IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF ORDNANCE
Year: 1866

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Webb, of Smethwick, in the County of
Stafford, Manufacturer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
MANUFACTURE OF ORDNANCE."
Sealed the 12th October 1866, and dated the 20th April 1866.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Webb at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 20th
April 1866.
I, WILLIAM WEBB, of Smethwick, in the County of Stafford, Manufacturer,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE MANUFACTURE OF ORDNANCE," to be as follows:-
My Invention consists in manufacturing ordnance partly of brass and partly
of steel or iron, as herein-after explained.
In manufacturing ordnance according to my Invention I take a tube of
steel or iron having an internal diameter somewhat less than that which it is
intended the finished gun shall have. Upon this tube I cast a coating of brass,
so as to form a brass gun with an internal tube or lining of steel or iron. Or
instead of casting the brass upon the steel or iron tube I cast a series of rings
of brass, which I fix upon the tube of steel or iron by shrinking them thereon ;
or I fix the said rings on the said tube in any other convenient manner. The
tube of steel or iron forming the inside of the gun may either be made in the

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Webb in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
18th October 1866.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
WEBB, of Smethwick, in the County of Stafford, Manufacturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twentieth day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, in the twenty-ninth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said William Webb, Her special licence that I, the said William Webb,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
William Webb, my executors, administrators, 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 THE
MANUFACTURE OF ORDNANCE," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said William Webb, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in
writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should particu-
larly 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 William Webb, 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 thereof, that is to say :-
My Invention consists in manufacturing ordnance partly of brass and partly
of steel or iron, as herein-after explained.
In manufacturing ordnance according to my Invention I take a tube of
steel or iron having an internal diameter somewhat less than that which it is
intended the finished gun shall have. Upon this tube I cast a coating or
body of brass, so as to form a brass gun with an internal tube or lining of steel
or iron. Or instead of casting the brass upon the steel or iron tube I cast or

page_text: otherwise make a series of rings of brass, which I fix upon the tube of steel
or iron by shrinking them thereon; or I fix the said rings on the said tube in
any other convenient manner. The tube of steel or iron forming the inside
of the gun may either be made in the ordinary way or made from a welded
coil of steel or iron, but I do not confine myself to the use of tubes of steel or
iron made in any particular manner.
Having explained the nature of my Invention, I will proceed to describe
with reference to the accompanying Drawing the manner in which the same
is to be performed.
Figure 1 represents in plan, Figure 2 in longitudinal section, and Figure 3
in transverse section a breech-loading cannon or ordnance manufactured
according to my Invention. In the said Figures 1, 2, and 3, the inner tube
of steel or iron upon which the brass coating or body b, 63, is cast is marked a.
The breech-loading cannon represented is made in two parts, marked respec-
tively 6 and 62, the breech part 6 having a tubular end 63, which fits in a cor-
responding shaped recess in the inner end of the part b. The breech part b³
is fastened in its place by means of a strong strap or lever c represented in
Figure 1, turning on the trunnions d as a centre, but the said breech part
may be held in its place in any other convenient way. The breech part b¹
may be made of any convenient length to fit the length of the projectile and
charge. The rifling of the cannon is made in the tube or lining a. When
muzzle-loading ordnance are made according to my Invention the brass coating
or body is cast upon one piece of iron or steel tubing. Instead of casting the
brass upon a steel or iron tube, as described and represented, the ordnance may
be made by shrinking a series of brass rings upon the inner tube or lining of
steel or iron, or the said brass rings may be fixed on the inner tube in any
other convenient manner.
By manufacturing ordnance or cannon according to my Invention I form a
brass gun or cannon with an internal tube or lining of steel or iron, by which
said tube or lining the brass gun is much strengthened, and the rifling being
made in the said tube or lining lasts longer than when the rifling is made in
the brass body of the cannon or ordnance.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the manner in
which the same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that I do not
limit myself to the precise details herein described, as the same may be varied
without departing from the nature of my Invention; but I claim as my Inven-
tion the improvements in the manufacture of ordnance herein before described
and illustrated in the accompanying Drawing, that is to say, manufacturing
ordnance of an inner tube or lining of steel or iron, upon which a body or coating

page_text: of brass is cast, or fixing, by shrinking or otherwise, a series of rings of brass
upon an inner tube of steel or iron, substantially as described and illustrated.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Webb, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Sixteenth day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six.
Witness,
RICHARD SKERRETT,
Clerk to George Shaw,
Birmingham.
WILLIAM WEBB. (L.S.)