IMPROVEMENTS IN Multicharge Guns and GAS CHECK WADS TO BE USED THEREWITH
Year: 1881

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Frederick John Cheesbrough, of the Office for Patents,
15, Water Street, Liverpool, in the County of Lancaster, Consulting
Engineer, for an Invention of “IMPROVEMENTS IN Multicharge Guns and
GAS CHECK WADS TO BE USED THEREWITH." A communication from abroad
by James R. Haskell, of Passaic, in the County of Passaic and State of New
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Frederick John Cheesbrough
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 23rd March 1881.
FREDERICK JOHN CHEESBROUGH, of the Office for Patents, 15, Water Street,
Liverpool, in the County of Lancaster, Consulting Engineer. "IMPROVEMENTS
IN MULTICHARGE GUNS AND GAS CHECK WADS TO BE USED THEREWITH."
[A communication from abroad by James R. Haskell, of Passaic, in the County of
Passaic and State of New Jersey, one of the United States of America.]
! This Invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in multicharge
guns, and a certain new and improved gas check wad to be used with the said
gun and as an adjunct thereof.
The leading features embodied in the gun consist of the accumulation of power
behind the projectile by the successive explosions of supplemental charges of
powder after the explosion of the initial charge and during the progress of the
projectile out of the gun, the said supplemental charges of powder being contained
in separate chambers or pockets communicating with the main or central bore of
the gun.
The improvements consist,―
First. Of an improved can or plug for the breach of the gun.

page_text: '
Fifth. Of a lining of steel, twist wrought iron, or other suitable metal in the
main bore of the gun, in combination with steel supplemental charge chambers or
of supplemental charge chambers lined with steel.
Sixth. Of a novel gas check wad to be used as an adjunct to the said gun for
the purpose of making it more thoroughly available in actual practice.
The object of the first part of this Invention is to provide a more simple and
effectual method of closing the breech of the gun, and at the same to offer the
utmost facility for charging and cleaning it. This object is accomplished by
means of a breech cap, consisting substantially of a metal cup, in the bottom of
which a hole is made a little larger than the bore of the gun, and through which
the cartridge and shot are introduced into its breech. In the inside of the flanges
of this cap a screw thread is cut to screw into a like thread cut on the breech of
the gun. Now to close the bore of the breech a plug is fitted in the bottom of
the cap, and secured there by an arm bolted to the cap, the plug swinging by the
arm about the bolt as a pivot turning and travelling laterally with the cap. Thus
the plug covers the hole in the bottom of the cap and closes the breech of the
gun, but when the cap is screwed back the breech plug follows it and drops down
out of the breech into a recess cut in the side of the cap to receive it. The position
of the arm in the bottom of the cap with reference to its lateral motion is such
that in screwing the cap forward the plug automatically takes its seat into the
bore of the gun.
To draw the plug back out of its seat there is a flange or collar made around
its rear end, over which a cleat is fitted and securely held against the bottom of
the cap. This cleat is snugly fitted upon the collar of the plug so that its friction
will in part break the fall of the plug into the recess of the cap; the cleat must
of course be made and set upon a curve, of which the diameter of the plug and the
length of the arm is the radius.
By these means the breech plug can be removed from its seat, the gun loaded,
and the plug replaced without taking the breech cap off the gun.
The object of the second of the said improvements is to give greater strength
and durability to the supplemental charge chamber, and at the same time facilitate
the construction of the gun. This object is accomplished by making the supple-
mental charge chambers of separate pieces of metal of greater strength and
durability than the metal of the gun, and by then screwing them into sockets of
corresponding shape made in the enlargements on the gun.
By making the supplemental charge chambers of steel or of twist wrought iron
great strength and durability is obtained; and by making them of separate pieces
of metal they are easily handled and bored, whereas when these chambers are made
in the metal of the gun they rapidly deteriorate, and the boring and fitting. of them
is a work of great difficulty.
The object of the third improvement is to provide a better means of loading the
supplemental charge chambers. To accomplish this object the primary hole is
made as large as possible, having due regard to the strength of the gun, and fit it
with a primary plug. This primary plug should be made of bronze or other
suitable metal. It consists of a tubular bushing screwed into sockets of corre-
sponding shape cut in the top of the gun over each supplemental chamber. In this
bushing is fitted a tubular key held in position by means of shoulders made on
opposite sides of it and arranged to lock under the sectors of a flange on the inside
of the bushing, the shoulders of the key entering the bushing through, grooves cut
in the flange of like shape, by which the sectors are formed and under which the
shoulders lock by merely turning the key. In the tubular key there is accurately
fitted a solid plug, on the upper part of which a screw thread is cut to match a
similar thread cut in the key. The lower end of the plug is provided with a gas
check and nicely fits the bottom end of the primary hole, and should be protected
from bruises when the plug as a whole is removed from the gun. It is for the
purpose of protecting the nicely fitted end of the central plug that it is placed
inside of the tubular key, of which it is really a part, and back into which it is

page_text: screwed for protection, as into a sheath, when removed from the gun. To charge
the supplemental chambers the plug must be screwed back into the key, which
must be unlocked and removed from the bushing, the plug coming out with the
key, thus opening the primary hole of the chamber. The top of the bushing is
covered with a cap fitted closely around the top of the key, which must be made.
square to receive a wrench, by which the key can be locked and unlocked; and the
same is true of the top of the central plug, which must also be fitted with a crank
or wrench by which it can be operated.
The object of the fourth improvement is to facilitate the cleaning of the
supplemental charge chambers, and also to bore the mouth of the chambers through
the steel lining of the gun. This object is accomplished by means of a plane
taper hole bored in the bottom of each chamber, in which a pin is fitted held by &
cap screwed over a projection on the breech of the chamber through which the
pin passes. The top of the pin is screwed into the cap, so that upon removing the
cap the pin is drawn back with it. By these means the dirty water is kept out of
the screw thread of the cap when the chamber is washed, and no difficulty is
experienced in replacing the cap and pin. The foregoing arrangement is used
where the steel or twist iron lining of the gun is fitted in its place before the steel
supplemental charge chambers are put in, the neck of the chamber in this case
being divided for convenience of fitting. But in case the steel or twist iron
chambers are fitted in their places before the lining or tube of the main bore is
put in, there must be a hole in the bottom of them large enough to admit a boring
tool to bore out the neck of the chamber, or the hole in the lining or tube at its
junction with the necks of the chambers. The hole therefore in the case being
necessarily large is fitted with bushing, in which the pin is fitted, the cap in this
case being screwed on the bushing, which in its turn is screwed into the breech of
the chamber.
The object of the fifth improvement is to obtain greater strength and durability
of the gun as a whole. This object is accomplished by combining in the bore of
the gun a bushing or lining of steel, or twist wrought iron with steel supplemental
charge chambers, or with supplemental charge chambers lined with steel so as to
form a continuous facing of steel, or of twist wrought iron in the gun and in the
charge chambers. The steel or twist wrought iron bushing not only adds very
greatly to the strength of the gun, but what is of much more importance in this
case is the superior toughness and durability of steel or twist wrought iron over
cast iron or ordinary gun metal, by which the bore of the gun is made to endure
the destructive power of the gas issuing from the supplemental charge chambers
against its sides. The steel or twist wrought iron lining in this aspect of the gun
becomes a matter of great importance, and the same is true of the throats of the
supplemental charge chambers, which rapidly deteriorates if made of cast iron or
ordinary gun metal. The principal feature of this part of this Invention is to
increase the strength and toughness of the interior and face or surface of the bore
and chambers of the gun, by which the strength of the gun is increased, and the
destructive effects of the powder upon throats of the pockets and the bore of the
gun is very greatly mitigated or wholly avoided. By lining the gun with a
bushing of soft steel or twist wrought iron there results a construction and relation
of metals best calculated to ensure the greatest strength. Thus in cylinders of
metal the power exerted by different parts varies inversely as the squares of the
distances of the parts from the axis. Thus in a ten (10) inch gun when the inside
which is five (5) inches from the axis is fully strained, the metal two (2) inches from
the inside or seven (7) inches from the axis can only exert a force twenty five
forty ninths (), or little more than half as much; three (3) inches further, ten
(10) inches from the axis, the force exerted diminishes to twenty five one hundreths
(1), or but a quarter of that exerted by the inside, so that by boring out the
cast iron in the centre of the gun, which is always the poorest, and replacing it
with soft steel or twisted wrought iron, the strongest metal is placed where the
greatest strain is exerted.

page_text: The object of the sixth improvement is to provide a gas check wad to be used in
combination with the gun for the purpose of extinguishing windage, and preventing
the flame of the powder from cutting around the wad and firing the charges ahead
of the shot, and that will resist the destructive effects of the burning powder
during its passage through the bore of the gun over the throats of the supplemental
charge chambers. The throats of these chambers in a ten inch gun, for example,
will be about six inches in diameter, and the powder in them is fired the instant
the wad begins to uncover it, so that the wad is subject to the fire of the powder
against its under side from the time it begins to uncover the first chamber until it
passes the last one. Unless therefore the wad be protected, or made of some
material unaffected by the burning powder, it will be disabled. before it passes the
throat of the second chamber to such a degree as to allow the burning gas to pass
it, and fire the supplemental charges in advance of the shot. The gas check wad,
according to this Invention, to overcome the difficulty above pointed out, is made
of several thicknesses of leather, or of some good substitute for leather, cut in the
exact form of the bore of the gun to accurately fit the grooves and lauds of the
rifling. These several thicknesses of leather are tacked together as in laying up
the heel of the boot, or are held together by means of a bolt passed through the
centre of the wad. The length of this wad should be at least one and a half times
the diameter of the throats of the supplemental charge chambers, and its rear part
should be protected by a metal armor for at least one third of its length, measuring
from the rear end forward. Three or more thicknesses of the leather are tacked
together and enclosed in a metal disc of its exact form, the flanges of which enclose
the leather and from the protecting armor of the wad, the rear end of the wad
being composed of a succession of these discs filled with the leather lamina, and
tacked or bolted together. The metal discs are composed of sheet copper, and are
swedged up to the exact form and size of the bore and rifling of the gun. The
armor may be made to cover the wad over its entire length, but it is better to
leave a portion of the leather uncovered, because the expansion of the leather under
the operation of the expelling force ensures the absolute extinguishment of the
windage, and a thorough cleaning of the gun every time it is fired. The wad may
be made a part of the shot, which is a soft metal band applied to the rear end of
the shot, and having its periphery grooved transversely to take the rifling of the
bore. The grooves in the surface of this band of soft metal should be of the exact
depth of the rifling of the gun, and they should be about twice as wide as the
thickness of the intervening ribs, and the band should be in length at least equal
to one and a half times the diameter of the throats of the pockets.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said Frederick John Cheesbrough in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 21st September 1881.
"
FREDERICK JOHN CHEESBROUGH, of the Office for Patents, 15, Water Street,
Liverpool, in the County of Lancaster, Consulting Engineer. "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MULTICHARGE GUNS AND GAS CHECK WADS TO BE USED THEREWITH."
A communication from abroad by James R. Haskell, of Passaic, in the County
of Passaic and State of New Jersey, one of the United States of America.
This Invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in multicharge
guns, and a certain new and improved "gas check wad" to be used with the said gun
and as an adjunct thereof, and the following is a description of the said Invention in.
such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable anyone skilled in the art or
science to which it appertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make
and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings making
part of this Specification, and to the figures and letters of reference marked
thereon.
The leading features embodied in the gun to which these improvements relate
consists of the accumulation of power behind the projectile by the successive
explosions of supplemental charges of powder after the explosion of the initial
charge and during the progress of the projectile out of the gun, said supplemental
charges of powder being contained in separate chambers or pockets communicating
with the main or central bore of the gun.
The improvements consist,―
First. Of an improved cap or plug for the breech of the gun.
Second. Of supplemental charge chambers made of separate pieces of steel or
other suitable metal screwed into enlargements made on the underside of the
gun.
Third. Of an improved priming plug for said supplemental charge chambers.
Fourth. Of certain improved provisions for lining, boring, and cleaning the
supplemental charge chambers.
Fifth. Of a lining of steel, twist wrought iron, or other suitable metal in the
main bore of the gun, in combination with steel supplemental charge chambers or
of supplemental charge chambers lined with steel.
Sixth. Of a novel "gas check wad" to be used as an adjunct to said gun for the
purpose of making it more thoroughly available in actual practice.
Reference being had to the Drawing, Figure 1 is a top view of the gun;
Figure 2, a longitudinal vertical section through the same with these improvements
applied thereto; Figure 3 is an interior view of the improved breech cap, showing
a plan also of the breech plug; Figure 4 is a cross section of the gun, showing the
plan of rifling; Figure 5 is a cross section through the gun, and a longitudinal
section through one of the supplemental charge chambers; Figure 9 is a top view
and Figure 8 a longitudinal section through the improved priming plug; Figure 6
is a longitudinal section through one form of the improved "gas check wad," and
Figure 7 is a longitudinal section through another form of the same wad.
The object of the first of the said improvements is to provide a more simple and
effectual method of closing the breech of the gun, and at the same time to offer the
utmost facility for charging and cleaning it. This object is accomplished by means
of a breech cap, consisting substantially of a metal cup, in the bottom of which a
hole is made a little larger than the bore of the gun, and through which the.
cartridge and shot are introduced into its breech. This breech cap is shown in the
Drawing by A, and the hole in its bottom by B. In the inside of the flanges of

page_text: this cap a screw thread is cut to screw into a like thread cut on the breech of the
gun, as shown by Figure 2. To close the bore of the breech a plug C is fitted in
the bottom of the cap, and secured there by an arm D bolted to the cap, the plug
swinging by the arm about the bolt as a pivot, turning and travelling laterally with
the cap.
Thus when the plug is in the position shown by the Drawing it covers
the hole in the bottom of the cap, and closes the breech of the gun, but when the
cap is screwed back the breech plug follows it and drops down out of the breech
into a recess E cut in the side of the cap to receive it. The position of the arm D
in the bottom of the cap with reference to its lateral motion is such that in
screwing the cap forward the plug automatically takes its soat into the bore of
the gun.
To draw the plug back out of its seat there is a flange or collar v made around
its rear end, over which a cleat is fitted, and securely held against the bottom of
the cap.
This cleat is snugly fitted upon the collar of the plug, so that its friction
will in part break the fall of the plug into the recess of the cap; the cleat must of
course be made and set upon a curve of which the diameter of the plug and the
length of the arm is the radius.
1
By these means the breech plug can be removed from its seat, the gun loaded,
and the plug replaced without taking the breech cap off of the gun.
The object of the second of the said improvements is to give greater strength
and durability to the supplemental charge chambers, and at the same time facilitate
the construction of the gun. This object is accomplished by making the supple-
mental charge chambers of separate pieces of metal of greater strength and
durability than the metal of the gun, and by then screwing them into sockets of
corresponding shape made in the enlargements on the gun, as shown in Drawing
by F, Figures 2 and 5. By making the supplemental charge chambers of steel or
of twist wrought iron great strength and durability is obtained, and by making
them of separate pieces of metal they are easily handled and bored, whereas when
these chambers are made in the metal of the gun they rapidly deteriorate, and the
boring and fitting of them is a work of great difficulty.
The object of the third improvement is to provide a better means of loading the
supplemental charge chambers. To accomplish this object the priming hole is
made as large as possible, due regard being had to the strength of the gun, and it
is fitted with a priming plug of a construction substantially illustrated by Figures
8 and 9 of the Drawings. This priming plug should be made of bronze or other
suitable metal. It consists of a tubular bushing. G screwed into sockets of
corresponding shape cut in the top of the gun over each supplemental chamber.
In this bushing is fitted a tubular key H, held in position by means of shoulders
a, a, made on opposite sides of it, and arranged to lock under the sectors b, b, of
a flange on the inside of the bushing G, the shoulders of the key entering the
bushing through, grooves cut in the flange of like shape, by which the sectors b, b,
are formed, and under which the shoulders lock by merely turning the key. In
the tubular key H there is accurately fitted a solid plug I, on the upper part of
which a screw thread is cut to match a similar thread cut in the key. The lower
end of the plug I is provided with a gas check, and nicely fits the bottom end of
the priming bole, and should be protected from bruises when the plug, as a whole,
is removed from the gun. It is for the purpose of protecting the nicely fitted end
of the central plug I that it is placed inside of the tubular key, of which it is
really a part, and back into which it is screwed for protection, as into a sheath,
when removed from the gun. To charge the supplemental chambers J the plug I
must be screwed back into the key, which must be unlocked and removed from.
the bushing, the plug I coming out with the key, thus opening the priming hole
of the chamber. The top of the bushing G is covered with a cap e, fitted closely
around the top of the key, which must be made square to receive a wrench, by
which the key can be locked and unlocked; and the same is true of the top of the
central plug I, which must also be fitted with a crank or wrench by which it can
bę operated.
"

page_text: The object of the fourth improvement is to facilitate the cleaning of the
supplemental charge chambers, and also to bore the mouth of the chambers through
the steel lining of the gun. This object is accomplished by means of a plane taper
hole bored in the bottom of each chamber in which a pin o is fitted, held by a cap c
screwed over a projection on the breech of the chamber through which the pin
passes, the top of the pin o being screwed into the cap c, so that upon removing the
cap the pin is drawn back with it. By these means the dirty water is kept out
of the screw thread of the cap c when the chamber is washed, and no difficulty is
experienced in replacing the cap and pin. The foregoing arrangement is used
where the steel or twist iron lining of the gun is fitted in its place before the
steel supplemental charge chambers are put in, the neck of the chamber in this
case being divided at n for convenience of fitting. But in case the steel or twist
iron chambers are fitted in their places before the lining or tube of the main bore
is put in, there must be a hole in the bottom of them large enough to admit a
boring tool to bore out the neck- of the chamber, or the hole in the lining or tube
at its junction with the necks of the chambers. The hole therefore in the case
being necessarily large is fitted with the bushing ke in which the pin o is fitted, the
cap c in this case being screwed on the bushing, which in its turn is screwed into
the breech of the chamber.
The object of the fifth improvement is to obtain greater strength and durability
of the gun as a whole. This object is accomplished by combining in the bore of
the gun a bushing or lining of steel, or twist wrought iron with steel supplemental
charge chambers, or with supplemental charge chambers lined with steel so as to
form a continuous facing of steel, or of twist wrought iron in the gun and in the
charge chambers, substantially as shown in the Drawing by L, M, Figure 2. The
steel or twist wrought iron bushing not only adds very greatly to the strength of
the gun, but what is of much more importance in this case is the superior
toughness and durability of steel or twist wrought iron over cast iron or ordinary
gun metal, by which the bore of the gun is made to endure the destructive power
of the gas issuing from the supplemental charge chambers against its sides. The
steel or twist wrought iron lining in this aspect of the gun becomes a matter of
great importance, and the same is true of the throats of the supplemental charge
chambers, which rapidly deteriorate if made of cast iron or ordinary.gun metal.
The principal feature of this part of this Invention is to increase the strength and
toughness of the interior and face or surface of the bore and chambers of the gun,
by which the strength of the gun is increased and the destructive effects of the
powder upon the throats of the pockets and the bore of the gun is very greatly
mittigated or wholly avoided. By lining the gun with a bushing of soft steel or
twist wrought iron, there results a construction and relation of metals best
calculated to insure the greatest strength. Thus in cylinders of metal the power
exerted by different parts varies inversely as the squares of the distances of the
parts from the axis. Thus in a ten (10) inch gun when the inside, which is five
(5) inches from the axis, is fully strained, the metal (2) two inches from the inside,
or seven (7) from the axis, can only exert a force twenty-five ninety-fourths (34)
or little more than half as much; three (3) inches further, ten (10) inches from
the axis, the force exerted diminishes to twenty-five one-hundredths (100) or but
a quarter of that exerted by the inside, &c., so that by boring out the cast iron in
the centre of the gun, which is always the poorest, and replacing it with soft steel
or twisted wrought iron the strongest metal is placed where the greatest strain is
exerted.
"
"
The object of the sixth improvement is to provide a 'gas check wad" to be
used in combination with said gun for the purpose of extinguishing "windage
and preventing the flame of the powder from cutting around the wad and firing
the charges ahead of the shot, and that will resist the destructive effects of the
burning powder during its passage through the bore of the gun over the throats of
the supplemental charge chambers. The throats of these chambers, in a ten inch
gun for example, will be about six inches in diameter, and the powder in them

page_text: is fired the instant the wad begins to uncover it, so that the wad is subject to the
fire of the powder against its underside from the time it begins to uncover the first
chamber until it passes the last one. Unless therefore the wad be protected, or
made of some material unaffected by the burning powder, it will be disabled before
it passes the throat of the second chamber to such a degree as to allow the burning
gas to pass it and fire the supplemental charges in advance of the shot. The gas
check wad of my Invention, to overcome the difficulty above pointed out, is made
of several thicknesses of leather, or of some good substitute for leather, cut in the
exact form of the bore of the gun to accurately fit the grooves and lands of the
rifling; these several thicknesses of leather are tacked together as in laying up
the heel of the boot, or are held together by means of a bolt passed through the
centre of the wad. The length of this wad should be at least one and a half times
the diameter of the throats of the supplemental charge chambers, and its rear part
should be protected by a metal armour for at least one third of its length;
measuring from the rear end forward. The manner of constructing this wad is
fully illustrated by Figures 6 and 7 of the Drawing. Reference being had to
Figure 6, the several thicknesses of leather is shown by a', a', a¹, and the metal
armour is shown by b¹, b¹, b'. In this case three or more thicknesses of the leather
are tacked together and inclosed in a metal disc of its exact form, the flanges of
which inclose the leather and form the protecting armour of the wad, the rear end
of the wad being composed of a succession of these discs filled with the leather
lamina, and tacked or bolted together, as shown by the Drawing. The metal discs
are composed of sheet copper, and are swedged up to the exact form and size of the
bore and rifling of the gun. The armour may be made to cover the wad over its
entire length, but it is better to leave a portion of the leather uncovered, because
the expansion of the leather under the operation of the expelling force insures the
absolute extinguishment of the windage and a thorough cleaning of the gun every
time it is fired. The wad may be made a part of the shot X, as shown by Figure 6,
which is a soft metal band applied to the rear end of the shot, and having its
periphery grooved transversely to take the rifling of the bore. The grooves in the
surface of this band of soft metal should be of the exact depth of the rifling of the
gun, and they should be about twice as wide as the thickness of the intervening
ribs, and the band should be in length at least equal to one and a half times the
diameter of the throats of the pockets. By this Figure of the Drawing the end of
the cartridge is shown by e¹, and a lubricating compound is indicated by f. By
Figure 7 of the Drawing is shown substantially the same wad, but in this case the
armour consists of a soft metal cup b¹, b¹, 61, made to fit the front end of the
cartridge e¹, and into which the leather lamina are fitted aud continued above it, as
far as may be necessary to obtain the necessary length of wad. The lamina of
leather in this case is also represented by a¹, a¹, a¹, and are held together by a
bolt c' having a large head dat one end, a nut i counter sunk in the bottom of
the cup b¹ at the other, the bolt being made to pass freely through the bottom of
the cup so as not to interfere with the compression of the wad under the operation
of the impeling power.
Having thus described the improvements in multicharge guns, I claim as the
Invention communicated to me by my foreign correspondent,
First. In combination with the breech of the gun a screw breech cap having a
hole in its centre, and a breech plug fitted and secured therein, said breech plug to
be so arranged upon an arm and pivot that when said cap is screwed forward said
plug will automatically take its seat into the bore of the gun and over the hole in
the cap, and so that when said cap is screwed back said plug will fall into its side
clear of the hole in the centre and of the bore of the gun, that the gun may be
loaded and the plug replaced without removing the cap.
Second. In a multicharge gun the supplemental charge chambers made wholly
of separate pieces of steel or other suitable metal, and combined with the bore of
the gun.
Third. In combination with a multicharge gun a priming plug consisting of a

page_text: tubular screw bushing fitted with a tubular key containing and shielding or
protecting a solid central screw pin, substantially as shown and described.
Fourth. The supplemental charge chambers fitted with a smooth taper plug held
and removed by a cap screwed on the breech of the chamber, by which the chamber
can be cleaned and the dirty water withdrawn without getting in the thread of the
screw that secures the cap and pin.
Fifth. In a multicharge gun having one or more supplemental charge chambers
the combination of a bushing or facing of steel, or other tough strong metal in the
bore of the gun, with a supplemental charge chamber made wholly of steel, or with
an entire steel lining, the two being united to form a continuous facing of steel or
other strong tough metal in the bore and chambers of the gun.
Sixth. A facing of tough strong metal over the entire surface of the bore and
chambers of a multicharge gun from the main breech of the gun to and including
the last supplemental charge chamber, the body of the gun being composed of cast
iron or gun metal.
Seventh. A gas check wad for a multicharge gun composed of leather (or any
known substitute for leather), protected by an armour of soft metal, and having its
length greater than the diameter of the throats of the charge chambers; the leather
being to extinguish the windage and clean the gun, the armour being to protect
the leather against the fire of powder, and the length, with reference to the
diameter of the throats of the chambers, being to keep the fire from cutting around
the wad and firing the charges in advance of the shot.
Eighth. A gas check wad for a multicharge gun combined with and made part
of the shot, substantially as described.
Ninth. In combination with the multicharge gun an indestructible gas check
wad made to resist the destructive effects of the powder, extinguish the windage,
and prevent the flame from cutting around or past it to fire the powder in advance
of the shot or wad.
In witness whereof, I, the said Frederick John Cheesbrough, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Nineteenth day of September, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and eighty one.
•
Witness,
E. R. ROYSTON,
FREDERICK JOHN (L.S.) CHEESBROUGH,
Of the Office for Patents,
15, Water Street,
Liverpool.