IMPROVEMENTS IN GUNPOWDER FOR BALLISTIC PURPOSES
Year: 1884

page_text: I Lieutenant-Colonel WILLIAM HOPE V.C. of the Army and Navy Club Pall
Mall in the City of Westminster do hereby declare the nature of my invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN GUNPOWDER FOR BALLISTIC PURPOSES to be as follows:-
:-
The object of this Invention is to produce a powder for ballistic purposes which
shall be as safe as ordinary gunpowder, but shall have a more perfect combustion
and therefore less smoke, clearer smoke greater heat and greater tension or ultimate
expansion.
My attention was first drawn to the urgent necessity of reducing the volume and
clarifying the quality of the smoke resulting from fired gunpowder during the
Crimean War previous to which time I had a very faint notion of the extent to
which the movements of troops become obscured by smoke in action. Since then
the evil has become greatly increased by the introduction of breech-loaders,
magazine arms machine guns, revolving guns and in the case of ships and fortresses,
by the enormous guns and immense charges of powder now used. For instance
the largest charge of powder used by the Allies during the Siege of Sevastopol
was 20 lbs, but I am at the present time preparing to make a gun for the War
Office which shall fire as an ordinary charge 1700 lbs of powder.
For many years I looked for the much needed improvement in tho direction of
gun-cotton and afterwards of nitroglycerine, and always of some substance of a
totally different nature from gunpowder, but lately I have become more and more
convinced, that it is on the contrary, to an improvement in ordinary gunpowder
that we must look for a substance having the desired qualities combined with the
stability which has made gunpowder so safe and reliable a servant.
A careful consideration of the composition of gunpowder and of its resultants
has satisfied mo that the ingredient chiefly requiring improvement is the form of
carbon used and I introduce solid matters containing hydrogen & carbon such as
starch C, Ho O, and anhydrous sugar say C₁₂ H₂. O similar substances such as
rice flour might no doubt bo substituted but it is always preferable to employ a
pure substance of known and uniform composition.
One of my most successful mixtures hitherto has been replacing one half of the
usual quantity of charcoal with a like weight of pure starch. The addition of so
much oxygen and hydrogen materially assists in producing a more perfect com-
bustion and sensibly increases the heat and expansion and the volume of smoke

page_text: appears to be diminished and it is much less opaque and dense. The smoke appears
also to be lighter and to rise faster.
A good quality of bitumen carefully freed from solid impurities may also be
used to supply a portion of the required carbon.
One incidental but practical advantage attendant on the use of starch and
bitumen is that either or both render the grains or other desired unit-masses of
the powder stronger to resist mechanical injury and another advantage is that
both being insoluble in cold water they tend to check the deliquescence of the
nitre and for these two reasons gunpowder made with starch or bitumen should
keep longer and better than ordinary powder.
For a small proportion of the nitre may be substituted the like quantity of
sodic or potassic chloride or chlorate, but they must, in the manufacture be first
intimately mixed with the nitre to avoid an accident on the addition of the
sulphur.
Powder of this nature I name "Hope Gunpowder."

page_text: I, Lieutenant Colonel WILLIAM HOPE V.C. of the Army and Navy Club, Pall
Mall, in the City of Westminster do hereby declare the nature of my invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN GUNPOWDER FOR BALLISTIC PURPOSES" and in what manner
the same is to be performed to be particularly described and ascertained in
and by the following statement :-
The object of this invention is to produce a powder for ballistic purposes which
shall be as safe as ordinary gunpowder but shall have a more perfect combustion,
and therefore less smoke, clearer smoke, greater heat, and greater tension or ultimate
expansion.
My attention was first drawn to the urgent necessity of reducing the volume,
and clarifying the quantity of the smoke resulting from fired gunpowder during
the Crimean War, previous to which time I had a very faint notion of the extent
to which the movements of troops become obscured by smoke in action. Since
then the evil has become greatly increased by the introduction of breechloaders,
magazine arms, machine guns, revolving guns, and in the case of ships and
fortresses by the enormous guns and immense charges of powder now used. For
instance the largest charge of powder used by the Allies during the siege of
Sevastopol was 20 lbs. but I am at the present time preparing to make a gun for
the War Office which shall fire as an ordinary chargo 1,700 lbs of powder.
For many years I looked for the much needed improvement in the direction of
gun cotton and afterwards of nitro-glycerine, and always of some substance of a
totally different nature from gunpowder but latterly I have become more and more
convinced that it is, on the contrary, to an improvement in ordinary gunpowder
that we must look for a substance having the desired qualities combined with tho
stability which has made gunpowder so safe and reliable a servant.
A careful consideration of the composition of gunpowder and of its resultants
has satisfied me that the ingredient chiefly requiring improvement is the form of
carbon used, and I introduce solid matters containing hydrogen and carbon such as
starch C H O, and anhydrous sugar, say, C₁, HO. Similar substances, such
as rico flour might no doubt be substituted, but it is always preferable to employ a
pure substance of known and uniform composition.
One of my most successful mixtures hitherto has been replacing one half of the
usual quantity of charcoal with a like weight of pure starch. The addition of so
much oxygen and hydrogen materially assists in producing a more perfect com-
bustion and sensibly increases the heat and expansion, and the volume of smoke
appears to be diminished, and it is much less opaque and dense. The smoke
appears also to be lighter and to rise faster.
A good quality of bitumen carefully freed from solid impurities may also be used
to supply a portion of the required carbon.
One incidental, but practical advantage attendant on the use of starch and
bitumen is that either or both render the grains, or other desired unit-masses, of
the powder stronger to resist mechanical injury and another advantage is that both

page_text: being insoluble in cold water they tend to check the deliquescence of the nitre, and
for these two reasons gunpowder made with starch or bitumen should keep longer
and better than ordinary powder.
For a small proportion of the nitro may be substituted the like quantity of
sodic or potassic chloride or chlorate, but they must in the manufacture be first
intimately mixed with the nitre, to avoid an accident on the addition of the
sulphur.
Powder of this nature I name "Hope Gunpowder."
I find it advisable in some cases to diminish the proportion of sulphur in the
powder.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what
I claim is
Substituting in part or in whole for the charcoal in ordinary gunpowder starch
sugar flour or like organic material consisting of carbon combined with oxygen and
hydrogen or bitumen or other like solid hydrocarbon.