Improvements relating to the Preparation of Smokeless Powders for Use in Fire-arms, and for other purposes.
Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 30th Nov.. 1894
Complete Specification Left, 29th July, 1895-Accepted, 14th Sept., 1895
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements relating to the Preparation of Smokeless Powders for
Use in Fire-arms, and for other purposes.
I, CHARLES PAUL DU BUIT, President of the Board of Directors of La Société
Anonyme Dynamite Nobel, of 13 Rue du Helder, Paris, France, do hereby declare
the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
The use of the various smokeless powders presents, notably in sporting fire-arms,
many disadvantages, the principal of which are the following:-
1st. The user cannot tell exactly the charge of each powder which is suitable
for his fire-arm; he runs the risk either of exceeding it, to the prejudice of his
safety, or of reducing it below the normal to the detriment of the effective range of
the fire-arm.
By reason of the great difference in weight which exists between the normal
charge of black powder and that of smokeless powder, and by reason also of the
exact measurement which the latter requires to ensure the safety of the shooter,
it is necessary to employ accurate balances to obtain suitable and fairly uniform
results.
2nd. Even in cases where the charge is exactly measured out, since the volume
of the normal charge of smokeless powder is considerably less than that of black
powders, and the cartridge-cases are made with a view to the use of the latter, it is
necessary to employ a number of wads therein.
The use of a number of wads has the effect of producing, by reason of the
essentially variable compression to which they are subjected, a very irregular
density of charge; it thus results that, even where the quantity of powder to be
employed has been determined by exact weighing, the sportsman who prepares his
cartridges is never certain of obtaining the same result by using cartridges containing
equal charges.
The present invention is designed to obviate these disadvantages, and it consists,
in principle, of preparing the charges of smokeless powders in the form of shot or
moulded bodies having a definite shape and volume and being all subjected to a
predetermined amount of compression.
The sportsman has then only to introduce this charge into his cartridges without
having to weigh the powder and without having to carry out the various mani-
pulations to which cartridges are subjected in order to influence the density of the
charge.
In a general way, the smokeless powders in a suitable state of division are,
according to the present invention and for the purposes above mentioned, brought
by compression into the condition of moulded bodies.
According to the nature of these powders, the practical processes employed in
carrying out the said invention may be varied.
The invention will be more clearly understood from the following description of
the process of preparation which is adopted with powders the base of which is a
combination of nitroglycerine and nitrocellulose, and that which it is preferable to
employ with powders the base of which is nitrocellulose alone or other nitrated
materials.

page_text: (a.) For ballistite, cordite and in general the powders having a base of nitro-
glycerine and nitrocellulose combined, the powder is first rolled into very thin
leaves or sheets, of a thickness varying according to the effect that it is desired to
produce, and these leaves or sheets are then cut up into threads or strips of definite
length and width, but generally somewhat short and very fine.
This operation can be carried out by means of any suitable well-regulated cutting
apparatus.
The threads are afterwards mixed by means of a sieve or otherwise in such a
manner as to produce a kind of very homogeneous wool or tangle.
In this condition the material is weighed or measured so as to form exactly the
charge best adapted for any particular calibre of fire-arın.
The quantity corresponding to one charge is then placed in a mould or cell of
suitable form, in which it is compressed, either cold or hot, and brought into the
condition of felt under the action of any suitable compressing apparatus, exerting
a definite or predetermined pressure on the material.
The said mould or cell may be of any convenient form, but it is preferable to so
shape it that it presents, on a part of its height, a cylindrical portion having the
diameter of the cartridge-case with which the charge is intended to be used. The
other parts can be of any desired form, such as truncate !, ovoid, etc., and can be
arranged so as to facilitate the ignition or combustion of the charge or to fulfil
other requirements.
The pressure exerted by the compressing apparatus, and the temperature at
which the operation is carried out can be varied according to the duration of the
said compression so as to obtain a predetermined density of the charge.
(b.) For colloid powders having a base of nitrocellulose only, or any other
nitrated materials, the process of preparation is modified in the following
manner :-
As, in the case of these powders, compression alone does not produce the desired
cohesion between the threads, strips or grains to produce the felting of the material
and to give it a permanent form, the charges are enclosed in thin capsules having
the desired form and volume.
These capsules can be formed of nitrocellulose gelatinized by the ordinary means,
viz.-acetone, acetic ether, a mixture of alcohol and ether, etc.
Capsules or envelopes of vellum or wove paper, either nitrated or not, can also
be employed, so that the charges have thus the external appearance of short thick
cigarettes.
Moreover in this case, the adherence of threads, strips or grains of powder to
produce felting can also be facilitated by adding thereto small quantities of adhesive
or similar materials, or by exposing them to the vapours of acetone, acetic ether or
other materials possessing the power of dissolving nitrocellulose.
The surface of the particles of the powder can thus be rendered slightly
viscous and adhesive, after which the pressure causes them to adhere or stick
together.
Dated this 30th day of November 1894.
D. YOUNG & Co.,
11 & 12 Southampton Buildings, London, W.C.,
Agents for the Applicant.

page_text: Improvements relating to the Preparation of Smokeless Powders for
Use in Fire-arms, and for other purposes.
I, CHARLES PAUL DU BUIT, President of the Board of Directors of La Société
Anonyme Dynamite Nobel, of 13 Rue du Helder, Paris, France, do hereby declare
the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be
particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
The use of the various smokeless powders presents, notably in sporting fire-arms,
many disadvantages the principal of which are the following :-
1st. The user cannot tell exactly the charge of each powder which is suitable for
his fire-arm; he runs the risk either of exceeding it, to the prejudice of his safety,
or of reducing it below the normal to the detriment of the effective range of the
fire-arm.
By reason of the great difference in weight which exists between the normal
charge of black powder and that of smokeless powder, and by reason also of the
exact measurement which the latter requires to ensure the safety of the shooter, it
is necessary to employ accurate balances to obtain suitable and fairly uniform
results.
2nd. Even in cases where the charge is exactly measured out, since the volume
of the normal charge of smokeless powder is considerably less than that of black
powders, and the cartridge-cases are made with a view to the use of the latter, it
is necessary to employ a number of wads therein.
The use of a number of wads has the effect of producing, by reason of the
essentially variable compression to which they are subjected, a very irregular
density of charge; it thus results that, even where the quantity of powder to be
employed has been determined by exact weighing, the sportsman who prepares his
cartridges is never certain of obtaining the same result by using cartridges
containing equal charges.
The present invention is designed to obviate these disadvantages, and it consists,
in principle, of preparing the charges of smokeless powders in the form of shot or
moulded bodies having a definite shape and volume and being all subjected to a
predetermined amount of compression.
The sportsman has then only to introduce this charge into his cartridges without
having to weigh the powder and without having to carry out the various
manipulations to which cartridges are subjected in order to influence the density of
the charge.
In a general way, the smokeless powders in a suitable state of division are,
according to the present invention and for the purpose above mentioned, brought
by compression into the condition of moulded bodies.
According to the nature of these powders, the practical processes employed in
carrying out the said invention may be varied.
The invention will be more clearly understood from the following description of
the process of preparation which is adopted with powders the base whereof is a
combination of nitroglycerine and nitrocellulose, and that which it is preferable to
employ with powders the base whereof is nitrocellulose alone or other nitrated
materials.
(a.) For ballistite, cordite and in general the powders having a base of nitro-
glycerine and nitrocellulose combined, the powder is first rolled into very thin
leaves or sheets, of a thickness varying according to the effect that it is desired to
produce, and these leaves or sheets are then cut up into threads or strips of definite
length and width, but generally somewhat short and very fine.
This operation can be carried out by means of any suitable well-regulated cutting
apparatus.

page_text: The threads are afterwards mixed by means of a sieve or otherwise in such a
manner as to produce a kind of very homogeneous wool or tangle.
In this condition the material is weighed or measured so as to form exactly the
charge best adapted for any particular calibre of fire-arm.
The quantity corresponding to one charge is then placed in a mould or cell of
suitable form, in which it is compressed, either cold or hot, and brought into the
condition of felt under the action of any suitable compressing apparatus, exerting a
definite or predetermined pressure on the material.
The said mould or cell may be of any convenient form, but it is preferable to so
shape it that it presents, throughout a part of its height, a cylindrical portion
having the diameter of the cartridge-case with which the charge is intended to be
used. The other parts can be of any desired form, such as truncated, ovoid, etc.
and can be arranged so as to facilitate the ignition or combustion of the charge or
to fulfil other requirements.
The pressure exerted by the compressing apparatus, and the temperature at
which the operation is carried out can be varied according to the duration of the
said compression so as to obtain a predetermined density of the charge.
(b.) For colloid powders having a base of nitrocellulose only, or of any other
nitrated materials, the process of preparation is modified in the following
manner :-
As, in the case of these powders, compression alone does not produce the requisite
cohesion between the threads, strips or grains to produce the felting of the material
and to give it a permanent form, the charges are enclosed in thin capsules having
the desired form and volume.
These capsules can be formed of nitrocellulose gelatinized by the ordinary
means, oz. acetone, acetic ether, a mixture of alcohol aud ether, etc.
Capsules or envelopes of vellum or wove papers, either nitrated or not, can
also he employed, so that the charges have thus the external appearance of
short thick cigarettes.
Moreover in this case, the adherence of the threads, strips or grains of powder
to produce felting can also be facilitated by adding thereto small quantitics of
adhesive or similar materials, or by exposing then to the vapours of acetone,
acetic ether or other materials possessing the power of dissolving nitrocellulose.
The surface of the particles of the powder can thus be rendered slightly
viscous and adhesive, after which the pressure causes them to adhere or stick
together.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
First. As a new article of manufacture, a charge of smokeless powder in the
form of a homogeneous body having a determined volume and density, substantially
as hereinbefore described and for the purpose specified.
Second. The manufacture of charges of smokeless powder in the form of moulded
bodies of determined volume and density, by the compression, in moulds or cells, of
the material in a suitably divided condition, with the adjunction, if desired, of
capsules or casings, and with the agglutination, if desired, of the particles forming
the charges, substantially as, and for the purposes, above specified.
Dated the 27th day of July, 1905
D. YOUNG & Co.,
11 & 12 Southampton Buildings, London, W.C.,
Agents for the Applicant.