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Earliest known written formula for gunpowder, from the Wujing Zongyao of 1044 AD.. Gunpowder is the first explosive to have been developed. Popularly listed as one of the "Four Great Inventions" of China, it was invented during the late Tang dynasty (9th century) while the earliest recorded chemical formula for gunpowder dates to the Song dynasty (11th century).
Ball propellant (trademarked as Ball Powder by Olin Corporation and marketed as spherical powder by Hodgdon Powder Company [1]) is a form of nitrocellulose used in small arms cartridges. Ball propellant can be manufactured more rapidly with greater safety and less expense than extruded propellants.
A gun known as the "Great Bowl-Mouth Tube" (大碗口筒) dated to 1372 weighs only 15.75 kilograms and was 36.5 centimeters long, its muzzle 11 centimeters in diameter. Other excavated guns of this type range from 8.35 to 26.5 kilograms. They were usually mounted on ships or gates as defensive weapons.
Gunpowder is a low explosive: it does not detonate, but rather deflagrates (burns quickly). This is an advantage in a propellant device, where one does not desire a shock that would shatter the gun and potentially harm the operator; however, it is a drawback when an explosion is desired.
Finnish smokeless powder. Smokeless powder is a type of propellant used in firearms and artillery that produces less smoke and less fouling when fired compared to black powder. Because of their similar use, both the original black powder formulation and the smokeless propellant which replaced it are commonly described as gunpowder.
Hiram Maxim invents the Maxim gun, the first single-barreled machine gun. Both China and Europe start using cast iron molds for casting cannons. Alfred Nobel invents dynamite, the first stable explosive stronger than gunpowder. Smokeless powder is invented and replaces the traditional "black powder" in Europe by the end of the century.
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 ...
More than 2.75 million pounds of first-quality gunpowder (a majority of the powder used by the Confederacy) were produced before its closure in 1865. [5] By comparison, Union gunpowder manufacture was distributed among many mills, with the larger Hazard Powder Company of Connecticut producing 40% of the annual production of 8.4 million pounds.