Gentelman...
...Gunpowder, also known since the late 19th century as black powder, was the first chemical explosive and the only one known until the mid-1800s. It is a mixture of sulfur, charcoal, and potassium nitrate (saltpetre)—with the sulfur and charcoal acting as fuels, while the saltpeter works as an oxidizer. Because of its burning properties and the amount of heat and gas volume that it generates, gunpowder has been widely used as a propellant in firearms and as a pyrotechnic composition in fireworks.
Gunpowder is classified as a low explosive because of its relatively slow decomposition rate and consequently low brisance. Low explosives deflagrate (i.e., burn) at subsonic speeds, whereas high explosives detonate, producing a supersonic wave. Ignition of the powder packed behind a bullet must generate enough pressure to force it from the muzzle at high speed, but not enough to rupture the gun barrel. Gunpowder thus makes a good propellant, but is less suitable for shattering rock or fortifications. Gunpowder was widely used to fill artillery shells and in mining and civil engineering to blast rock roughly until the second half of the 19th century, when the first high explosives (nitro-explosives) were discovered. Gunpowder is no longer used in modern explosive military warheads, nor is it used as main explosive in mining operations due to its cost relative to that of newer alternatives such as ammonium nitrate/fuel oil (ANFO).
It seems, there is a discrepancy (on this thread) as to whether black powder is an explosive or propellant, so I can only refer as to what BAFTE classify it as. You MUST be federally licenced to sell real black powder (as they CLEARLY classify it as an explosive) and do not require this licence, to sell substitutes. This is why all the chain stores sell substitutes. Substitutes ARE classified as propellants. Black powder is indeed an explosive and also classified as "low level".
Anyone who knows anything about real black powder will tell you "compaction is everything". It is simply one of the variable characteristics of it's unique properties. How much compaction, more or less is open to the end user and subject to results!
Birch
...Gunpowder, also known since the late 19th century as black powder, was the first chemical explosive and the only one known until the mid-1800s. It is a mixture of sulfur, charcoal, and potassium nitrate (saltpetre)—with the sulfur and charcoal acting as fuels, while the saltpeter works as an oxidizer. Because of its burning properties and the amount of heat and gas volume that it generates, gunpowder has been widely used as a propellant in firearms and as a pyrotechnic composition in fireworks.
Gunpowder is classified as a low explosive because of its relatively slow decomposition rate and consequently low brisance. Low explosives deflagrate (i.e., burn) at subsonic speeds, whereas high explosives detonate, producing a supersonic wave. Ignition of the powder packed behind a bullet must generate enough pressure to force it from the muzzle at high speed, but not enough to rupture the gun barrel. Gunpowder thus makes a good propellant, but is less suitable for shattering rock or fortifications. Gunpowder was widely used to fill artillery shells and in mining and civil engineering to blast rock roughly until the second half of the 19th century, when the first high explosives (nitro-explosives) were discovered. Gunpowder is no longer used in modern explosive military warheads, nor is it used as main explosive in mining operations due to its cost relative to that of newer alternatives such as ammonium nitrate/fuel oil (ANFO).
It seems, there is a discrepancy (on this thread) as to whether black powder is an explosive or propellant, so I can only refer as to what BAFTE classify it as. You MUST be federally licenced to sell real black powder (as they CLEARLY classify it as an explosive) and do not require this licence, to sell substitutes. This is why all the chain stores sell substitutes. Substitutes ARE classified as propellants. Black powder is indeed an explosive and also classified as "low level".
Anyone who knows anything about real black powder will tell you "compaction is everything". It is simply one of the variable characteristics of it's unique properties. How much compaction, more or less is open to the end user and subject to results!
Birch
