An Improvement in Blank Ammunition for Military Small Arms.
Year: 1896

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
An Improvement in Blank Ammunition for Military Small Arms.
I, THOMAS JAMES LONG of Swansfield, Harlesden, in the County of Middlesex,
Colonel of 3rd Volunteer Batallion Royal Fusiliers, do hereby declare the nature
of this Invention to be as follows:-
My Invention has for its object to enable an economy to be effected in the
manufacture, storage, carriage, and distribution of blank ammunition for military
small arms, and it consists in providing what may be termed a cartridge carrier
or adapter similar in external form and dimensions to an ordinary full sized cartridge
case so as to fit the chamber of the barrel the said adapter being formed with a
seat wherein a diminutive cartridge may be held so that when the adapter carrying
such dimunitive cartridge is placed in the chamber of the gun the cartridge will be
presented in position to be fired in the usual manner as though it were a full
size cartridge. The operation of loading, whether from the magazine or singly,
is the same as with full size ammunition, the diminutive blank cartridge being
fixed in its carrier or adapter beforehand and the two being loaded and ejected as
one. The adapter or carrier thus serves as a means of supporting the diminutive
cartridge centrally in position in the chamber and also protects the walls of the
chamber from the action of the gases, at the same time that for purposes of drill
or in other circumstances where blank fire is required it enables a cartridge to be
used containing but a small fraction of a full charge.
for
Such cartridge carrier or adapter may be specially manufactured for the purpose
of carrying out the invention but with a view to economy the invention also in-
cludes the utilization of spent cartridge cases as adapters or carriers
diminutive blank ammunition. For this purpose it is only necessary to punch or
drill out and countersink the base of a full size metallic cartridge shell in order
to form a seat in which the diminutive blank cartridge may be held, the cartridge
being thus supported within the empty case and presenting its base in position to
be struck by the firing pin, whilst the flange of the empty cartridge shell forming
the adapter is engaged by the extractor as though it were in fact the case of the
loaded cartridge, so that the use of diminutive ammunition does not involve any
alteration of the extractor or other part of the gun.
Dated thin 90th
1000
A. M. & WM. CLARK,
53, Chancery Lane, London, Chartered Patent Agents.

page_text: An Improvement in Blank Ammunition for Military Small Arms.
I, THOMAS JAMES LONG of Swansfield, Harlesden, in the County of Middlesex,
Colonel of 3rd Volunteer Batallion Royal Fusiliers, do hereby declare the nature
of this Invention and in what manner the same is to be performed to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement:-
My Invention relates to blank ammunition for military small arms, including
quick-firing machine guns, and it has for its principal object to effect a considerable
economy in the cost of blank ammunition by enabling diminutive ammunition
to be used for blank firing and indirectly to effect economy in the storage, carriage,
and distribution of such blank ammunition.
The Invention consists essentially in the combination, with a diminutive blank
cartridge, of an adapter or carrier therefor the said adapter being constituted
either by an uncharged or discharged service cartridge case modified as hereafter
described or being specially made for the purpose and the diminutive blank
cartridge being fitted in the said adapter in such way as to be held in position
to be fired as though it were a full-sized cartridge without the intervention of any
intermediate striking pin or adjunct, the operations of loading (whether from the
magazine or singly) and of ejecting after firing being the same as with the
ordinary full size amminution.
The Invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawing
which illustrates the Invention on a magnified scale and from which it will be
seen that in adapting an ordinary, spent cartridge shell A for the purpose of the
Invention the central part of the base containing the exploded cap is drilled out
and countersunk, as represented by the dotted cross-hatched part of Figure 1,
so as to form a seat to receive the diminutive blank cartridge B, 'shewn in Figure 2
as fitted in position in the adapter, there being sufficient metal at the base of the
shell A to enable a cylindrical bore a corresponding exactly in diameter with the
diminutive blank cartridge B to be drilled of sufficient length to support the blank
cartridge firmly within the shell A, as shewn, so that the two may be handled as
one, the base of the shell A being also countersunk as at a to receive the flange b
of the blank cartridge. The base of the blank cartridge is flush with the base of
the shell A. and the priming cap contained in the centre of the base of the blank
cartridge is presented immediately opposite to the firing pin or striker of the
weapon so as to be exploded by the direct impact of the said firing pin or striker
in the same way as a full-sized cartridge is exploded thereby and without the
intervention of any intermediate part for transmitting the blow from the firing pin
to the cap as would be required were the diminutive cartridge fixed in the forward
part of the adapter.
The diminutive cartridge case is made of metal in the same way as a full-size
cartridge, being provided with a flange b at the base which serves the purpose of
determining the correct position of the blank cartridge in the adapter or carrier.
A case of .250 calibre and .750 in length is recommended for the blank cartridge
but this could be increased or reduced to produce the amount of smoke and
report deemed necessary. For this purpose black powder of the commonest
quality answers best as the adapter A effectually protects the chamber of the
barrel from the effects of the explosion. No felt wad is required, a thin card or
paper wad fixed with a drop of resin or wax being sufficient. If the carrier or
adapter A be accurately bored the diminutive cartridge will be securely retained
in position without danger of shaking out in handling or otherwise, but if the
boring is rough and inaccurate, or the diminutive cartridge not true to gauge,

page_text: the cartridge B may be coated with a solution of wax or resin which will give a
smooth firm bite to an otherwise ill fitting cartridge.
The extraction together as one of the shell A and spent cartridge B after firing
the blank charge, is effected by the extractor of the weapon engaging in the usual
way with the flange c at the base of the shell A as though, full-size ammunition
were being fired so that the use of diminutive ammunition does not involve any
alteration of, or the use of any adjunct to, the extractor or other part of the
gun-lock or barrel and the manipulation of the weapon being the same as with
full-size ammunition the training of the soldier need not be varied.
The spent cartridge case of the blank cartridge may be easily removed from the
shell A and quickly replaced by a loaded one so that the shell A is available for
use repeatedly and is practically indestructible. Consequently as a few rounds
of such adapters will suffice for very many rounds of blank ammunition, the supply
of blank ammunition to troops involves only the storage, carriage, and distribution
in large quantities of the dimunitive cartridges B.
Although it is preferred, for the sake of economy, to utilize discharged or
uncharged service cartridge cases as adapters or carriers for blank ammunition
by boring out the base of the case as above mentioned it will be obvious that
the adapter or carrier may be specially made of the same shape and for the same
purpose. For quick firers it is recommended that the base of the specially made
brass cylinder now in use for saluting purposes should be bored out conically
(instead of being countersunk with a rebate, as shewn in Figure 2) to receive a
dimunitive cartridge case having a correspondingly coned flange or shoulder the
diminutive case being made of steel and sufficiently strong and thick at the base
to admit of being repeatedly refilled with black powder.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said Inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is:
The combination of a diminutive blank cartridge and of an adapter or carrier
formed of, or in the shape of, a spent cartridge shell whose base is bored out
and countersunk to receive the dimunitive cartridge and hold it by its flanged base
end in position to be fired, substantially as specified.
Dotod this 20th day of July 1897
A. M. & WM. CLARK,
53, Chancery Lane, London, Chartered Patent Agents.