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Firearms History, Technology &
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Monday, June 14, 2010
Propellants: Black Powder - I
Blog Archive The invention of black powder (the first true "gunpowder") is credited to
several sources, the Chinese, the Indians, the Arabs, the Germans and the
► 2017 (6)
English. Certainly, the original source seems to have been the Chinese by
► 2016 (71) 900 AD or so, but they seem to have used it for medicinal and alchemical
► 2015 (65) purposes initially, rather than use them for firearms. The Arabs mention a
► 2014 (74) formula for gunpowder by the late 1200s. Gunpowder was used in firearms
► 2013 (39) in India and Arabia by the early 1300s. Roger Bacon, an English monk,
► 2012 (84)
published a description of gunpowder back in 1242, although he did not
claim to invent it. In 1268, he published a more exact formula, listing the
► 2011 (58)
proportions of the various ingredients to be used. Even though Roger Bacon
▼ 2010 (155) was the first to describe an exact formula in the western world, curiously
► December (16) his notes (written in Latin) begin with what would be roughly translated in
► November (11) English as "As everyone knows, you can make ...". Black Berthold (or
► October (12) Berthold Schwartz), a medieval German monk, also conducted research on
► September (6) black powder in the early 1300s. It is possible that the secrets of black
► August (23)
powder were brought back to Europe by the crusaders arriving back from
the middle east. Black powder was used as a propellant from the 1300s all
► July (24)
the way to the mid 1870s or so, and is still used by many avid black-powder
▼ June (22) hunters who wish to hunt using the same technologies that were available
Revolver: Colt Single Action Army to their hallowed ancestors.
a.k.a. The Peace...
Revolver: Walker Colt & Colt Dragoon
The primary three components of black powder are a fuel, an oxidizer and
Revolvers
a stabilizer, mixed in various proportions. The fuel is usually charcoal or
Revolvers: Colt Paterson
sugar, the oxidizer is usually potassium nitrate (KNO3) (or sometimes
Revolvers: Pepper-Box Revolver
sodium nitrate, NaNO3) and the stabilizer is generally sulfur (S). The
Revolvers: Basics
burning of the carbon (C) in the charcoal produces carbon dioxide and
Bullets: Modern Bullets - II energy in the form of heat and light. Normally, the charcoal would burn at
Bullets: Modern Bullets - I a normal rate when burnt in atmospheric air, but with an oxidizer that
Bullets: Conical Expanding Bullets supplies extra oxygen, it burns much faster than usual. The final reaction
Bullets: Swaging produces nitrogen and carbon-dioxide gases and potassium sulfide.
Bullets: Shotgun Pellets Gunpowder may be made using just potassium nitrate and charcoal, but
Bullets: Early Bullets the force is not as much as when sulfur is added. Sulfur also reduces the
Bullets: Basics temperature at which the ignition takes place.
Propellants: Smokeless Powders
Propellants: Black Powder - II The proportions of the various ingredients of black powder have varied
Propellants: Black Powder - I over time. Sir Francis Bacon's formula of 1268 called for 7 parts by weight
Propellants: Basics of potassium nitrate, 5 parts of charcoal and 5 parts of sulfur, though some
Barrel Making: Making a Modern Steel scholars maintain that he'd invented the modern ratio of 15:3:2 as well. By
Barrel - Part II 1312, the records of the Battle of Crecy and the Battle of Agincourt show
Barrel Making: Making a Modern Steel that the English had settled on a formula in the ratio 6:2:1 of KNO3, C and
Barrel - Part I S, while the Germans were using 4:1:1 ratio. By the 1750s, the standard
Barrel Making: The Rise of Steel Barrels ratio for gunpowder used was 15:3:2 (i.e.) 75% potassium nitrate, 15%
Barrel Making: Fake Damascus Barrels charcoal, 10% sulfur by weight and this ratio has stayed pretty much the
Barrel Making: Pattern Welded or same since. Other ratios were used for black powder not suitable for use
Damascus Barrels ... for firearms (for instance, blasting powder used different ratios of the ame
Barrel Making: Pattern Welded or materials).
Damascus Barrels ...
► May (25) The charcoal used in the manufacture of black powder is generally
► April (16) manufactured from the wood of softwood trees. Softwood trees are
preferred because the charcoal from hardwood trees leave too much ash
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Firearms History, Technology & Development: Propellants: Black Powder - I https://firearmshistory.blogspot.com/2010/06/propellants-black-powder-i...
behind after combustion. According to W.W. Greener's, The Gun and Its
About Me Development, Second Edition, trees such as willow, black dogwood, alder
The Editor etc are/were traditionally used in England to manufacture charcoal. In
India, the woods of the locally available Grambush plant (Cythus Cajan),
View my complete profile Parkinsonia and Milk Edge (Euphorbia Tiraculli) are used. In America,
cottonwood, soft pine, redwood and western cedar are the trees of choice.
The trees are generally felled in springtime, because the bark is easier to
Popular Posts remove from the tree trunks during this time, though winter wood may
also be used. The removal of bark is a necessity because it prevents the
What are the scintillation of gunpowder. The wood is cut into chips or smaller pieces
differences between about 1-4 inches in diameter and put into a vessel with a tight fitting lid.
AK-47, AKM, AK-56, There is a small hole on top of the vessel to allow the escape of other
AK-74 and AK-101? gases. The vessel is then placed on a hot fire and heated, until organic
The AK family of assault gases begin to escape from the wood through the small hole. The gas is
rifles are pretty called wood-gas and is primarily composed of methane. This gas may be
widespread around the world, because ignited with a match as it is escaping through the hole. When the gas stops
of their lower cost of manufacturing, issuing out of the hole, the flame goes out and this indicates that the wood
lower tooling costs, ... has been converted to charcoal. The time taken for charring depends on
Revolvers: Pepper-Box the thickness of the wood pieces, as well as the heat of the furnace.
Revolver
Charcoal made at 240 degrees centigrade will readily ignite at 330 degrees
The first repeating centigrade, whereas charcoal made at 950 degrees centigrade will take
revolver type weapons nearly 1900 degrees to ignite. Hence, the best charcoal for gunpowder is
and predecessors of made at lower temperatures. The vessel is allowed to cool and then the
modern revolvers are
charcoal is removed and ground up into a powder. For uniform results, the
called pepper-box revolvers. The name
vessels used to make charcoal are all kept at the same temperature. After
has to do with the ...
Hammer Fired vs. Striker
the powder is ground up, it is allowed to sit for a couple of weeks. The
Fired reason for this is that freshly ground-up charcoal is highly prone to
spontaneous combustion, but if it is allowed to sit for 10-12 days, it loses
In the world of modern
this property and can now be used to make gunpowder more safely.
firearms which use
centerfire cartridges ,
there are two major The second ingredient of black powder is Potassium Nitrate (KNO3),
types of mechanisms used to trigger the commonly known as saltpeter. This occurs naturally as an efflorescence on
cartridge prim... the ground in some parts of the world, such as India and Arabia and the
Pistols: Derringers Andalusia region of Spain, due to the weather conditions. In parts of
The name "derringer" is Europe, it was manufactured by preparing beds of manure mixed with
often associated with a wood ashes and leaching with urine for a period of time. In France and
class of pistols that are Sweden, the mortar from old farm walls and stables were a source for
small and designed to be saltpeter Another source was bat dung from caves. Sodium nitrate was also
carried in a coat pocket, used as an alternative for a while, as it was available in the Chilean
woman... desert. In the 1600s, most of Europe was importing saltpeter from ports in
Rifling: Manufacturing: the Gujarat region of India. By the late 1700s and early 1800s, England's
Button Rifling source of potassium nitrate was entirely from the Gangetic plains of India,
In our last post, we especially from the Bengal and Oudh regions where it was naturally
studied a method of occurring. The salt was collected here off the ground, mixed with water
rifling called Broach and boiled and the solution then placed in shallow troughs and allowed to
Rifling . Now we will evaporate in the sun, leaving behind impure saltpeter crystals (called
study another method of rifling called "grough saltpeter"). These were then packed into gunny bags and shipped
Button Rifling .... off to England for refining. On arrival at the Royal Waltham mills in
Concealed Weapons England, about two tons of the grough saltpeter were put in a large vat
In our last post about and dissolved in 275 gallons of water. The mixture was heated for about
combined firearms , two two hours to allow the contents to boil, the specific gravity being 1.49 and
of the examples (the the temperature of water getting close to 230 F. Scum rising to the surface
whip pistol and King was skimmed off until no more scum was generated. Then more cold water
Henry VIII's mace) are was added and the solution was heated and then allowed to cool to 220 F.
also examples of a conce... The solution was then pumped into shallow trays and allowed to cool. The
Testing Firearms: Proof cooling would crystallize the excess potassium nitrate, while the solution
Test would contain the impurities of sulphates, chlorides etc. The solution was
The first type of testing gently agitated to prevent formation of large crystals and form a flour
we will study is the instead. The flour was then washed three times and a small sample was
Proof Test . The idea tested to make sure it was pure enough, before the batch was used.
behind such a test is to
verify the strength of the barrel,
These days, most potassium nitrate is generally mass-produced using the
breech and ...
Haber process, which was invented by Fritz Haber shortly before WW-I.
Shotguns: Actions and Designs
This consists of combining nitrogen with hydrogen in the presence of a
The early history of true shotguns catalyst, to produce ammonia (NH3). This ammonia is then oxidized to
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Firearms History, Technology & Development: Propellants: Black Powder - I https://firearmshistory.blogspot.com/2010/06/propellants-black-powder-i...
begins in the 1800s, produce nitrates. The advantage of this process is that the raw ingredients
when people began to are all abundantly available in nature (nitrogen and oxygen from the air
use them to hunt birds. and hydrogen and oxygen from water) and thus cannot be embargoed.
During that time, the During WW-I, the allies had access to large naturally occurring deposits of
flintlock firing ... nitrates from Chile, but the Germans were cut off from this supply and had
Metal Treatments: to produce their own. It was strongly suggested that without Haber's
Browning and Bluing process, the Germans could not have gone to war or would have had to
surrender much earlier. Haber received a Nobel prize for his discovery.
Since the early days of
gun-making, people
Ironically, he was forced to leave Germany by the Nazis in the 1930s simply
were looking for because he was Jewish.
different ways to better
protect the iron and steel parts of their Sulfur is also obtained naturally around the world, mostly around hot
weapons. Ther... springs and volcanic regions. It is found naturally in Sicily, Japan, Chile,
Actions: Lever Action Indonesia etc. It was known in ancient China and India as well, where it
In the last post , we was extracted from pyrite ores. In fact, the word "Sulfur" is actually of
studied a popular Sanskrit origin (sulvari). It is also found around petroleum deposits. Sulfur
mechanism called the is generally refined by using distillation or sublimation. Historically, the
bolt-action . Now we two methods used for purifying sulfur were the Sicilian process (from
will study another ancient times) and the Frasch process (used from 1890s onward till about
mechanism that is also still being 2002). The Claus process extracts sulfur from hydrogen sulfide gas and is
used... the process of choice in modern times.
In the next post, we will discuss how these ingredients are combined to
make black powder.
Posted by The Editor at 10:50 PM
Labels: Black Powder, Gunpowder, Propellants
4 comments:
Richard Sharpe May 6, 2016 at 2:52 PM
I am coming very late to this party, however:
David Ayelon, the author of Gunpowder and firearms in the
Mameluk kingdom, specifically says that the Muslims did not
discover gunpowder and dates the first use of firearms in the
Muslim lands to sometime in the 14th century. Definitely by
1390 but he says there is evidence that it might have been
used as early as around 1350.
Reply
Replies
Richard Sharpe May 8, 2016 at 11:40 AM
I am getting the book again so I can cite the page
where that is stated.
Richard Sharpe May 8, 2016 at 12:48 PM
That title is slightly wrong. It should be: Gunpowder
and firearms in the Mamluk Kingdom.
Reply
Richard Sharpe May 8, 2016 at 11:43 AM
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Firearms History, Technology & Development: Propellants: Black Powder - I https://firearmshistory.blogspot.com/2010/06/propellants-black-powder-i...
In https://www.academia.edu/10603213/The_Pre-
History_of_gunpowder Geoff Smith suggests a possible path to
gunpowder, because, as he says, it seems unlikely that anyone
sat down and said: Let me mix these three things together and
see what results.
Reply
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