IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR LUBRI- CATING THE BARRELS OF FIRE-ARMS AND ORDNANCE
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Harcourt Brown, of Romsey, in the County
of Hants, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR LUBRI-
CATING THE BARRELS OF FIRE-ARMS AND ORDNANCE."
Sealed the 26th September 1861, and dated the 26th April 1861.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Harcourt Brown
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
26th April 1861.
J, JOHN HARCOURT BROWN, of Romsey, in the County of Hants, do hereby
declare the nature of the Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR
LUBRICATING THE BARRELS OF FIRE-ARMS AND ORDNANCE," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in apparatus for lubricating
the barrels of fire-arms and ordnance. For this purpose I employ a ramrod.
or rammer made hollow to receive oil or lubricating material, and 1 so arrange
the same that each time the ramrod or rammer is introduced into the barrel
or bore a portion of the lubricant escapes from the rod and lubricates the
barrel or bore. I prefer to apply to the end of the rod or rammer a ring of
felt or other porous material which serves to close the oil vessel. This porous
The porous ring
ring absorbs the lubricant so as to become saturated with it.
is made to fit the barrel or bore closely, and thus each time that the ramrod
or rammer is used to press the projectile down the barrel or bore will be wiped
clean and lubricated. Other means of regulating the escape of the lubricant
Price 8d.1

page_text: may be employed; as for example, valves to allow the escape of a measured
quantity of the lubricant each time the head of the rod or rammer is pressed
on. I, however, at present prefer the arrangement first described.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Harcourt Brown in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 25th October 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
HARCOURT BROWN, of Romsey, in the County of Hants, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-sixth day of April, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fourth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
John Harcourt Brown, Her special licence that I, the said John Harcourt
Brown, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
John Harcourt Brown, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at
any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN
APPARATUS FOR LUBRICATING THE BARRELS OF FIRE-ARMS AND ORDNANCE,"
condition (amongst others) that I, the said John Harcourt Brown,
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.
upon the
ות
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Harcourt Brown, 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:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in apparatus for lubricating
the barrels of fire-arms and ordnance. For this purpose I employ a ramrod
or rammer made hollow to receive oil or lubricating material, and I so arrange
the same that each time the ramrod or rammer is introduced into the barrel
or bore a portion of the lubricant escapes from the rod and lubricates the

page_text: This porous
The porous ring
barrel or bore. I prefer to apply to the end of the rod or rammer a ring of
felt or other porous material which serves to close the oil vessel.
ring absorbs the lubricant so as to become saturated with it.
is made to fit the barrel or bore closely, and thus each time that the ramrod
or rammer is used to press the projectile down the barrel or bore will be wiped
clean and lubricated. Other means of regulating the escape of the lubricant
may be employed; as for example, valves to allow the escape of a measured
quantity of the lubricant each time the head of the rod or rammer is pressed
on. I, however, at present prefer the arrangement first described.
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.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 is a side view, and Figure 2 is a longitudinal section about double
the real size of the lower end of a ramrod, having apparatus arranged according
to my Invention, and suitable for lubricating the barrel of a rifle or other fire-
arm applied to it. At a, a, the rod is formed hollow, as is shown, to receive
oil; at its end it receives the piece b which is screwed on to the end of the rod;
the piece b is shewn separately in side and end view at Figure 3; c is another
piece which screws into the piece b; it has a hole through its centre; the form
of this part is clearly shown at Figures 4. The hole in the piece c receives
through it the rod head d, see Figures 5, and on the stem of the head discs of
felt e are placed, and these discs are compressed by means of the nut f
(shewn separately at Figure 6,) which screws on to the stem of the head d,
and draws it and the piece c towards each other. The hole through the piece c
and the nut are channelled to allow the oil in the hollow at a to penetrate
the felt discs e, which hence are kept constantly saturated with oil, and as they
fit the barrel closely they clean and oil it each time that the ramrod is
employed. To fill the hollow at a with oil, the piece c with the parts in con-
nection with it is screwed out of the piece b, and when the oil has been
poured in this piece is replaced, and to prevent it working loose when the rod
is in use a small set screw gl is employed, which when screwed up holds it
securely. Figure 7 is a side view partly in section, and Figure 8 part of a
longitudinal section of a rammer for a cannon; it differs from the smaller rod
above described in that the staff is of wood, lined with a tube of iron or
other suitable material to hold the oil, to which the several other parts are
affixed by screws or other 'means; also in that the air tube h is applied to
prevent a vacuum being formed behind the rammer as it is drawn out of the

page_text: piece, which would render the rammer difficult to withdraw; and if the vent were
open would tend to disturb the charge. In place of the tube h, air passages
may be formed in the surface of the felt e. These are best made by burning
inclined grooves by means of a heated metal bar in the felt discs after they are
'screwed up in their places. The proportion of the several parts is somewhat
different from the rammer used for small arms. In some cases in place of felt
discs in rammers for cannon 1 employ brushwork, using a few discs of felt
only at the point nearest to the oil supply. For sporting purposes I prefer a
ramrod made partly of wood, the oil tube being of iron or other metal.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Harcourt Brown, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-fourth day of October, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one.
J. H. BROWN. (L.S.)