IMPROVEMENTS IN PROJECTILES TO BE USED IN GUNS AND ORDNANCE, AND IMPROVEMENTS IN THE APPLIANCES FOR THEIR PROJECTION
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Origen Vandenburgh, temporarily residing in London,
of the State of New York, for the Iuvention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
PROJECTILES TO BE USED IN GUNS AND ORDNANCE, AND IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
APPLIANCES FOR THEIR PROJECTION."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Origen Vandenburgh at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
19th November 1860.
I, ORIGEN VANDENBURGH, temporarily residing in London, of the State
5 of New York, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN PROJECTILES TO BE USED IN GUNS AND ORDNANCE, AND
IMPROVEMENTS IN THE APPLIANCES FOR THEIR PROJECTION," to be as follows:-
First, they relate to the front or forward part of the projectile, which part
I make to approximate in its external form, to the external form of a bird;
thus, where the projectile is about two and one half inches in diameter, I
make the front end of the projectile pointed or nearley so. Passing rearward
from this end, there is only a small increase in the lateral diamiter for such
distance as to represent proximateley the beak of the common pigeon. I then
make a more rapid expansion or increase in the lateral diamiter, to proximateley
represent the head of the pigeon. Only a slight increase in the diamiter

page_text: broken or seperated into sections,
is attained going some further to the rear, thus proximateley representing
and conforming to the neck of the pigen; when to the rear of this is a
rapid expansion to the full diamiter, the same general form of front, I apply
to projectiles having different diamiters. By this form the front area which
presses against the air during flight is
with different angles, throwing off the condenced air from those sections,
with intervals between the sections, thus preventing the accumulation of
air condensation over the whole front. The condensation and resistance
from condensation is much less with this form than with the symetrical
conoidal bitherto used.
Second, to the combination of the front above described in connection
with the rear part of a projectile, described in my Invention for which I
obtained Her Majestey's Letters Patent, dated the 13th day of April 1860.
Third, to the form and construction of a projectile for penetrating metalic
defences. An approximation to the from of the bird is here used as above
described, but without the beak in some cases, the part conforming to the
neck and head being a steel bolt attached to the main body of the shot,
which is cast iron, or it may be forged; the steel bolt operates as a punch
at the moment of impact. By this form the momentum of the projectile
is concentrated on the smaller area of the head, and may thus penetrate a
metalic substance, when if the force was distributed against a larger surface
by contact with the whole sectional area of the projectile, no penetration
would occur. The projectile last described I also make into a shell by
making a powder chamber just in rear of the steel bolt in the main body
of the projectile. An ignition orifice leads from this chamber to the head,
on which is fitted a hollow thin metalic cap, which may conform to the
beak described; a small quantity of gunpowder, and in some cases percussion
powder, are placed within the cap; by this construction at the time of impact
the thin hollow cap is collapsed, compressing the air within, and the latent
heat evolved ignites the gunpowder, or the percussion matter is exploded,
igniting and exploding by means of the ignition orifice the powder in the
chamber. This explosion causes the body of the projectile to burst as a
shell, and also to act as a mortar for projecting the steel bolt forward with
renewed power, just as the force from the discharge in the gun is being
exhausted, the foregoing projectiles are designed to be used with rifled
guns, or in more general terms they are to be used as rotating projectiles.
Fourth, improvements in my multi-barreled gun, for which I obtained
Her Majesty's Letters Patent, dated April 13, 1860. These relate to the
manner of putting the barrels together with interstices between, to be filled

page_text: with a liquid either alone or in combination with other materials, so as to
prevent the vibrations of the several barrels in the discharge, injuriously
effecting the precision and range of each other, also for fastening the barrels
át the breech ends to a plate of metal, to prevent their being blown out by
the discharge, also to the form and construction of a metal jacket or case,
with trunions for holding the cluster, and their traisport, and use as a field
gun; also to the means of drawing the breech head forward and backward,
and fastening it to the jacket or case, with only a half turn of a lever or
handle.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Origen Vandenburgh in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
18th May 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ORIGEN
VANDENBURGH, temporarily residing in London, of the State of New York,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Nineteenth day of November, 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 Origen Vandenburgh, Her special licence that I, the said Origen
Vandenburgh, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
I, the said Origen Vandenburgh, 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 "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN PROJECTILES TO BE USED IN GUNS AND ORDNANCE, AND IMPROVEMENTS
IN THE APPLIANCES FOR THEIR PROJECTION," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said Origen Vandenburgh, my executors or administrators, 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 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 Origen Vandenburgh, do hereby declare
he nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be

page_text: performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the fol-
lowing statement, that is to say:
This Invention I for more convenient description, and for defining how the
same is to be performed, divide into two parts, the one part being the
improvements in the projectile, and the other part the improvements which
relate to the appliance for its projection.
With reference to the improvements in the projectile, they relate principally
to the external form of its front part. The general description of this
improvement is, that I shape the external form of this part of the projectile to
approximate to the external form of the front part of the birds of rapid
flight. The external conformation of the front part of a common pigeon
serves to illustrate the form I adopt, subject to the modifications I shall point
out. In the projectile, the body or largest lateral diameter of which is about
two and a half inches, I make the front end pointed, or nearly so, conform-
ing in this respect to the point or end of the beak of the pigeon. Passing
rearward from this end, I make relatively but a small increase in the lateral
diameter compared with the forms now used, having this increase of lateral
diameter go back so far as to make a central stem or beak, which in length
and diameter shall in these respects proximately conform to the beak of the
pigeon. I then, in going to the rear, make a more rapid expansion or increase
in the lateral diameter so as to proximately conform to the head of the pigeon.
Only a slight increase in this diameter is attained going some farther to the
rear, so as to proximately represent and conform to the neck of the pigeon,
when immediately to the rear of this I make a more rapid expansion to the
full diameter of the shot, proximately conforming to the breast and concentric
parts of the pigeon, which shape the body to the base of the neck. The same
form of front section I apply to projectiles of different diameters, giving
corresponding proportions to these parts.
The modification from the form of the pigeon, here given in the beak, head,
neck, and breast or shoulders is, that while the beak, head, and neck of the
pigeon are not in their natural position, either in a state of rest or during the
flight of the bird, precisely concentric and parallel with the longitudinal axis
or centre of the pigeon, the parts in the projectile conforming to those parts
of the bird I make concentric and parallel with the longitudinal axis of the
projectile.
I do not confine myself, in making this improved form of the front part of
the projectile, to the precise conformation of the pigeon, but an approximation
of form of beak, head, and neck, or any one of these, is an improvement over
the forms now used.

page_text: Any departure from the cylindrical-conoidal fronts hitherto used, by
breaking up their uniformity and continuity of lateral surface, giving different
angles of inclination to this surface so as to throw off the air from surfaces
with different curves or inclination from the centre outwards and rearwards, is
a gain over the old forms; to make this departure is to approach to the con-
formation of the part of the bird described.
On the flat, hemispherical, or conoidal-fronted projectile there is during
flight an atmospheric condensation, which is increased in its density and resist-
ance proximately in proportion to a multiple of the lateral diameter or
sectional area. By separating this sectional area into two parts, the one.
a central circular section and the other an annular section, and carrying the
central circular section so far forward of the annular section that the atmo-
spheric condensation upon it is not influenced by the condensation upon the
annular section behind it, atmospheric condensation and resistance to the
flight of the projectile is limited to an approximation to only an addition.
instead of a multiplication of these sectional areas together.
What I claim as new and as my Invention in respect to this front form of
the projectile, is carrying forward of an annular sectional area, a central
circular sectional area in the form of a head and neck, as described, and
placing to the rear this annular sectional area, as described in that part which.
conforms to the base of the neck, and its expansion to the full body of the
projectile, by which conformation, as described, the atmospheric condensation
is not accumulated on these two sections by their unity and connection with,
each other. At the same time it is also important to note one other advantage
secured from this form is greater stability to the projectile in its position
during flight owing to a deminution of atmospheric density and resistance
on the central and front section, and the transfer of resistance farther to
the rear near the largest diameter, therein shortening the leverage for
deflection.
The proportions of the whole lateral diameter which shall be divided
between these two sections may be varied, but I find that a division which
gives from one-third to two-thirds of the whole diameter to the central section,
described as the head, is an advantage over the forms now used.
.
With reference to the distance which the head should be carried forward of
the main body or largest lateral diameter, I have found it may be from one
to two diameters forward of the full diameter with advantage. The other
parts of the projectile may be in the usual form either as solid shot or shells.
The manner of constructing these shot, by casting them in a bullet mould
when the material is of lead or pewter, or by other bullet manufacturing.

page_text: machinery, or by casting from moulds or patterns in sand, when of cast iron,
is so apparently to be done in the usual manner in all respects that I need
not further describe it.
A slightly modified form of this projectile I make and use for penetrating
and destroying metallic defences. In this case the head and neck parts I
make in the form of a cylindrical bolt projecting from the central front of the
main body of the shot. This bolt may be of steel, with a slightly expanding
base screwed fast, or rivited through a rim at the back end to a flat face on a
cast-iron body; or a cavity may be cast in the body, into which the back end
of this cylinder will fit, with a projecting shoulder to be fastened as before.
In this case the beak may be omitted, leaving a flat or only a slightly convex
head. By this form the whole momentum of the projectile is concentrated on
the smaller sectional area of the head, and it may thus penetrate metallic
substances, when if the force was distributed against a larger surface by
contact with the whole sectional area of the projectile no penetration would
occur.
In some cases, and for the objects last stated, the body of the projectile
may be cast hollow, and filled with lead to. increase its density and power, or
a cavity to be filled with gunpowder or other explosive compound terminating
against the rear of the steel bolt may be formed within the body, which, by
the usual percussive arrangements, may be made to explode at the moment of
impact, thus adding a new velocity and power to the bolt or cylinder in front
just as its momentum is being overcome by the resisting body. In this form
and construction of the shot as a shell the body of the shot acts as a mortar
projecting the cylinder when the initial power is being overcome.
These pro-
jectiles are to be used in rifled bores, or, in other words, as rotating shot.
I also apply this front form, as above described, both as a solid and shell
or mortar in connection with the conoidal rear with spiral wings or flanges,
described in the Specification of my Invention, for which I obtained Her
Majesty's Letters Patent, dated the 13th day of April 1860, No. 921. In
making this application, it is apparent it will only be necessary to modify the
form of the front in the projectile there described by a substitution of the form
described herein.
With reference to the other part of my Invention, the improvements which
relate to the appliances for projection, they consist in improvements in the
Invention for.which I obtained Her Majesty's Letters Patent as herein-before
stated, and they relate to the part therein described as the breech head,
and the facilities for its withdrawal, or, in other words, of opening the breech
for loading and closing it for the discharge. For this purpose, instead of

page_text: inserting the charge into a "receiver," as described in my former Specifi-
cation, I in some cases make the breech head of such thickness or depth as
to allow the charge chamber to be contained within the breech head.
In such case it is only necessary that the block of metal of which the breech
head is to be made shall have such additional thickness that orifices of the
size of the respective bores may be bored or drilled into it from its front face
in the positions described in my former Specification, as occupied by the female
screw for fastening the receiver to the breech head. These orifices should be
of such depth as to correspond internally to the dimensions of the receivers
for which they became substituted. In this case the breech head, instead of
having a number of long tubes or receivers stand out from its front face to
enter each its respective chamber in the cluster of barrels, presents the
appearance on its front face of a honeycomb, the orifices for the insertion of
the charges being sunk by boring or drilling into its solid material. The
means of ignition at the bottom of these orifices remains as before. A short
externally tapering tube of copper, brass, or coiled steel is inserted into the
front end of this charge chamber so as partly to project forward, the pro-
jecting part of which being externally conical will, when the breech head is
brought against a cluster of barrels, enter a corresponding conical chamber in
the breech end of the barrel, and thus prevent windage or the escape of gas at
the junction between the charge chamber and the barrel. This short exter-
nally tapering tube is internally the size of the charge chamber and bore; it
is inserted by boring out the end of the charge chamber for a short depth-
say, one-half inch in the 577 bore, as much wider as the annular material of
the tube is thick; then by inserting the thickest end of this tube, the space
cut out is refilled with it, the tube then projecting in the case of the 577 bore
about one-half inch, that is, being one inch in length. On bringing the breech
head into its position for discharging the gun, the charge chamber is carried
forward by the projecting end of this tube into the barrel.
By this arrangement greater ease is obtained in moving the breech head
forward and back, as it is only the short distance which the cone on the face
of the breech head enters the barrel that any considerable power is required
for moving forward or withdrawing the breech head. By this arrangement, I
dispense with the use of the toothed segments, and obtain the power for
opening and closing the breech head by making the cross arm or plate L in
my former Specification externally circular; and instead of entering the
groove 1, its periphery has screw threads, which by a half turn of the circle
by a lever attached to it, enter a corresponding female screw in the case sur-
rounding the barrels, thus carrying forward and holding the breech head in its

page_text: position for discharge. A half turn in the opposite direction carries the plate
to the rear, and releases the screw from the case. The breech head being
carried with it, is then easily withdrawn by hand, guided and supported by
smooth sliding bars in place of the toothed racks I for such distance to the
rear as will permit of its being turned up for loading.
In witness whereof, I, the said Origen Vandenburgh, have hereunto set
hand and seal, this Eighteenth day of May, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one.
my
ORIGEN VANDENBURGH. (L.S.)