IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR CONCENTRATING SHOT
Year: 1878

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Ellen Lancaster, of Stony Stratford, in the County of
Buckingham, Widow, the sole Administratrix of the late Charles William
Lancaster, of New Bond Street, in the County of Middlesex, Gun Manu-
facturer, for the Invention of "IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR CONCENTRATING
SHOT." (Partly a communication to the said Charles William Lancaster from
abroad by Robert Morris, of Kansas, Missouri, U.S.A.)
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles William Lancaster
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 5th March 1878.
CHARLES WILLIAM LANCASTER, of New Bond Street, in the County of Middlesex,
Gun Manufacturer. "IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR CONCENTRATING SHOT." (Partly
a communication from abroad by Robert Morris, of Kansas, Missouri, U.S.A.)
"
. .This Invention relates to improved apparatus for concentrating shot, and is an
improvement upon the Invention for which Letters Patent were granted to me on
the 14th day of May 1869, No. 1479.
In the Specification of that Patent I described and claimed the employment of
one or more cylinders (fitted or not with wads in one end of them) in cartridge
cases to act as a kind of cap or thimble over the front or rear portion, or both, of
the charge of shot.
Now it has been found in practice that the wad as described in that Specification
acts as an impediment to the free passage of the shot, and does not produce the
desired effect of merely concentrating the shot without impeding its progress.
The cylinder without the wad has also failed to produce the desired effect
completely.
Now according to my present Invention I form a cylindrical casing fitted as in
the Specification of my former Patent, but in lieu of closing one end with a
terminal wad or leaving it quite open, I make one end of the cylinder tapered or
D

page_text: cone-shaped internally, thus decreasing the opening at that end and forming a kind
of check ring, so that when the cartridge is fired the shot will be concentrated
before it can pass through the smaller opening, and thus held together for a short
distance from the muzzle of the gun.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of..the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Ellen Lancaster, Widow, and sole Administratrix of the late Charles
William Lancaster, in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 5th September
.1878.
ELLEN LANCASTER, of Stony Stratford, in the County of Buckingham, Widow,
and sole Administratrix of the late Charles William Lancaster, of New Bond Street,
in the County of Middlesex, Gun Manufacturer. "IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR
CONCENTRATING SHOT." (Partly a communication to the said Charles William
Lancaster from abroad by Robert Morris, of Kansas, Missouri, U.S.A.)
This Invention relates to improvements in apparatus for concentrating shot, and
is an improvement upon the Invention for which Letters Patent were granted to
Charles William Lancaster on the 14th day of May 1869, No. 1479.
In the Specification of that Patent he described and claimed the employment of
one or more cylinders (fitted or not with wads in one end of them) in cartridge
cases to act as a kind of cap or thimble over the front or rear portion, or both, of the
charge of shot.
Now it has been found in practice that the wad as described in that Specifi-
.cation acts as an impediment to the free passage of the shot, and does not
produce the desired effect of merely concentrating the shot without impeding its
progress.
The cylinder without the wad has also failed to produce the desired effect
completely.
According to the present Invention a cylindrical casing is employed fitted as in
the Specification of the Patent above referred to, but in lieu of closing one end with
a terminal wad or leaving it quite open, it is made tapered or cone-shaped in-
ternally, thus decreasing the opening at that end and forming a kind of" check ring,"
50 that when the cartridge is fired the shot will be concentrated, before it can pass
through the smaller opening, and thus held together for a short distance from the
muzzle of the gun.
The Invention will be clearly understood by reference to the annexed Drawings,
in which Figure-1 shows a sectional view of a short cylinder of paper or other
suitable material a with the "check ring" or internally cone-shaped portion b,
while Figure 2 is a sectional-view of a cartridge with the improved check ring
cylinder inserted therein.
Figure 3 shows the cylinder in elevation; Figure 4 is a top plan; and Figure 5, a
'bottom plan.

page_text: Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the different
Figures.
And having now described the nature of the said Invention and in what manner
the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim the employment in cartridge
cases of a short cylinder provided with an internally cone-shaped portion, forming a
kind of check ring, as herein-before described, and substantially as shown in the
annexed Drawings for the purpose set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Ellen Lancaster, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Twenty-ninth day of August, One thousand eight hundred
and seventy-eight.
· ELLEN LANCASTER. (L.S.)