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Gunpowder by Todd Green
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Gunpowder |
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Hobbies,Sports
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Gunpowder or black powder gunpowder is a chemical explosive made from a mixture of sulfur, charcoal and saltpeter, also known as potassium nitrate. The saltpeter is the oxidizer while sulfur and charcoal are its fuel. Gunpowder generates very large amount of gas and heat. This large gas is used to propel bullets in firearms and it is also used as a pyrotechnic composition of fireworks. In quarrying through blasting its variant known as blasting powder is used. However, it is no longer widely used is modern guns. Since gunpowder is not very powerful and it can also break the already fragile bullet barrels. In modern guns, gun powder isn’t used and has been replaced by a more powerful propellant. Gunpowder has been used a lot in many different types of weapons. Chinese used many gunpowder based weapons like rockets, guns, cannons, grenades and also many different types of bombs. Gunpowder is according to prevailing academic consensus invented in the 9th century in China. The earliest record of written formula of gunpowder dates back to the 11th century, in the Song dynasty. This discovery gave a new evolution to the way wars will be fought in the future and completely change the rules of battlefield. Now, swords and spears were no longer the determining factor of victory and even a first time soldier could potentially kill experienced swordsmen. In the centuries following the discovery of gunpowder by the Chinese, its use spread to the Muslim world, Europe and India. The earliest western account of use of gunpowder dates back to the 13th century in a text written by Roger Bacon. Gunpowder is a low explosive since it has a relatively slow decomposition rate as compared to high explosives. It thus consequently also has a low brisance. When compared with high explosives, low explosives deflagrate or burn at speeds that are subsonic where as high explosives detonate and produce supersonic wave. Another disadvantage of gunpowder is that its burning rate depends on pressure. So gunpowder bursts in containers but will just burn when in atmosphere. Due to this difference in burning rate of gunpowder which depends on pressure gunpowder can consequently be used only in places with relatively high pressure such as, as a propellant in guns but is not very good for quarrying where large rocks are broken using explosives which are exposed to atmosphere. With the invention of high explosives the use of black powder has declined and it is no longer used in mining activities and neither in rifles and pistols as ammunition. It is however still used as a delay element in various munitions where its slow burning characteristic is used. Different grade black powder is used in different pistols and rifles. Standard grades of black powder like Fg is used in bore rifles and shotguns. FFg grade is used in muskets and fusils while FFFg grade is used in small-bore rifles and pistols. Extreme small bore or FFFFg grade is used in short pistols and most commonly for priming flintlocks. While gunpowder has changed a lot over the centuries it still performs the same basic function but in modern technology has allowed us to control the burn rate to change the velocity and have greater accuracy in both hand guns and rifles whether the are using black powder or the more modern modern ammunition. Feel free to drop me a line if you would like to discuss this further at Bluegrass Hobbies and as always, be safe and enjoy shooting no matter what type of gun you are shooting!
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