UTILIZING THE EXPLOSIVE FORCE OF DISCHARGES IN GUNS AND FIRE- ARMS, AND DIMINISHING OR PREVENTING THE RECOIL
Year: 1866

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Sarah Jemimah Boyle, of Ilford, in the County of
of Essex, Sole Administratrix of the late Thomas Boyle, of No. 3, Charing
Cross, in the County of Middlesex, Ventilating Engineer, for the Inven-
tion of "UTILIZING THE EXPLOSIVE FORCE OF DISCHARGES IN GUNS AND FIRE-
ARMS, AND DIMINISHING OR PREVENTING THE RECOIL."
Sealed the 26th November 1866, and dated the 28th May 1866.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Boyle at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 28th
May 1866.
I, THOMAS BOYLE, of No. 3, Charing Cross, in the County of Middlesex,
Ventilating Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"UTILIZING THE EXPLOSIVE FORCE OF DISCHARGES IN GUNS AND FIRE-ARMS, AND.
DIMINISHING OR PREVENTING THE RECOIL," to be as follows:-
I make the barrel of a gun to consist of a straight tube open at the muzzle
end as at present, and open at the broach end in the form of a series of per-
forations made in the circumference of the barrel at any convenient point
between the place destined for the reception of the charge and the extreme
breach end of the gun. The centre opening of the tube at the breach end of
the gun answering to the muzzle opening at the other end is quite closed. I

page_text: next provide means whereby the communication between these breach and
muzzle openings may be securely cut off both during the reception and
retention of the charge and at the instant of the explosion, and instantly
thereafter opened, and communication made good again before the charge has
left the gun. I secure this two-fold object in various ways. I may employ
for the purpose either a valve, a disc, or a plug, each adapted to the interior
of the barrel in a manner appropriate to its form at a point between the
charge and the breach perforations. If I employ a valve it is made a fixture,
and performs its duty of opening or closing the communication between the
two open ends of the gun without removal from its position; if I adopt the
form of a plug or disc, it consists in either case of a loose piece of material,
which is inserted with the charge, and which may or may not be expelled
therewith at every discharge of the gun.
For the accommodation of the valve
or loose disc I construct the barrel of the gun with a shoulder or flange formed
round the inside circumference thereof immediately in front of the breach
perforations, and behind the place occupied by the charge, to serve as a stop
ngainst which the rim of the valve or disc may rest, so as to close temporarily
the central aperture of the gun at this point. In charging the gun supplied
with this provision the valve is first closed down or the loose disc inserted so
as to be in contact with the front face of this shoulder or flange; the charge
is then inserted close up to and in front of the temporary end or partition
thus formed. When the explosion takes place this temporary end or partition
first receives the backward force of the gases that have been generated in the
process, and resisting their passage in that direction compels them to seek an
outlet at the mouth of the gun, and then instantaneously flies open and allows
the air entering through the breach perforations to rush into the vacuum left
in the rear of the retiring projectile, whereby the speed of the latter is acce
lerated and the recoil reduced to a minimum or altogether prevented. As a
provision for the use of the plug partition, the interior of the barrel at the
point where the breach perforations are made is formed in a tapering manner
from wide in front to narrow at the back, and the plug is shaped accordingly,
so that on being inserted therein and force applied to it it will fill the barrel
in the manner of a wedge, and thereby close temporarily the breach perfora-
tions. Valves for the purpose herein required may be constructed either in one
single piece of material, or in more than one piece, according to convenience.
The discs may either be made separately or form the bottoms of the cartridge
cases, and either valves, discs, or plugs, in whatever form constructed, may
be made of metal or any other suitable material or combination of materials,
us, for instance, in the case of a disc, a circular piece of metal and one of

page_text: cardboard or felt may be united together and placed in the gun with the
metallic or resisting surface turned towards the charge, and the cardboard,
felt, or other yielding surface turned towards, and in contact with the
shoulder or flange to produce on pressure a closely fitting air-tight joint.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Sarah Jemimah Boyle in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
28th November 1866.
3.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, SARAH
JEMIMAH BOYLE, of Ilford, in the County of Essex, Sole Administratrix of the
late Thomas Boyle, of No. 3, Charing Cross, in the County of Middlesex,
Ventilating Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-eighth day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, in the twenty-ninth year of Her
reign, after reciting that he, the said Thomas Boyle, did by his Petition humbly
represent to Her said Majesty that he was in possession of an Invention for
"UTILIZING THE EXPLOSIVE FORCE OF DISCHARGES IN GUNS AND FIRE-ARMS, AND
DIMINISHING OR PREVENTING THE RECOLL," which the Petitioner believed would
be of great public utility, that he was the first and true Inventor thereof, and
that the same was not in use by any other person or persons to the best of his
knowledge and belief, and that the Petitioner therefore most humbly prayed
that Her said Majesty would be graciously pleased to grant unto him, his
executors, administrators, and assigns, Her Royal Letters Patent for the sole
use and benefit and advantage of his said Invention within the United
Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Chaunel Islands, and the Isle of
Man, for the term of fourteen years, pursuant to the Statute in that case
made and provided; and reciting that the said Thomas Boyle departed this
life on the Thirty-first day of August, One thousand eight hundred and sixty-
six, leaving me, the said Sarah Jemimah Boyle, his next of kin, and that Her
said Majesty being willing to give encouragement to all arts and inventions
which might be for the public good was graciously pleased to grant to me, the
said Sarah Jemima Boyle, as such Administratrix as aforesaid, Her Royal
Letters Patent, and did give and grant unto me, the said Sarah Jemimah
Boyle, my executors, administrators, and assigns, Her special license that I,
the said Sarah Jemimah Boyle, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as 1, the said Sarah Jemimah Boyle, my executors, adminis-

page_text: trators, and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time
to time and at all times thereafter during the term of years therein expressed,
should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend the same Invention
within the said United Kingdom, upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said Sarah Jemimab Boyle, 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 Sarah Jemimah Boyle, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, that is to say:—
The barrel of a gun is made to consist of a straight tube open at the
muzzle end as at present, and open at the breech end in the form of a series
of perforations made in the circumference of the barrel at any convenient
point between the place destined for the reception of the charge and the
extreme breech end of the gun. The centro opening of the tube at the breech
end of the gun answering to the muzzle opening at the other end is quite
closed; means are also provided whereby the communication between these
breech and muzzle openings may be securely cut off both during the reception
and retention of the charge and at the instant of the explosion, and instantly
thereafter opened, and communication made good again at the instant the
charge is leaving the muzzle of the gun, or as nearly so as possible; this two-
fold object is secured in various ways; for this purpose may be employed
either a valve, a disc, or a plug, each adapted to the interior of the barrel in
a manner appropriate to its form at a point between the charge and the
breech perforations. If a valve is employed it is made à fixture and per-
forms its duty of opening or closing the communication between the two
-open ends of the gun without removal from its position; if the form of a
plug or disc is adopted it con-ists in either case of a loose piece of material
which is inserted with the charge, and which may or may not be expelled
therewith at every discharge of the gun. For the accommodation of the valve
or loose disc the barrel of the gun is constructed with a shoulder or flange
formed round the inside circumference thereof immediately in front of the
breech perforations and behind the place occupied by the charge to serve as
a stop, against which the rim of the valve or disc may rest, so as to close
temporarily the central aperture of the gun at this point. In charging the

page_text: gun supplied with this provision the valve is first closed down or the loose
disc inserted, so as to be in contact with the front face of this shoulder or
flange; the charge is then inserted close up to and in front of the temporary
end or partition thus formed. When the explosion takes place this temporary
end or partition first receives the backward force of the gases that have been
generated in the process, and resisting their passage in that direction compels
them to seek an outlet at the mouth of the gun, and then instantaneously flies
open and allows the air entering through the breech perforations to rush into
the vacuum left in the rear of the retiring projectile, whereby the speed of the
latter is accelerated and the recoil reduced to a minimum or altogether pre-
vented. As a provision for the use of the plug partition the interior of the
barrel at the point where the breech perforations are made is formed in a
tapering manner from wide in front to narrow at the back, and the plug is
shaped accordingly, so that on being inserted therein and force applied to it
it will fill the barrel in the manner of a wedge, and thereby close temporarily
the breech perforations. Valves for the purpose herein required may be con-
structed either in one single piece of material, or in more than one piece,
according to convenience. The discs may either be made separately or form
the bottoms of the cartridge cases, and either valves, discs, or plugs, in what-
ever form constructed, may be made of metal or any other suitable material
or combination of materials, as, for instance, in the case of a disc, a circular
piece of metal and one of cardboard or felt may be united together and placed
in the gun with the metallic or resisting surface turned towards the charge,
and the cardboard, felt, or other yielding surface turned towards and in
contact with the shoulder or flange to produce on pressure a closely fitting
air-tight joint.
And in order that the Invention may be more fully understood and readily
carried into effect, I will proceed, aided by the accompanying Drawings, more
fully to describe the same.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
In the various Figures, of which similar parts are marked with similar letters
of reference Trigure 1 shows a longitudinal section and Figure 2 a sectional

page_text: its seat; a spiral or other suitable spring e acts to cause the valve b to return
to its seat when not otherwise acted on. If desired, the spindle 6' may be
connected to a bolt f, as shewn by dotted lines, to enable the person using the
gun to free the valve should anything cause the valve to stick. An opening g
is formed in the tang a³ offering a free communication (when the valve b is
open) between the outer atmosphere and the interior of the barrel a. On the
explosion of the charge the gases resulting therefrom act to press the valve b
to its seat, and thereby to prevent the passage of the gases in that direction,
but compels them to seek an outlet at the mouth of the gun, and then the
valve instantaneously flies open and allows the air entering through the
opening g in the tang a³ to pass into the barrel of the gun through the opening
in the breech thereof; if desired, a catch may be provided acting to keep the
valve open until such catch has been released therefrom, as will be readily
understood. A wad may also be employed at the rear of the charge to come
against the valve, and thereby ensure a tight joint.
Figures 3 and 4 shew another mode of carrying the Invention into effect.
In this case a valve is dispensed with and the breech end of the barrel is
provided with a number of passages c* offering a free communication between
the interior of the breech end of the barrel and the outer atmosphere; with
this arrangement a strong wad or disc, which may be made of metal, card-
board, felt, or other suitable material, as will be well understood, is inserted
with the charge, so as to fit closely on to the breech plate and cover the
openings c* therein, thereby making a tight joint and preventing the gases
resulting from the explosion of the charge from passing in that direction,
the wad or disc passing out of the barrel at the muzzle with the charge.
Figure 5 shews another arrangement in which a valve such as that shewn
at Figures 1 and 2 is combined with a perforated breech plate such as that
shewn at Figures 3 and 4. In this arrangement facility is afforded for
employing a valve of larger area than that applied to Figures 3 and 4.
Figure 6 shews a plan of a portion of a gun barrel shewing another modi-
fication of the Invention, in which the valve 6 is placed in the side of the
barrel.
Figure 7 shows a sectional side view of parts of a barrel shewing an
arrangement in which the shot as it is about to leave the barrel acts upon the
valve to open it. It will be seen by reference to the Drawing that the muzzle
end of the gun is formed with a sliding piece a³, which by the rod or wire k
is connected to the valve b, thus when the shot is about to leave the barrel of
the gun
it acts upon the sliding piece a³ causing it to slide forward, and thereby
at the same time open the valve 6; the sliding piece a³ may be secured to the

page_text: barrel by a kind of bayonet joint or in other suitable manner, as will be well
understood.
I have not thought it necessary to shew the Invention as applied to
ordnance, as, aided by the description already given with respect to small
arms, such will be readily understood; and although I have shewn and
described only one valve to be applied to a gun, two or more valves
may be applied in any suitable manner, as will be readily understood.
Having thus described the nature of the said Invention, and the manner in
which the same may be carried into effect, I would have it understood that I
do not confine myself to the precise details horein shewn and described, as
such may be varied without departing from the nature of the Invention; but
what I do claim is, the employment of an opening or openings in the breech
ends of guns and fire-arms, which openings or passages are closed by suitable
valves, discs, or wads, so as to be capable of resisting the force of the explosion
and preventing the passage of the gases in that direction, but which just as
the shot is about to leave the gun are opened, so as to allow a free communi-
cation between the breech end of the gun and the outer atmosphere, in
manner substantially as herein shewn and described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Sarah Jemimah Boyle, have hereunto set
my band and seal, this Twenty-sixth day of November, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six.
S. J. BOYLE. (LS.)