IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF CARTRIDGES FOR FIRE-ARMS
Year: 1855

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Norton, of Dublin, in the County of Dublin,
Ireland, Esquire, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION
OF CARTRIDGES FOR FIRE-ARMS."
Sealed the 12th June 1855, and dated the 23rd February 1855.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Norton at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 23rd
February 1855.
I, JOHN NORTON, of Dublin, in the County of Dublin, Ireland, Esquire, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
CONSTRUCTION OF CARTRIDGES FOR FIRE-ARMS " to be as follows, that is to say:-
This Invention relates to thic so arranging and manufacturing cartridges for
fire-arms that the discharge may be effected without the necessity of first piercing
or breaking open the paper case, as is usual with the existing arrangements,
the explosive discharge being produced by the heat or flame derived from a
common or military percussion cap; for this purpose gun cotton is incorporated
with the cartridge or explosive charge of gunpowder in such manner as to
afford a more certain and effectual means of ignition than is obtainable with
ordinary gunpowder. In making or fitting up cartridges in this way the
operator proceeds thus:-A piece of thin tough paper sufficient to form the
entire case or cartridge is laid on the mouth of the mould, the bore of which
is of the same size as that of the arm for the cartridge is to be made.
This

page_text: paper blank is is then pressed down into the mould so as to form the case of
the cartridge with its open upper end; a small portion of gun cotton is then
pressed into the bottom of the paper case, and the required charge of gun-
powder is then poured in over the gun cotton; the ball or shot is then pressed
on the gunpowder, and the open end of the paper case is tied in front and
behind the ball or wad. A small quantity of percussion powder may be used
instead of the gun cotton, but the gun cotton is to be preferred. The interior
of the cartridge is protected from wet or damp, and its outer side may be coated
with a thin waterproof varnish. This cartridge can be drawn from the barrel
of the gun without breaking its case. The fire of the percussion cap is suffi-
cient to produce the discharge without further preparation, as the percussion
fire easily ignites the gun cotton, as far less heat is required for the ignition of
gun cotton than for gunpowder.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Norton in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 23rd
August 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
NORTON, of Dublin, in the County of Dublin, Ireland, Esquire, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-third day of February, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, in the eighteenth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said John Norton, Her special license that I, the said John Norton,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
John Norton, my executors, administrators, or assigns, should at any
time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after 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 "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF CARTRIDGES FOR FIRE-ARMS," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said John Norton, by an instrument in writing
under my hand and seal, 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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Norton, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed,
to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following state-
ment in writing, reference being bad to the accompanying Drawings, and to
the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say:
My said Invention relates to the so arranging and manufacturing cartridges
for fire-arms of various kinds that the explosive discharge may be effected
without the necessity of first piercing or breaking open the paper case of the
cartridge, as is usual with the existing arrangements, the explosive discharge
being produced by the heat or flame derived from a common or military per-
cussion cap. For this purpose percussion powder or gun cotton is incorporated
with the cartridge or explosive charge of gunpowder in such manner as to
afford a more certain and effectual means of ignition than is obtainable with
ordinary gunpowder. In making or fitting up cartridges in this way under
one modification I proceed thus:-A piece of thin tough paper sufficient to
form the entire case or cartridge is laid on the mouth of the mould or shaper,
the bore of which is of the same size as or rather a size smaller than that of
the arm for which the cartridge is to be made. This paper blank is then
pressed down into the mould so as to form the case of the cartridge with its
upper end open. A small portion of percussion powder or gun cotton is then
put or pressed into the bottom of the paper case, and the required charge of
gunpowder is then poured in over the percussion powder or gun cotton. The
ball or shot is then pressed on the gunpowder, and the open end of the paper
case is tied in front and behind the ball or wadding. The interior of the
cartridge is protected from wet or damp, and its outer side may be coated with
a thin waterproof varnish; this cartridge can be drawn from the barrel of the
gun without breaking its case; it is, however, best adapted for breech-loading
arms. The fire of the percussion cap is sufficient to produce the discharge
without further preparation, as the percussion fire easily ignites the gun cotton,
as far less heat is required for the ignition of percussion powder or gun cotton
than for gunpowder.
And in order that my said Invention may be properly understood I shall
now proceed to describe the several Figures on the Sheet of Drawings hereunto
attached, and representing the details of the special arrangements which I
prefer to adopt.
Figure 1 is a vertical sectional view of my cartridge mould or shaper, with
the "former" or moulding rammer in the act of shaping or pressing down
the cartridge paper; Figure 2 is a corresponding sectional view, representing the
open cartridge case, as charged with detonating or percussion powder at the

page_text: bottom, and with the firing charge of ordinary gunpowder above this bottom
explosive layer; Figure 3 is a sectional view of the completed cartridge with
its front end tied up, the cylindro-conoidal shot being in elevation; and
Figure 4 is an external view of the finished cartridge as ready for use.
"
In Figures 1 and 2 on my Sheet of Drawings, A is the mould for giving the
cylindrical contour to the cartridge case; B is the case paper in the act of
being brought to the required form; and C is the "former or ramming stick.
The cartridge paper cut to the proper size, and either round or square in shape,
is first of all laid down upon a table or other convenient flat surface, and the
actual moulding or ramming end of the "former "C is then placed upon the
centre of the paper. At this stage of the operation the sides of the paper are
drawn or folded up on the "former" in a loose manner, and in this condition
the covered-in end of the "former" is entered with the paper into the open
end of the mould A. This action necessarily brings the cartridge paper to the
form represented in Figures 1 and 2, the lower part B of the paper being com-
pressed to a cylindrical form with the solid bottom end slightly convex, whilst
the upper part D of the paper is loosely expanded. The "former" is then
withdrawn from the mould, leaving the paper therein in the form of a hollow
open-topped case. This case is now ready for the reception of the fulminating
mercury or percussion powder E, which is dropped into the bottom of the case,
forming a thin layer thereon. After this the proper charge of ordinary gun-
powder is put into the case above the fulminate, and over both these
explosive substances is placed the cylindro-conoidal shot G, the cylindrical
base of the shot being passed down into actual contact with the gunpowder. A
thread or string H is passed round the cartridge at the shot's base, and between
the latter and the gunpowder, and the paper in front of the shot is well and
tightly tied up over the shot's apex at I. The thread at H gives firmness
and solidity to the cartridge and prevents shaking, whilst the front end tie
insures the unburnt portion of the cartridge case being carried clear of the
gun's barrel with the shot when fired. Instead of fulminating mercury or
percussion powder, a very thin paste of the fulminate may be spread upon
the centre of the cartridge paper blank before folding, this coating being
somewhat larger in diameter than the diameter of the shot's base. This ful-
minate coating enables me to dispense with the separate deposit of the loose
powder in the bottom of the cartridge case, whilst it answers for effecting the
discharge of the gunpowder by the heat of the percussion cap flame; but I
prefer to use the loose fulminate for this purpose without any adhesive mix-
ture whatever. If gun cotton is used as the explosive medium in place of the
fulminating matter E, a thin layer of the gun cotton is placed in the bottom of

page_text: the case, so as to occupy the space marked E in my Drawings. I prefer, how-
ever, to use fulminating mercury instead of gun cotton for this purpose; but I
also make my improved cartridges with gunpowder alone, using no other
explosive agent within the cartridge case. When gunpowder alone is thus
used, I make a very fine and invisible or hardly visible puncture through the
centre of the base of the cartridge case, this puncture being covered or
closed up by a slight varnish or composition which yields to the heat of the
percussion cap flame from the nipple of the gun. When the cartridge is
made in this way not even the finest grain of gunpowder can escape from the
cartridge case, whilst the percussion cap fire striking the case of the cartridge
centrally is certain to explode the cartridge.
Cartridges of my improved kind, when finished to the form and arrangement
represented in Figure 4 on my Sheet of Drawings, are most conveniently
available for all classes or kinds of fire-arms, the user being saved from all
trouble with them further than that involved in seeing that the explosive base
of the cartridge is placed in each case next to the gun's breech, as the case
requires no breaking open or preparation whatever prior to firing. Such
cartridges are more especially serviceable for "breech-loading "arms, as, when
they are simply laid in the open breech of the arm, it is obvious that the
fulminate in the base of the cartridge can never receive any objectionable shock
to cause risk of premature explosion; but when gunpowder alone is used,
the cartridges may be rammed down the muzzle of the fire-arm without the
slightest danger. If the base fulminate priming is used in either of the ways
which I have herein-before pointed out, various kinds of explosive priming
matter may be employed; for example, a mixture of equal parts of chlorate
of potass and sulphuret of antimony may be so used instead of fulminating
mercury.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried
into effect, I may observe, in conclusion, that I do not confine or restrict
myself to the precise details or arrangements which I have had occasion to
describe or refer to, as many variations may be made therefrom without
deviating from the principles or main features of my Invention; but what
I consider to be novel and original, and therefore claim as the Invention
secured to me by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent, is,—
First, the system or mode of arranging and constructing cartridges for fire-
arms whereby the discharge of the arms may be effected without breaking or
opening the cartridge case, as herein-before described.
Second, the application and use of fulminating powder or composition or

page_text: substance as priming for cartridges to cause explosion through the solid or
unbroken cartridge case.
Third, the system or mode of arranging and constructing cartridges wherein
the base of the case is punctured or otherwise rendered vulnerable to the flame
or heat of the nipple percussion fire for effecting the discharge of ordinary
gunpowder charge.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Norton, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-third day of August, One thousand eight
hundred and fifty-five.
JOHN NORTON. (L.S.)