IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF TWISTED RIBS FOR GUN BARRELS "
Year: 1882

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William James of Birmingham in the County of Warwick
Manufacturer for an Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF
TWISTED RIBS FOR GUN BARRELS
"
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William James at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents on the 28th November 1882.
WILLIAM JAMES of Birmingham in the County of Warwick Manufacturer
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF TWISTED RIBS FOR GUN BARRELS
»
My invention consists of the improvements hereinafter described in the
manufacture of twisted ribs for gun barrels, by which improvements the
manufacture of the said ribs is simplified and the quality of the ribs produced
improved.
In the ordinary method of manufacturing the said ribs bars of iron square in
cross section are heated to redness and twisted so as to give them a screw like
figure the angles of the original bars forming the threads of the screw. In order
to fit these bars to be made into ribs for gun barrels they are rolled in a heated
state between plain rolls so as to obliterate in great part the screw like figure and
to restore the square shape of the bars. These bars are then rolled into bars of the
required section for gun barrel ribs.
In this the ordinary method of manufacture many waste ribs are produced; the
rolling by which the threads of the screw like bar are obliterated effects that object
so imperfectly that on rolling the bars into ribs the edges of the ribs are frequently
notched the notches being produced by the opening of the imperfectly obliterated
screw threads
In making the said ribs according to my invention I take cylindrical bars of
iron and I heat and twist them to the required degree thereby producing bars
having the desired twisted structure or texture but without the screw like figure
of the twisted bars made by the ordinary method of manufacture. The twisted

page_text: bars made according to my invention do not require any preparatory treatment
before being rolled into gun barrel ribs and being free from screw thread projections
there is no tendency to the formation of cracks on their edges and hence no waste
ribs due to that cause are produced.
Although I prefer to operate on cylindrical rods as described yet I do not limit
myself thereto as the like advantages but in a less degree may be secured by
employing bars octagonal in cross section or by employing bars having any number
of sides exceeding four.
My invention is applicable to the manufacture of twisted ribs for single as well as
double barrel guns

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Williain James in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 18th May
1883.
WILLIAM JAMES of Birmingham in the County of Warwick, Manufacturer
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF TWISTED RIBS FOR GUN BARRELS
"
My invention consists of the improvements hereinafter described in the
manufacture of twisted ribs for gun barrels by which improvements the
manufacture of the said ribs is simplified and the quality of the ribs produced
improved.
In the ordinary method of manufacturing the said ribs, bars of iron, square in
cross section, are heated to redness and twisted so as to give them a screw like
figure, the angles of the original bars forming the threads of the screw. In order to
fit these bars to be made into ribs for gun barrels, they are rolled in a heated state
between plain rolls so as to obliterate in great part the screw like figure and to
restore the square shape of the bars. These bars are then rolled into bars of the
required section for gun barrel ribs.
In this, the ordinary, method of manufacture many waste ribs are produced the
rolling by which the threads of the screw like bar are obliterated effects that object
so imperfectly that on rolling the bars into ribs the edges of the ribs are frequently
notched, the notches being produced by the opening of the imperfectly obliterated
screw threads.
In making the said ribs according to my invention I take cylindrical bars of iron
and I heat and twist them to the required degree thereby producing bars having
the desired twisted structure or texture but without the screw like figure of the
twisted bars made by the ordinary method of manufacture. The twisted bars
made according to my invention do not require any preparatory treatment before
being rolled into gun barrel ribs and being free from screw thread projections there
is no tendency to the formation of cracks on their edges and hence no waste ribs
due to that cause are produced.
Although I prefer to operate on cylindrical rods as described yet I do not limit
myself thereto as the like advantages but in a less degree may be secured by
employing bars octagonal in cross section or by employing bars having any number
of sides exceeding four.
In order that my invention may be the better understood I have illustrated in
the accompanying Drawing the different stages of the ordinary manufacture of
twisted ribs for gun barrels as well as the stages for manufacturing twisted ribs for
gun barrels according to my invention.
I will first describe the ordinary manufacture. A bar of iron square in cross
section, as illustrated in Figure 1, is heated to redness and twisted by the ordinary
appliances so as to give to it the screw like form represented in Figure 2, the angles
of the square bar Figure 1 forming the threads of the screwed or twisted bar
Figure 2. The screwed or twisted bar is next heated and rolled between plain rolls
so as to obliterate in great part the screw like figure of the bar and thereby to
restore it nearly to its original shap. as illustrated in Figure 3. The bar Figure 3
is finally rolled into bars having the sectional form represented in Figure 4 for the
production of gun barrel ribs.
In making the said ribs according to my invention I take the cylindrical bar
represented in Figure 5 and having heated it I twist it in the ordinary manner so
as to produce a bar having a twisted structure or texture as represented in Figure 6
but without the screw like form represented in the bar Figure 2. The twisted bar

page_text: Figure 6 being heated is rolled into the form of a gun barrel rib'as represented in
Figure 7 without the preparatory rolling into a square bar as is required in the
ordinary manufacture.
By rolling the ribs from twisted cylindrical bars of the kind represented in
Figure 6 according to my invention, the production of waste ribs due to the
formation of cracks in the edges of the bars as in the ordinary process of
manufacture is avoided and the manufacture of the said ribs is simplified.
As the bars from which the ribs are made according to my invention have a less
number of rollings and heatings than the ordinary bars the quality of the ribs
produced is improved.
Instead of making the ribs from cylindrical bars of the kind represented in
Figure 5, bars octagonal in cross section or bars having any number of sides
exceeding four may be employed but with less advantage than when cylindrical
bars are used.
My invention is applicable to the manufacture of twisted ribs for single as well as
double barrel guns.
Having now described the nature of my invention and the manner in which the
same is to be performed I wish it to be understood that I claim as my invention:-
The improvements in the manufacture of twisted ribs for gun barrels herein before.
described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawing; that is to say, making the
said ribs by taking bars of iron having, by preference, a cylindrical figure or bars
having in cross section a polygonal or more than four sided figure, twisting the said
cylindrical bars or bars of the kind described so as to give the desired twisted
structure or texture to the said bars and rolling the said twisted bars into gun
barrel ribs substantially as described and illustrated.
In witness whereof I the said Williain James have hereunto set my hand
and seal this Eleventh day of May in the year of our Lord one thousand
eight hundred and eighty three.
Witness,
RICHARD SKERRETT
37 Temple Street
Birmingham
WILLIAM JAMES (L.S.)