug or closer from the
action of the gunpowder, and effectually closing the breech end of the small
arm, so as to prevent the escape of gas on discharge. On removal of the said
instrument or apparatus the small arm is immediately ready for use again as a
breech-loading small arm.
My improvement or improvements in cartridges for breech-loading small
arms are as follows:-I arrange the projectile, powder, and wad in the usual
manner, I make the case of the cartridge of strong paper or card, or sheet
metal, and I make a hole on one side near the end of the case, and at that
point of the cartridge which is presented to the nipple hole of the small arm
when the cartridge is put in its place in the charge chamber. The said hole
is covered with thin paper, so that the case of the cartridge is strong at every
part excepting that through which the fire from the percussion cap has to
pass. Or the case may be slit longitudinally, and the slit part covered with
thin paper. When I make the case of the cartridge of paper or card, I prefer
to soak it in a solution of alum or phosphate of soda, or other solution, which
when dry will leave the case incombustible. After discharge the case is with-
drawn from the charge chamber, and may be re-used. When cartridges made
according to my Invention are employed in breech-loading small arms there is
no escape of gas at the breech during discharge.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Charles Reeves in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
26th July 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHARLES
REEVES, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Manufacturer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirty first day of January, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fourth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me
the said Charles Reeves, Her special licence that I, the said Charles
Reeves, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Charles Reeves, 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,
usc, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "A NEW
OR IMPROVED INSTRUMENT OR APPARATUS FOR CONVERTING BREECH-LOADING SMALL
ARMS INTO MUZZLE-LOADING SMALL ARMS, AND AN IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS
IN CARTRIDGES FOR BREECH-LOADING SMALL ARMS," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Charles Reeves, my executors 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 Charles Reeves, do hereby declare
the nature of the 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, firstly, of a new or improved instrument or apparatus
for converting breech-loading small arms into muzzle-loading small arms,
constructed in the manner herein-after described and illustrated in the.
accompanying Drawing.
Figure 1 represents in elevation a portion of an instrument or apparatus
constructed according to my Invention for converting breech-loading small
arms into muzzle-loading small arms; Figure 2 is a section of the same; and
Figure 8 is a front view of the same.
The said instrument or apparatus consists of a metallic cup having an
external diameter equal to the internal diameter of the charge chamber
or the barrel of the breech-loading small arm with which it is used. The said
cup is thin on its sides a, a, as best seen by the section, Figure 2, but thick
and strong at its rear or back b. I fix on the rear or back end of the said
cup a lead or other soft metal washer c, as represented in the elevation and
section, Figures 4 and 5 respectively. The said soft metal washer is shown
separately in front and edge view in Figure 6. The said washer c may be cast
on the end of the cup, Figures 1, 2, and 8, or be made separately, and fixed
to the said cup. Figure 7 represents in longitudinal vertical section a portion
of a barrel and breech end of a breech-loading small arm converted into a
muzzle-loading small arm by the use of my Invention. When it is wished to
convert a breech-loading small arm into a muzzle-loading small arm by the
use of my Invention, the plug or closer d of the small arm, Figure 7 (assuming
a plug or closer to be used for opening and closing the small arm), is with-.

page_text: drawn from the breech end of the barrel, and the cup or instrument, Figures
4 and 5, introduced into the said breech end of the barrel through the opening
therein by which the charge is ordinarily introduced. The said instrument is
placed in front of the said plug d, so that its open end is nearest the muzzle
of the barrel, the soft metal washer c being in contact with the end of the
plug d. The plug or closer d is then pushed home and secured, the said plug
pushing before it the said cup into the charge chamber e, as illustrated in
Figure 7. The small arm is now ready to be used as a muzzle-loader, the
said cup or instrument defending the plug or closer from the action of the
gunpowder, and effectually closing the breech end of the said small arm, so as
to prevent the escape of gas on discharge. On the discharge of the small arm
provided with this part of my Invention, the effect of the explosion of the
powder is to force the cup or instrument against the plug d, and open outwards
the thin portions a, a, of the said cup against the internal cylindrical surface
of the charge chamber c, and prevent the escape of gas at the breech. By
the force of the discharge the soft metal washer c at the rear or end of the cup
is compressed against the end of the plug d, and its edges expanded, the said
edges being forced into close contact with the internal surface of the charge
chamber e, and additional security against the escape of gas at the breech is
thereby obtained. By removing the cup or instrument, Figures 4 and 5, from
the charge chamber, the small arm is immediately ready for use as a breech-
loading small arm. The cup or instrument may be used without a soft metal
washer at its base. In this case the base of the cup is made flat. I prefer to
make the barrel of the small arm with which the instrument, Figures 5 and 6,
is employed in the manner illustrated in longitudinal section in Figure 8 of
the Drawing, that is to say, I make the internal bore of the barrel of the same
diameter throughout, and I rifle the barrel up to the nipple or communication
hole, that is, up to from one-half to three-quarters of an inch of its breech end.
When used as a muzzle-loader, the instrument or apparatus last described
when introduced into the small arm occupies the unrifled portion of the barrel
at f. By making the barrel as represented in Figure 8, the following advan-
tages are obtained :-The same sized projectiles can be used both for muzzle-
loading and for breech-loading in the same small arm, and when charged, the
bullet or projectile is situated in the rifling. The small arm shoots better
when the barrel is thus made than when the projectile bas to be forced by the
explosion of the powder from a plain chamber into the rifling in the barrel.
By the use of the instrument or apparatus herein-before described, breech-
loading small arms can be readily and economically converted into muzzle-
loading small arms, and when so converted can be used with great safety.

page_text: My Invention consists, secondly, of the improvement or improvements in
cartridges for breech-loading fire-arms, herein-after described and illustrated
in Figures 9, 10, and 11, of the accompanying Drawing. Figure 9 represents
in side and end elevation a cartridge constructed according to my Invention ;
5 Figure 10 is a longitudinal section of the same; and Figure 11 represents
elevations of the parts of which the cartridge is made up. I make the case g
of the cartridge of strong paper or card, or of sheet metal, and I make a hole
at h on one side near the end of the case, and at that point of the cartridge
which is presented to the nipple or communication hole of the small arm when
the cartridge is put in its place in the charge chamber. The said hole at h is
covered with thin paper, so that the case of the cartridge is strong at every
part excepting that through which the firo from the percussion cap has to pass.
Or instead of a hole, the case may be slit longitudinally, and the slit part
covered with thin paper. When I make the case 9 of strong paper or card,
5. the back of the said case is closed by a short case i, containing at its end
wad k, and the ends of the two cases 9 and i are covered and supported by
metal cap 7. The said cap carries a pin m, which serves to guide the
cartridge as it is introduced into the barrel, and preserves the hole or slot at h
in the cartridge opposite the nipple or communication hole in the barrel. The
said pin m enters a slot made in the upper side of the barrel for its reception.
The powder is then charged into the case g, and the wad n and projectile o
afterwards arranged therein in the manner represented in Figure 10. Before
charging the cartridge g when it is made of thick paper or card, I prefer to
soak it in a solution of alum or phosphate of soda, or other solution, which
when dry will render the case incombustible. After the discharge of the
cartridge the case g is withdrawn from the charge chamber, and may be
re-used. When the cartridge cases 9 are made of strong paper or card, I
manufacture them in the same manner as that by which cartridge cases made
of thin paper are made; and when my improved cartridge cases are made
from sheet metal, I prefer to raise them in a pair of drawing-through dies, as
is well understood. When cartridges made according to my Invention are
employed in breech-loading small arms there is no escape of gas at the
breech.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of
carrying the same into effect, I wish it to be understood that I do not limit
myself to the precise details herein described and represented, as the same
may be varied without departing from the nature of my Invention; but I
claim as my Invention,―
Firstly, the new or improved instrument or apparatus to be used for con-

page_text: verting breech-loading small arms into muzzle-loading small armis, constructed
in the manner herein-before described with reference to Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, 5,
6, 7, and 8, of the accompanying Drawing, that is to say, a metaHic cup
having a thin edge, and either with or without a washer of lead or other soft
metal or alloy at its base.
Secondly, the improvement or improvements in cartridges for breech-loading
small arms, herein-before described and illustrated in Figures 9, 10, and 11,
of the accompanying Drawing, that is to say, making the cases of the said
cartridges of thick paper or card, or of sheet metal, the said cases having holes
or slits made in them and covered with thin paper, through which said holes
or slits the fire from the percussion cap passes and ignites the gunpowder of
the cartridge, the said cartridge cases preventing on the discharge of the small
arm any escape of gas at the breech.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Reeves, have hercunto set my
band and seal, this Twenty-fifth day of July, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one.
CHARLES REEVES. (L.B.)
Witness,
GEORGE SHAW.