IMPROVEMENTS IN CARTRIDGES FOR BREECH-LOADING FIRE-ARMS AND ORDNANCE
Year: 1866

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edward Mounier Boxer, of the Royal Arsenal,
Woolwich, in the County of Kent, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
Sealed the 22nd June 1866, and dated the 15th January 1866.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edward Mounier Boxer at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
15th January 1866.
I, EDWARD MOUNIER BOXER, of the Royal Arsenal, Woolwich, in the County
of Kent, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN CARTRIDGES FOR BREECH-LOADING FIRE-ARMS AND ORDNANCE," to be as
follows:-
My Invention has for its object to construct the cases of cartridges for
breech-loading fire arms and ordnance in such a manner that they shall
readily expand by slightly uncoiling and stretching on firing so as to fill the
chamber, and will contract slightly after firing so as to admit of the empty
case being readily removed. For this purpose I construct such cases of thin
sheet metal, either alone or in combination with paper, calico, linen, or other
similar suitable material, which is coiled up on a suitable "former" into a
cylindrical shape. One end of this coiled case is fixed into the metal cap

page_text: ordinarily employed for forming the rear end of such cartridges, and the
cartridge having been filled with powder the bullet (when such is used) is
inserted into the open end, which is fixed thereto by choking the metal case
into the rear cannelure of the bullet. In order to prevent the escape of
powder from between the case and the bullet I insert a wadding of cotton
wool between the powder and the end of the bullet, which effectually prevents
any such escape, this contrivance is also applicable to other forms of cartridges
for breech-loading fire-arms. I prefer to use sheet brass for the metal
portion of the casing in combination with waxed cloth or paper, the metal
being made to form the inner coil and the cloth or paper the outer coil. If
the cloth or paper is not saturated with bees'-wax the outer edge of the cloth
or paper must be slightly gummed or pasted so as to prevent the case
from uncoiling when it is removed from the "former." When sheet metal
alone is used I prefer to put a slight coating of bees'-wax upon its outer
surface. When no bullet or projectile is fixed into the end of the cartridge,
as in cartridges for sporting purposes or for ordnance, I close the end of the
cartridge by means of a plug or disc having a cannelure into which the coiled
casing is "choked."
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Edward Mounier Boxer in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 6th July 1866.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, EDWARD
MOUNIER BOXER, of the Royal Arsenal, Woolwich, in the County of Kent, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fifteenth day of January, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, in the twenty-ninth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Edward Mounier Boxer, Her special licence that I, the said Edward
Mounier Boxer, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said Edward Mounier Boxer, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN CARTRIDGES FOR BREECH-LOADING FIRE-ARMS AND ORDNANCE,"

page_text: upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Edward Mounier Boxer,
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 Edward Mounier Boxer, 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, reference being had to the accompanying Drawing,
and to the figures and letters marked thereon, that is to say:-
My Invention has for its object to construct cartridges having a coiled metal
case to fulfil the following conditions, namely, that the body of the cartridge
shall readily expand by slightly uncoiling and stretching on firing so as to
fill the chamber, and shall contract slightly after firing so as to admit of the
empty case being readily removed; secondly, that the bullet shall be firmly
secured to the case without affecting the proper action of the case on firing,
or the proper action of the lubricating matter on the bullet; thirdly, that the
powder shall be prevented from escaping at the junction of the case with the
bullet by such means as shall not affect the accuracy of fire. For these
purposes I construct such cartridges in the following manner :-I form the case
of thin sheet metal, either alone or in combination with paper, calico, linen, or
other similar suitable material, which is coiled upon a suitable "former" into
a cylindrical shape. One end of this coiled case is fixed into the metal
cap ordinarily employed for forming the rear end of such cartridges, the
cartridge is then filled with powder, and in order to prevent the escape of
the powder from between the case and the bullet, I insert a very small portion
of loose cotton or other similar fine fibre between the powder and the end
of the bullet, which effectually prevents any such escape and does not affect
the accuracy of fire, this contrivance is also applicable to other forms of
cartridges for breech-loading fire-arms. The bullet, when such is used, is then
inserted into the open end of the case, which is fixed thereto by "choking" the
metal case into the rear cannelure of the bullet, the casing extending beyond
that point at which it is choked in so as completely to cover that portion of
the bullet which is coated with lubricating material. I prefer to use sheet
brass for the metal portion of the casing in combination with waxed cloth or
paper, the metal being made to form the inner coil and the cloth or paper the
outer coil. If the cloth or paper is not saturated with bees'-wax the outer

page_text: edge of the cloth or paper must be secured with shell-lac varnish, gum, or
paste, so as to prevent the case from uncoiling when it is removed from the
""former." When sheet metal alone is used I prefer to put a slight coating
of bees'-wax upon its outer surface. When waxed cloth is used I prefer to
coat the outer surface with French chalk or plumbago, and when paper is used
I coat the same with oil. When no. bullet or projectile is fixed into the end
of the cartridge, as in cartridges for sporting purposes or for ordnance, I close
the end of the cartridge by means of a plug or disc having a cannelure into
which the coiled casing is choked.
On the accompanying Drawing is shown the construction of my improved
cartridge in combination with the description of bullet which I prefer to
employ, but which I do not claim as part of the present Invention. The
general proportions and arrangement of the cartridge are shown full size for a
rifle of 0.577 bore with central fire; my Invention may however be employed
in combination with any other description of cartridge with coiled metal case
for breech-loading fire-arms and ordnance.
Figure 1 shows a perspective elevation of the combined metal and paper
case partly coiled up; Figure 2 shows an elevation of the same completely
coiled up before fixing into the metal cap; Figure 3 shows a longitudinal
section through the same; Figure 4 shows an elevation of the complete
cartridge with bullet fixed; Figure 5 shows a longitudinal section of the same;
Figure 6 shows an elevation, and Figure 7 shows a vertical section of the
bullet detached without the wax coating; Figure 8 shows an elevation of the
same with the wax coating; and Figure 9'shows a longitudinal section through
a cartridge for sporting purposes. Similar letters of reference indicate similar
parts in each of the Figures.
A is the coiled metal casing covered externally with paper or cloth B;
which is made to overlap the outer edge of the metal somewhat, as shown at
Figure 1, for the purpose of fixing it down with gum, shell-lac paste, or by
means of the wax or other material with which it is saturated. This caso is
fixed into the ordinary metal cap C with central fire, which when taken separate
and apart from the combination described forms no part of my present Inven-
tion, into which cap the casing is fixed by a plug D. The bullet E is fixed in
the casing by the latter being "choked" into the rear cannelure of the former;
as shown at a, Figures 4 and 5, the casing being made to extend to the end
of the cylindrical part of the bullet, so as to protect the wax coating of the
same; F is the small portion of loose cotton or other fibre interposed between
the bullet and the powder G in order to prevent any escape of the latter;
a is a conical recess in the rear of the bullet E, in which is placed the conical

page_text: plug b, and c is a wooden plug inserted in another recess formed in the front
of the bullet; d, d, are cannelures serving to hold on the coating of wax c.
The bullet is made slightly smaller in diameter than the bore of the gun,
so that when fired, thereby becoming a naked bullet, it is expanded by the
plug 6 so as to take the grooves of the rifle, whilst a coating of bees'-wax
is retained between the metal of the bullet, and that of the barrel during the
whole of the passage of the bullet through the barrel, whereby the fouling of
the gun is prevented in a remarkable degree.
At Figure 9 is shown my Invention applied to a sporting cartridge, in
which arrangement a wad f of cardboard or other material is inserted over
the before-mentioned cotton fibre F, above this the casing is choked in at
x, and the casing is then filled in with shot g, which are closed in by means of
a disc h having a cannelure into which the casing A is again choked.
In employing my Invention for cartridges to ordnance the coiled metal
case is made proportionately stronger, and the front end is closed by means
of a wooden disc having one or more cannelures into which the metal is
choked.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of per-
forming the same, I wish to be understood that I do not claim the use of
coiled metal in the construction of cartridges for breech-loading fire-arms and
ordnance otherwise than in combination as herein-before described, but what
I claim as the Invention secured to me by the herein-before in part recited
Letters Patent is,--
First, constructing cartridges with a coiled thin sheet metal casing fixed at
the rear end inside a metal cap, and choked at the front end into one or more
cannelures formed in the bullet disc or plug closing the cartridge, substantially
as herein-before described.
Second, constructing the cases of cartridges of a combination of coiled metal
with either paper, calico, linen, or other similar material fixed at the rear end
inside a metal cap, and choked at the front end into one or more cannelures
of the bullet disc or plug closing the cartridge, substantially as herein-before
described with reference to the accompanying Drawing.
Third, interposing a small portion of loose cotton or other fibre between the
powder in the cartridge and the end of the bullet disc or plug closing the
front end of the same.
Fourth, I claim the coiled metal case choked into one or more cannelures
in the bullet disc or plug in combination with the small portion of cotton
or other fibre between the bullet disc or plug and the powder in the cart-
ridge.

page_text: Fifth, I claim the employment of waxed cloth as a covering to the coiled
metal case.
In witness whereof, I, the said Edward Mounier Boxer, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Third day of July, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six.
Witness,
C. D. ABEL,
20, Southampton Buildings.
E. M. BOXER. (L.S.)