IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR FILLING CARTRIDGE CASES FOR BREECH-LOADING GUNS
Year: 1868

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by John Collins at the Office of
the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 29th
February 1868.
I, JOHN COLLINS, of No. 9, Dawson Street, in the City of Dublin, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVED APPARATUS
FOR FILLING CARTRIDGE CASES FOR BREECH-LOADING GUNS," to be as follows:-
This Invention is divided into three parts.
First. A piece for holding the cartridge cases while they are being
filled.
Secondly. Two implements for filling or charging the said cases
with powder and shot at separate operations.
And thirdly. A case or box to contain the whole of these parts and
constituting a very portable apparatus for the above purpose.
The following is an example of the means by which this Invention.
may be carried into practical effect:-In order to fill 100 cases of
No. 12 bore I take a slab of some hard wood, say 10 in. square by 1 in.
thick, and at distances of about one inch apart I bore 100 holes, 10 in a
row, to the depth of 1 in. and of the same diameter as the outside of the

page_text: cartridge cases, I finish the holes through at a diameter equal to the
internal diameter of the cartridge case, thus leaving a shoulder for the
edge of the cartridge case to abut against and bringing the inside of
the said case flush with the inside of this part of the hole in the slab at
which it is intended to insert the wad. The mouths of the several
holes at each side of the perforated slab are enlarged to facilitate the
entry of the cases and wads thereinto, I place the slab thus perforated
with the largest ends of the holes uppermost, I put 100 empty cases.
with their months down into the said holes, I place over the said slab
and cartridges cases a wooden tray 3 in. deep and 10% in. square
internally, having in each corner thereof a stop 1 in. above the bottom
to prevent the slab going beyond that point into the tray; I then invert
the tray and the slab containing the cases, and proceed to charge them
with powder and shot which I propose to effect by means of two metal
canisters of the-same size, one to hold powder and the other shot, say
8 in. long by 5 wide and 1 in. deep, tapered at one end, and in
this end of each canister I place five brass tubes in. in diameter
internally and projecting 2 in., having two or more fine slits cut
transversely half through each of them, the slits in all five tubes being
in a line and at such distances apart in each tube that the spaces
between them shall measure two or more charges of powder or shot as
may be required in each tube, two slides or cutters work in the slits as
in the ordinary shot pouch head, the two outside tubes in each canister
are fitted with the springs and levers usual in shot pouch heads, the
three centre tubes are plain, I make the five hindmost cutters in one
piece, as also the three centre fore cutters, these cutters work on steel
wires or rods passing through them and the ends of the levers, the
rod on which the foremost cutters work is fitted at one end with a
screw nut to allow of the cutters being quickly changed into other
slits so as to alter the charge on each tube in the powder canister; I
fit a small spring sliding brass collar by moving which over the slits I
prevent the powder from spilling when the cutters are placed in the
foremost slits; I connect these collars together on the under slides of
the tubes by a slight metal bar, the ends of the levers which are pressed
down by the thumbs I connect in, each canister by a slight metal bar.
The canister holding the powder which should be quite full in order to
fill 100 cases is held nearly upright over five of the holes, the levers
are pressed down and suddenly released, and so on over all the holes,
which may thus be filled in a few seconds, the wads are shaken over

page_text: the holes which are slightly widened on their upper surfaces to receive
them, and being placed flat in the holes by hand are forced through with
a rammer formed with any convenient number of prongs, the shot is
then applied in the same manner as the powder from the other canister,
and wads again rammed down in the same way as before; I then invert
and remove the tray and turn over the cases in the usual way. The
two canisters will fit in the bottom of the tray and the perforated slab
over them, a three prong rammer will fit in one of the canisters, and
the whole is secured by a sliding lid to the tray and thus rendered
portable.