CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN " PROVISIONAL SPFICATION
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Hall, of Ancoats Grove, in the City of
Manchester, Foreman, for the Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN
"
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Hall at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 3rd December
1859.
I, THOMAS HALL, of Ancoats Grove, in the City of Manchester, Foreman,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS
IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF CARTRIDGES," to be as follows:-
The object of my Invention is to facilitate the loading of rifles and other
fire-arms. In performing my Invention I make use of a case; as in cartridges
of the usual description, this case contains the ball or bullet with the powder
and wad when requisite; the end of the case is closed by means of a disc of
cardboard or other suitable material, and by preference of a rather larger
diameter than the case of the cartridge. This disc is held on by a piece of
paper pasted to the case, and perforated near the end of the case, the outer
edge of the paper is then turned over and pasted on to the disc. In some
cases the paper can be used without being perforated. In using these
improved cartridges the disc is forced off or partly off the end of the case by
the thumb nail or in any other suitable manner, thereby setting the powder at

page_text: liberty, which can then be poured into the barrel of the fire-arm to be loaded
and the ball or bullet and wad, if required, are added in the usual manner.
The peculiar advantage of this Invention is that the powder can be set at
liberty while the cartridge is being taken from the cartridge box to the end
of the barrel of the fire-arm, and that only one hand is required for the
purpose.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Thomas Hall in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 1st
June 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
HALL, of Ancoats Grove, in the City of Manchester, Foreman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Third day of December, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-third year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Thomas Hall, Her special licence that I, the said Thomas Hall, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Thomas
Hall, 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 "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
CONSTRUCTION OF CARTRIDGES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said Thomas Hall, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in
writing under my or their, or one of their hands and seals, should par-
ticularly 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 imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Thomas Hall, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement (that is to say) :-
The object of my Invention is to facilitate the loading of rifles and other
fire-arms. In performing my Invention I make use of a case as in cartidges

page_text: of the usual description; this case contains the ball or bullet with the power
and wad when requisite; the end of the case is closed by means of a disc of
cardboard or other suitable material. This disc is held on by a piece of paper
pasted to the case, turned over, and pasted on to the disc. This paper may be
perforated or not. In using these improved cartridges the disc is forced off or
partly off the end of the case by the thumb nail or in any other suitable
manner, thereby setting the powder at liberty, which can then be poured into
the barrel of the fire-arm to be loaded, and the ball or bullet and wad, if re-
quired, are rammed down in the usual manner.
And in order that my Invention may be fully understood and readily carried
into effect, I will proceed to describe the means pursued by me, reference being
had to the accompanying Sheet of Drawings, and to the figures and letters
marked thereon.
Fig. 1 is an elevation of one of my improved cartridges; Fig. 2 is a section
of the same; and Fig. 3 is a view shewing the mode of forcing off the end to
liberate the powder. a is the case of the cartridge containing the charge of
gunpowder; b is the bullet which is wrapped in paper and connected to the
case a in the usual manner; c is a disc or cover of cardboard or other suitable
material, fitting on the top of the case a, and secured to it by a piece of paper
or other suitable material d, which is pasted to the case a, and after the gun-
powder is put in the case, is twisted up and pasted over the cover c. In
loading an Enfield rifle or other fire-arm with these improved cartridges, the
operator presses his thumb nail against the case a just under the cover c,
thereby bursting the paper d and raising the cover c, as shewn in Fig. 3; the
thumb is then pushed forward until the cover is thrown back or removed, the
top of the cartridge is then closed by the thumb, the cartridge is then brought
over the end of the barrel of the fire-arm to be loaded, and the powder is
poured therein, the position of the cartridge is then reversed to insert the ball
or bullet, which is then rammed down in the usual manner, to complete the
loading. The peculiar advantage of this Invention is that the powder can be
set at liberty while the cartridge is being taken from the cartridge box to the
end of the barrel of the fire-arm, that the biting or tearing away the end is
avoided, and that only one hand is required for the purpose of liberating the
powder for loading; the cartridges are also perfectly safe for packing and
carrying about.
Having thus stated the nature of my Invention, and described the manner
of performing the same, I declare that I claim as my improvements in the con-
struction of cartridges the disc or cover marked c when used in the manner

page_text: and for the purpose described, by means whereof the powder can be set at
liberty by one hand.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Hall have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Thirtieth day of May, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty.
THOMAS HALL. (L.S.)