Improved Steam Gun

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Measures to secure a patent for the above have been taken by F. Wellhouse of Copley, Ohio. This invention relates to an improvement in Steam Guns and consists in the combination of a sliding tube and piston so constructed and arranged that the piston drives or forces the shot or ball from the larger into the smaller bore of the gun, and is afterwards drawn back. A sliding tube is then moved forward and forms a communication between the steam pipe and larger bore by which the steam is admitted, and the shot orball discharged from the gun. This sliding tube is connected with another tube, so that when drawn back it cuts off the steam and thus allows the piston to be moved forward. The ball or shot is fed into the gun from a hopper, and the sliding tube having been drawn back, it passes into a chamber in the back part of the gun, and from thence into the larger part of the bore, which is directly underneath. The piston is then moved forward and forces the ball from the larger into the smaller part of the bore, the space between them being of a conical shape corresponding to the head of the piston. The piston is then drawn back, and the sliding tube moved forward, when the steam is admitted by an opening that communicates with the other tube, and rushing through the gun, expels the ball in its passage.

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