AN APPENDAGE TO BULLET MOULDS
Year: 1853

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles William Lancaster, of New Bond
Street, in the County of Middlesex, Gun Manufacturer, for the
Invention of "AN APPENDAGE TO BULLET MOULDS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles William
Lancaster at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 7th January 1858.
I, CHARLES WILLIAM LANCASTER, of New Bond Street, in the
County of Middlesex, Gun Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature
of the said Invention for "AN APPENDAGE TO BULLET MOULDS" to be as
follows:-
It consists in adapting and applying to the inside of the orifice of the
mou d through which the lead is poured a cutting edge or cutting tool.
After the mould has been filled the cutter is brought into action, and
the bullet leaves the mould perfect.
.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Charles William Lancaster in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 7th July 1853.
:
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I,
CHARLES WILLIAM LANCASTER, of New Bond Street, in the County of
Middlesex, Gun Manufacturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Seventh day of January, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three, in the six-
teenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Charles William Lancaster, Her special
licence that I, the said Charles William Lancaster, my executors, ad-
ministrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Charles William
Lancaster, 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
"AN APPENDAGE TO BULLET MOULDS,' upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Charles William Lancaster, by an instrument in
writing under my hand and seal, should particularly describe and as-
certain 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 inmunediately after the
date of the said Letters Patent.
"
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Charles William Lancaster, do
hereby declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement thereof reference being had to the
Drawings hereunto, annexed (that is to say):
My Invention consists in adapting and applying to the inside of the
orifice of the mould through which the lead is poured an eccentric cut
ting edge or cutting tool. After the mould has been filled the cutter is
brought into action, and the bullet leaves the mould perfect. The cutter

page_text: is hollow, and has an eccentric orifice, through which the lead is poured
into the mould. In the Drawing hereunto annexed I have represented
a mould suitable for casting Minié bullet. Figure 1, is a plan, and
Figure 2, a section. A, A, are the two jaws of the mould, the inner faces
of which are hollowed out to form the shape of the intended bullet to be
cast therein. B, B, are the two handles of the mould, one to each jaw.
These handles are centred upon the pin C, and are for the purpose of
opening and closing the mould, and also to hold it during the operation
of casting and forming the bullet. D, is a junction piece, which carries
the cutter, and forms the top part of the mould; it is attached to the
jaws by the screws a, a; the slots b, b, arc cut into it to allow of the
mould being opened. E, is the cutter, which is passed through the piece
D. and is retained in its place by the screws c, c, as shewn. It is formed
with an orifice d, through which the molten metal is poured when cast-
ing the bullet. The lower part of the orifice d, is formed with a cutting
edge, excentric to the centre line of the orifice, as indicated by the red
line in Figure 2, so that when the mould has been filled, and the cutter
caused to rotate by means of the handle F, the excentricity of the cutting
edge, by revolving round the centre line, serves to cut off the "geat" or
refuse metal, and thus the bullet is rendered perfect when it leaves the
mould.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and the
manner in which the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim
the appendage to bullet moulds for cutting off the refuse metal from the
bullet constructed and acting in the manner herein-before described, and
represented in the Drawings hercunto annexed.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles William Lancaster, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Seventh day of July, One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-three.
CHARLES W. LANCASTER. (L.S.)