Apparatus for Effecting Artillery Practice with Small Arm Ammunition.
Year: 1888

page_text: Date of Application, 8th Feb., 1888
Complete Specification Left, 8th Nov., 1888
Complete Specification Accepted, 14th Dec., 1888
Apparatus for Effecting Artillery Practice with Small Arm
Ammunition.
I, RICHARD MORRIS, of Bennett Park, Blackheath, in the County of Kent, Engineer,
do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
My invention relates to apparatus applicable to ordnance of various sizes whereby
practice in sighting and aiming can be effected with the ordinary artillery drill in
working the gun, while the ammunition employed instead of being heavy, cumbrous
and expensive, as the full size ammunition for the gun must be, is only that required
for small arms, the cartridges ordinarily used for rifles.
I provide a saddle in the form of an inverted V which I place on the side or upper
side of the gun near its breech. This saddle has at the end of one limb of the V
two hooks to receive chain links, at the end of. the other limb it has a flange with
two slots to receive bolts. I attach two short pieces of chain to the two hooks, at
the one side of the saddle, pass the chains under the body of the gun and then
introduce into the slots on the other side of the saddle bolts which are swivelled to the .
chains and, screwing down nuts on them, 1 tighten the chains and thus bind the
saddle firmly on the gun. As the chains may be made longer or shorter by engaging
on the hooks, links farther from or nearer to the bolts, this mode of fixing the saddle
is available for guns of many different sizes. On the saddle I bolt a long boss_bored
longitudinally to receive a rifle barrel and by slotting the bolt holes in the two flanges
by which this boss is fixed on the saddle, and employing a wedge packing under the
one or the other flange, 1 am enabled to adjust the boss so that the bore of the rifle
barrel introduced into it is truly parallel to the line of sight of the gun. The rifle
barrel is introduced at the breech end of the bored boss and pushed forward till a
collar on the barrel bears against the breech of the boss.
On the front part of the barrel which projects beyond the boss 1 place a helical
spring and then scrow a nut on a screwed part of the barrel compressing the spring to
a certain extent, and secure this nut by a lock nut.

page_text: This spring receives and yields to most of the shock of recoil relieving so far the
fixings of the boss and saddle. The breech end of the rifle barrel is provided with
the charging discharging and extracting apparatus which may either be of the Martini
Henry kind or of the Snider or similar kind having a spring striker which is drawn
back and held back until it is desired to fire the charge. But instead of using a sear
and trigger for releasing the striker as in a rifle, I adopt an arrangement for
discharging which corresponds to the action required for firing artillery by a friction
⚫tube.
For this purpose, I fit in the striker a stud which is pressed upwards by a spring so
that when the striker is drawn back this stud engages against a shoulder in the casing
of the striker, part of the head of the stud projecting above the casing between two
upwardly projecting ears which have transverse slots through them. Through these
two slots I pass a taper pin attached to a lanyard, this pin pushing down the stud
sufficiently to clear it from the shoulder that holds it back, but the pin itself holding
back a projection from the stud. On the word being given to fire, the gunner pulls
the lanyard thus drawing the pin out of the slots and releasing the striker which is
driven forwards by its spring and fires the charge.
Dated this 8th day of February 1888.
ABEL & IMRAY,
Agents for the Applicant.

page_text: Apparatus for Enecting Artillery Practice with Small Arm
Ammunition.
I, RICHARD MORRIS of Bennett Park Blackheath in the County of Kent Engineer
do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to
be performed to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:
My invention relates to apparatus applicable to ordnance of various sizes whereby
practice in sighting and aiming can be effected with the ordinary artillery drill in
working the gun, while the ammunition employed, instead of being heavy, cumbrous,
and expensive, as the full size ammunition for the gun must be, is only that required
for small arms, the cartridges ordinarily used for rifles.
I provide a saddle in the form of an inverted V which I place on the side or upper
side of the gun near its breech. This saddle has at the end of one limb of the V two
hooks to receive chain links, at the end of the other limb it has a flange with two
slots to receive bolts. I attach two short pieces of chain to the two hooks at the one
side of the suddle, pass the chains under the body of the gun, and then introduce into
the slots on the other side of the saddle bolts which are swivelled to the chains and,
screwing down nuts on them, I tighten the chains and thus bind the saddle firmly on
the gun.
As the chains may be made longer or shorter by engaging on the hooks
links, farther from or nearer to the bolts, this mode of fixing the saddle is available for
guns of many different sizes. On the saddle I bolt a long boss bored longitudinally
to receive a rifle barrel, and by slotting the bolt holes in the two flanges by which this
boss is fixed on the saddle and employing a wedge packing under the one or the other
flange 1 am enabled to adjust the boss so that the bore of the rifle barrel introduced
into it is truly parallel to the line of sight of the gun. The rifle barrel is introduced
at the breech end of the bored boss and pushed forward till a collar on the barrel
bears against the breech of the boss. On the front part of the barrel which projects
beyond the boss I place a helical spring and then screw a nut on a screwed part of the
barrel compressing the spring to a certain extent, and secure this nut by a lock nut.
This spring receives and yields to most of the shock of recoil relieving so far
the fixings of the boss and saddle. The breech end of the rifle barrel is provided
with the charging discharging and extracting apparatus which may either be of
the Martini Henry kind or of the Snider or similar kind, having a spring striker
which is drawn back and held back until it is desired to fire the charge. But instead
of using a sear and trigger for releasing the striker as in a rifle, I adopt an
arrangement for discharging which corresponds to the action required for firing
artillery by a friction tube. For this purpose, I fit on the striker a stud which is
pressed upwards by a spring so that when the striker is drawn back this stud engages
against a shoulder in the casing of the striker part of the head of the stud projecting
above the casing between two upwardly projecting ears which have transverse slots
through them. Through these two slots I pass a taper pin attached to a lanyard,
this pin pushing down the stud sufficiently to clear it from the shoulder that holds it
back, but the pin itself holding back a projection from the stud. On the word
being given to fire, the gunner pulls the lanyard thus drawing the pin out of
the slots and releasing the striker which is driven forwards by its spring and fires
the chore

page_text: Fig. 1 of the accompanying drawings is a side elevation shewing part of a heavy
gun with the practice barrel mounted on it. Fig. 2 is a plan of the saddle and
Fig. 3 is an end elevation. Figs. 4 and 5 are respectively a longitudinal section
and a plan to an enlarged scale of the firing gear. On the gun A is placed the
saddle B having its under side V shaped, and faced if desired with leather or such
like material to prevent defacement of the surface of the gun. The suddle B is
held firmly on the gun by two chains, C, or they may be flexible metal bands
faced with leather or the like, secured. at one end to chain links and at the other
end to screw bolts. The chain links are engaged on ears projecting at one side
of the saddle, and the bolts pass through slotted holes in ears at the other side
of the saddle, the chains or bands being tightened up by screwing down the nuts on
the bolts. On the saddle is bolted a boss D which is adjusted with its axis parallol
to the bore of the gun; in elevation by means of a corrugated wedge d interposed
between its flange and the upper face of the saddle, and laterally by providing a
little play in the holes through which the holding down bolts pass. In the bored
boss D is fitted the practice barrel E which is provided with a spring e in front of
the boss and preferably with a spring e¹ behind, she one to take the shock of recoil
of the barrel backwards, and the other to relieve the shock when the barrel after
recoiling is again urged forwards by the spring e. On the breech of the practice
barrel is screwed a piece F to which is hinged at the piece J containing the firing
gear. G is the striker which is urged forwards by a spring g and can be pulled back
by hand applied to the eye H. In the striker is fitted a stud K. the lower part round
fitting in a round hole of the striker and urged upwards by a spring, the upper part
flat and fitted to slide along a slot of the piece J, this slot being at its rear part k
widened out circularly. When the striker is pulled back the round part of K on
reaching & springs up a little till stopped by a small pin projecting inside k, and this
holds the striker back. A key L such as is shewn at Fig. 6 is then inserted through
slots in two upwardly projecting ears l, and this key being engaged in the angle k¹ of
the stud K which is then in its back position perforins two functions, it acts on the
horizontal side depressing K so that its lower round part is clear below the hole k and
it serves as an abutment for the vertical side preventing K from moving forwards.
A lanyard being attached to the eye of the key L, a sudden pull of the lanyard by
withdrawing the key allows the striker to advance in obedience to the spring g and to
fire the charge. By the hand applied at the piece J with the firing gear can be
raised, turning on the hinge and moved back so that an extractor removes the
shell of a spent cartridge, and access is given to the breech for introducing a fresh
cartridge.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is:
--
1. In apparatus for effecting artillery practice with small arm ammunition, the
combination of a saddle held on a gun by chains or their equivalents tightened by
nuts, a boss bored to receive a practice barrel and adjustably fixed on the saddle, and
a practice barrel fitted in the boss and provided with recoil spring and suitable firing
gear, substantially as described.
2. In firing gear for the practice barrel above referred to, the combination of the
spring striker G, its spring stud K, the slot in J widened at k, the ears and the
lanyard key L arranged and operating substantially as described.
Dated this 8th day of November 1888.
ABEL & IMRAY,
Agents for the Applicant.