IMPROVEMENTS IN GUNS, AND IN THE SHOT OR OTHER PROJECTILES FIRED THEREFROM
Year: 1854

page_text: application for Letters Patent was not given within the time prescribed
by the Act.)
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Richard Clarke Burleigh at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 27th
July 1854.
I, RICHARD CLARKE BURLEIGH, of Northumberland Street, Charing Cross,
in the County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the said Inven-
tion for "IMPROVEMENTS IN GUNS, AND IN THE SHOT OR OTHER PROJECTILES FIRED
THEREFROM," to be as follows, that is to say :-
The nature of my said Invention consists in detaining the shot or other
projectile in the gun by the mechanical means herein-after described, and
preventing its moving under the impulsive force of the gunpowder until that
force has reached any amount desired, by which the momentum imparted to
the shot with a given charge of powder will be much greater than in an
ordinary gun, from which the shot is projected with such instantaneous velocity,
that the clastic force of the gases produced by the explosion of the powder
bas not time to be imparted to it; and I propose to effect this object by
connecting or attaching the shot or other projectile to the gun by a chain,
wire, tio bar, or rod of metal, wood, or other suitable material, which shall
possess a sufficient amount of elasticity to yield gradually to the force of the
powder, and at the same time a sufficient tenacity to detain the shot until
that force has attained the limit at which it is desired for the shot to be
projected from the gun. The nature of my said Invention will be more
perfectly understood by reference to the accompanying Drawing, in which

page_text: Figure 1 is the longitudinal section of a gun, showing one of the modes in
which the object of my said Invention may be attained. A is the gun, shown
in section, being similar in its general form to an ordinary gun, but without
any cascable, and having a circular hole bored through the end of the gun
upon the line of its axis. B is the shot, having attached to it a rod of
wrought iron, copper, or other suitable material, having the requisite properties,
herein-before described, of combined elasticity and strength, which rod passes
through the before-mentioned hole in the end of the gun, and in that position
is securely held by a horse-shoe wedge or key C, which fits into an annular
groove formed for its reception near the end of the rod. The length of the
rod is so adjusted, that when the key C is in contact with the end of the gun,
just the requisite space is left behind the shot to contain the cartridge of
gunpowder, which is formed with a central aperture, to allow of the rod or
tail passing through it. The diameter of the rod where it passes through the
hole in the gun is made equal to the same, in order that the hole may be
entirely closed, and that none of the force of the gunpowder may be lost;
but at D, near the shot, the diameter of the rod is lessened or reduced, until
its tensile strength has been so far diminished that fracture shall take place
as soon as the explosive force of the powder against the shot shall have
attained the limit desired. In order to prevent the forcible expulsion of the
rod upon its being torn from the shot, the horse-shoe key C is made to pass
through two ears E, E, cast upon the end of the gun, which securely retain
both the key and rod from being forcibly driven back. Figure 2 is an end
view of the gun, showing the horse-shoe key in place, the same letters applying
as in Figure 1. The form of the shot B is shown as cylindrical, and this
form is recommended, as insuring a greater accuracy in its course; but as far
as my said Invention is concerned it may be applied to shot, shells, or any
other projectiles, whatever may be their forms. A second portion of my said
Invention is shown in Figures 3 and 4, and consists in forming the tail
attached to the shot as a hollow tube in place of a solid rod, as at F, such
hollow tube having a side opening, communicating with the interior of the gun,
and being employed as a vent, in place of the ordinary vent through the solid
metal of the gun, which in this case would be rendered unnecessary.