IMPROVEMENTS IN CARTRIDGES FOR FIRE-ARMS
Year: 1855

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Frederic Prince, of No. 3, South Parade, Chelsea,
in the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
CARTRIDGES FOR FIRE-ARMS
Sealed the 20th July 1855, and dated the 23rd January 1855.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Frederic Prince at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
23rd January 1855.
I, FREDERIC PRINCE, of No. 3, South Parade, Chelsea, in the County of
Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN CARTRIDGES FOR FIRE-ARMS" to be as follows:-
These improvements apply to the construction or preparation of cartridges to
be used without biting or tearing off any part of the same on loading the fire-
arm. The paper or other material of which the cartridge is to be made is to be
so prepared that it becomes entirely consumed immediately upon the explosion
taking place. The conical bullet which I propose to use is to be made with a
slight enlargement (or narrow belt) near the point, so as just to "bite" the
rifling of the barrel. Behind this enlargement a slight indentation is formed
to receive a thin string for attaching the cartridge, or (if preferred) the paper
may be twisted over the point of the bullet, the lower part or base of the
hollow conical bullet being of the ordinary form. The common spherical
ball may be used likewise in a cartridge made as above stated. The wadding
employed has a hole perforated through the centre thereof. After the case of
the cartridge has been tied or otherwise attached to the bullet, the wadding is
slipped over the back part of the case up to the base of the bullet; the case
is then re-opened, and the powder inserted; the end of the case is then tied,

page_text: by the said Frederic Prince in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
23rd July 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, FREDERIC
PRINCE, of No. 3, South Parade, Chelsea, in the County of Middlesex, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date: the Twenty-third day, of January, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, in the eighteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Frederic Prince, Her special licence that I, the said Frederic, Prince,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Frederic Prince, my executors; administrators, and assigns, should at any
time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN
CARTRIDGES FOR FIRE-ARMS;" upon the condition (amongst others) that the
said Frederic Prince, 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
immédiately after the date of the said Letters. Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Frederic Prince, 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 thereof (that is to say) :-
My Invention of Improvements in Cartridges for Fire-arms applies. to the
manufacture of cartridges to be used without biting or tearing off any part of
the same on loading the fire-arm.. The paper or other material of which the
cartridge is to be made is to be so prepared that it becomes consumed on
the explosion taking place.
In order to explain my said Invention as completely as possible, I now
proceed to describe the best means I am acquainted with for carrying the same
into practical effect...
:

page_text: And, first, as regards the method practised by me of preparing the paper or
other material of which the cartridge is to be formed, it is as follows:-
I steep the paper or material in a solution of nitric acid of the density of 1.5,
and sulphuric acid of the usual density, in the proportions of three parts nitric
acid to one part sulphuric acid, in a vessel convenient for the purpose, leaving
the paper therein a sufficient length of time to become perfectly saturated with
the solution; I then remove the paper therefrom, and allow it to drain for
about five minutes; I then thoroughly wash it in cold water for about three-
quarters of an hour, and afterwards dry it by a gentle heat. The above
proportions may be varied, but those stated I have found to be perfectly com-
bustible without being explosive, which is an essential property to be observed
in the preparation of the paper employed in the manufacture of cartridges
according to my said Invention. Any known description of ball may be used
with cartridge cases made of paper or other material prepared as above; and
if it is required to employ a wadding therewith, I connect the same to the
cartridge in the following manner-After the case has been attached to
the ball in the ordinary way, I pass a greased wadding with a hole through
the centre thereof, and push the same over the case up to the base of the
ball; the "former" or ordinary instrument employed for shaping the case is
again introduced, and the cartridge completed in the usual way. By the above
mode of attaching the greased wadding to the cartridge I dispense with the
necessity for tyeing, pasting, or rivetting the same, as heretofore practised in
the manufacture of cartridges.
Having now described the nature and object of my said Invention of
"Improvements in Cartridges for Fire-arms," and in what manner the same
is to be and may be performed, I would remark, in conclusion, that what I
claim as my Invention is, the manufacture and preparation of cartridges in the
manner above described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Frederic Prince, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-third day of July, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five.
Witness,
ALEX. PRINCE, Patent Agent,
4, Trafalgar Square.
FRED PRINCE. (L.S.)