IMPROVEMENTS IN ORDNANCE
Year: 1871

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Henry Lees at the Office of the
Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 22nd February
1871.
I, HENRY LEES, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, Engineer,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN ORDNANCE," to be as follows:-
My Invention relates to artillery or field guns and to other mounted
guns employed on shipboard or in fortifications, or otherwise employed,
and more particularly to the lighter classes of such guns, and has for
its object to obtain a gun that shall be capabable of being more readily
loaded, and of being discharged at shorter intervals than the guns
ordinarily employed as aforesaid.
A gun constructed in manner according with my said Invention is
fitted with a revolving breach piece in which is formed a number of
chambers to contain the charges and projectiles, the number of the said
chambers being capable of being varied within limits, the number which
I have found to be convenient being five; but in the case of guns of a

page_text: comparatively large calibre it may be found to be advisable to employ
three or four chambers only. The said breach piece is mounted to
revolve on a strong breach pin, bolt, or stud, which passes through a
metal breach block, and is secured on the other side by means of a nut
or of nuts. The said breach pin is formed with a collar, which when
tho said nut or nuts is or are tightened presses the said breach piece
towards the face of the breach block, the faces of the said breach picco
and breach block which come together being formed as near as may be
to truc surfaces. The upper portion of the said breach block is suitably
bored and prepared to receive the breach end of the barrel of the gun,
the said breach end being formed with a collar which is let into the
said breach block, the end of the barrel being flush with the face of
the said breach block; or the said barrel may be otherwise attached
to or may be forged or otherwise formed in one piece with the said
breach block. The said breach block is so formed as that when one
of the aforesaid chambers coincides with the bore of the gun barrel a
chamber on each side of the said breach block corresponds with a recess
formed in the said breach block, or in a piece attached thereto, the
contour of the bottom or back of the said recess corresponding with
the entrance to the said chamber. A decline is formed leading into the
snid recess, so that when a cartridge charge or projectile is dropped into
one of the said recesses it will be presented exactly in a line with one
of the said chambers, and exactly opposite to the mouth of tho said
chamber, so that it is simply necessary to drive or push the said cartridge
charge or projectile into the said chamber. The said breach block is
mounted in a curved saddle, and is firmly attached thereto, the said
saddle being formed with trunnions by means of which the gun is
mounted on a carriage. The gun is elevated and depressed by means
of a screw, the upper end of which is jointed to the said saddle. The
revolving breach piece is by preference formed with a collar which works
between shoulders on the saddle and the breach piece, and suitable
handles are fitted to the said breach piece, by means of which it may be
rotated. Each chamber is formed with a vent fitted with a nipple to
receive a percussion cap, and a hammer to strike the caps is mounted
on a pin carried by the end of the aforesaid breach pin, a spring acting
on the tail of the hammer to give the blow when the said hammer is
drawn back, a second spring keeping the hammer clear of the caps when
at rest. In place of this arrangement other suitable means for firing
the gun may be adopted.

page_text: In order to lessen the escape of gas I prefer to form a recess around
the entrance to the gun barrel, and to fit therein a gas stopper con-
sisting of a ring of metal of a suitable shape and thickness, which is
pressed against the face of the breach piece by the force of the explosion.
When the breach piece is rotated so as to cause one of the chambers to
coincide with the gun barrel a catch enters one of a number of grooves
or recesses corresponding to the number of the said chambers, and
formed in the side of the said breach piece, and retains the said breach
piece in position. The barrel of the gun is or may be rifled, and corre-
sponding lands and grooves may be formed in each of the aforesaid
chambers. A cartridge or charge of powder or other explosive substance
may now be dropped into one of the aforesaid recesses, and a projectile
into the other recess, and both may be driven home into their respective
chambers, the chamber receiving the projectile having previously been
charged with a cartridge when situated opposite the first-named recess.
The operations of loading or charging the chambers and of cleaning the
same may usually be effected during the time required to sight or to
adjust the position of the gun.