IMPROVEMENTS IN PRO- JECTILES."
Year: 1867

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alexander Melville Clark, of 53, Chancery Lane, in
the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN PRO-
JECTILES." A communication from abroad by Jules Félix Gévelot,
Cartridge Manufacturer, of 29, Boulevart St. Martin, Paris.
Sealed the 17th January 1868, and dated the 29th July 1867.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alexander Melville Clark
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
29th July 1867.
I, ALEXANDER MELVILLE CLARK, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the County of
Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN PROJECTILES," to be as follows:-
As a consequence of the improvements in fire-arms and the adoption of the
principle of breech-loading it has become necessary to modify the form of the
projectile, and one of the chief difficulties has been to obtain the same weight
in the cylindro-conical ball as in the old ball, which is effected by hollowing
out the interior and filling up the space to prevent windage. The modes of
filling hitherto adopted have proved defective from the nature of the materials
employed, which usually consist of plaster, clay, cement, or wood. These
plugs often become detached before the ball has reached its destination, either
partially or wholly, thus producing considerable irregularity in the flight of
the ball.

page_text: This Invention relates to the application of a pasteboard plug, which is
moulded of the required form before its introduction into the projectile. The
pasteboard being strongly compressed will not be acted on by the gases, and
will retain its original form even after the ball has reached its destination.
This improvement enables the ball to be hollowed out to a much greater
extent, and also of giving to a cylindro-spherical projectile the same weight as
a spherical one. The adhesion of the pasteboard plug to the base of the ball
is obtained in the following manner:-The ball with the plug in position
therein is placed in a matrix, when by the aid of a punch the plug is forcibly
compressed, and then fixed by turning down the edge of the metal in the base
of the ball. In this manner the pasteboard plug cannot become separated
from the ball. The plug may further be fixed by the aid of glue or other
adhesive matter, but I prefer the mode first above mentioned.
This Invention is illustrated in the annexed Drawing, in which Figure 1
shows a central vertical section of a hollow projectile; Figure 2, a section of
the pasteboard plug for filling up the cavity in the ball; while Figure 3 shows
in section the mode of fixing the pasteboard plug in the ball.
..a, ball or projectile, hollowed in its interior at 1, 2, 3, 4; b, pasteboard
plug, to which is previously imparted the form of the cavity 1, 2, 3, 4, in the
ball it is intended to fill; c, Figure 8, matrix in which the ball is placed after
the introduction of the pasteboard plug b; d, punch for turning down the
edges 5, 6, in the base of the ball a, so as to firmly secure the plug 6 in the
cavity 1, 2, 3, 4.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Alexander Melville Clark in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 25th January 1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALEXANDER
MELVILLE CLARK, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-ninth day of July, 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 Alexander Melville Clark, Her special licence that I, the said
Alexander Melville Clark, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said Alexander Melville Clark, my executors, administrators,

page_text: 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 PROJECTILES," a communication to me from abroad by
Jules Felix Gevelot, Cartridge Manufacturer, of 29, Boulevart St. Martin,
Paris, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Alexander Melville
Clark, 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 Alexander Melville Clark, 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, reference being had to the Sheet of Drawings hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say) :-
As a consequence of the improvements in fire-arms and the adoption of the
principle of breech-loading it has become necessary to modify the form of the
projectile, and one of the chief difficulties has been to obtain the same weight
as in the old cylindro-conical ball, even by filling up the hollow space, which
would be objectionable in those guns where windage is not required. The
modes of filling hitherto adopted have proved defective from the nature of the
materials employed, which usually consist of plaster, clay, cement, or wood.
These plugs often become detached before the ball has reached its destination,
either partially or wholly, thus producing considerable irregularity in the flight
of the ball.
This Invention relates to the application of a pasteboard plug, which is
moulded in the required form before its introduction into the projectile. The
pasteboard being strongly compressed in all ways will not be acted on by the
gases, and will retain its original form, even after the ball has reached its
destination.
This improvement enables the ball to be hollowed out to a much greater
extent, and also of giving a cylindro-spherical projectile the same weight as a
spherical one. The adhesion of the pasteboard plug to the base of the ball is
obtained in the following manner :-The ball with the plug in position therein
is placed in a matrix, when by the aid of a punch the plug is forcibly com-
pressed, and then fixed by turning down the edge of the metal in the base of

page_text: the ball. In this manner the pasteboard plug cannot become separated from
the ball. The plug may further be fixed by the aid of glue or other adhesive
matter, but I prefer the mode above mentioned.
This Invention is illustrated in the Drawing annexed, in which Figure 1
shows a central vertical section of a hollow projectile; Figure 2 a section of
the pasteboard plug for filling up the cavity in the ball; while Figure 3 shows
in section the mode of fixing the pasteboard plug in the ball.
a, ball or projectile hollowed in its interior at 1, 2, 3, 4; b, pasteboard
wad, to which is previously imparted the form of the cavity 1, 2, 3, 4, in the
ball it is intended to fill; c, Figure 3, matrix in which the ball is placed after
the introduction of the pasteboard plug b; d, punch for turning down the
odges 5, 6, in the base of the ball a, so as to firmly secure the plug h in the
cavity 1, 2, 3, 4.
Having described the nature of this Invention, and the manner of per-
forming the same, I declare that what I claim as the Invention to be protected
by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is, the use and application
of pasteboard for filling hollow projectiles in the manner and for the purpose
specified and as illustrated in the accompanying Drawing.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alexander Melville Clark, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-fifth day of January, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight.
A. M. CLARK. (L.S.)