IMPROVEMENTS IN ORDNANCE AND PROJECTILES
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Samuel Fisher, of Birmingham, in the County of
Warwick, Manufacturer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN ORDNANCE
AND PROJECTILES."
Sealed the 2nd December 1859, and dated the 1st July 1859.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Samuel Fisher at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
1st July 1859.
I, SAMUEL FISHER, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Manu-
facturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN ORDNANCE AND PROJECTILES," to be as follows:-
My Invention consists, firstly, in constructing or building up ordnance of a
series of rings of steel, or of steel and iron, the said rings being screwed
together, as herein-after explained. The rings after being screwed together may
be welded into a compact mass, if thought desirable. I take two series of
rings, of the form of short tubes, the rings of one series being larger than
those of the other, so that they may fit upon one another; the outer surface
of the small rings is cut with a thread or worm, and the inner surface of the
large rings is cut with a thread or worm, which takes into the former. The

page_text: breech of the ordnance has one of the small rings formed or welded on it, and
I screw upon the said small ring one of the large rings, the said large ring
being twice as long as the small one on which it screws. I next screw into
the projecting half of the large ring a small ring, entering half way, and on
the projecting half of the small ring a second large ring, and so on until a
sufficient length has been obtained. I make the inner rings of steel, and the
outer rings of steel or iron. I prefer to make the breech end of the ordnance
open, and afterwards closo it when it is not to be breech-loading, by means of
a screw inserted from the muzzle of the ordnance. When made breech-
loading, I close the breech end by means of a screw plug with a conical end,
which fits in a conical bed at the entrance to the bore. When used with the
projectile herein-after described, I make the bore widest at the breech end,
and gradually contract it towards the muzzle.
My Invention consists, secondly, of a projectile constructed in the following
The general figure of the projectile is that of a cylinder, terminated
at its fore end with a conical, or nearly conical termination; a series of con-
cave flutes are cut on the conical end, the said flutes being placed obliquely
so as to form spiral or screw-like grooves. When the projectile passes
rapidly through the air, a rotatory motion is given to it by the action of the
air on the said flutes. In order to make the projectile leave the ordnance or
gun in a line with the axis of the bore, the middle portion of the cylindrical
body of the projectile is made of less diameter than the ends, and the said
middle portion is filled with a packing, which makes it accurately fit the bore
of the orduance or gun. I make the steel rings employed in building up
ordnance according to my Invention by casting the said rings either in moulds
of iron or moulds of dry sand.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Samuel Fisher in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 30th
December 1859.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, SAMPEL
FISHER, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Manufacturer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the First day of July, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-third year of Her

page_text: reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Samuel Fisher, Her special licence that I, the said Samuel Fisher, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Samuel
Fisher, 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
ORDNANCE AND PROJECTILES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said Samuel Fisher, 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 months next and immediately after
the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Samuel Fisher, 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 follow-
ing statement thereof, that is to say :-
My Invention consists, firstly, in constructing or building up ordnance of
rings or short tubes of steel, or of steel and iron, the said rings or short tubes
being screwed together in the manner herein-after explained and illustrated
in the accompanying Drawing. The rings or short tubes of which the ordnance
is composed, after being screwed together, may be welded, if thought desirable,
into a compact mass, or the ordnance may be used without welding the rings
or short tubes together. Figure 1 of the Drawing represents a vertical longi-
tudinal section of a breech-loading ordnance or cannon constructed or built up
according to my Invention; Figure 2 represents a plan of the same; and
Figure 3 represents an end view of the breech end of the ordnance. In con-
structing the ordnance, Figures 1, 2, and 3, I take a series of rings or short
tubes, having the form represented in section in Figure 4 of the Drawing, the
interior of the said rings or tubes forming the bore of the ordnance, and I take
a second series of rings or short tubes having the form represented in section in
Figure 5, the said rings or tubes, Figure 5, being so much larger than the
rings or tubes, Figure 4, that the said rings, Figure 5, will nearly fit upon the
rings, Figure 4. The outer surface of the small rings. has a convex thread or
worm cut upon it, and the inner surface of the large rings has a concave
thread or worm cut therein, which worm takes into that on the small rings.

page_text: In screwing together the rings, Figures 4 and 5, so as to produce the ordnance,
I proceed as follows:-I take the breech end c of the intended ordnance, the
said breech end being either cast or forged, and having formed upon it
during its manufacture, or afterwards welded to it, a ring marked a (Figure 1)
having a convex thread or worm thereon, the said ring a being similar to the
ring, Figure 4, but about half the length of the said ring, Figure 4. I screw
upon the said ring a a large ring b, as represented; I next screw into the pro-
jecting half of the said ring b a small ring marked a', the said ring a¹ entering
half way into the said ring b, the inner end of the ring a bearing against the
edge or end of the ring a, aud on the projecting half of the small ring a¹ a
second large ring 6 is screwed, and so on until a sufficient length has been
obtained, the last large ring forming the muzzle of the ordnance having the form,
represented and marked b. The rings of which the ordnance is built up, may,
after the said rings have been screwed together, be welded into a compact
mass, or the ordnance may be used without its parts being welded together.
The trunnions d, d, of the ordnance may be formed on one of the rings b*
during its manufacture, or the said trunnions may be cast or forged upon the
ordnance after it has been put together. I prefer to make both the inner and
outer rings stronger near the breech end than near the muzzle end of the
ordnance, as represented in Figure 1. I make the inner rings of steel, and
the outer rings of steel or iron. I manufacture the said rings by the process
of casting, or that of forging. When I make the suid rings by the process of
casting, I employ either moulds of iron or mounds of dry sand, but I prefer to
use dry sand moulds. Or the steel rings may be cast solid and bored out.
When the rings are cast or bored out, I hammer them on a steel mandril
previous to turning them in the lathe. I prefer to make the breech end of the
ordnance open, and afterwards close it, when it is not to be breech-loading, by
means of a screw inserted from the muzzle of the ordnance. When the
ordnance manufactured according to my Invention is to be breech-loading, I
close the breech end by preference by means of a plug e, Figure 1, which said
plug has a screw f made on its surface, which takes into a screw on the inside
of the breech end c, as represented in Figure 1. The said plug e is made
with a conical end h, which fits upon a conical bed at the entrance to the
bore g. The said plug e carries at its outer end a nut i, by turning which said
nut by means of the tool represented in Figure 6, the said plug can be
unscrewed from or screwed into the breech end, and the said breech end
opened or closed. The plug e is supported in the collar k carried upon the
slide 1, and when the plug e is withdrawn from the breech end of the ordnance,

page_text: it may be turned aside upon the said slide or rod 1, so as to leave the bore g
clear for the introduction of the charge. The bore of the ordnance may be
finished and rifled, if desired, after the rings of which it is composed have
been put together. When the ordnance, Figures 1, 2, and 3, is used with the
projectile herein-after described, and constituting the second part of my
Invention, I prefer to make the bore widest at the breech end, and gradually
contract the said bore at or about the point marked m in Figure 1.
My Invention consists, secondly, of a projectile constructed in the manner
herein-after described and illustrated in elevation in Figure 7 of the accom-
panying Drawing. The general figure of the projectile is that of a cylinder,
terminated at its fore end with a conical, or nearly conical termination n. A
series of concave flutes o are cut in the conical end n, the said flutes being
placed obliquely, so as to form spiral or screw-like grooves, as represented.
When the projectile, Figure 7, passes rapidly through the air, a rotatory
motion is given to it by the action of the air on the said flutes o. In order to
make the projectile leave the ordnance or gun in a line with the axis of the
bore, the middle portion p of the cylindrical body of the projectile is made of
less diameter than the ends, as represented, and the said middle portion p is
filled with a packing, consisting, by preference, of a cord of greased cotton or
hemp coiled round the said portion p, or any other suitable packing may be
employed. By means of the said packing, the cylindrical portion of the pro-
jectile is made accurately to fit the bore of the ordnance or gun. I prefer to
make the projectile of cast iron or steel, or cast malleable iron.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of
carrying the same into effect, I wish it to be understood that I do not limit
myself to the precise details herein described and represented, as the same
may be varied without departing from the nature of my Invention; but I
claim as my Invention, firstly, the improvement or improvements in ordnance
herein-before described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawing, that
is to say, constructing or building up ordnance of two series of rings or short
tubes, the rings of one series being smaller than those of the other, so that the
larger rings may be fitted upon the smaller ones by screwing thereon, or
screwing and subsequent welding, the inner rings being made of steel, and the
outer rings of steel or iron,
Secondly, the new or improved projectile herein-before described and repre-
sented in the accompanying Drawing, that is to say, a projectile consisting of
a cylindrical body terminated in front with a cone, which said cone or conical
termination has concave flutes made on it, the said flutes being situated

page_text: obliquely, so as to form spiral or screw like grooves, the cylindrical body of the
said projectile being packed to make it accurately fit the bore of the ordnance
or gun with which the projectile is used.
In witness whereof, I, the said Samuel Fisher, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Nineteenth day of December, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine.
SAMUEL FISHER. (L.S.)
Witness,
GEORGE SHAW.