Improvements in Wads for Cartridges for Sporting and other Guns.
Year: 1898

page_text: Date of Application, 7th Apr., 1898-Accepted, 11th June, 1898'
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Wads for Cartridges for Sporting and other Guns.
I, CARL LUTZE, Managing Director of the "Galvanische Metallpapier Fabrik
Actien Gesellschaft," No. 4, Gerichts-Strasse, Berlin, N., in the Empire of Germany,
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:
In cartridges used in sporting- and similar guns the charge of powder is usually
separated from the shot or other projectile, by a wad made of felt or wax, the
lower surface of which is covered by a disk of lackered or tarred paper, while the
upper surface has a layer of American cloth or the like, in order to attain a gas-
tight packing. The ignition of the powder, and the intense heat generated
thereby, cause the lackered paper and the American cloth or similar material, to
get very soft and greasy, owing to which circumstance, in addition to the large
quantity of sediment deposited by the exploded powder, the barrel becomes very
foul and the tightness of the gas-check is destroyed.
The present invention, illustrated in the drawing hereto attached, has for purpose
to completely obviate the said disadvantages, and in order to attain this object
the wad, separating the charge of powder from the shot, is made to consist either
of a number of layers of metal-foil prepared from electro-deposited thin strata
of chemically pure copper or nickel, or thin and flexible sheets of metal rolled or
prepared in other suitable manner, (Fig. 1) or the wad may be formed from felt or
other convenient material, suitably combined with before described metal foil
or thin sheet metal. (Fig. 2).
Not only that the electro-deposited metal-foil or suitably prepared thin sheet-
metal cannot be destroyed by the heat of the explosion, as they do not contain
any material upon which the generation of heat consequent upon the ignition of
the powder charge can exercise any injurious effect, whereby the aforesaid dis-
advantage of the covers of the old fashioned wads becoming soft, greasy and
loose-fitting is obviated, but the generation of heat has, on the contrary, an
undoubtedly favorable effect upon the metal covers of the wad, causing them to
expand, thereby forcing the wad to assume a laterally-curved form while passing
through and out of the barrel. (Fig. 3 and 4.) The latter circumstance not only
produces a perfectly tight closing of the barrel, owing to the sheet-metal or
metal-foil covers of the wad being soft and flexible in consequence of their chemical
purity and mechanically suitable production, thus increasing the range and spread-
ing or scattering effect of shot as well as the certainty of aim, but it also causes
the barrel to be freed from the deposit of the previous discharge without any
damaging effect upon the barrel.
While the wads hitherto in use themselves formed the gas-check, (the covers of
such wads only serving as separating layers between the felt and the powder or
shot) in the new wads, forming the subject of the present invention, the same
purpose is effectively served by the sheet-metal or metal-foil coverings, thus
admitting of a lighter material than felt being chosen to form the intermediate
layer. The wad may be made thereby considerably cheaper and a further

page_text: important technical advantage is attained, inasmuch as the lighter wad will drop
to the ground very soon after leaving the barrel, instead of impairing the range of
the shot and the accuracy of the aim by being carried along for some distance
as has hitherto been the case with the felt wads now in use. The metal coverings
of the new wads furthermore prevent percolation of any fatty substance that may
be contained in the felt or other intermediate layer. It is well known that when
cartridges are stored for any length of time, the fatty matter contained in
the felt or other intermediate layer, frequently percolates through the
covers towards and into the powder, as well as into the shot-charge, causing
frequent and vexatious miss-fires, and also baking the shot pellets together which
is highly detractory to the effect of the discharge.
The hereinbefore described metal-foil- or sheet-metal-covered wads entirely
obviate the aforesaid serious disadvantages, because the percolation of any fatty
substance contained in the intermediate layer is rendered absolutely impossible.
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:
A wad for separating in cartridges, for sporting and like guns, the powder
charge from the shot or other projectile, consisting of a suitable series of layers
of electro-deposited or mechanically produced foils or thin sheets of chemically
pure copper or nickel, or of a convenient combination of the latter materials, with
an intermediate layer of felt or other suitable substance, for the purpose of effecting
an absolutely tight gas-check, and of automatically freeing the gun barrel from
sediments, deposited on the inner walls of the barrel by the exploded powder of
previous discharges, by the said metal covers expanding through the heat generated
by the explosion of the powder charge, and forcing the wad to assume a laterally
curved form while passing through and out of the barrel, thus increasing the range
and spreading or scattering power and effect of the shot and the accuracy of aim,
and also to prevent the percolation of fatty matter contained in the intermediate
layer of the wad into the powder charge or into the shot, substantially as described
and illustrated.
Dated this 7th of April 1898
CAMBIE & WINCKELSETT,
For the Applicant.