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The combustion products of smokeless powder are mainly gaseous, compared to around 55% solid products (mostly potassium carbonate, potassium sulfate, and potassium sulfide) for black powder. [1] In addition, smokeless powder does not leave the thick, heavy fouling of hygroscopic material associated with black powder that causes rusting of the ...
Gunpowder, also commonly known as black powder to distinguish it from modern smokeless powder, is the earliest known chemical explosive. It consists of a mixture of sulfur , charcoal (which is mostly carbon ), and potassium nitrate (saltpeter) .
A black powder substitute is a replacement for black powder (gunpowder), primarily used in muzzleloading firearms. Substitutes may have slightly different properties from gunpowder such as: reduced sensitivity as an explosive, increased efficiency as a propellant powder, different density, and/or reduced ignition efficiency.
As a projectile driver, it had around six times the gas generation of an equal volume of black powder and produced less smoke and less heating. Artillery shells filled with gun cotton were widely used during the American Civil War, and its use was one of the reasons the conflict was seen as the "first modern war."
Modern firearm propellants tend to be smokeless powders based on nitrocellulose or similarly nitrated organic compounds, first invented in the late 19th century as a cleaner and better-performing replacement for black powder. Modern smokeless powder may be corned into small spherical balls, or extruded into cylinders or strips with many cross ...
This is a timeline of the history of gunpowder and related topics such as weapons, warfare, and industrial applications. The timeline covers the history of gunpowder from the first hints of its origin as a Taoist alchemical product in China until its replacement by smokeless powder in the late 19th century (from 1884 to the present day).
A saltpetre works or nitrary [1] is a place of production of potassium nitrate or saltpetre used primarily for the manufacture of gunpowder. The saltpeter occurs naturally in certain places like the "Caves of Salnitre" ( Collbató ) known since the Neolithic.
A cartridge, [1] [2] also known as a round, is a type of pre-assembled firearm ammunition packaging a projectile (bullet, shot, or slug), a propellant substance (smokeless powder, black powder substitute, or black powder) and an ignition device within a metallic, paper, or plastic case that is precisely made to fit within the barrel chamber of ...