IMPROVEMENTS IN PROJECTILES FOR FIRE-ARMS
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Jacques Henri Marie Maissiat, of Paris, in the
Empire of France, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN PROJECTILES
FOR FIRE-ARMS."
Sealed the 15th August 1856, and dated the 21st February 1856.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Jacques Henri Marie
Maissiat at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 21st February 1856.
I, JACQUES HENRI MARIE MAISSIAT, of Paris, in the Empire of France, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN PRO-
JECTILES FOR FIRE-ARMS," to be as follows:-
The projectiles for fire-arms have till now not been made of a length to
exceed twice the size of their diameter. I.propose to extend their length
to three, four, five, six, and even more times. of their diameter, in such manner
that said projectiles will assume the .shape of rods. Thus, to manufacture
projectiles in the form of a straight rod, solid or hollow, and of various lengths,
is the fundamental principle.of.my Invention.
My new kind of projectiles is also applicable to all rifle fire-arms.
By my system of projectiles the following advantages will be obtained :-
1st, a diminution of the size of the bore of the barrel of the fire-arm. 2°, a
diminution of the diameter of the projectile. 3°, the faculty of increasing the

page_text: volume of the projectile for any sized bore. 4°, the possibility of employing,
even with advantage for small fire-arms, metals lighter than lead, hard, and
of less price; for instance, iron and alloys of metals.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Jacques Henri Marie Maissiat in the Great. Seal Patent
Office on the 20th August 1856.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JACQUES
HENRI MARIE MAISSIAT, of Paris, in the Empire of France, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-first day of February, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, in the nineteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Jacques Henri Marie Maissiat, Her special licence that I, the
said Jacques Henri Marie Maissiat, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Jacques Henri Marie Maissiat, 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 PROJECTILES FOR FIRE-ARMS,""
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Jacques Henri Marie
Maissiat, my executors or administrators, 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 mouths next and immediately after the date of the
said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Jacques Henri Marie Maissiat, 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, reference being had to the Sheet of Drawings
hereunto annexed, & to the letters & figures marked thereon (that is to
say):
Projectiles for fire-arms used heretofore have been either the spherical ball
or the cylindro-conical bullet. The former has a like size through in every
direction; the latter is usually of a length equal to about one and a half its

page_text: diameter, or once and a half the diameter of the bore of the gun. Thus, the
projectile known by the name of Vincennes ball (balle de Vincennes) is,
before being rammed or driven into the gun, about one inch long by about
two-thirds of an inch in diameter. Projectiles for fire-arms in actual use con-
sist, therefore, of short bullets or masses, the length of which is equal to
once and a half or at most twice the diameter of the bore of the gun. I
have been led by a great number of experiments to this fundamental
principle, viz, to extend the length of projectiles for fire-arms to three, four,"
five, & six times their diameter, or even more, so as to make them assume the
form of solid or hollow rods or darts.
Thus, the fundamental principle upon which I ground my improvements is
the construction and use of projectiles in the form of a rigid rod or dart, either
solid or hollow, and which may vary in length from not less than two and a
half times its diameter, or of the diameter of the bore of the gun, to any
reasonable length, for the purpose of obtaining the following important ad-
vantages First, a less size of the bore in the fire-arm; secondly; a less
diameter of the projectile; and, lastly, an optional increase of bulk in the
projectile for a given bore or calibre, which advantages are likely to be con..
ducive to the following results; first, to shoot by means of a gun with a given
bore a projectile of a larger bulk and weight, and to attain a greater range,
than the spherical or the cylindro-conical bullet in actual use, with better*
direction, greater precision, and less oscillation or beating in the barrel; in
other words (and generally) by means of a fire-arm of the same standard of a
given weight to shoot with greater precision and to a greater distance either
solid or hollow shot. Therefore, with such facilities, projectiles of greater.
volume may be used, which may or may not be explosive contact on falling
or striking, which are all of the same calibre, weight, and bulk, and will, with
a minimum charge, always produce the maximum of destructive effect.
The next advantage will be the possibility of constructing projectiles to be
propelled by a double power, that is, such projectiles as will be shot from a gun
will carry in their interior within a small recess made in them an additional
charge to act as an additional motive or shooting power, which additiona
charge will be ignited at the time of firing, and caused to act as a propelling
power from the commencement, or at any given point of its flight. To express>>
it in fewer words, I may further add, that to shoot bulky and powerful pro-
jectiles by means of guns with comparative small bore is the sum of the
advantages resulting from the modified form and shape of the bullet o
projectile which constitutes the chief feature of my Invention.
I will now point out two peculiar advantages resulting from the application

page_text: of-my-improvements to portable guns; and rifles:-First, the possibility of using
for the constructiou of these: projectiles: a less dense and costly material than
lead, such as iron, tinned iron, or a very fusible alloy,, rigid. yet smooth,..con-
sisting principally of zinc & antimony; secondly, the possibility of making rifle
projectiles large sized, hollow, and readily explosive at first. contact on striking
or falling. In order to make the principle upon which the: said.improvements
are grounded better understood, I have annexed two groups of Figures, repre-
senting two applications of my projectiles to the rifle, which application's will
require no change in the ordinary weight of either the rifle or the projectile:..
In the first group the projectile is four times its diameter in. length. when
solid, and of greater length in proportion when hollow; and in the latter.group
the projectile is six times its diameter when. solid,, and of a greater length, in
proportion when hollow.
In either group Fig. 1 shows the longitudinal section of a. solid. projectile of
a length equal to four diameters; Fig. 2, the transverse section of the same;
Fig. 3 is the longitudinal section of a hollow projectile of greater length,,which
explodes when any violent collision takes place..:
A, A, is a recess filled with powder; B, pointed..or .conical nose of the
projectile, well secured in its position to the body or cylinder part of the pro-
jectile; C is a percussion pin made of a piece of cylindrical. wire,, filed a little
flat on the sides, and lodged loose in a recess in the piece B.. This wire has a
saw-cut or split at the back part, and is secured in its position by a cross pin,
which goes freely through the split; its extreme ends. being fixed in the rear
of the piece B. Thus, one end of the wire C is astride on the small pin, while
at the other end a percussion cap is placed. The percussion cap.is pushed to
the bottom of the recess in B, so as to leave a little room between it and the
end of rod C. This being so arranged, when a violent collision,takes place, by
the point or nose of the projectile striking an object, the rod. C strikes. the
percussion cap or material and causes it to explode..
Fig. 4 is the transverse section of the same explosive projectile; Fig.. is
the longitudinal section of the cylindro-conical lead projectile in ordinary use;
Fig. 6 is the transverse section through the largest diameter of the same,
which Figures are introduced to show by comparison and render. more clear
the nature of my Invention, and. the, difference in. cross-section of bullets or
projectiles of ordinary and of my improved. construction., Supposing now
that the section Fig: 2 or Fig. 4 to be superposed on Fig. 6, I shall have
the representation Fig. 7, in which the part sectioned or cross lined shows
(in both groups) the difference that must exist in the bores of the fire-
árins corresponding to each, or the section of the two tracks made through

page_text: the air by projectiles of like weight, but constructed on the two different
systems, thus illustrated.
In case it should be necessary to keep these long rigid projectiles very loose
in the barrel, it will be easy to prevent the escape of the motive gases by the
application of a metallic cap fitted at the back end of the projectile, which will
expand the force of the explosion, and will confine the gases, and cause the
whole or nearly the whole force to be expended on the propulsion of the pro-
jectile. This cap is represented by the letter D in the Drawings on the rear
part of the longitudinal sections, Figs. 1 and 3; the transverse section of these
caps being the same as that of the projectiles.
To conclude, the lead projectile generally used for military rifles is of large
calibre or transverse section, but of small volume and of soft dense metal,
whilst my improved projectile, having an equal weight, is comparatively of
small calibre or transverse section, but of large volume, and may be of lighter
rigid metal, which constitutes a notable difference between the two opposite
systems. The same annexed Drawings may, by merely changing the scale, or
making six inches equal to five feet, give an approximate idea of the appli-
cation of my improvements to a piece of heavy ordnance or great gun.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the manner in which
the same is or may be carried into effect, I wish it to be distinctly understood
that I do not confine myself to the precise details herein-before set forth, as
such may be varied or modified without departing from the principle of construc-
tion of my Invention; but what I claim as novel, and therefore to be secured
to me by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is,-
The projectiles herein described, either solid or hollow, for large ordnance or
small arms, chiefly characterized by ever being of a length equal to more than
two diameters and a half, which length may be extended with advantage to
three, four, five, or six times their diameter, or of the diameter of the bore of
the
gun, and even more, as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Jacques Henri Marie Maissiat, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Sixteenth day of August, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six.
J. H. M. MAISSIAT.
(L.S.)