IMPROVEMENTS IN FIRING APPARATUS FOR GUNS
Year: 1880

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Palliser, of No. 21, Earl's Court Square, in the
County of Middlesex, Knight, for an Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN FIRING
APPARATUS FOR GUNS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Palliser at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 28th August 1880.
WILLIAM PALLISER, of No. 21, Earl's Court Square, in the County of Middlesex,
Knight. "IMPROVEMENTS IN FIRING APPARATUS FOR GUNS."
My Invention relates to firing apparatus for guns, particularly applicable for
breech-loading ordnance, so arranged as to enable the gun to be lubricated after
each round by a steam jet, and at the same time to blow the smoke out of a breech
loading gun before the breech is opened, to apply a detonating priming charge close
to the charge of powder in the gun, to avoid the back Hash of the discharge
through the vent, and the blowing out of the firing tube. provide a firing tube
which is passed into the vent, and secured therein by a screw thread formed at the
external mouth of the vent, the male thread on the tube being in relief, and it as
well as the female thread in the vent being cut away in segments, so that
the tube can be inserted into the vent, and secured therein by turning it partly
round by handles at its outer end. The inner end of the tube is fitted with
a bush that can be readily screwed into it or unscrewed, and this bush has a
recess into which a case, by preference of copper, is fitted. This case contains
a copper cap containing percussion powder, fitted over an anvil and inserted into a
second cap, which is turned the reverse way and perforated through the head by a
small hole. The remainder of the case is filled with fine gunpowder, and the
orifice is closed with an ordinary wad covered with waterproof varnish, paint, or
other suitable compound; or else the bush may have a nipple to receive a
percussion cap, which is placed on the nipple before the bush is screwed into
the end of the firing tube. The junction of the bush to the tube is so arranged
that when the powder case is used, the joint by preference shall lie in the same
plane with the base of the case, and in relation to the nipple that when the cap is
on the latter, the cylindrical wall of the cap covers the joint; in the first instanco,
the powder case, and in the second the cap, thus operating as a gas check. When
the firing tube is secured in the vent, its inner end bears against an interior

page_text: shoulder in a copper or other soft metal bush, which is screwed from the interior of
the gun into the inner mouth of the vent, and has an exterior lip or flange to form a
gas check. Within the firing tube is a sliding rod, which when rapidly advanced
along the tube strikes the cap, and so effects ignition of the charge of the gun. The
forward stroke of the percussion rod may be effected either by a hammer or by a
spring. In the former case I make the percussion rod somewhat shorter than the
bore of the firing tube, so that its end does not reach the outer mouth of the tube,
and I cut a cross notch in this mouth of the tube, and make the hammer of a shape
to enter this notch. Unless therefore the tube is turned into the proper position
for securing it in the vent, in which position its cross notch coincides with the path
of the hammer, the hammer when it falls cannot reach the percussion rod, and
consequently the gun can only be fired when the firing tube is screwed home into
the vent. When the firing is effected by a spring, I provide a collar on the
percussion rod against which a helical spring surrounding the rod presses. From
this collar a pin projects into a slot which extends partly round in a plane at right
angles to the axis of the firing tube, and then extends backwards parallel to the
axis, Unless therefore the firing tube be turned round in the vent sufficiently far
to screw it home, in which position the pin on the percussion rod coincides with
the parallel part of the slot, the percussion rod cannot be drawn back so as to
compress the spring. When however the firing tube is screwed home, the
percussion rod can be drawn back by an external handle, and it is held back
with its spring in compression by a spring trigger at the mouth of the firing
tube catching against a shoulder on the percussion rod. The face of the trigger
and the shoulder on the rod are so formed that the trigger can catch and hold the
rod in either of two positions, the one corresponding to half cock, in which position
the trigger cannot be pulled, and the other corresponding to full cock, in which
position the trigger can be pulled by a cord. When the trigger is so pulled it
releases the percussion rod, and it being urged by the spring strikes the cap, so
firing the gun. When this apparatus is applied for central fire in breech loading
guns having the breech closed by a screw plug, I arrange in the plug a catch, which
engaging the pin on the percussion rod prevents it from being drawn back; but
when the breech plug is screwed home in the breech of the gun, this catch is
thereby withdrawn, leaving the percussion rod free to be drawn back for the
purpose of cocking. Thus the firing of the cap can only be effected when the
breech plug has been screwed fully home. After discharge of the gun the firing
tube can by a partial back turn be unscrewed, and then withdrawn from the vent,
through which a current of steam can be sent from a hose to clear the powder gas
out of the gun, and lubricate the bore. The end of the hose is fitted with a metal
swivel which has on the outside an interrupted male thread, exactly corresponding
to the the thread on the firing gear. This swivel nozzle is introduced into the
vent bush hole in the breech of the gun, and secured there by a quarter turn of
handles, which project in a manner similar to the handles on the vent bush. The
end bush of the firing tube being unscrewed a fresh case can be inserted into
the recess, or a cap can be put on its nipple, whereupon the bush can be screwed on
to the tube again, and the tube can be again secured in the vent ready for firing
again. To provide for rapid firing two or more tubes may be provided, one being
capped while another is in use in the vent. The pin on the percussion rod and the
slot into which it fits may be so arranged that the tube can only be inserted into
and be taken out of the gun when the lock is on half-cock.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said William Palliser in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 26th
February 1881.
WILLIAM PALLISER, of No. 21, Earl's Court Square, in the County of Middlesex,
Knight. "IMPROVEMENTS IN FIRING APPARATUS FOR GUNS."
My Invention relates to firing apparatus for guns, particularly applicable for
breech loading ordnance, so arranged as to enable the gun to be lubricated after
cach round by a steam jet, which at the same time in the case of a breech loader
serves to blow the smoke out of the gun before the breech is opened, to apply a
detonating priming charge close to the powder charge in the gun, and to avoid
back flash of the discharge through the vent, and the blowing out of the firing
tube. Fig. 1 of the accompanying Drawings represents a longitudinal section of
firing apparatus according to my Invention, as adapted to the breech plug of a
breech loader, and Figs. 2 & 3 are transverse sections respectively on the
lines Z, Z, and X, X. In the breech plug A, which is often hollowed out, as shown,
I fix a lining tube B which I may term the vent, adapting it to receive a firing
tube C. This tube is passed into the vent and secured therein by a screw thread c
formed at the external mouth of the vent, the male thread c being in relief on the
tube C, and it as well as the female thread in the vent being cut away in two or
more segments, so that the tube can be inserted into the vent, and secured therein
by turning it partly round by two handles, such as that shewn in dotted lines at D
at the outer end of the tube. The inner end of the firing tube is fitted to receive a
small cartridge E having a percussion cap and anvil, as in an ordinary central fire
cartridge. The cartridge case is made to project, as shewn, beyond the mouth of
the firing tube, so as to act as a gas check covering the joint at the end of the tube,
where it meets the internal shoulder of the vent. Within the firing tube is fitted a
sliding or hammer rod F, which when free is urged by a helical spring f, so that its
reduced end f¹ strikes the cap and fires the cartridge, thereby igniting the gun
charge. The hammer rod F can be pulled back in opposition to the spring by
means of a ring ƒ³, and it is held back by a spring latch trigger G, which can by
means of a noso g engage with a catch f³ on the hammer rod; or when the rod is
pulled still farther back, the upper angle g' of the trigger can catch under the
catch. In the one case when f³ is engaged by g, the apparatus is on half cock,
and the hammer cannot be discharged; but when f³ is engaged by g¹, the apparatus
is on full cock, and then by means of a lanyard g the latch can be withdrawn, and
the hammer rod being thus set free effects the discharge. In order to prevent any
discharge taking place until the firing tube is secured in the vent, the hammer has
a stud H projecting from its side. A groove / cut along the interior of the vent
tube permits the passage of the stud when the firing tube is inserted; but at the
point h' this longitudinal groove stops, and then a groove is cut partly round in a
plane perpendicular to the axis, as indicated at h² in Fig. 2, so that on turning the
firing tube partly round to engage the interrupted screw threads c, the stud E is
turned out of the line of the groove h, and into the line of another short longi-
tudinal groove h³, along which it can move the extent of the stroke of the hammer
rod. The point h' where the long groove stops is in such a position that when
the stud H reaches it the hammer rod is on half cock, and cannot be discharged
until by the partial turn of the firing tube to engage its screw with that of the
vent, the stud H being brought in line with the groove h³, the hammer rod can be
drawn to full cock and discharged. Fig. 4 shews a development of the inner
surface of tube B shewing the grooves h, h³, h³. In some cases when the breech
plug of a breech loading gun is secured by screwing it into the breech, it is of
advantage to provide an additional precaution against discharge until the breech

page_text: After
plug is fully home. This can readily be effected by the use of a sliding spring
bolt K, which entering the short groove ³ forms a stop to the stud H, preventing
the hammer rod from being drawn to full cock until when the breech plug is
screwed fully home in the gun the bolt K springs back into an inclined hollow in
the thread of the breech, leaving the groove h³ free for the passage of the stud H.
Thus the firing of the cartridge E can only be effected when the breech plug
has been screwed fully home. Fig. 5 shews the outer end of the bolt K urged by a
spring L to enter the inclined hollow a in the breech A¹, as described.
discharge of the gun the firing tube is by a partial back turn unscrewed, and then
withdrawn from the vent, and the gun can then be cleared of powder gas, and
lubricated internally by a current of steam. For this purpose a steam hose is
provided with a swivel nozzle, having on it a segmental screw thread like that of
the firing tube, so that it can be inserted and secured in the vent in a similar
manner, and a jet of steam having been blown through the gun this nozzle is
withdrawn, and the firing tube with a fresh cartridge and cap is introduced. To
provide for rapid firing two or more firing tubes may be employed, one being
charged with its cartridge and cap, while another is in use in the vent.
Although I have shewn in Fig. 1 an arrangement of vent tube suited for the
breech plug of a breech loading gun, the vent might obviously be formed in the
solid breech of a muzzle loader for central firing, or through the metal surrounding
the charge chamber for lateral firing.
Having thus described the nature of iny Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, I claim,―
First. The use of firing apparatus for guns consisting of a firing tube fitted with
a spring hammer rod and trigger, and having inserted in its end a cartridge and
percussion cap, which firing tube is inserted into the vent of the gun, and secured
therein by a segmental screw thread, substantially as herein described.
Second. In combination with firing apparatus, such as is referred to in the
preceding claim, the double catch of the trigger G for half cock and cock, and the
stud H, and the grooves in which it works, substantially as and for the purposes
herein set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Palliser, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Twenty fourth day of February, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and eighty one.
WILLIAM PALLISER. (L.S.)