IMPROVEMENTS IN BOLTS AND PROJECTILES FOR FIRE-ARMS
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Norton, of Cork, in the County of Cork,
Esquire, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN BOLTS AND PROJECTILES
FOR FIRE-ARMS."
Sealed the 26th January 1855, and dated the 15th August 1854.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Norton at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 15th August
1854.
I, JOHN NORTON, of Cork, in the County of Cork, Esquire, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN BOLTS AND
PROJECTILES FOR FIRE-ARMS" to be as follows:-
My improvements are as follows:-The shaft of this bolt or projectile fits
closely into the barrel of the gun, and may be used as a simple bolt to pene-
trate, or may be headed with a fuze or percussion shell or fire ball; a cork fits
the barrel closely, and being rammed home over the charge, protects the lower
and inner end of the shaft from being injured by the explosion of the charge;
this bolt can be used for conveying a line from a wrecked vessel to the shore,
and also can be used with great advantage in vertical fire. Another improve-
ment consists in forming shot, shell, and other projectiles for artillery and other
arms, of clay or brick, mortar or cement.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Norton in the Great Scal Patent Office on the 15th
February 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
NORTON, of Cork, in the County of Cork, Esquire, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fifteenth day of August, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the eighteenth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, tho said
John Norton, Her special licence that I, the said John Norton, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said John Norton, 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, excrcise, and vend, within
the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and
Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN BOLTS AND PROJECTILES FOR
FIRE-ARMS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said John
Norton, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, 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 John Norton, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to bo particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed,
that is to say:-
My Invention consists, first, in an improved bolt or projectile for firc-arms
of all descriptions. The shaft of this bolt or projectile fits closely into the
barrel of the gun, and it may be used as a simple bolt to penetrate, or may be
headed with a fuze or percussion shell or fire ball; it may also be headed with
a whistle, and may then be used as a signalling agent on railways, &c. In
firing this bolt a cork wad is used, which fits the barrel closely, and being
rammed home over the charge, protects the lower and inner end of the shaft
from being injured by the explosion of the charge. This bolt can be used for
conveying a line from a wrecked vessel to the shore, and also can be used with
great advantage in vertical fire.

page_text: :
Figure 1 of the Drawings annexed is a side view of my improved bolt in its
simplest form; the bolt in this case is a plain cylindrical rod a, terminating
with a conoidal or other suitably shaped head b. The length of the bolt may
vary from, say, four to twelve inches, and the diameter should be such as to
enable it to fit loosely into the fire-arm from which it is to be discharged.
The material of which the bolt is composed may be hard wood, metal, clay,
brick, mortar, or cement; where it is not composed of metal, a metal head
may be attached, to give it greater penetrating power. The wooden shaft just
under the iron head should swell, or be increased a little in diameter, so as to
fit closely the barrel of the gun, the iron head fitting s so as to rest gently on the
rails or bearings of the rifle; the inner end of the shaft may have a sabot of
cork, leather, or: compressed paper, fitted on to it. This sabôt will expand-by
the explosion of the charge of powder, and filling the spiral grooves of the rifle,
will thus impart the rotatory motion or spin to the projectile. The shaft
should be smaller at the centre of its length than at the inner end and just
under the iron head; this form prevents unnecessary friction in passing through
the barrel. This bolt may be used also from a rifle that loads at the breech.
A fire ball or a shell to be ignited by a fuze or by percussion may be attached
to the bolt, as before mentioned.
Figure 2 is a side view of the bolt when fitted with a whistle to adapt it for
signalling on railways, &c. a is the shaft, and 6 is the whistle, (shewn sepa-
rately in Figure 3,) which is affixed thereto by the screw c; d is a buff leather
washer, placed between the end of the shaft and the whistle b, to make the
junction air-tight. The shaft of this bolt is composed of Memel pine, but other
wood of a like character may be employed. This bolt is intended to be fired
from a pistol, in which case the whistle and head of the bolt will project
beyond the muzzle.
Second, my Invention consists in forming shot, shell, and other projectiles
for artillery and other arms, of clay or brick, mortar or cement.
In carrying
out this part of my Invention, I cause the shot, shell, and other projectiles
to be moulded into the proper forms, and then dried and baked in the
manner adopted when manufacturing bricks and pottery ware; or they may
be produced by compressing the materials in suitable moulds, as is well
understood.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim is,-
First, the construction of a bolt or projectile for fire-arms, as herein-before.
described.

page_text: Second, the adaptation to such a bolt or projectile of a fire ball or of a fuze
or percussion shell.
Third, the adaptation to such a bolt or projectile of a whistle, to enable it
to be used in signalling on railways.
And, fourth, the manufacture of shot, shell, and other projectiles for
artillery and other arms, from clay or brick, mortar or cement.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Norton, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Eighth day of February, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five.
JOHN NORTON. (L.S.)