IMPROVEMENTS IN ORDNANCE AND PROJECTILES FOR THE SAME
Year: 1862

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Edward Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN ORDNANCE AND PROJECTILES FOR THE SAME."
-A communication from abroad by Albert Hamilton Emery, of the
City and State of New York, United States of America.
Sealed the 23rd December 1862, and dated the 19th July.1862.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Edward Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 19th July 1862.
I, WILLIAM EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane,
in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN ORDNANCE AND PROJECTILES FOR THE
SAME," to be as follows:-
The first part of this Invention relates to the founding of common and
other ordnance, and its object is to prevent or counteract such evil effects as
result from the contraction of the metal in cooling in the founding of ord-
nance as heretofore practised, and to make such contraction beneficial instead.
of injurious. In order to obviate the objections of the present processes of
founding ordnance, I use in combination with a hollow core (by which the
piece is cooled from the interior), an envelope or casing of molten metal
surrounding the whole or any portion of the mould in which the piece is cast,

page_text: by which means I am enabled to retard the cooling of the exterior of the
piece to-such an extent as may be desirable, and cause it to be cooled (either
entirely or in such proportion as may be desirable) from the interior, and
thereby cause the contraction of the metal to be wholly or to as great an
extent as may be desirable in an inward direction, by which means the whole
mass is made solid and free from pores.
The second improvement relates to the manufacture of solid shot and shell.
The manufacture of solid cast-iron shot of large calibre, either spherical or
elongated, has been attended, thus far with great difficulty, owing to the large
amount of contraction of the iron in cooling, which acting in the same way
as in the cooling of ordnance from the exterior, produces cavities and a heavy
tensile strain in the central portion of the shot. To obviate this I cool the
shot in casting either wholly or partially from the interior by the use of a
hollow core, through which water or steam may be circulated, if desired, and
at the same time I retard the cooling of the exterior by surrounding it with
a casing or envelope of molten metal.
The third part of the Invention has for its object the use of elongated
projectiles of much smaller calibre than that of the gun from which they are
to be fired. In carrying out this part of the Invention I use what is called a
"sub-calibre" shot or shell, that is to say, a shot or shell of less calibre than
that of the piece from which it is fired; for instance, a projectile of eight
iuches calibre for a piece of nine, ten, eleven, or twelve inches calibre, or even
larger, using a sabot and a guide band to centre the projectile in the gun,
and the sabot also serving to present a base to the pressure of the gases
of an area equal to the area of the calibre of the gun, and to transmit such
pressure to the projectile.
The fourth part of the Invention has for its object the reduction of the
resistance of the atmosphere to the flight of elongated projectiles, the heads
of which are of flat, concave, or obtuse form, and it consists in fitting such a
projectile with a point of lead or some other soft metal or alloy, of conical,
conoidal, or such other form that the resistance offered to it by the atmo-
sphere in the flight of the projectile would be less than would be offered to
the bare head thereof, and which conical or conoidal head by the greater
specific gravity of the metal of which it is composed will render the projectile
more likely to strike point on, such cap or head remaining attached to the
projectile until it strikes, and then being crushed or pressed out of the way by
the impact of the blow.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Edward Newton in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 19th January 1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Nineteenth day of July, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, in the twenty-sixth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
William Edward Newton, Her special license that I, the said William Edward
Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said William Edward Newton, 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 ORDNANCE AND PROJECTILES FOR THE SAME," being a communica-
tion from abroad, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William
Edward Newton; by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, 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 imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Edward Newton, 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, reference being had to the Drawings liereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):—
The first part of this Invention relates to the founding or casting of canmou
and other ordnance, and its object is to cast the piece in such a mares
will prevent or counteract such evil effects as result from the contraction
metal in cooling in the founding of ordnance, as heretofore practised, d
make such contraction beneficial instead of injurious. By casting the piece-
in the manner hereafter described, the gun will be found to possess much
greater strength to resist the explosion of the charge than guns cast in the
ordinary manner. This part of the Invention will therefore be found to be a
very important improvement in ordnance, as the risk of bursting the piece is
very greatly diminished. "In casting the piece solid the external portion of

page_text: the metal cools first, and performs a large share of its contraction, while the
inner portion of the mass is still fluid; and as the inner portion cools and
contracts, its particles affixing themselves to the surrounding walls, which have
been formed by the solidification of the external portion, are caused to recede
from the centre of the mass, and so produce in the interior of the casting
cavities to the amount or extent of the contraction in passing from the liquid
to the solid state. As soon as the metal has all become solid, motion of the
particles relatively to each other ceases, but contraction goes on until the
inner portion of the mass is reduced to the same temperature as the exterior
and the surrounding medium, and the excess of contraction of the inner portion
produces tensional strains upon that portion, and compression of the external
portion. For the purpose of avoiding these evils some persons have endea
vored to cool the piece from the interior by the circulation of water through
a hollow core placed in the centre of the mould for that purpose; but this
only partially counteracts the evils, for while the gun is cooling from the
interior it is also cooling from the exterior, leaving a portion of the mass of
metal between the exterior and interior, which cools last with the same
results as in the solid cast piece, though in a less degree.
In order to obviate the objections to the present process of founding
ordnance, I use, in combination with a hollow core. (by which the piece is
cooled from the interior) an envelope or casing of molten metal surrounding
the whole or any portion of the mould in which the piece is cast, by which
means I am enabled to retard the cooling of the exterior of the pieco to such
an extent as may be desirable and cause it to be cooled (either entirely or in
such proportion as may be desirable) from the interior, and thereby cause the
contraction of the metal to be wholly, or to as great an extent as may be
desirable, in an inward direction, by which means the whole, mass is made
solid and free from blemishes.
This part of the Invention is illustrated in the accompanying Drawings, in
which Fig. is a central vertical section of the flask containing the mould,
casting, and the surrounding envelope or casing of metal, in the plane
ed by the line a, a, in Fig. 2, which is a horizontal section of the same
plane indicated by the line y, y, in Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a central vertical
section of the same in the plane indicated by the line 2, 2, in Fig. 4, which is
a horizontal section in the plane indicated by the line w, w, in Fig. 3. Similar
letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all of these Figures,
A represents the flask divided centrally and vertically, and large enough
to contain the central mould B, in which the piece of ordnance is cast, and
the surrounding mould chamber C, which receives and contains the envelope

page_text: or casing of molten metal by which the external portion of in the casting in the
mould B is kept heated. The mould B is made as thin as is consistent with
proper strength, so that it may be easily heated by the molten metal in the
surrounding chamber C; a is the gate for filling the mould B, entering it at
the centre of the bottom, and having a number of passages b, b, for conveying
the metal thereinto at different elevations. The chamber C is furnished inter-
nally, with a number of thin flat horizontal annular cores c, c, and vertical
radial cores d, d. The cores c, c, are only connected with its outer walls, and
annular openings e, e, are left between them and the exterior of the mould B.
The cores d, d, are alternately connected both with the mould B and the outer
walls of the chamber, the intervening ones being connected only with the
outer walls of the chamber to form openings f. f, between them and the
exterior of the mould B. By this system of cores the interior of the chamber C
is subdivided into a series of smaller chambers g,g, which communicate with
each other, and all of which are in communication with an annular chamber h
provided under the bottom of the mould B for the reception of the molten
metal poured into the gate i. From this chamber h the molten metal poured
in at the gate i is distributed all through the several subdivisions 9, g, of the
chamber C.. The object of só subdividing this chamber is to provide, after the
cooling of the metal, mould, and flask, for the breaking up of the casting
which is obtained in the chamber; such casting being thus formed into a
series of nearly cubical blocks, of suitable size for handling and remelting,
connected only by thin webs which can be easily broken by blows of a hammer.
Above the mould B there is a basin C¹ for the reception of molten metal to
keep the mould heated at the top. D is the hollow core, consisting of a tube;
or barrel of wrought iron closed at the bottom and open at the top, and coated.
externally with suitable refractory material; E is a smaller pipe arranged
within D.and extending nearly to the bottom thereof, for the purpose of intro-
ducing water thereinto to effect or expedite the cooling of the casting by its.
circulation in contact with the interior of the core; F is an overflow pipe for
conveying away the water from the upper part of the core as fast as it is,
introduced into the lower part thereof by the pipe E. The pouring of the.
molten metal into the chamber C through the gate i should be commenced as
soon as or before the pouring into the mould B through the gate a, but I'
consider it preferable, in pouring, to keep the metal in the chamber C higher-
than that in the mould. The metal poured into the chamber C should be.
made as hot as possible and poured hotter than that of which the piece of
ordnance is to be formed, as the hotter it is the less is required to be the.
thickness of the casing which it forms around the metal in the chamber B, as.

page_text: the more it will retard the cooling of the latter metal. Water may be allowed
to circulate through the core D during as well as after the pouring of the
metal, or only after the pouring; or instead of water, steam, air, or other fluid
may be caused to circulate through the core, the object of such circulation
being to cool and regulate the cooling of the casting from the centre. In this
mode of casting and cooling ordnance I provide, as in other modes, what is
termed a sinking head, that is to say, make the mould deeper than is required
for the length of the piece, and thus make the casting extend some distance
above the part that is to form the muzzle, the metal in this extended portion
of the casting being intended to sink and compensate for the vertical con-
traction of the part below it. I do not, however, make the sinking head so
deep as usual; but as it is desirable that the metal in this sinking head should
remain fluid for a long time I make the core tube or barrel D of such form,
and so protect the part which runs through. the sinking head by a thick shell
or sleeve k, that the upper part of the metal: may cool more slowly than that
in any other portion of the casting, by which means it is caused to keep up
the supply of metal to the lower portions of the casting as long as is required.
Similar means may be employed, if found desirable, to retard the cooling of
the chase, thereby lessening the longitudinal strain in that part of the gun and
keeping up the supply of melted metal longer to the thicker and heavier
portion of the mass cooling below.
A great advantage of this improvement, in addition to its making a gun free
from cavities, pores, or blemishes, is that by the continuation of the cooling from
the centre after the metal has solidified, the continued contraction of the metal
going on gradually from the interior toward. the exterior causes the internal
portion of the metal to be compressed by the contraction of the external
portion, and thus reinforced. The cooling should however be so regulated, by
regulating the circulation of water or other fluid through the core, that the
tensile strain thus brought on the exterior metal will not be too great. Another
advantage of the improvement is that it obviates the necessity of casting any
portion of the piece very much larger than it is required to be when finished,
and thus saves the expense of turning off large masses of metal.
The second improvement relates to the manufacture of solid shot and shell.
'The manufacture of solid cast-iron shot of large calibre, either spherical or
elongated, has been attended thus far with great difficulty, owing to the large
amount of contraction of the iron in cooling, which acting in the same way as-
in the cooling of ordnance from the exterior, produces cavities and a heavy
tensile strain in the central portion of the shot. This not only displaces the
centre of gravity of the shot, and thus impairs the accuracy of its shooting,-

page_text: but so much weakens it that it is not as effective in the destruction of walls,
ships, armour, and other defensive works.. To obviate this I cool the shot in
casting either wholly or partially from the interior by the use of a hollow.core
through which water or steam may be circulated if desired; and at the same time
I retard the cooling of the exterior by surrounding it with a casing: or envelope
of molten metal in substantially the same manner as; in the cooling of ordnance
ns herein-before described. This part of the Invention is illustrated in Figs..5
and: 6, which are central sections at right angles to each other of a flask con-
taining a mould and casting, and surrounding envelope of metal: In theso
Figures, G is the flask; H, the mould having a very thin wall which separates
it from the chamber I, which receives the outer envelope or casing of molton
metal by which the cooling of the shot is retarded. This chamber I. is:sub-
divided by several thin flat cores l, l, m, m, half of which connect the exterior
of the mould with the outer wall of the chamber. I, and the 'other' half-
alternating with them, are connected with the outer wall of the chamber I,
but not with the mould, the object of such cores being to so form the metal of
which the envelope or casing for retarding the cooling is composed into a
number of blocks connected by thin webs, that it can be easily broken.up
after it has cooled and been removed from the flask. m³ is the gate for
conveying, the metal to the mould; and 'n the gate for conveying the
metal to the chamber I; p is a small hole in the wall of the mould H,.
communicating with the chamber. I, to provide for the flow of. metal from this
chamber into the mould for the purposes of supplying the space that otherwise.
would be left therein by the contraction of the shot, thereby insuring 'the.
casting of the shot of proper form. As in the casting of ordnance so in the
casting of shot, the metal should be poured into the outer chamber hotter than
into the mould. K is the hollow.core consisting of a hollow sphere of wrought
iron having a hole drilled in: one. side, and tapped. for the reception of the.
screwed end of an open tube L inserted through the flask, the mould, and the
chamber I. This tube forms also a core, and should be coated' with loam.
M is a smaller tube entering the tube L for the introduction of water or steam.
into the core when desired. The water or steam admitted by. the tube M.
enters the core and passes out between the tube M and the tube L, and carries.
off the heat from the interior of the shot, or if water or steam be not introduced,
the pipes being left open provide for a circulation of air through the core for
the same purpose. When the shot has been cooled, the tube M is drawn out,
the tube Lunscrewed and drawn out, and the cavity left in the shot.filled up;
by pouring molten iron into it, thus making the shot perfectly solid. The
only difference-in making a shell is to use a larger core- and retain. the cavity.

page_text: The third part of the Invention has for its object the use of elongated
projectiles of much smaller calibre than that of the gun from which they are to
be fired. In firing elongated shot of the full calibre of the gun, two marked
difficulties present themselves, vizt., first, the weight of the shot is so great in
proportion to the surface on which the pressure of the gases of the powder act
that the shot leaves the gun with a small initial velocity; and, second, the
increased pressure of the gas, due to the increased weight of the shot, together
with the increased time of the duration of this pressure, owing to the increased
time occupied by the shot in passing from its seat to the muzzle of the 'gun'
over that occupied by the spherical shot or shell of less weight, frequently
burst the gun, and always render it more or less difficult to retain the gun in
its mountings, owing to the great amount of recoil. Both of these difficulties
are overcome by the use of what I call a "sub-calibre" shot or shell, that is
to say, a shot or shell of less calibre than that of the piece from which it is
fired; for instance, a projectile of eight inches calibre for a piece of nine, ten,
eleven, or twelve inches calibre, or even larger, using a sabot and guide band
to centre the projectile in the gun, and the sabot also serving to present a base
to the pressure of the gases of an area equal to the area of the calibre of the
gun, and to transmit such pressure to the projectile. If we assume the
pressure of the gas on the square inch of surface in guns of different calibre,
all other conditions being equal, to be in the ratio of the calibre, and the
working space of the pressure to be in the same ratio, the work on a square
inch of the base of a projectile fired from a 12-inch calibre will be to that
fired from an 8-inch calibre as 12x12: 8×8, or as 144 64. Now the
effective surfaces of pressure used to project the shot from these two different
calibres are to each other as the squares of the respective calibres, or as 12³: 8³,
or as 144 64, whence we shall find the work stored up in the projectile fired
from the 12-inch calibre to be to that stored up in the same projectile fired:
from the 8-inch calibre, as 12ª × 12*: 8³×8³, or as 12 8, or as
20,786 4,096: 81:16. This gives a very great initial velocity, at the s
same time it favors the use of a projectile of a form better suited for long
range and great penetration than those heretofore used, viz., one, of greater
length in proportion to its calibre. Again, in firing a projectile of one calibre
from a gun of large calibre, the increase of metal in the gun over that in the
gun of less calibre reduces the recoil, as also does the less time the projectile S
occupies in passing from the gun, and at the same time the tendency to burst
the gun is much lessened.
very
This part of the Invention is illustrated in Figs. 7, 8, 9, 10, 11. Fig. 7:
is a central longitudinal section of a solid elongated shot, showing it placed in,
.

page_text: the bore of a gun, and Fig. 8 is a front view of the same; Fig. 9 is a central
longitudinal section of a shell, having a sabot and guide ring precisely like
those represented in Figs. 7 and 8; Fig. 10 is a central longitudinal section,
and Fig. 11 a front view, illustrating a modification of the sábot and guide
band. In these Figures, N is the projectile; P, the sabot; and Q, the guide
band; R, R, in Fig. 7, indicate the profile lines of the bore of the gun. The
sabot, besides serving the purposes of centreing the rear end of the projectile,
of transmitting to the body of the projectile the pressure of the gases upon the
whole area of the bore, and of preventing windage, serves in a rifled gun to
give rotary motion to the projectile, but for this latter purpose it is not neces-
sary to fasten it to the projectile, as the pressure of the gases in firing will
hold it there firmly. This sabot should be made of metal, and when of wrought
or malleable iron, brass, or other soft metal or alloy, may be all in one piece,
as shown in Figs. 7 and 9, its rear portion being hollowed out in such form as
to make it thin enough to be expanded radially or circumferentially by the
pressure of the gases of the powder, and thus driven outward against the bore
and into the grooves of the gun; but if it be made of hard metal, as cast iron
or steel, it may be rifled by having projections on its exterior, and may have
applied in rear of it a cup P¹ of some softer or more ductile metal, whose
expansion by the pressure of the gases will close the windage; or instead of
the
cup P¹ of metal, a cup P of leather, shown separately in Fig. 12, may be
used, such cup having a ring g of metal applied within it to keep it in shape.
The sabot, in whatever manner constructed, should be fitted to the portion of
the projectile which is reduced in size for its reception, as shown in Figs. 7, 9,
and 10, in such manner as to cause the sabot to be kept concentric with the:
body of the projectile when applied thereto, and to keep the same concentric
with the bore of the gun. The guide band Q may be made of wood, leather,
and metals, either separately or combined. Figs. 7 and 9 represent the guide:
band as composed of an inner ring r of wood, and an outer rings of thin sheet
brass or other metal, both rings being divided in such a manner as to permit.
them to be expanded by the centrifugal force produced by the rotary motion of
the projectile when fired from a rifled gun. t, t, are rivets, which secure the
rings rands together, having heads projecting so far within the inner circum-
ference of the ring r as to enter holes u, u, provided for their reception in the
front part of the body of the projectile, where. the band is applied to centre.
that portion of the projectile in the gun. The heads of the rivets thus serve
to attach the band to the projectile during the loading operation, previous to
which the band is slipped over the front end of the projectile. When the
projectile leaves the gun in being fired the sabot is at once forced off the rear

page_text: end by the resistance of the atmosphere, or if the gun is not rifled, by giving
the heads of the rivets a sufficient bevil, the pressure of the atmosphere on
the front of the band will be made sufficient to make the heads act as wedges
to expand the band, until they leave the holes u, u, after which the band is
quickly forced back over the rear end of the projectile. In Figs. 10 and 11
the sabot and band are shown connected by rods v, v; which affords greater
convenience for applying them to the projectile. The band shown in these
Figures has an inner ring u' of leather within the wooden ring r, which serves
to prevent the straightening out of the other rings, and their flying away
sideways when they leave the projectile, and makes the band follow nearly in
the line of the projectile until it drops. The guide band, of whatever con-
struction, should have openings through it, as shown at 15, 15, in Figs. 8 and
11, to allow the passage of gas that may escape around the sabot. I use the
sub-calibre shot with sabot and guide band in small arms as well as in
ordnance.
The fourth part of the Invention has for its object the reduction of the
resistance of the atmosphere to the flight of elongated projectiles, the heads of
which are of flat, concave, or obtuse form; and it consists in fitting such a
projectile with a point of lead or some other soft metal or alloy, of conical,
conoidal, or such other form that the resistance offered to it by the atmosphere
in the flight of the projectile would be less than would be offered to the bare
head thereof, and which conical or conoidal head, by the greater specific gravity
of the metal of which it is composed, will render the projectile more likely to
strike point on, such cap or head remaining attached to the projectile until it
strikes, and then being crushed or pressed out of the way by the impact
of the blow.
This part of the Invention is illustrated in Fig. 7, in which S is the cap
attached to the square end of the shot N by having oblique holes provided in
the latter for the reception of dowels 16, 16, formed by casting the cap in its
place. The cap on striking the armour of a vessel, or any other hard body
against which the shot is projected, gives a heavy impact blow, which partially
or wholly throws it from the body of the shot, the remainder, if there be any,
being pressed out of the way of the penetrating shot by the shot itself. The
blow from the soft point is effective toward penetrating the plate, for before
the plate has time to recover itself from this blow, the body of the shot adds
its pressure to that of the point, and penetrates the plate, and the work
required of the body of the shot in penetrating the plate is lessened by the
amount of that given by the impact of the soft point.
Having now described this Invention of improvements in ordnance and

page_text: projectiles for the same, and having explained the manner of carrying the
same into effect, I claim as the Invention secured to me by Letters Patent, as
aforesaid,
1st, the employment, in combination with a hollow core in the casting of
ordnance, of an envelope or casing of molten metal surrounding or encasing
the mould, as and for the purpose herein specified.
2nd, the employment in the manufacture of shot and shell of a hollow
core and an envelope or casing of molten metal surrounding or encasing
the mould in which a shot or shell is cast, as and for the purpose herein
specified,
3rd, the combination with what I call a sub-calibre shot or shell of a
sabot and guide band or their equivalents, by which it is adapted for
firing from a gun of larger calibre, as and for the purpose herein specified.
4th, fitting a projectile with a point of metal softer than that of which the
body of the projectile is made, as and for the purpose herein specified.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Edward Newton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Sixteenth day of January, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three.
Witness,
TM
W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
W. E. NEWTON. (L.s.)