IMPROVEMENTS IN PROJECTILES AND CANNONS OR BARRELS FOR DISCHARGING THE SAME
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Grahame, of Leamington, in the County of
Warwick, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN PROJECTILES AND
CANNONS OR BARRELS FOR DISCHARGING THE SAME."
Sealed the 12th February 1861, and dated the 18th August 1860.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Grahame at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 18th
August 1860. .
I, THOMAS GRAHAME, of Leamington, in the County of Warwick, do
hereby declare the nature of the Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN PROJECTILES
AND CANNONS OR BARRELS FOR DISCHARGING THE SAME," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object an improved application of the impulsive
power of gunpowder, or other explosive substances, first, to projectiles, as those,
now in use, and second, to projectiles of a form to which the impulsive power
of air cannot or only by a great sacrifice of power be applied. In addition a
great economy of the explosive powers employed is also obtained, there can be
no loss as is now the case by windage, and the increased resistance from
fouling both at the entrance and exit of the projectile from the tube, when it
is discharged, will be avoided. The passage through the air of the projectile
will be greatly facilitated; the outside, of the projectile may be formed as

page_text: smooth as glass; this smoothness will neither be fouled by the powder when
exploded or injured by the friction of the iron tube, through which it is now
made to pass. If a rotatory motion is considered desirable (the necessity for
which I entirely doubt) to the projectile, this effect may be obtained when
required. The projectile is to be formed either with or have the addition of a
projecting tube or barrel, so as to pass on to and cover or enclose the tube or
barrel in which the charge of powder or explosive substance is placed.
Suppose (for instance) that the projectile is to be made in the form of an
arrow or bolt 18 inches in length, then if the gun or tube in which the
impulsive power is generated be 18.inches in length, here we have a space of
three feet in which to obtain the full explosive effect or power of the powder
when ignited.
The peculiarity of the Invention consists in the projectile being hollow, or
in part hollow, so as to pass on to and cover in whole or in part or even go
beyond the gun or tube in which the impulsive power is generated.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Thomas Grahame in the Great Seal Patent- Office on the
18th February 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
GRAHAME, of Leamington, in the County of Warwick, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eighteenth day of August, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty, in the twenty-fourth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Thomas Grahame, Her special licence that I, the said Thomas Grahame, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Thomas
Grahame, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN PROJECTILES
AND CANNONS OR BARRELS FOR DISCHARGING THE SAME," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Thomas Grahame, my executors or adminis-
trators, 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

page_text: 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 Thomas Grahame, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, that is to say:-
The Invention has for its object the construction of an arrow or pile-formed
projectile or missile so constructed as to secure when discharged from a gun,
tube, or a suitably constructed piece of ordnance the entire impulsive force
obtainable or emitted by the explosion of the propelling powder ignited, doing
away with the loss to which other missiles are subjected to through windage,
incomplete explosion of the powder used, fouling friction, and rifling to cause
a rotatory motion. To secure these objects the arrow or pile-formed missile is
made hollowept at the top or point intended to strike the object against which
it is intended to operate, and instead of passing into the gun, tube, or
piece of ordnance containing the exploding powder, the hollow portion of
the missile is made of a diameter sufficient to pass over and enclose the
gun, tube, or piece of ordnance in whole or in part, as may be found most
suitable. If the rotatory motion obtained by rifling is found to be necessary
or desirable, this may be effected by an addition to or alteration on the outside
of the missile. By this construction of the missile and its placement as
regards the gun, tube, or piece of ordnance containing the exploding powder
the fullest effective power of that explosion is secured, and if (as is almost
always the case) any portions of the powder pass out of the gun, tube, or
piece of ordnance, they must pass into the hollow portion of the missile, when
a full explosion of the unconsumed powder may be effected, thus giving an
additional impetus to the projectile. It may be found beneficial or necessary
to effect a second explosion of powder by means of a charged recess in the
solid portion of the missile, while in progress through the air in farther aid
of that progress and to escape from the hurtful effects of the vacuum, which
may be created by the passage through the air of a body formed bebind as the
missile described. To facilitate the passage of the missile from the impelling
gun, tube, or piece of ordnance, the outside of the same may be made perfectly
smooth or greased after each discharge, while the missile itself may be polished
to a surface like glass. By slight additions to the solid portion of the missile
it may be made to explode immediately after striking, or when it has partly
entered the object on which it is to act. To strengthen and at 'same

page_text: time to lighten the hollow portion of.the missile it may be secured by strong
hoops placed at short distances. The explosion of the powder used may be
effected by various ways by an ordinary touchhole if necessary corresponding
with a similar one in the missile or passing directly through the extremity of
the discharging instrument.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Grahame, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Eighteenth day of February, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one.
THOMAS GRAHAME. (L.S.)