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Black Powder XIX - More on Packing
In our last post, we talked about the packing process of black powder in the 19th century. However, that post went a little easy on details about the containers used, so we will discuss those in...
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Black Powder XX - Reworking and Re-Shaking
In our last post, we looked at different types of containers that black powder was shipped in, in the 19th century.A stack of powder barrels. Click on the image to enlarge.Now, it must be remembered...
View ArticleBlack Powder XXI - Damaged Powder
In our last post, we saw how black powder that had absorbed some moisture in the field, could be reworked to become useful again. However, this reworking process only worked if the black powder had...
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Black Powder XXII - Compressed Powder
In today's post, we will look at a form of powder that was used during the Civil War, called compressed powder. The origin of this powder has to do with larger guns rather than firearms, but is still...
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Black Powder XXIII - Prismatic Powder
In our last post, we studied the invention of compressed black powder by General Thomas Rodman of the US Army. While this idea had sound theoretical fundamentals and also could be demonstrated...
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Black Powder XXIV - Pebble Powders
A couple of posts ago, we saw why larger grain black powders were more suitable for larger guns and artillery, and studied two powders that were developed to handle this: compressed powder and...
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Black Powder XXV - Pellet Powder
In our last few posts, we saw some developments in compressed black powder technology, prismatic powders and pebble powders. In today's post, we will study another type of compressed powder called...
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Brown or Cocoa Powder
In the last several posts, we've studied about the development of black powder. In today's post, we will study another type of powder that was briefly used in the 19th century, which was called brown...
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Black Powder Factories - I
In the previous several posts, we have studied several aspects of black powder manufacturing. But what about the factories themselves? In the next few posts, we will study the layouts and processes...
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Black Powder Factories - II
In our last post, we studied how early gunpowder factories were often located in the middle of towns in the early days of firearms. Of course, placing a factory within your town walls made sense if you...
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Black Powder Substitutes - I
A few posts earlier, we saw a mention of something called "black powder substitute". We will study more about this topic in today's post.As we saw in several posts on the topic of black powders, it is...
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Black Powder Substitutes - II
In our last post, we looked at a common black powder substitute: pyrodex. In today's post, we will look at other black powder substitutes.Pyrodex was one of the first successful black powder...
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Examining Black Powder Quality - I
In the last several weeks, we have taken a detailed look at the manufacturing process for black powder. In today's post, we will look at some of the procedures that were used in the 19th century to...
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Examining Black Powder Quality - II
In our last post, we looked at some of the physical properties (color, grain solidity, grain size etc.) that powder manufacturers would look at, while determining if the black powder was good quality...
View ArticleExamining Black Powder Quality - III
In our last post, we studied one physical property (density) that was used by people to judge black powder quality. Today we will study another technique that people used to judge the quality of black...
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Black Powder - Chemical Examination
In our last few posts, we saw how people would determine the quality of black powder by measuring the physical properties of the powder, such as color, size, shape, density, hygroscopic properties etc....
View ArticleSmokeless Powders: Introduction
In the last several months, we have studied the production of various forms of black powder in depth. The next series of posts will deal with an in-depth study of smokeless powders. We had studied...
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Smokeless Powders: The Invention of Gun Cotton
In today's post, we will study one of the earliest developments in smokeless powder technology: the invention of gun cotton.In 1832, a French chemist named Henri Braconnot found that mixing nitric acid...
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Smokeless Powders: Productionizing Gun Cotton: Early Experiments
In our last post, we saw how gun cotton was accidentally discovered. As was mentioned in our previous post, some early researches were done by French scientists, namely Henri Braconnot in 1832 and...
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Smokeless Powders: The Von Lenk Process
In our last post, we learned that an Austrian officer, Wilhelm Freiherr Lenk von Wolfsberg, had come up with a method to produce gun cotton efficiently. We will study more about his exact process in...
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Smokeless Powders: Further Developments by Abel and Schultze
In our last post, we studied some discoveries by Baron Von Lenk, who succeeded in developing a process to manufacture gun cotton in larger quantities. The Austrian empire adopted his gun cotton as a...
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Smokeless Powders: Developments in France
In our last post, we looked into the development of Schultze powder, one of the first smokeless powders. Today, we will look at developments in France at around the same time.While the French were...
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Smokeless Powders: Further Developments in France
In our last post, we studied some developments in powder technology advancements in France. In today's post we will study some further developments in the field.In our last post, we studied how the...
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Smokeless Powders: Ballistite
In our last post, we talked about developments of smokeless powders in France, leading to the invention of Poudre B smokeless powder. In today's post, we will study about another smokeless powder that...
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Smokeless Powders: Cordite
In our last post, we studied the invention of ballistite by Alfred Nobel in France. In today's post, we will study how Britain managed to obtain a similar smokeless powder: cordite.As we saw...
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