IMPROVE- MENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF CANNON AND OTHER FIRE-ARMS
Year: 1867

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles William Lancester, of New Bond Street, in
the County of Middlesex, Gun Maker, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF CANNON AND OTHER FIRE-ARMS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles William Lancaster
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 23rd December 1867.
I, CHARLES WILLIAM LANCASTER, of New Bond Street, in the County of
Middlesex, Gun Maker, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF CANNON AND OTHER FIRE-ARMS,"
to be as follows:-
My Invention relates to the bore of cannon and other fire-arms, and
consists in constructing or forming it semi-oval in section, that is to say, one
half of the cross section of the bore is semi-oval and the other half semi-circular.
The semi-oval half has a spiral or twist of any desired pitch, and the semi-
circular half may be plain or rifled. Instead of the semi-oval the bore may
have two quarter ovals, or any number of segments of ovals, either juxtaposed
or separated by segments of the original bore.

page_text: :
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Charles William Lancaster in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 23rd June 1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHARLES
WILLIAM LANCASTER, of New Bond Street, in the County of Middlesex,
Gun Maker, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-third day of December, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven, in the thirty-first year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Charles William Lancaster, Her special licence that I, the said Charles
William Lancaster, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
I, the said Charles William Lancaster, 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 THE CONSTRUCTION OF CANNON AND OTHER FIRE-ARMS," upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said Charles William Lancaster, 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 Charles William Lancaster, do hereby
declare the nature of my 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, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto
annexed, that is to say :-
My Invention relates to the bore. of cannon and other fire-arms, and
'consists in constructing or forming it semi-oval in section, that is to say, one
half of the cross section of the bore is semi-oval and the other half semi-
circular. The semi-oval half has a spiral or twist of any desired pitch, and
the semi-circular balf may be plain or rifled.
Figure 1 of the accompanying Drawings represents a transverse section of
a gun with my semi-oval bore. The half a of the bore to the left of the
vertical red line being the half of a circle, while the half 6 to the right of the

page_text: red line is the half of an oval or ellipse. The dotted line a¹ indicates a half
circle corresponding to a.
Guns constructed with a semi-oval bore, as represented in Figure 1, con-
stitute what may be termed a one-grooved rifle; the same idea or principle is
susceptible of being carried out in another form by having a distinct groove
of any section cut in the bore with corresponding projections left upon the
projectile.
Instead of the semi-oval represented in Figure 1 the bore may have two
quarter ovals, as represented in Figure 2, in which a, a, represent two
quarter circles, and b, b, two quarter ovals, or the bore may have any number
of segments of ovals, either juxtaposed or separated by segments of the
original bore.
Figure 3 represents a projectile and shoe or sabot suitable for taking the
grooves of my partly oval and partly circular bore guns. A is the projectile
and B the sabot or shoe, which is made of papier maché or other suitable
material, with a copper or other soft metal base. The rear of the projectile A
is formed with ribs or projecting fillets C, as seen more clearly in Figure 4,
which represents the rear end of the projectile. When the explosion takes
place the sabot B is not only forced outwards to take the rifling, but is also
forced into the spaces between the fillets C of the projectile, so that the
projectile is caused to rotate or turn with the sabot.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim constructing
the bore of cannon and other fire-arms, partly oval and partly circular
in section, substantially as herein-before described and represented in the
accompanying Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles William Lancaster, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-second day of June, One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight.
CHARLES W. LANCASTER. (L.S.)