IMPROVEMENTS IN ORDNANCE
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Jacob Snider, junior, of Chancery Lane, in the
County of Middlesex, Merchant, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN ORDNANCE."
Sealed the 2nd December 1864, and dated the 4th June 1864.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Jacob Snider at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
4th June 1864.
I, JACOB SNIDER, junior, of Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex,
Merchant, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN ORDNANCE," to be as follows:-
The first part of my Invention relates to the use of cylinders in the trans-
forming of smooth-bore muzzle-loading cannon (which previously fired spherical
shot) into cannon to fire elongated projectiles where the inserting of a cylinder
into the gun is used to contract or reduce the bore, also to cannon of any sort, to
be constructed and used as muzzle-loaders where a cylinder is used for the interior
of the gun, all as hereafter described. Where I operate on cast iron or bronze
cannon of usual Government pattern, I cut off or dispense with the cascable
and provide a substitute by a nut on the valve shaft as herein-after described,
I bore a hole through the rear axis of the gun into the chamber or bore. The

page_text: cylinder is made with its breech end closed and with its external end surface
made so as to fit mechanically into the chamber seat in the gun. Through
the rear solid end of the cylinder I bore a hole of the same diameter as that
made through the axis of the breech of the gun, so that the two holes will
become exactly coincident the one with the other when the cylinder is once
placed in the gun. These holes may be bored simultaneously through both
gun and cylinder after the cylinder is in the gun. When the cylinder is
inserted and the holes are made in it and the gun as before described, I then
take a cup-shaped valve made of steel or other metal constructed with a shaft
or shank solid to its rear or convex face, and I introduce this valve into the
muzzle of the cylinder and push it home into the chamber seat thereof, the
valve shaft passing out through the holes in the axis of the cylinder and breech
of the gun. I relieve the bearing of the convex face of this valve under
explosion of the powder charge by reducing a portion of its convex face within
its outer annular edge so as to secure elasticity, and also to cause it to act as a
gas check to prevent escape of gas. On the end of the valve shaft I cut a
screw thread, I screw thereon a stout metal nut which replaces or substitutes
the cascable. By screwing tightly up this nut on the valve shaft against the
external breech of the gun I bring the cylinder firmly to place. By the
employment of a valve as before described I provide for the recoil to bear
back against the said valve, so that instead of there being a tendency on the
discharge of the gun for the cylinder to move forward it will be retained
securely in place. When it may be desired to inspect the bore of the gun, or
when by much use the bore may have become injured, then by unscrewing
the nut from the valve shaft the valve can be driven out and the bore readily
inspected, or even the cylinder extracted to be replaced by another if required,
and thus the original gun or shell preserved.
The second part of my Invention is as follows:-In order to make a close
joint between the valve face and chamber seat and valve shaft and holes in
the cylinder and gun, and also on any other part or parts of junction or on
the inner or concealed surfaces of cannon or guns of any description so as to
make the same air, gas, or water tight and also to prevent oxidation, I pack or
cover all such surfaces or junctions with a "graphitic composition" or "paint"
made as described in the Specification of a Patent dated December 2nd, 1861,
No. 3024, granted to Gerald Ralston, and communicated to him by me, or of
which packing or paint "graphite" forms the principle component part.
The third part of my Invention is as follows:-In order to relieve the
percussive or sudden strain arising from the impulsive action of the explosion
of the powder charge from bearing too violently on the outer shell or original

page_text: gun, and to enable the steel cylinder to flex or dilate under the explosive
action of the powder charge, I take off a certain portion of the outer surface
of the cylinder commencing from a certain distance forward of its rear or
chamber end up or forward to near the trunnions, or for such distance as the
size and bore of the gun will admit of or require for the end or purpose to be
attained (as size and bore or other considerations will respectively determine)
or within the compass of that distance of a portion of the gun where the greatest
percussive force of the explosion of the powder charge exerts itself, thus placing
so much of the outer surface of the cylinder in non-contact with the inner
surface of the outer shell or gun. The application of the principle herein
described of causing a portion of the outer surface of a cylinder to be free of
contact with a certain portion of the interior of the gun in manner herein.
before described, I adapt to any cylinder or cylinders introduced into a gun or
guns of any description, be they muzzle-loaders or breech-loaders, old guns
transformed or converted, or to new guns, or guns made especially to receive
cylinders. This mode of making and applying the principle of non-contact
and elasticity under explosive action to cylinders in cannon I apply also to
the making of new cannon be they composed of one or more consecutive
cylinders, the one placed within the other, and one or more of them respectively
having its or their external surface at or on any portions thereof slightly
reduced so as not to be in contact with the inner surface of the shell casing or
cylinder covering it, or which would otherwise be in contact with the inner
cylinder at the portions and in manner referred to. This method of non-
contact and elasticity I apply to any and every sort of cylinders, be they made
of cold drawn iron, steel, or other metal, or to cylinders made in any other
manner.
The fourth part of my Invention is as follows:-In order to render the
space or spaces created by the external arched form of the inner cylinder, as
herein described, or between the external surface of any cylinder and the
internal surface of any case or covering, the better to become a resisting
medium to receive and sustain the percussive or impulsive action produced by
the ignition of the powder charge, and while the air contained in the said
spaces may partially serve as an elastic cushion, 1 further augment this
medium of resistance by compressing an increased amount of air into the said
space or spaces by means of apertures made through the external cylinders
and afterwards securely closed. Sometimes however I make a communication
from the outside of the gun with the space or spaces left between the cylinder
or cylinders and the outer shell or body of the gun, and I put in water through
the aperture or apertures, which I close securely. The effect of the intro-

page_text: duction of water is that the concussive force applied by the explosion of the
powder charge is distributed throughout the entire chamber in all directions,
and is not borne so entirely on the rear or breech end of the gun as if the
simple metal itself was alone acted upon. The adaptation and application of
the said spaces as cushions or water chambers as also the mode of construction
of the inner cylinders and their flexion at the moment of explosion, as herein-
before described, constitute a means either separately or combined whereby
guns or cannon may be constructed of less compass and weight but of greater
strength comparatively than has been hitherto attained.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Jacob Snider in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
3rd December 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JACOB
SNIDER, junior, of Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Merchant,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fourth day of June, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, in the twenty-seventh year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Jacob Snider, junior, Her special licence that I, the said Jacob Snider
junior, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Jacob Snider, junior, 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 "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN ORDNANCE," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Jacob Snider, junior, my executors or administrators, by an instrument
in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should par-
ticularly 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 Jacob Snider, junior, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following

page_text: statement, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, that is to
say:
The first part of my Invention relates to the use of cylinders in the
transforming of smooth-bore muzzle-loading cannon (which previously fired
spherical shot) into cannon to fire elongated projectiles, where the inserting of
a cylinder into the gun is used to contract or reduce the bore, also to cannon
of any sort to be constructed and used as inuzzle-loaders where a cylinder is
used for the interior of the gun, all as hereafter described.
Where I operate on cast iron or bronze cannon of usual Government pattern,
I cut off or dispense with the cascable and provide a substitute by a nut on
the valve shaft, as herein-after described. I bore a hole through the rear axis
of the gun into the chamber or bore. The cylinder is made with its breech
end closed and with its external end surface made so as to fit mechanically into
the chamber seat in the gun. Through the rear solid end of the cylinder I
bore a hole of the same diameter as that made through the axis of the breech
of the gun, so that the two holes will become exactly coincident the one with
the other when the cylinder is once placed in the gun. These holes may be
bored simultaneously through both gun and cylinder after the cylinder is in
the gun. When the cylinder is inserted and the holes are made in it and the
gun as before-described, I then take a cup-shaped valve, made of steel or other
metal, constructed with a shaft or shank solid to its rear or convex face, and I
introduce this valve into the muzzle of the cylinder and push it home into the
chamber seat thereof, the valve shaft passing out through the holes in the axis
of the cylinder and breech of the gun. I relieve the bearing of the convex
face of this valve, under explosion of the powder charge, by reducing a portion
of its con.ex face within its outer annular edge, so as to secure elasticity or
flexion and also to cause it to act as a gas check to prevent escape of gas. On
the end of the valve shaft I cut a screw thread. I screw thereon a stout
metal nut which replaces or substitutes the cascable. By screwing tightly up
this nut on the valve shaft against the external breech of the gun, I bring the
cylinder firmly to place. By the employment of a valve as before described
I provide for the recoil to bear back against the said valve, so that instead of
there being a tendency, on the discharge of the gun, for the cylinder to move
forward, it will be retained securely in place. When it may be desired to inspect
the bore of the gun, or when by much use the bore may have have become
injured, then by unscrewing the nut from the valve shaft the valve can be
driven out and the bore readily inspected, or even the cylinder extracted to be
replaced by another, if required, and thus the original gun or shell preserved.
Figure 1 of the accompanying Drawings is a longitudinal section of so much

page_text: of a piece of ordnance transformed in the manner before described as will be
necessary to illustrate the manner in which I carry this part of my Invention
into effect.
A is the original arm, which is bored truly to receive the cylinder B. This
cylinder is inserted by the muzzle of the gun and adjusted nicely to the bore
thereof. C is the cup-shaped valve made with a shaft D, one end of which is
screw threaded; a detached view of this valve is given at Figure 2. The shaft
D of the valve is inserted through an aperture formed through the end of the
cylinder B and the breech end of the arm, as shewn, and there secured firmly
by the nut E. On removing the nut the valve can be taken out. Figure 8
is a view of another form of valve, in which case the base of the valve fits
closely to the cylinder; whereas in the other. valve there is a space left
between it and the cylinder to allow for expansion on the explosion of the
powder charge, all as herein-before described.
The second part of my Invention is as follows:-In order to make a close
joint between the valve face and chamber seat, and valve shaft and holes in
the cylinder and gun, and also on any other part or parts of junction, or on
the inner or concealed surfaces of cannon or guns of any description, so as to
make the same air, gas, or water tight, and also to prevent oxidation I pack
or cover all such surfaces or junctions with a "graphitic composition" or
"paint," made as described in the Specification of a Patent, dated December
2nd, 1861, No. 3024, granted to Gerard Ralston, and communicated to him
by me, or of which packing or paint "graphite" forms the principle com-
ponent part, or in whatever way it may be made, provided graphite forms
the base.
The third part of my Invention is as follows:-In order to relieve the per-
cussive or sudden strain arising from the impulsive action of the explosion of
the powder charge from bearing too violently on the outer shell or original
gun, and to enable the steel cylinder to flex or dilate under the explosive
action of the powder charge, I take off a certain portion of the outer surface
of the cylinder or the inner surface of the gun, commencing from a certain
distance forward of its rear or chamber end, up or forward to near the trun-
nions, or for such distance as the size and bore of the gun will admit of or
require for the end or purpose to be attained, (as size and bore or other
considerations will respectively determine,) or within the compass of that
distance of a portion of the gun where the greatest percussive force of the
explosion of the powder charge exerts itself; thus placing a portion of the
outer surface of the cylinder in non-contact with the inner surface of the outer
shell or gun.

page_text: F, Figure 1, shews a portion of the outer surface of the cylinder removed,
and G, same Figure, shews a, portion of the inner surface of the cannon
removed.
The application of the principle herein described of causing a portion
of the outer surface of a cylinder to be free of contact with a certain portion
of the interior of the gun, in manner herein-before described, I adapt to any
cylinder or cylinders introduced into a gun or guns of any description, be they
muzzle-loaders or breech-loaders, old guns transformed or converted, or to
new guns, or guns made especially to receive cylinders. This mode of making
and applying the principle of non-contact and elasticity or flexion under
explosive action to cylinders in cannon I apply also to the making of new
cannon, be they composed of one or more consecutive cylinders, the one
placed within the other, and one or more of them respectively having its or
their external surface at or on any portions thereof slightly reduced, so as not
to be in contact with the inner surface of the shell, casing, or cylinder
covering it, or which would otherwise be in contact with the inner cylinder at
the portions and in manner referred to. This method of non-contact, whereby
elasticity or flexion is obtained, I apply to any and every sort of cylinders, be
they made of cold-drawn iron, steel, or other metal, or to cylinders made in
any other manner.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I am aware that cylinders
have been hitherto inserted in ordnance in order to transform them from
smooth-bore muzzle-loading cannon, which hitherto fired spherical shot, into
cannon to fire alongated projectiles, and therefore I lay no claim to merely
inserting them therein for that purpose, but I claim as my "Improvements in
Ordnance,"
First, the transforming of muzzle-loading cannon, which have hitherto fired
spherical shot, into cannon to fire elongated projectiles, by inserting into the
bores of such cannon a cylinder or cylinders, secured therein by a valve and
nut, the parts being rendered air and gas tight by a graphitic composition, all
substantially as herein-before described and illustrated in the accompanying
Drawings.
Second, the removing of a portion or portions of the inner surface of the
cannon, or the outer surface of the cylinder or cylinders used in transforming
smooth-bore cannon, which had hitherto been adapted to fire spherical shot,
into cannon to fire elongated projectiles, whereby the cylinder or cylinders do
not wholly throughout their length come in contact with the inner surface of

page_text: the outer shell or gun, in manner and for the purposes herein-before described
and illustrated in the accompanying Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Jacob Snider, junior, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Third day of December, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four.
Witness,
EDWP. G. BREWER,
89, Chancery Lane, W.C.
JACOB SNIDER, JUN³. (L.S.)