Year: 1899

page_text: Date of Application, 28th Aug., 1899-Accepted, 16th June, 1900
I, JACQUES LUCIANI, of 100, Rue d'Amsterdam, Paris, France, Engineer, do
hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to
be performed to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the follow-
ing statement:-
This invention relates to projectiles such as described in the Provisional
Specification filed with my Application for Letters Patent No. 9440 dated 4th
May 1899 and consists in certain improvements which I will now proceed to
describe.
Fig. 1 of the accompanying drawings represents in longitudinal section and
Fig. 2 in end view an example of a projectile embodying the various features
of the invention forming the subject of the prior application above referred to.
The head A and base C of such a projectile are made of metal of appropriate
hardness and are connected by a rod or a tube B of considerably less diameter
than the bore of the weapon and integral or not with the parts A and C, whilst
the space around the part B and between the parts A and C is filled with a sleeve
or body G of a suitable heavy metallic substance, as lead, which consequently
appears on the exterior of the projectile all over its middle portion. The base of
the projectile has a cavity of the shape of a truncated cone, as shown at E, for
the purpose of diminishing the pressure of the gas by increasing the space in
which it is generated and also of insuring perfect obturation against the wall of
the weapon by means of the elasticity and flexibility of the thin wall of the
cavity; and the head is provided, at its point, with a central hollow D of suitable
shape so as to form an annular cutter, in which are made saw-cuts F, F, F, F,
(Fig. 2) so as to produce whistling as the projectile travels through the air.
The stem B may, according to my present invention, in some cases be formed
with a projection or projections, which may be, for instance, cylindrical-Fi
(Fig. 3), which strengthens both the stem B and the sleeve G-or formed by a
screw thread (Fig. 5), in order to prevent or reduce the motion or the compression
of the body G at the moment of firing and also (in the case of screw-thread
projections Fig. 5) to enable the centre of gravity of the projectile to be moved
in a suitable direction and to a suitable extent. The stem B, when not integral
with the head A and the base C, may be fixed to them by means of a screw thread
made thereon, which also serves for fixing the body G, as shown in Figs. 5 and 6.
The diameter d of the external heavy body G is determined by the effect that
it is desired to obtain: it may be greater than the internal diameter of the
weapon excluding the rifling grooves, and the rifling will then be engaged by
the body G; or it may be equal to (as stated to be usual in the Provisional
Specification aforesaid), or less than, the internal diameter of the weapon exclud-
ing the rifling grooves, and in that case the rifling grooves will be engaged by
two guides arranged one at the head A and the other at the base C of the pro-
jectile in the following manner: the guide at the head will be formed by a liftle
cylindrical part Z, which may be placed with advantage in contact with the
body G and the diameter & of which is slightly greater than the bore of the

page_text: weapon excluding the rifling grooves, and the height of which may be varied
according to the results to be obtained; the guide at the base will be formed
either by a cylindrical part analogous to the part Z (unless it be preferred to
form it of several cylindrical parts of small height separated by grooves), or by
the base C itself in consequence of the elasticity of the thin wall of its cavity,
which will then be cylindro-conical externally (see Figs. 1 and 3), so as to have
an upper cylindrical part of a diameter d¹ (above the cavity E) equal to the
diameter of the head and a lower part of a larger diameter du equal to that
of the bore of the weapon including the rifling grooves. In all cases the guides
may be smooth or have annular grooves of suitable number, form, and dimen-
sions and filled or not with a lubricant. The elasticity of the wall of the hollow
base E may, according to my present invention, be increased either by saw-cuts
made therein to a greater or less height along generating lines thereof, or by
suitably arranged annular grooves adapted to diminish the resistance of the wall.
To produce whistling during the passage of the projectile through the air,
instead of or in addition to providing the annular cutter at the head of the pro-
jectile with saw-cuts, the head may be provided with passages a, b, c, and (d)
(see Figs. 3 and 4) of which the passages a, b, and c will cross one another at
a point e, whilst the passage b will connect the bottom of the cavity D with the
passage (d), which passes through the head A at right angles to the axis of the
projectile.
According to the present invention, again, projectiles embodying some of the
features herein before mentioned may be made as illustrated by way of example
in Fig. 7, from a tube T of suitable hard metal, which is made to exhibit a
cavity E in a base C; two guides, one, at the head, cylindrical and of a diameter d¹,
and the other, at the base, cylindroconical and having diameters d' and d" of
which is less than duas hereinbefore described; a middle part of a diameter d
equal to or less than that of the bore of the weapon excluding the rifling grooves;
and a head A; and which is weighted by the addition of a core B₁ of heavy
metal with a flanged head driven up to 9. Such a projectile differs from those
that have been in use up to now in that what is in fact the hollow body, instead
of being an envelope or sheath of small thickness, has a wall sufficiently thick
to resist all deformation during the travel of the projectile in the bore.
According to the present invention, also, I sometimes make projectiles which,
while having the chief peculiarities of those hereinbefore described, differ from
them in one point-namely, the absence of sheaths or cores of heavier material.
This plan, which is illustrated by way of example in Fig. 8 and which may be
adopted either when the weight of the projectile is not important or when the
projectile is to be made of a metal or an alloy sufficiently heavy to render
unnecessary the employment of two different metals and also suitable for
receiving the impress of the rifling grooves, in no way interferes with the engage-
ment of the rifling by two guides, which are one at the head and the other at
the base, and are formed as herein before described, when the diameter of the
cylindrical middle part is less than the bore of the weapon exclusive of the rifling
grooves.
It is obvious that a projectile otherwise according to this invention may have a
head (which may be massive and of hard metal) terminating in a point, in a
small flat, or in a hollow or cavity, and that projectiles according thereto may
be used not only for portable weapons but also for cannons, and especially for
quick-firing guns in which heating is to be feared.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is:-
1. A projectile of the kind hereinbefore referred to in which the stem is pro-
vided with a projection or projections adapted to prevent or reduce the motion
L
11

page_text: 2. A projectile of the kind herein before referred to in which the head and
base are furnished with guides adapted to engage with the rifling, whether or
not the said guides be provided with grooves filled or not with lubricant, sub-
stantially, as herein before described.
3. A projectile made of a single metal or of a single alloy having head and
base guides with a middle portion between the two guides of a diameter equal to,
or less than, that of the bore of the weapon excluding the rifling grooves.
4. A projectile having a head guide and a base guide with an intermediate
portion of smaller diameter than that of the bore of the weapon excluding the
rifling grooves, in which the head guide and the upper part of the base guide
are both of a diameter somewhat greater than that of the bore of the weapon
excluding the rifling grooves, whereas the base widens out to a diameter equal
to that of the bore of the weapon including the rifling grooves.
5. A projectile having in its base a cavity C the elasticity of whose wall is
increased by saw-cuts or grooves, substantially as hereinbefore described.
6. A projectile having a cavity D in lieu of a point, in the head, in which,
for the purpose of producing whistling during the passage of the projectile
through the air, the head is provided with passages a, b, c and (d) communicafing
with the cavity D and arranged substantially as hereinbefore described, whether
or not in combination with saw-cuts made as described in the wall of the
cavity D.
7. A projectile comprising a hollow body of suitable metal formed externally
substantially as herein before described and provided with a core of heavy metal.
8. Projectiles constructed as hereinbefore described with reference to and
shown respectively in Figs. 3 and 4, in Figs. 5 and 6, in Fig. 7, and in Fig. 8 of
the accompanying drawings.
F. WISE HOWORTH,
46, Lincoln's Inn Fields, London, W.C., Agent for the Applicant.