IMPROVEMENTS IN FIRE- ARMS AND ORDNANCE.
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Peter Rector Smith, of New York, in the United
States of America, M.D., for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN FIRE-
ARMS AND ORDNANCE.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Peter Rector Smith
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 18th July 1857.
I, PETER RECTOR SMITH, of New York, in the United States of America,
M.D., do hereby declare the nature of the Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
FIRE-ARMS AND ORDNANCE," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in fire-arms and ordnance,
and consists in fixing within the piece a rod of metal, which occupies the
centre of the bore from end to end. This rod has screw threads cut upon it
from end to end. The ball to be used with a piece of this description has a
hole through its centre, and within the hole a screw is cut exactly to corre-
spond with the screw threads on the central rod of the piece. In this way a
similar effect is produced to that produced by rifling a piece in the ordinary
way, but particularly for large guns, with much less expence, and also a much
greater degree of accuracy is obtained. In place of using a rod with a screw
thread cut on it, a plain rod may be used, especially when great speed of firing
is required. At the bottom of the bore of the piece I form a chamber, of

page_text: smaller diameter than the rest of the bore, and where the larger bore passes
into the smaller I leave a shoulder with square edges, and on this shoulder the
ball (which I prefer to make with a flat end) rests. When loading the piece, I
do not fill the chamber entirely with powder, but I leave a space between it
and the ball, so as to ensure the burning of all the powder. When the piece
is fired, the right-angled shoulder checks the rush of the gas through the space
between the ball and the bore of the gun, by which ordinary guns are much
damaged after a considerable number of discharges.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Peter Rector Smith in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 12th January 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, PETER
RECTOR SMITH, of New York, in the United States of America, M.D., send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirteenth day of July, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, in the twenty-first year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Peter Rector Smith, Her special licence that I, the said Peter Rector
Smith, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Peter Rector Smith, 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 FIRE-ARMS AND ORDNANCE," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said Peter Rector Smith, 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 Peter Rector Smith, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement thereof, that is to say :-

page_text: This Invention has for its object improvements in fire-arms and ordnance,
and consists in fixing within the piece a rod of metal, which occupies the
centre of the bore from end to end; this rod has screw threads cut upon it
from end to end. The ball to be used with a piece of this description has a
hole through its centre, and within the hole a screw is cut exactly to corre-
spond with the screw threads on the central rod of the piece. In this way a
similar effect is produced to that produced by rifling a piece in the ordinary
way, but particularly for large guns, with much less expense, and also a much
greater degree of accuracy is obtained. In place of using a rod with a screw
thread cut on it, a plain rod may be used, especially when great speed of firing
is required. At the bottom of the bore of the piece I form a chamber of
smaller diameter than the rest of the bore, and where the larger bore passes
into the smaller, I leave a shoulder with square edges, and on this shoulder
the ball (which I prefer to make with a flat end) rests. When loading the
piece I do not fill the chamber entirely with powder, but I leave a space
between it and the ball, so as to insure the burning of all the powder. When
the piece is fired, the right-angled shoulder checks the rush of the gas through
the space between the ball and the bore of the gun, by which ordinary guns
are much damaged after a considerable number of discharges.
And in order that my said Invention may be most fully understood and
readily carried into effect, I will proceed to describe the Drawing hereunto
annexed.
The ball
as is shown,
This rod I
take about
has a hole
correspond with the
The ball may be of
Figure 1 is a longitudinal section, and Figures 2 and 3 are transverse
sections of a cannon, constructed according to my Invention. a, a, is the
central guide rod, which is screwed into the gun at its breech end,
or if preferred, it may be fixed in the way shown at Figure 6.
make of steel, and it has grooves cut in it, which I prefer should
three-quarters of a revolution in the length of the gun.
formed longitudinally through its centre accurately to
form of the rod, so that the rod may completely fill it.
any suitable material, and of either of the forms shewn at Figures 1, 4, and 5,
or of any other convenient form. If the gun is required for rapid firing I sub-
stitute a plain rod for the screw rods shown in the Drawing. It will be seen
that the chamber at the end of the bore of the gun for receiving the powder
is formed with a square shoulder at the end whero it passes into the larger
part of the bore, so as to obtain a seat for a square-ended ball, and for the
other reasons before mentioned. In loading the gun, I find it advisable only
partially to fill the chamber with powder and to leave the rest of the chamber
vacant; this insures a more completo combustion of the powder

page_text: Although I have shown my Invention applied to cannon, I do not confine
myself thereto, as it is also applicable to small fire-arms. I would also state
that the form or section of the rod may be greatly varied, and it may be made
of steel or any other suitable metal, and the pitch of the screw may also be
varied by increasing the length of pitch in guns of large calibre and dimi-
nishing it as the calibre of the piece decreases.
In witness whereof, I, the said Peter Rector Smith, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Seventh day of November, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven.
Witness,
S. CARPMAEL.
PETER RECTOR SMITH, M.D. (LS.)