IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF BREECH-LOADING ORDNANCE
Year: 1866

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Jaques Hermann Auguste Gruson, of Buckau, in the
Kingdom of Prussia, Engineer, but at present residing at the Westminster
Palace Hotel, in the City of Westminster, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
Sealed the 14th May 1867, and dated the 20th November 1866.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Jaques Hermann Auguste
Gruson at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 20th November 1866.
J, JAQUES HERMANN AUGUSTE GRUSON, of Buckau, in the Kingdom of
Prussia, Engineer, but at present residing at the Westminster Palace Hotel,
in the City of Westminster, do hereby declare the nature of the said Inven-
tion for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF BREECH-LOADING ORDNANCE," to
be as follows:-
The object of my Invention of "Improvements in the Construction of
Breech-loading Ordnance" is so to construct heavy breech-loading guns that
the charge or explosion chamber shall not be weakened by the breech-loading
arrangement which closes the breech when the gun is loaded. To this end
the explosion chamber is placed considerably in advance of the transverse
opening in which work the parts for closing the breech. The breech end of
the
gun is bored out rather more than the diameter of the bore, and is closed
by a conical plug which fits therein, and is provided with an elastic packing,

page_text: so that when the explosion takes place this packing by expanding under the
influence of the pressure will make the joint perfectly gas-tight. The conical
breech closing plug is at the end of a hollow cylinder, which is capable of
being drawn back in a longitudinal direction out of the breech, when it is
released from the compound wedge-formed key, whereby it is held in place;
this compound key is worked by means of a screw and hand lever above.
The conical plug cylinder works in suitable guides in the breech block, and
also through a moveable socket which is hinged to the rear end of the gun.
In order to load the gun the conical plug cylinder must be released by drawing
up the compound wedge-formed key by means of the screw, and then the plug
cylinder may be withdrawn from the gun and the bore left open for the
introduction of the charge. When the latter is placed in the gun the plug
may be replaced and secured by the key, and the gun will be ready to be
discharged.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Jaques Hermann Auguste Gruson in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 18th May 1867.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAQUES
HERMANN AUGUSTE GRUSON, of Buckau, in the Kingdom of Prussia, Engineer,
but at present residing at the Westminster Palace Hotel, in the City of
Westminster, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twentieth day of November, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, in the thirtieth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Jaques Hermann Auguste Gruson, Her special licence that I,
the said Jaques Hermann Auguste Gruson, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Jaques Hermann Auguste Gruson, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION
OF BREECH-LOADING ORDNANCE," upon the condition (amongst others) that
I, the said Jaques Hermann Auguste Gruson, my executors or admi-
nistrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their

page_text: .
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 Jaques Hermann Auguste Gruson, do
hereby declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto
annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say) :-
The object of my Invention of "Improvements in the Construction of
Breech-loading Ordnance" is so to construct heavy breech-loading guns that
the charge or explosion chamber shall not be weakened by the breech-loading
arrangement which closes the breech when the gun is loaded. To this end
the explosion chamber is placed, as herein-after described, considerably in
advance of the transverse opening in which work the parts for closing and
securing the breech.
:
The construction, arrangement, and mode of working the various parts of
my improved gun will be best understood by referring to the accompanying
Drawing, in which Fig. 1 represents a longitudinal vertical section, and Fig. 2
a horizontal section of a heavy gun constructed according to my Invention.
It will be seen that the breech end a of the gun is bored out to a diameter
rather larger than that of the bore of the gun, and is closed by a conical
plug 6 which fits therein, and is provided in front with an elastic packing, so
that when the explosion takes place this packing by expanding under the
influence of the pressure will make the joint perfectly gas-tight. The conical
breech closing plug 6 is placed at the end of a bollow cylinder 6', which is
capable of being drawn back in a longitudinal direction out of the breech,
when it is released from the compound wedge-formed key c, whereby it is
held in place; this compound key c is worked by means of a screw and hand
lever c', as shewn at Fig. 2. The conical plug cylinder b¹ works in 'suitable
guides in the breech block, and also through a moveable socket 6* which is
hinged to the rear end of the gun. In order to load the gun the conical plug
cylinder 6 must be released by drawing out the compound wedge-formed key c
by means of the screw c¹ into the position indicated by red lines in Fig. 2;
the plug cylinder 6' may then be drawn out from the gun by the handle b³ in
a line with the axis of the piece, as shewn by red lines in Fig. 2. The conical
plug will thus be clear of the breech, and capable of being turned back into
a position at right angles to its former position, as indicated by the red lines,

page_text: b
so as to leave the bore open and free for the introduction of the charge.
When the latter is placed in the gun the plug 6 may be replaced and secured
by the key c, and all the parts being in the position indicated by colors, as
shewn in the Drawing, the gun will be ready to be discharged. It is
important to remark that the bore of the gun is divided into four parts or
sections, the first of which is intended to receive the cylindrical plug or breech
closer 6, and is made of larger diameter than the rest of the bore, as already
explained. The second part or section is intended to receive the charge, and
is bored rather larger than the true bore of the piece in order that there may
be room for the developement of the gas produced by the explosion of the
charge. The touch-hole is bored considerably in advance of the rear of this
charge chamber, and about one-third of the diameter of the piece behind the
shot. The third part or section of the bore is intended to receive the shot,
and is constructed of a slightly conical form, so that the shot may be lodged
centrally and in a line with the axis of the piece, and the gas thus be made to
drive it forward in a perfectly central direction.
Lead coated projectiles are employed, and the lead washers, rings, or coating
of the shot must be made to fit the conical part of the barrel into which the
rifling grooves of the third or last part or section of the barrel are carried, and
when the explosion of the charge takes place the lead coating or washers or
rings on the shot are gradually driven forward and compressed into the rifling
grooves, and will thus maintain the shot in a perfectly central position in
the bore.
Having now described my Invention of "Improvements in the Construction
of Breech-loading Ordnance," and having explained the manner of carrying
the same into effect, I claim as the Invention secured to me by Letters Patent
as aforesaid, the combination of parts forming the breech-loading gun, con-
structed and arranged as herein described and shewn in the accompanying
Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Jaques Hermann Auguste Gruson, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, the Thirteenth day of May, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven.