IMPROVEMENTS IN METALLIC CARTRIDGE CASES
Year: 1870

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Coburn Wilson, of Birmingham, in the
County of Warwick, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN METALLIC
CARTRIDGE CASES."-A communication from abroad by General Hiram
Berdan, of the City of New York, in the United States of America,
but now residing at Saint Petersburgh in the Empire of Russia.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Coburn Wilson
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 18th November 1870.
I, GEORGE COBURN WILSON, of Birmingham, in the County of
Warwick, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for " Im-
PROVEMENTS IN METALLIC CARTRIDGE CASES," being a communication to me
from abroad by General Hiram Berdan, of New York, in the United

page_text: States of America, but now resident at St. Petersburgh, in the Empire
of Russia, to be as follows:-
The object of this Invention is by the means herein-after described
to strengthen the head or flange of cartridge cases so as to render it
impossible for them to burst or expand. The body of the case is of the
usual form, but on the rear end of the case there is a projection or boss
in place of the usual head or flange, and which said projection or boss
is produced by reducing the diameter of the rear end of the case in
order to receive thereon the iron washer or ring herein-after described,
which is to form the head of the cartridge. As will be understood this
washer or ring corresponds in diameter to the head upon which it is to
be fitted. The said washer or ring is fitted on to the projection or boss
which is on the rear end of the cartridge case in the following manner :-
The cartridge case is placed in a die or on a punch and the projection
or boss is then expanded and rivetted down upon the washer, At the
It should
same operation and by the same means the anvil is formed.
be observed that the aperture in the washer or ring should be conical or
tapering in shape in order properly to secure it upon the case.
Although a washer or ring of iron only has been mentioned any other
metal may be employed if desired.
The advantages of my Invention are that a solid head cartridge is
formed, and that the entire case, cup, cavity, and anvil are in one piece,
and as will be obvious my improved cartridges are more readily manu-
factured than other solid head cartridges now in use, and a cartridge
case is produced which cannot be ruptured or burst.
As a modification of my Invention the said metal washer or ring
may be used in combination with a metallic cartridge case which is
fitted with an inside lining or cup.
And as a further modification of my Invention the said metal washer
or ring may be used in combination with a metallic cartridge case which
has a shoulder left in the base of the same.
And I also desire to use the said metal washer or ring in combination
with a metallic cartridge case where the anvil is separate and distinct
from the said cartridge case, and not being as before described a constituent
part of the whole.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said George Coburn Wilson in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 10th May 1871.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
COBURN WILSON, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Eighteenth day of November, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy, in the thirty-
fourth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said George Coburn Wilson, Her special licence
that I, the said George Coburn Wilson, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said George Coburn Wilson, 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 METALLIC CARTRIDGE CASES," being a communication to me from abroad
by General Hiram Berdan, of New York, U. S. A., but now resident at
Saint Petersburgh, in the Empire of Russia, upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said George Coburn Wilson, my executors or adminis-
trators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of
their hands and seals, 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said George Coburn Wilson, 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 statement (that is to say):
The object of this Invention is by the means herein-after described
to strengthen the head or flange of cartridge cases, so as to render it
impossible for them to burst or expand. The body of the case is of the
}

page_text: usual form, but on the rear end of the case there is a projection or boss
in place of the usual head or flange, and which said projection or boss
is produced by reducing the diameter of the rear end of the case in
order to receive thereon the iron washer or ring herein-after described,
which is to form the head of the cartridge. As will be understood
this washer or ring corresponds in diameter to the head upon which it
is to be fitted. The said washer or ring is fitted on to the projection or
boss which is on the rear end of the cartridge case in the following
manner: The cartridge case is placed in a die or on a punch and the
projection or boss is then expanded and rivetted down upon the washer.
At the same operation and by the same means the anvil is formed. It
should be observed that the aperture in the washer or ring should be
conical or tapering in shape in order properly to secure it upon the
case.
Although a washer or ring of iron only has been mentioned any other
metal may be employed if desired.
The advantages of my Invention are that a solid head cartridge is
formed, and that the entire case, cup, cavity, and anvil are in one
piece, and as will be obvious my improved cartridges are more readily
manufactured than other solid head cartridges now in use, and a cartridge
case is produced which cannot be ruptured or burst.
As a modification of my Invention the said metal washer or ring
may be used in combination with a metallic cartridge case which is
fitted with an inside lining or cup.
And as a further modification of my Invention the said metal washer
or ring may be used in combination with a metallic cartridge case which
has a shoulder left in the base of the same.
And I also desire to use the said metal washer or ring in combination
with a metallic cartridge case where the anvil is separate and distinct
from the said cartridge case, and not being as before described a
constituent part of the whole.
As a further modification of my Invention I reinforce or strengthen
solid cartridge heads, that is to say, heads which have no fold or cavity
in the rim, by means of a cup made of thin metal so as to effectually
prevent the escape of gas in case there should be cracks in the metal
which forms the case or head. With the solid head cartridge an internal

page_text: washer may be also employed for mitrailleuse and other cartridges
requiring a heavy charge of powder. The strain upon the metal.
during the formation of a cartridge case according to my Invention is
very much less than in the formation of the old kind of cartridge case
in which the metal in the formation of the rim had to stretch and
bend. A softer metal may be used for the case, as the flange or rim
is solid, whilst if soft metal is used for the old cartridge the head
expands and sticks the breech piece.
That my Invention may be fully understood I have annexed Drawings
thereof, which I now proceed to describe.
Fig. 1 shews a cartridge case in an early stage of formation, the base b
being then a simple outward bulge. In Fig. 2 the base has been
pressed inwards to form the cap cavity c. In Fig. 3 the base has been
reduced in diameter at d for the purpose of receiving an external metal
washer e (Fig. 4) the hole through which is made conical as at f
In Fig. 5 the washer e has been placed upon the reduced part of the
base of the cartridge case, and the said base has been expanded from
the rear by means of a die or punch, so as to completely fill the conical
hole in the washer. During this same operation the anvil g is also
formed. Fig. 6 shews the case after the muzzle has been reduced in
diameter as at h.
A modification of my Invention is shewn in Fig. 7, in which the
said external metal washer e is used in combination with a metallic
cartridge case which is fitted with an internal metal washer or ring 1.
As a further modification Fig. 8 shews the external metal washer. e
which has herein-before been shewn in combination with a shoulder
forward of the base of the cartridge case employed in combination with
a cartridge case having no shoulder within it. This Fig. also shews the
internal metal washer which in Fig. 7 was shewn in combination with
the shoulder forward of the base of the cartridge case employed in
combination with a cartridge case having no shoulder within it.
Fig. 9 shews the external metal washer e in combination with a
metallic cartridge case in which the anvil g which may be of any form
or shape, is separate and distinct from the case itself, and is not, as
before described, formed from the same piece of metal as the said
case.

page_text: A further modification of my Invention is shewn in Fig. 7 where i
is a thin metal cup, and may in case of need be used to reinforce solid
cartridge heads such as those herein-before described, where the heads
have no fold or cavity in the rim, and which is designed to prevent the
escape of gas in case there should be cracks in the metal which forms
the head of the cartridge case. Fig. 8 shews a thin metal cup i in com-
bination with a cartridge case having no shoulder within it as in Fig. 7.
The said metal cup i may be used either in combination with the
internal metal washer shewn in Figs. 7 and 8 or without it. Fig. 1
shews the mouth of the shell drawn as thin as in Fig. 2 or thinner,
which shews a shell after its last drawing. This thinness of the metal
on the last operation but one, of drawing the cartridge case prevents
the necessity of the case being drawn at the mouth after having been
annealed for the last time, for it leaves the mouth of the shell soft,
and it can thus be tapered without splitting and without its being
necessary to anneal it again, as is usually done in the case of small
bore cartridges after the head is formed and where the tapering is very
heavy.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention and the
manner in which the same is or may be performed, I desire it to be
understood that what I claim as the Invention to be protected by the
herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is, the improvements in
metallic cartridge cases herein-before set forth and illustrated in the
Drawings hereunto annexed and which consist substantially in forming
the solid head cartridge having an external metal washer shewn in
detail in Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6.
I claim also the modification of my Invention shewn in Fig. 7 in
which the said external metal washer is used in combination with a
metallic cartridge case fitted with an internal metal washer or ring.
And I claim also the further modification of my Invention shewn in
Fig. 8 in which the said external metal washer may be used in com-
bination with a cartridge case having no shoulder within it.
And I claim also the use of the said external metal washer e (Fig. 9)
in combination with a metallic cartridge case in which the anvil is
separate and distinct from the case itself.
g
And as a further modification of my Invention I claim to reinforce
or strengthen solid cartridge heads such as those herein-before described

page_text: escape
of
where the heads have no fold or cavity in the rim by means of a thin
metal cup (such as shewn at i in Fig. 8) in order to prevent the
gas in case there should be cracks in the metal which forms the head of
the cartridge case.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Coburn Wilson, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Eighth day of May, in
the year of our Lord 1871.
0
Witness,
G. R. HOLLAND,
Patent Office,
Birmingham,
GEORGE COBURN WILSON. (L.s.)