IMPROVEMENTS IN THE LINING OF GUNS, AND IN BREECH- " LOADING APPARATUS FOR THE SAME
Year: 1879

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by William Palliser at the Office of the
Commissioners of Patents on the 15th February 1879.
WILLIAM PALLISER, of Earl's Court Square, Kensington, in the County of
Middlesex, Knight. IMPROVEMENTS IN THE LINING OF GUNS, AND IN BREECH-
"
LOADING APPARATUS FOR THE SAME."
My Invention relates to an improved method of lining or relining existing
ordnance, whether made of wrought iron or of cast iron, or of both wrought and
cast iron, and to improvements in breech loading apparatus for guns. For the
purpose of lining or relining a gun I bore right through the gun and breech a hole
which is uniformly cylindrical from the muzzle down the greater part of the length
of the gun, and then abruptly becomes considerably less in bore and continues so to
and through the breech. I then cut a screw thread in the part of smaller diameter.
I forge a lining A, tube of coiled bar iron, or it may be of iron plate rolled up and
welded into a tube, or part of its length, which is thinner towards the breech, may
be of plate, and the greater portion which is thicker may be of coiled bar. The
use of a tube made of plate rolled up and welded is of advantage particularly in the
charge chamber so as to avoid the risk of the circunferential opening of a weld.
which sometimes occurs in a coiled tube. In order to form a rolled tube of the
kind referred to I take a plate of soft ductile iron and thoroughly cleanse its
surface by pickling or planing; I then roll it up cold to form a volute tube, heat it
to a welding heat in an air furnace, place it in a mould and force through it a
coned mandril either by hydraulic pressure or by the blows of a steam hammer,
thereby welding the convolutions together. On the thinner part at the breech end
I shrink a short length of tube which is preferably of the rolled kind above
described so as to make the total thickness up to that of the rest of the tube. This
additional tube I may term the B tube, on which when it is secured on the A tube
I cut a male screw thread to fit the thread in the bore, and I continue this thread
some distance up the A tube beyond the junction of the A and B tubes. The
barrel thus prepared is then screwed into the gun from the muzzle, and when it
has been screwed up tight it is retained in its place by a thin screw collar at the
muzzle or by several key screws tapped hall'into the metal of the tube and half
into that of the gun. In some cases where it is desirable that the existing bore
of a wrought iron gun should be lengthened, the lining barrel is made of the
required length so that part of it protrudes beyond the muzzle and an extra length
of coil is shrunk over the protruding part as well as over a portion of the old muzzle
which is reduced in external diameter to receive it. The object of making the

page_text: breech end of the lining barrel in two thicknesses as above described is to prevent
an internal rupture from extending into the body of the metal. Also the screw
thread is carried beyond the B tube so as to include part of the A tube in order to
prevent the A tube from being blown forward out of or towards the muzzle by an
escape of gas at the breech or by the opening of a coil into a circumferential Haw.
The thin screw collar or key screws at the muzzle also keeps the tube in place and
prevents injury from vibration there. If the gun is to be used as a muzzle loader
I screw into the breech end of the A tube a plug cupped to form a gas check, and
behind it I screw into the end of the B tube a solid plug. When the gun is to be
used as a breech loader I employ apparatus of the kind described in the Specifi-
cation to Letters Patent granted to me and F. J. Boulton on the 21st May 1868,
No. 1667, with certain modifications which I will now describe. I cause the
hinged collar to project in conical form some distance into the breech hole of the
gun, and I arrange the spring lock-bolt which keeps the collar in its forward
position for firing in such a manner that it cannot be withdrawn until the breech
plug is so far unscrewed that the gas check cup at its front has been brought
within the collar so as to be protected thereby from injury when the collar is
folded back on its hinge. This I effect by making the lock bolt with a tail piece
within the collar which, bearing against the periphery of the breech plug prevents
the bolt from being unlatched until the plug is screwed back so far as to present a
recess formed in it for the tail piece of the bolt. I further so arrange the position
of the tappet lever which screws up the breech plug that its weight prevents the
breech plug from moving forwards and exposing the cup. The cup or lip forming
the gas check may be of wrought iron or gun metal. It consists of a separate
piece in the form of a ring screwed on to the face of the breech plug, the joint of
their junction being covered by a dovetailed ring driven into a recess in both or by
making the metal of the cup overlap the plug. The cup is prevented from
unscrewing by a lateral set screw. When worn or damaged it can be replaced by a
fresh cup screwed on the same plug. The cup may have a single or a double
projecting rim. When the rim is single it should enter an annular recess in the
bore of the gun so as to be overlapped internally by the metal of the bore in cases
where the vent entors the bore beyond the plug. If, however, the vent enters
through the breech plug the rim of the cup should be inside, overlapping the metal
of the bore. When the cup is made with a double rim the outer one enters an
annular recess at the end of the bore so as to be overlapped by the metal of the
bore, and the inner one overlaps internally the metal of the bore. The outer rim
may be situated behind the inner one.
In order to prevent the internal screw for the breech plug from being damaged
by the projectile when it is being introduced I mount on the breech end of the gun
an arm pivotted like the plug collar on the opposite side, and on this arm I lay
the hollow tray on which the projectile is carried, steadying the tray thereon by
steady pins or otherwise. The tray and projectile being placed on the arm the
lattor is swung forward on its pivot so that the front end of the projectile fairly
enters the bore of the gun, while its hinder part rests on the tray. The projectile
is then pushed forwards into the gun, being kept by the tray clear of the screw
threads.