53 lines
3.0 KiB
Plaintext
53 lines
3.0 KiB
Plaintext
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Formulas For Black Powder
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Gunpowder is the great-granddaddy of all the rest of the high and
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low power explosives, and still to this day is on of the most important
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explosives. As with all the rest of the explosive formulas, it seems everyone
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has his own recipe, which he claims to be the best. I have collected 11 of the
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safer, more functional, methods of preparing gunpowder. The most important
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thing to remember when dealing with black powder is its incredible sensitivity
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to sparks. Note: A cook, a book does not make.
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[1> Potassium perchlorate 69.2 [2> Potassium chlorate 75
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Sulfur 15.4 Charcoal 12.5
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Charcoal 15.4 Sulfur 12.5
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[3> Potassium nitrate 70.4 [4> Potassium nitrate 79
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Sulfur 19.4 Sulfur 3
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Sodium sulfate 10.2 Straw charcoal 18
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[5> Potassium nitrate 64 [6> Potassium nitrate 70.6
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Sulfur 12 Sulfur 23.5
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Lamp black 7 Antimony sulfate 5.9
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Sawdust 17
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[8> Potassium nitrate 37.5
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[7> Potassium nitrate 50 Starch 37.5
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Ammonium perchlorate 25 Sulfur 18.75
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Sulfur 12.5 Antimony powder 6.25
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Charcoal 12.5
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[10> Guanidine nitrate 49
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[9> Barium nitrate 75 Potassium nitrate 40
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Sulfur 12.5 Charcoal 11
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Charcoal 12.5
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[11> Sodium peroxide 67
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Sodium thiosulphate 33
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When preparing black powder for use in firearms, it is important to
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keep in mind that these formulas are more powderful than ordinary potassium
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nitrate gunpowder, and for that reason smaller quantities should be used. The
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correct amount can only be discovered by trial-and-error experimentation, but
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caution must be taken to prevent overloading.
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Although black powder is one of the safest explosives, it has
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disadvantage: It is extremely sensitive to sparks; and it leaves a messy
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residue in gun barrels, which necessitates frequent cleaning. The advantage of
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smokeless powder is the low-explosive class, which gives off only gaseuous
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products upon explosion. The first type of smokeless powder used by the army
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was basically nitrocellulose with a small amount of diphenylamine, for
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stablizer. Smokeless powder is perhaps the safest of any explosive compound
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discussed in this chapter, and for that reason is extremely popular today.
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************************************************
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