Improvements in Projectiles
Year: 1898

page_text: I, ROBERT ABBOTT HADFIELD, of Hecla Works, Sheffield, in the County of York,
Steel Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
According to this invention I produce projectiles by casting the same of suit-
able alloy, with blunt heads which I furnish with what are known as caps and
sometimes with devices I call air deflectors which are adapted to reduce resist-
ance and thereby to facilitate the flight of the projectiles through the air.
I have discovered that with projectiles made as above referred to exception-
ally effective results may be obtained when firing against highly resistant bodies
such as steel armour plates having their faces hardened. Projectiles such as abovo
referred to may according to my invention be manufactured in various ways.
Satisfactory results can be obtained by the use of alloys and processes such as
referred to in my previous applications for Patents Nos. 27753 of 1897, 27754
of 1897, and 3543 of 1898, but I do not limit myself thereto.
Dated this 4th day of August 1898.
Improvements in Projectiles,
I, ROBERT ABBOTT HADFIELD, of Hecla Works, Sheffield, in the County of York,
Steel Manufacturer, 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:
-
According to this invention I produce projectiles by casting the same of suit-
able, alloy with blunt heads which I furnish with what are known as caps and
sometimes with devices I call air deflectors which are adapted to reduce resist-
ance and thereby to facilitate the flight of the projectiles through the air.
I have discovered that with projectiles made as above referred to exception-
ally effective results may be obtained when firing against highly resistant bodies
such as steel armour plates having their faces hardened. Projectiles such as above
referred to may according to my invention be manufactured in various ways.
Satisfactory results can be obtained by the use of alloys and processes such as

page_text: referred to in my previous applications for Patents Nos. 27753 of 1897 27754
of 1897 and 3543 of 1898 but I do not limit myself thereto.
In the accompanying illustrative drawings Fig. 1 shows a central longitudinal
section of an armour piercing projectile formed with a solid blunt head and
furnished with a cap in accordance with this invention, the cap in this, as in
the other examples hereinafter described, being of a shallow or disc like form
specially adapted to the blunt head of the projectile body. Fig. 2 is a similar
section of the forward portion of such a projectile provided also with an air
deflector. Figs. 3 to 8 inclusive show examples illustrating on a smaller scale
than the previous figures several ways of capping such blunt headed projectiles.
The projectile shown in Fig. 1 is formed, as shown, with the front 1 of its
ogival portion 2 somewhat rounded or convex with a central projection 3 pro-
vided thereon to hold or aid in holding the cap 4 in a central position the latter
being formed with a corresponding recess which fits upon the said projection.
A screw bolt 5 securely holds the cap in place and one or more pins 5* may be
advantageously inserted partly, in the projectile and partly in the cap in order
to prevent the cap rotating on the projectile during Hight.
The cap shown in Fig. 1 is considerably rounded upon its front outward face,
the ogival portion of the projectile together with the rounded cap forming
a dome-shaped nose having an uninterrupted curve. This form offers very
Jittle resistance to the passage of the projectile during flight, but it is some-
times desirable to further reduce this resistance by providing an air deflector 6,
shown in Fig. 2, comprising a hollow metal conoid conveniently attached to the
cap as by screwing and so shaped that when it is in place the thus built up front
ogival part of the projectile is completed to a point.
.
Instead of the cap 4 being rounded on its outer face it may be formed flat_as
shown in Fig. 3; and the front end of the body of the projectile may be also
flattened as shown in Fig. 4. In some cases the cap may take the form of a
plain disc, (see Fig. 5); and instead of one central screw stud 5, two or more
may be used, as shown in the two last-mentioned views (Figs. 4 and 5); or
instead of a separate screw or screws the cap 6 may be formed with a screw-
threaded extension 5 adapted to be inserted into a corresponding screw-threaded
hole in the body of the projectile, see Fig. 6. In the modification shown in Fig. 7
the front end of the projectile is suitably enlarged in diameter and formed with
a recess to receive the disc 4 which is held therein by means of the screw stud 5,
the outer face of the disc being level with the end of the projectile. The pro-
jection 3 may be formed on the cap and the corresponding recess in the shell as
shown in Figs. 4, 6 and 7. In addition to the central projection 3 the body of
the projectile may, be provided with an annular projection 3 adapted to enter
a corresponding annular groove in the cap, see Fig. 8.
In some cases I have found it advantageous to attach such caps by means of
an interrupted annular projecting rib formed at the front end of the projectile
about which rib the metal of the cap pressed, which method of attachment
forms the subject of another application for patent by me.
As will be obvious various other modifications may readily be made, for
example, in the forms shown in Figs. 4 to 8 inclusive, the front end of the
projectile and the adjacent face of the cap may be curved as shown in Figs. 1,
2 and 3; also the front end of the projectile may be flat and provided with a
dome-shaped cap, the external form being substantially as shown in Fig. 1.
The caps may be of any suitable metal, either hard, soft, or medium, but pre-
ferably I make them of soft steel. The air deflectors may be made of any suit-
able material; it has been found advantageous to cast them of ordinary steel
containing about 4 (decimal four) per cent. of carbon, but other qualities of steel
or other materials may be used.
Although I have shown examples by way of illustration, it is to be clearly
understood that I do not limit myself to the forms of blunt-headed projectile or to

page_text: the forms of cap or the methods of attaching the said cap to the projectile repre-
sented in the drawings as these may evidently be more or less varied according
to requirement as may also the proportions of the parts and the materials
employed.
In some projectiles sheets or discs of suitable fusible metal or alloy, for
instance, lead, or of lubricating material may be provided between the caps and
the blunt heads of the projectiles.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what
I claim is
1. A projectile having its body made with a solid blunt head and provided with a
shallow or disc-like cap secured to the said blunt head whereby the projectile is
made suitable for use in attacking hardened steel armour plates and the like
substantially as described.
2. A projectile of the kind referred to in the preceding claim provided with
an air deflector comprising a hollow conoid secured to the shallow or disc-like
cap or to the body of the projectile and so shaped as when so secured to complete
the ogival form of the so built up head of the projectile.
3. The construction of projectiles such as referred to in Claim 1 with blunt
heads having caps secured thereto the several constructions as herein above
respectively described with reference to and respectively shown in Fig. 1; in
Fig. 3; in Fig. 4; in Fig. 5; in Fig. 6; in Fig. 7; and in Fig. 8 of the accom-
panying illustrative drawings whether provided or not with air deflectors as
mentioned in Claim 2.
4. The construction shown in and described with reference to Fig. 2 of a pro-
jectile embodying the combination referred to in Claim 2.
Dated this Atl
1000