An Appliance for Adapting Cartridge-cases for Blank Practice.
Year: 1890

page_text: Date of Application, 7th M r., 1890
Complete Specification Left, 5th Dec., 1890-Accepted, 10th Jan., 1891
PROVISIONAI, SPECIFICATION.
An Appliance for Adapting Cartridge-cases for Blank Practice.
I, RICHARD MORRIS, of Bennett Park, Blackheath, in the County of Kent,
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
When a rifle or gun is charged in the usual way with an ordinary cartridge,
especially when this is delivered from a magazine on the gun, the projectile which is
generally elongated in form, serves as a guide for its entering the breech. When,
however, there is no projectile, the cartridges being used in blank practice, this
guide is absent, and it is therefore difficult to ensure the direct entrance of the
cartridge into the breech. In order to get over this difficulty, blank cartridges have
been fitted at their ends with hollow plugs of wood to take the place of the ordinary
projectiles and to guide the cartridges in the act of charging. But such plugs,
however light or weak they may be made, being discharged from the gun at a very
bigh velocity, operate as actual projectiles at short ranges, involving great danger.
Now, according to my invention, I employ plugs made of papier maché or such
like material moulded to the outward form of the ordinary projectiles and hollow
within, and I split the tubular part of the plug at one part or at several parts of its
circumference.
The effect of this is that at the moment when the plug is leaving the muzzle of the
gun, the
pressure of the gas within it causes the tube to open out so that, encountering
great resistance of air, it shortly loses velocity and is rendered innocuous. By the
use of plugs such as I have described, the cases of spent cartridges are rendered
serviceable for blank practice.
Dated this 7th day of March 1890
ABEL & IMRAY,
Agents for the Applicant.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
An Appliance for Adapting Cartridge-cases for Blank Practice.
1, RICHARD MORRIS, of Bennett Park, Blackheath, in the County of Kent,
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
following statement :-
When a rifle or gun is charged in the usual way with an ordinary cartridge,
especially when this is delivered from a magazine on the gun, the projectile which is
generally elongated in form, serves as a guide for its entering the breech. When,
however, there is no projectile, the cartridges being used in blank practice, this guide
is absent, and it is therefore difficult to ensure the direct entrance of the cartridge
into the breech. In order to get over this difficulty, blank cartridges have been
fitted at their ends with hollow plugs of wood to take the place of the ordinary
projectiles and to guide the cartridges in the act of charging. But such plugs,
however light or weak they may be made, being discharged from the gun at a very
high velocity, operate as actual projectiles at short ranges, involving great danger.
Now, according to my invention, I employ plugs made of papier maché or such
like material moulded to the outward form of the ordinary projectiles and hollow
within, and I split the tobular part of the plug at one part or at several parts of its
circumference.
The effect of this is that at the moment when the plug is leaving the muzzle of
the gun, the pressure of the gas within it causes the tube to open out so that,
encountering great resistance of air, it shortly loses velocity and is rendered

page_text: .
innocuous. By the use of plugs such as I have described, the cases of spent
cartridges are rendered serviceable for blank practice.
Fig. 1 of the accompanying drawings is a longitudinal section of a hollow plug of
compressed paper, papier maché or such like light stiff material in the form
externally of the projectile used for the weapon. Fig. 2 is an elevation of the
cartridge case C with the plug P placed in its mouth. Before inserting the plug into
the cartridge case, I make a slit such as a along one side, or several such slits, so
that, as the plug leaves the mouth of the bore, the pressure of the explosion gas
within it causes it to open out and expose a large surface to encounter the resistance
of the air retarding it and so rendering it innocuous as a projectile.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
A plug for the mouth of a blank cartridge consisting of a hollow shell of paper or
other light stiff material slit along the side, substantially as-and for the purpose
set forth.
Dnted this 5th day of December 1800.
ABEL & IMRAY,
Agents for the Applicant.