AN IMPROVEMENT IN GUN WIPERS
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alfied Vincent Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughts-
man, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVEMENT IN GUN WIPERS."-A com-
munication from abroad by Hiram Berdan, Charles Lawrence Perkins,
and Walter Hayes Burns, all of the City of New York, in the United
States of America
Sealed the 12th January 1866, and dated the 4th August 1865.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alfred Vincent Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
4th August 1865.
I, ALFRED VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane,
in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVEMENT IN GUN WIPERS," to be
as follows:-
The object of this improvement is so to construct gun wipers that they will
adjust themselves to any irregularity in the thickness of the cloth or wrapping
with which they are covered, and when inserted in the barrel they are intended
to clean will press the cloth patch, whatever its thickness, tightly against the

page_text: interior surface of the gun barrel or counterbore. In order to give elasticity
to the gun wiper, and allow it to yield or expand as required, a taper hole is
bored in it in the direction of its axis, and this hollow end is slotted or divided
transversely, and at right angles, so as to form separately acting leaves or
springs The wiper thus made has the exterior surfaces of its springs provided
with suitable points, notches, or burrs, by which the cloth patch is retained
upon the wiper in the usual manner. It will readily be understood that when
a wiper of this improved construction is introduced within a gun barrel the
spring leaves will adjust themselves to the walls of the gun, and will tightly
press the patch against the interior surface of the barrel, and affect the
cleaning thereof in the most thorough manner.
The improvement may form a part of the ramrod, or may be attached to
any suitable handle, and may be fastened by screw to the ordinary ramrod in
use in the military service The upper part of the improved wiper may be
fitted with a screw thread, so as to secure it to the ordinary bali ealiacting
screw, with which the ramrods of sporting rifles and shot guns are commonly
provided.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Alfred Vincent Newton in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 3rd February 1866.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALFRED
VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fourth day of August, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, in the twenty-ninth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Ier heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Alfied Vincent Newton, Her special license that I, the said Alfred
Vincent Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said Alfred Vincent 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 "AN IMPROVEMENT IN GUN WIPERS," being a communication

page_text: from abroad, upon the condition (amongst others) that 1, the said Alfred
Vincent Newton, 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 1, the said Alfred Vincent 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 Drawing hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):
The ordinary gun wiper is composed of a solid piece of metal or wood,
which is attached by a screw thread to the extremity of the ramrod, or forms
a part of the ramrod, and is notched or provided upon its exterior with
inclined toeth or burrs, which catch into and hold the patch of cloth used in
wiping out the gun. The diameter of such gun wipers being fixed and
unyielding, it follows that they must be nicely proportioned in size to the
diameter of the gun barrel in which they are to be used; and it is also
necessary that the cloth patch which is employed should be of a certain and
even thickness, otherwise the cleaning of the interior of the gun barrel cannot
be thoroughly done. In military service it is not always possible for the
soldier to provide cloth of the proper thickness or quality for patches, but he
is compelled to make use of rags or any fibrous material that may happen to
be at hand, and it therefore results that the gun cannot be properly cleaned.
The same difficulties are experienced by huntsmen and others.
There are also some kinds of gun barrels which are provided with a counter
bore or charge chamber at the rear of the barrel proper, which counter bore
1s of larger diameter than the barrel, and cannot be reached from the breech.
It is obvious that with the common gun wiper it would be almost impossible
to clean the counter bore of such guns, because of the wiper fits properly into
the gun barrel it will be too small for the counter bore, and the cleaning
patch will become detached from the wiper when the latter reaches the counter
bore; on the other hand if the patch is too thick it is apt to become arrested
5 by the presence of foul matter in the gun, rendering the further movement of
the wiper and its rod a matter of great difficulty.
Now the object of the present Invention is to overcome the above difficulties,
and to this end the gun wiper is so constructed that its exterior surface shall

page_text: yield under lateral pressure, and spring back in such a manner as always to
press the cloth patch, whatever its thickness, tightly against the interior surface
of the gun barrel or counter bore.
Referring to the accompanying Drawing, Fig. 1 is a perspective view
of my improvement; Fig. 2 is a partial sectional elevation of the same
applied within a gun barrel; and Fig 3 is an inverted plan view of the gun
wiper.
The principal difference between this improved gun wiper and that ordinarily
employed is that the body A of the wiper is bored out or made hollow, so that
it resembles a hollow cone, and the lower portion of this cone is slit up longi-
tudinally, so as to form separately acting leaves or springs a, a, a, a. The
wipor thus made has the exterior surfaces of its springs provided with suitable
projections or burrs 6, by which the cloth patch is retained upon the wiper in
the usual manner It will readily be understood that when a wiper of this
improved construction introduced within a gun barrel the spring leaves a
will adjust themselves to the walls of the gun, and will tightly press the patch
against the interior surface of the banel, and effect the cleaning thereof in the
most thorough manne It will also be observed that the particular
thickness of the cloth patch will make but little difference in the operation of
cleaning, and that patches of different thicknesses can be readily and success-
fully used.
The improved wiper may also be employed in gun barrels of varying
diameters; and the improvement may also be successfully used to clean the
counter bores of guns, because when the wiper has been pushed through the
barrel proper it expands on entering the enlarged counter bore, and firmly
presses the cleaning patch against the walls of the counter bore.
The improvement may form a part of the ramrod, or may be attached to
any suitable handle, and may be fastened by screw to the ordinary ramrod in
use in the military service. The upper part of the improved wiper may be
fitted with a screw thread, so as to secure it to the ordinary ball extracting
Screw with which the ramods of sporting rifles and shot guns are commonly
provided.
The improvement is applicable and intended for use in cleaning the
banels and chambers of cannons, guns, pistols, and fire-arms of every
description.
Having now set forth the nature of the Invention of "Au Improvement in
Gun Wipers," and explained the manner of canying the same into effect,
I wish it to be understood that under the above in part recited Letters Patent

page_text: I claim an elastic self-adjusting gun wiper, constructed and operating sub-
stantially as above described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Second day of February, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
A. V. NEWTON. (L.S.)