IMPROVE- MENTS IN PROJECTILES FOR FIRE-ARMS AND ORDNANCE
Year: 1866

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Robert Lake, of the "International Patent
Office," No. 8, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Consulting Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN PROJECTILES FOR FIRE-ARMS AND ORDNANCE."-A communication
from abroad by Samuel Hatt Haycock, of Ottawa, in the County of
Carlton, West Canada.
Sealed the 20th November 1866, and dated the 18th September 1866.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said William Robert Lake at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition and
Declaration, on the 18th September 1866, pursuant to the 9th Section
of the Patent Law Amendment Act, 1852.
. TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
ROBERT LAKE, of the "International Patent Office," No. 8, Southampton
Buildings, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Consulting Engineer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS I am in possession of an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
PROJECTILES FOR FIRE-ARMS AND ORDNANCE," and have petitioned Her Majesty

page_text: to grant unto me, my executors, administrators, and assigns, Her Royal
Letters Patent for the same, and have made solemn Declaration that the
same is a communication to me from abroad by Samuel Hatt Haycock, of
Ottawa, in the County of Carlton, West Canada.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Robert Lake, do hereby declare
that the following Complete Specification under my hand and seal fully
describes and ascertains the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, in and by the following statement, reference
being had to the accompanying Sheet of Drawings forming part of this
Specification:-
The said Invention consists in a bullet having a conical base or rear end
combined with a cylindrical portion and an elongated point, the centre of gravity
being in advance of the said cylindrical portion. I am aware that the bases of
projectiles have been rounded, forming a hemispherical rear to the projectile or
some other rounded shape, and also that a round-faced projectile has been
made with a conical rear or base, but I have found that such balls do not fly
truly and are apt to upset in their flight, or at the moment of penetration,
and this I ascribe to the faulty construction involving a misplacement of the
centre of gravity. In balls with a flat or concave base a great impediment to
the flight of the ball is believed to be caused by the partial vacuum behind it.
The air being violently displaced by the forward end of the projectile forms an
eddy behind it, without filling the space in its rear, in a manner somewhat
analogous to the motion of the water in the wake of a moving boat of a
parabolic horizontal water section. Inasmuch as it has been found necessary
to give a taper to the "run" of a vessel under the counter at the place
where the water closes in again behind the said vessel, so have I provided a
conical rear end to the ball, so that the air closes in behind it more directly
and with less disturbance, instead of leaving the said ball flat or so rounded
as to produce a partial vacuum in the rear of the ball. I am not able to
demonstrate to a certainty that. the air closes in behind and hugs the surface
of the rear end of the ball when it is made conical, as I propose, but I know
that the said ball flies better, and believe that there is less tendency in the ball
when of that shape to produce a partial vacuum behind it; and further, in-
asmuch as the air cannot be credibly affirmed to occupy at its ordinary
pressure the space in the rear of a flat or concave based projectile when in
rapid motion, I believe that to fill this space with a cone of lead will add to
the weight without increasing the displacement or adding to the frictional
surface of the ball in the bore of the piece. This benefit I believe is peculiar

page_text: venting or diminishing the partial vacuum presumed to be formed in the rear
of projectiles of ordinary character.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.
Figure 1 is a sectional view of a projectile with a band upon it; Figure 2
is a sectional view of a projectile in connection with a metallic capsule.
A is the ball, around which, as shewn in Figure 1, a groove is formed for the
attachment of a band of lead or other suitable material, the ball proper being
made of cast iron. The projectile represented in this Figure may thus be
adapted for ordnance. The conical rear is indicated by C, and the centre of
gravity is in advance of the said cylindrical portion, which extends forward to
the red lines z, z.
In Figure 2 the lead ball is shown in connection with a capsule or copper
cartridge case D, the powder E, and flange on the capsule for priming and
withdrawal as commonly used. A shoulder d is formed upon the ball on
which the end of the capsule fits, and this shoulder affords quite a sufficient
surface for expansion by the force of the explosion to enable the ball to occupy
the bore and utilize the results of the deflagration of the powder. The
cylindrical portion of the projectile which fits against the bands of the bore
is expanded at its rear end by the force of the explosion exerted against the
shoulder d, Figure 2, so as to occupy the grooves in the bore; or when a belt.e,
Figure 1, is used the rear edge of the same is similarly expanded for the same
purpose.
I am aware that bullets have been made of a conical shape with a flat
base, or a slightly rounded base, or with a hemispherical base, and I am also
aware that a bullet has been made whose hemispherical face and conical base
have been united by a cylindrical portion, but in this case the centre of gravity
of the bullet has been within or in the rear of the said cylindrical portion,
which is fatal to perfect accuracy in the flight and impact of the projectile.
In my bullet the rounded face is so prolonged as to make a comparatively
sharp point, and it embraces so large a portion of the metal of the projectile
that the centre of gravity is thrown forward of the cylindrical portion, which is
a necessary feature where accuracy of motion is to be secured.
Having thus fully described the said Invention as communicated to me
from my foreign correspondent, and shewn how the same may be conveniently
and advantageously carried into practice, I claim an elongated pointed
projectile having a cylindrical portion to fit the bands of the bore and a

page_text: conical rear, the centre of gravity being in advance of the said cylindrical
portion.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Robert Lake, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Seventeenth day of September, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six.
Witness,
T. E. JULIAN.
WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE. (LS.)