IMPROVEMENTS IN FIRE-ARMS AND PROJECTILES TO BE USED THEREWITH
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Perceval Moses Parsons, of Arthur Street West,
London Bridge, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN FIRE-ARMS AND PROJECTILES TO BE USED
THEREWITH."
Sealed the 12th September 1860, and dated the 20th March 1860.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Perceval Moses Parsons
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 20th March 1860.
I, PERCEVAL MOSES PARSONS, of Arthur Street West, London Bridge, in
the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for IMPROVEMENTS IN FIRE-ARMS AND PROJECTILES TO BE
USED THEREWITH," to be as follows:-
I
I construct breech-loading fire-arms with a chamber or slot formed in the
breech or breech end of the barrel through which the charge is introduced.
An arm or lever is attached to the breech or barrel by a hinge joint, and
carries a plug, which fits into the slot or chamber.
When in position, one
end of the plug abuts against the end of the slot or chamber, and the other
end, which is made of a spherical form, rests in its seat at the breech of the
barrel, and closes it. Access to the barrel for the introduction of the charge
[Price 8d 1

page_text: is obtained by raising or turning the arm or lever on its joiut, which causes
the plug to turn in its seat until its other end is clear of the slot or chamber,
when it moves out altogether. A certain amount of play is allowed between
the arm or lever and the plug, to admit of their both freely turning on their
respective centres until the latter is released.
As a modification of the above arrangement, I attach the plug itself (which
is then altered in form) to the breech or barrel by a hinge joint, and the arm
or lever to it by a second joint, the arm or lever having a projection, which
drops into the slot or chamber, and holds the plug in position. To prevent
the arm or lever moving out of its place during the discharge, it is so formed
and arranged in connection with the hammer of the piece that the latter will
overlap or partly cover it when it falls on the nipple; for further security a
catch or stop may be employed, if required. In some cases I employ a screw
working into or against the plug or the projection of the arm or lever, and the
end of the slot or chamber, or a hollow screw, having internal lugs or pro-
jections screwed on or into the barrel or breech through which the plug
passes. The plug is in this case made with recesses corresponding to the
lugs on the screw to allow it to pass, and when in its place a slight turn of
the screw brings the lugs over the parts of the plug not recessed,and thereby
secures it. To prevent escape of gas at the plug. I construct it with a hollow
spherical disc of copper or other suitable metal, having its convex side pre-
sented to receive the force of the explosion, and its periphery resting against
the base of the plug and the interior of the barrel or breech. On the discharge
of the piece, the force of the explosion tends to flatten the disc, and thereby
forces its periphery into intimate contact with the barrel or breech.
In the construction of rifle barrels, I make the bore of a figure in cross
section, described by three curved lines joined at tangents by three other
curved lines of a different radius or curvature from the three first, all being
convex. Externally this figure has the requisite spiral twist around its mean
centre in the length of the barrel.
I construct the back sights of fire-arms in the form of a spring clip, made
to embrace the barrel, which at the part is provided with flat parallel surfaces
to receive it, and upon which it slides during adjustment.
The object of my improvements in projectiles is to make them of such a
form as will diminish, as much as possible, the resistance to their passage
through the air, and also so to construct them that the centre of gravity will
be well forward. For this purpose I make them externally of an elongated
form with both the front and rear ends conical, conoidal, or otherwise, pointed

page_text: For
or rounded, and I make a cavity or cavities in the after part; or I make the
fore part separate from and of a substance of greater specific gravity than the
after part, the two being connected together by any convenient means.
bullets to be used with rifles or other small arms I make the fore part of lead
or an alloy of lead and antimony or other suitable metal or alloy, and the
after part of hard wood or other suitable substance of less specific gravity than
the fore part, the after part having a plug fitting into a corresponding cavity
in the fore part, which for expanding bullets is made of a conical or conoidal
form at the point, and fits into a corresponding seat in the interior of the fore
part, the two when together being of the external form before described. To
afford lubrication I insert any suitable grease or lubricating material, or a
wad saturated with the same, between the fore and after part, when on the
discharge of the piece, the after part being driven forward, the lubricating
material is squeezed out, and lubricates the barrel.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Perceval Moses Parsons in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 20th September 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, 1, PERCEVAL
MOSES PARSONS, of Arthur Street West, London Bridge, in the County of
Middlesex, Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twentieth day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty, in the twenty-third year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Perceval Moses Parsons, Her special licence that I, the said Perceval Moses
Parsons, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Perceval Moses Parsons, 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 night
make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain
aud Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IM.
PROVEMENTS IN FIRE-ARMS AND PROJECTILES TO BE USED THEREWITH," upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said Perceval Moses Parsons, 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

page_text: 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 Perceval Moses Parsons, 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:-
I construct breech-loading fire-arms with a chamber or slot formed
in the breech or breech end of the barrel, through which the charge is
introduced. An arm or lever is attached to the breech or barrel by a hinge
joint, and carries a plug which fits into the slot or chamber. When in posi-
tion, one end of the plug abuts against the end of the slot or chamber, and
the other end which is made of a spherical form, rests in its seat at the breech
of the barrel and closes it. Fig. 1 is a plan; Fig. 2, a horizontal section;
Fig. 8, a longitudinal section, and Figs. 4, 5, 6, and 7, cross sections taken
respectively on the lines A A, B B, CC, and DD, (on Fig. 3) of so much of
a rifle as is necessary to illustrate this part of my Invention; c is the chamber
or slot; a the arm or lever attached to the breech of the barrel b, by the
hinge joint h; p is the plug; e, its end which abuts against the end of the
chamber at d, and s its spherical end which rests in a seat made of a suitable
form to receive it, and closes the aperture at the breech of the barrel. Access
to the interior of the barrel for the introduction of the charge is obtained by
grasping the button between the thumb and anger, and by means of it rais-
ing or turning the arm or lever a on its joint h, which causes the spherical end
s of the plug, to turn in its seat in the manner of a ball-and-socket joint until
its other end e is clear of the slot or chamber when it moves out altogether
and may be turned back to the position indicated by the dotted lines; a cer-
tain amount of play is allowed between the arm or lever a, and the plug p, to
admit of their both turning freely on their respective centres at the same time,
a collar n or other kind of stop is attached to the plug p to keep it in its place
when the arm or lever a is moved. In some cases I modify this arrangement
by forming the arm or lever and the plug in one piece or attaching them im-
moveably together, as shewn in section at Fig. 3. In this case the requisite
play is provided in the hinge joint h by making the hole in the arm or lever
or the breech through which the pin passes in the form of a slot as shewn at
8, Fig. 34.
As the plug turns on its spherical end the slot in the arm or lever
slides on the pin as it moves in the small are of a circle around the centre of

page_text: the spherical end of the plug until the end of the plug is released, when it
turns around the pin as before. It is not necessary that the end of the plug
at s should be a complete sphere if so much of it onlyas comes in contact with
its seat is made of the requisite spherical form; nor is itnecessarythatitshould
be formed as shewn partly by the hollow copper dise, this being a contrivance
adapted to it and forming a distinct feature of my Invention to be afterwards
described for the purpose of making the joint tight, and which may be equally
well adapted to other kinds of plugs; but the plug may be madesolidasshewn
in the modification Fig. 3 and Figs. 15 and 16, and an adjusting screw may
be applied to compensate any wear that takes place, if necessary. Fig. 8 is a
plan; Fig.9, a horizontal section; Fig. 10,a longitudinal section; and Figs. 1],
12, 13, and 14, cross sections taken respectively on the lines A A, B B, CC,
and D D, (Fig. 10) of another arrangement; in this I attach the plug pitself
(which is altered in form,) to the breech or barrel b, by the hinge joint h and
the arm or lever to it by a second joint n, the arm or levera has a projection
k which drops into the slot or chamber c, and abuts against its end at < and
holds the plug in position. Ac ess to the barrel is obtained as in the former
case by grasping the button r, and by means of it raising or turning the arm
or lever, which turns on the joint n, by the time it comes in contact with the
stop s on the plug p, its end at e is released, and the motion being continued
both it and the plug p turn on the hinge joint h,and may be turned back to the
position indicated by the dotted lines.
Supposing the arm or lever with the plug in the arrangement first herein-
before described to be turned back to the position shewn by the dotted lines.
Fig. 3 and in the arrangement secondly described in the position indicated by
the dotted lines, Fig. 10, the charge in the form of a cartridge or otherwise,
is in both cases introduced by passing it through the slot or chamber c, c, into
the interior of the breech or barrel and the aperture is closed by turning back
the arm or lever, and with it the plug to its original or normal position; as
the plug descends into its place the point of the screw serves to prick and
tear open the end of the cartridge and expose the powder to the flash of the
percussion cap.
It will be seen in the arrangement first herein-before described that the
plug p is quite independent of the arm or lever a, this latter being only used
to lift it in and out of its place, and when the piece is discharged the pressure
caused by the explosion simply forces the plug against the abutment at the
end of the slot or chamber, and this being square with the centre line of the
plug or a curve struck from the centre of its spherical end, or from the centre

page_text: line of the axis of the barrel; the plug has not the slightest tendency to move
out of its place; the same is the case in the modification shewn at Fig. 3 by
reason of the play given to the joint by the slots. Likewise in the arrange-
ment secondly herein-before described although the force of the explosion
would in this case tend to force the plug p back causing it thereby to turn on
the hinge, there would be no tendency to lift the arm or lever out of its
place, but simply to force the projecting part of it back against the abutment
at the end of the slot or chamber. but in order to prevent the arm or lever
and consequently the plug moving out of its place from any unforeseen cause,
during the discharge, the arm or lever is formed with a projecting piece on
its side which is overlapped by the projecting part of the hammer m when it
falls on the nipple as shown at Figs. 6 and 13, and by dotted lines at Figs. 3
and 10, but when the hammer is brought to the half cock after the discharge
of the piece in the position shewn by the full lines in Figs. 3 and 10 it will
offer no impediment to the arm or lever being raised, as the projection x will
then be uncovered and pass clear of the hammer so that excess can be
obtained to the interior of the barrel and the charge introduced in the
manner before described; for further security an ordinary spring or other
catch or stop may be added, if required. In some cases I employ a screw
working into or against the plug or the projection of the arm or lever.
Fig. 15 is a horizontal section; Fig. 16, a longitudinal section, and Fig.
17 a cross section at A, A, (Fig. 16) shewing this modification. a is
the arm or lever; p, the plug with its spherical end s, and e, a screw
provided with a socket which receives the end of the plug, when in
its place, by turning the plug by means of the thumb lever 1, the screw e is
turned with it, and the plug p thereby forced into its seat. In some cases
I employ a hollow screw having internal lugs or projections, screwed on or
into the barrel or breech through which the plug passes, the plug is in this
case made with recesses corresponding to the lugs on the screw to allow it to
pass, and when in its place a slight turn of the screw brings the lugs over the
parts of the plug not cut away, and thereby secures it; Fig. 18 is a longitudinal
section; Figs. 19 and 20, cross sections on the respective lines 1 A, and B B,
(Fig. 18); and Fig. 21, an end view of this modification, which I have shewn
applied to a piece of ordnance, as it is more suited to the same than to small
arms, b is the barrel of the piece, and s, the hollow screw screwed into it, pro-
vided with internal lugs or projections 1, 1, 1, 1, the plug p has recesses 1,1,1,1,
corresponding to the projections on the screw; the plug is carried by an arm a
in which it can turn freely, and the arm is supported by and is at liberty to

page_text: turn and slide on the rod i. The plug is shown in position at Figs. 18 and 21,
with the projections of the screw covering the parts left projecting of the plug;
to enable the plug to be withdrawn, the screw s is unscrewed by the lever m
until the lugs of the screw come over the recesses of the plug, the plug is
then drawn back, the arm a, sliding on the rod i until it is free of the hollow
screws, it is then swung on one side. The charge having been introduced,
the plug p is thrust through the hollow screw s into its seat, the screw is then
screwed up, when the screw is so far turned that the projecting lugs on it 1, 1,
overlap the lugs or projections P, P, P, P, on the plug, the stops f,f, f, f, on
the screw s come against the lugs or projections P, P. P. P, on the plug, and
carry it round with the screw until it is forced by means of the screw into its
seat. To prevent escape of gas at the joint between the plug and the breech
of the barrel, I construct the plug with, or adapt to it a hollow spherical
disc or copper or other suitable metal, having its convex side presented to
receive the force of explosion, and its periphery resting against the base
of the plug and the interior of the barrel or breech; this is shewn in section
at s, s, Figs. 2 and 3, and at t, t, Figs. 9 and 10. The disc is secured to the
plug by means of the screw or it may be secured in any other suitable
manier. On the discharge of the piece, the force of the explosion tends to
flatten and spread out the copper disc, and its periphery is thereby forced
into close contact with the interior of the barrel or breech, and the joint thereby
made good. This contrivance is shewn applied only to the first and second
arrangements herein before described, but it is equally applicable to any other
arrangement in which a plug or plate is used to close the aperture at the
breech of a breech-loading fire-arm, and will be found most serviceable in
those arrangements which do not provide means to force the plug into its
seat, as being entirely self-acting in its action, so long as a suitable abutment
is provided, the greater the pressure, the tighter will be the joint.
In the construction of rifle barrels, I make the bore of a figure in cross
section described by three curved lines, joined at tangents by three other
curved lines of a different radius or curvature from the three first, all being
convex externally. This figure has the requisite spiral twist around its mean
centre in the length of the barrel. Fig. 22 is a cross section of a barrel
having the bore formed according to this part of my Invention. The figure is
composed of parts of three elipses, a, e, f, b, whose major axis is d, g: b, g, h, c,
whose major axis is f, i; and c, i, d, a, whose major axis is h, e, which join
each other at taugents at the points a, b, c, and produce together the form
before described; thus the portions of the figure comprised between d, a, e,

page_text: fbg, and h, c, i, are more curved than the portions between e, f, g, h, and
i, d. In order to rifle a barrel with this form of bore I employ a cutting tool
of a cylindrical form, or at least so much thereof as is requisite to form the
cutting portion is cylindrical, the diameter of the complete cylinder being equal
to the minor axis of the elipses, with angular grooves or cutting edges made
or turned on its periphery; this cutting tool is fixed in a suitable mandrel,
with its longitudinal axis either parallel to the longitudinal axis of the same,
or at any required angle thereto, and the barrel having been previously bored
cylindrical, is placed in a machine ordinarily employed for rifling barrels, and
the mandrel with the cutter attached is drawn repeatedly through the barrel,
and has at the same time the requisite spiral motion imparted to it, the barrel or
the mandrel with the cutter being alternately shifted to three different
equidistant positions around their common centre, the cutter is set or packed
up by any of the well known means until the requisite depth of cut is obtained,
when the before described section having a spiral twist around its centre will
be produced. The position in which the cutter should be placed in the mandrel
must. depend upon the rate of twist in the rifling in relation to the length of
the cylindrical cutter. If the length of the cutter is one-third the pitch of
the rifling, it should be placed parallel to the mandrel, the obliquity of the
twist will in that case in connection with the cylindrical form of the cutter
produce the eliptic form required, but if the spiral is such that it would
necessitate such a length of cutter as would be inconvenient, it may be made
shorter, and placed at an angle with the mandrel and in the reverse direction
to that of the spiral. By adjusting the diameter, length, and angle of the
cutter in relation to the size and rate of twist of the bore of the barrel, the
amount of eccentricity or curvature of the figure may be varied at pleasure.
I construct the back sights of fire-arms in the form of a spring clip, made
to embrace the barrel, which at the part is provided with flat parallel surfaces
to receive it, and upon which it slides during adjustment. Fig. 23 is an
elevation, and Fig. 24 an end view of a back sight for a rifle constructed
according to this part of my Invention. The barrel of the rifle a is provided
with the flat parallel surfaces s, s. The spring clip c, made of steel or other
suitable metal, forms the sight, which can be adjusted to any required
elevation by raising or sliding it on the flat surfaces s, s, to the position shewn
by the dotted lines or any intermediate position. The flanges or lips 1, 1, serve
to guide the clip or sight, and keep it in position during adjustment. When
a greater amount of elevation is required than can conveniently be obtained by
the above arrangement, the clip, or sight may be made of a curved form, as

page_text: shewn in elevation at Fig. 25, and in cross section at Fig. 26, and the
faces s, s, on which it slides, and the flanges or guides 1, 1, made to corre-
spond, a spring stop b, taking into notches to fix the clip c at different
degrees of elevation, may be also employed. It will be seen that this
arrangement will admit of a greater elevation without extending a further
distance below the barrel.
Fig. 27 is an elevation, and Fig. 28 a cross section of another modifica-
tion. In this the spring clip c is confined by pins or screws d, d, arcund
which it turns as a centre at the same time that it slides upon the flat
surfaces s, s, of the barrel a during adjustment. The clip is provided with
a quadrant or quadrants e, e, with divisions marked thereon, which, when
adjusted to the index hand or pointer p on the barrel, shew the degree of
elevation; or the quadrants may be provided with notches and a spring
stop for the same purpose.
The object of my improvements in projectiles is to make them of such a
form as will diminish as much as possible the resistance to their passage
through the air, and also so to construct them that the centre of gravity will
be well forward. For this purpose, I make them externally of an elongated
form, with both the front and rear ends conical, conoidal, or otherwise pointed
or rounded, and I make a cavity or cavities in the after part; or I make the
fore part separate from and of a substance of greater specific gravity than the
after part, the two being connected together by any convenient means. For
bullets to be used with rifles or other small arms, I make the fore part of
lead, or an alloy of lead and antimony, or other suitable metal or alloy, and
the after part of hard wood or other suitable substance of less specific gravity
thau the fore part, the after part having a plug fitting into a corresponding
cavity in the fore part, which for expanding bullets is made of a conical
or conoidal form at the point, and fits into a corresponding seat in the
interior of the fore part, the two when together being of the external form
before described. To afford lubrication, I insert any suitable grease or
lubricating material, or a wad saturated with the same, between the fore and
after part, when on the discharge of the piece, the after part being driven
forward, the lubricating material is squeezed out and lubricates the barrel.
Figs. 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, and 34, are longitudinal sections of projectiles
made according to my Invention. It will be observed that they are all of a
conoidal or pointed form at each end, and so contrived that the centre of
gravity will in each be nearer the front end a than the rear end; this is
accomplished in Fig. 29 by making the after part b with a hollow or cavity,

page_text: in Fig. 30 by making a number of grooves around the after part, and in
Figs. 31, 32, 33, and 34, by making the after part of hard wood or any
other substance of less specific gravity than the fore part, which is of metal.
Figs. 31, 32, 33, and 34, also represent bullets made according to my Inven-
tion, to be used with hand rifles or other small arms. The fore part a is
made of lead, or an alloy of lead and from 5 to 10 per cent. of antimony,
or any other suitable metal or alloy, and the after part of box or other
hard wood, formed with a plug p, which fits into the fore part. In Fig. 33
the plug is of a conoidal, and in Figs. 32 and 34 of a conical form, which,
when driven by the force of the explosion into the fore part causes it to
expand and fill the grooves of the rifle. The annular space or cavity c, c,
is filled with grease, wax, or other suitable lubricating material, or a wad
of felt saturated with the same is inserted, as shewn at Fig. 31, when the
after part is driven forward by the explosion, the grease, oil, or other
lubricating material is squeezed out, and lubricates the barrel as the bullet
passes out, and the wad when used serves also to clean it.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the manner in
which it is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that I do not claim as
my Invention any of the parts taken separately, except as is hereiu-after
specified, nor do I confine myself to the precise details shewn and described;
but I declare that I claim as my Invention,-
Firstly, the application of a plug with a spherical end to close the breech
end of breech-loading rifles and other fire-arms, and so constructing the plug
that one end will rest in its seat at the breech, and the other abut against
the end of the chamber, made square with, or if curved, having the tangent
to its surface at the centre line square with the centre line or longitudinal
axis of the barrel or plug, as herein-before described, and the general
arrangement and combination of parts herein-before described, and illus-
trated by Figs. 1, 2, 3, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7; also the general arrangement
and combination of parts herein-before described, and illustrated by Figs.
8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, and 14; also the modification herein-before described,
and illustrated by Figs. 15, 16, and 17, and the modification herein-before
described, and illustrated by Figs 18, 19, 20, and 21; also the use of a
hollow metal disc to make tight the joint at the breech end of breech-
loading fire-arms, as herein-before described; also, so constructing the arm,
lever, or plug in connection with the hammer of the lock, that the latter
will cover and prevent it rising out of its place at the time of the discharge
of the piece, as herein-before described.

page_text: Secondly, the method herein before described of rifling the barrels of
fire-arms.
Thirdly, the methods hereiu-before described of constructing the back
sights of fire-arins.
And, fourthly, the methods herein before described of constructing pro-
jectiles for fire-arms.
In witness whereof, I, the said Perceval Moses Parsons, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twentieth day of September, in the
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty.
year
Witness,
THO. J. HANDFORD.
P. M. PARSONS. (L.S.)