Improvements in Smokeless Powder.
Year: 1895

page_text: Date of Application, 2nd July, 1895-Accepted, 3rd Aug., 1895
COME LEIE DIECIERATION.
[Communicated from abroad by THE INTERNATIONAL POWDER CO., a corporation
organized under the laws of the State of West Virginia, and having its
principal business office at 15 Broad Street, New York, United States of
America.]
Improvements in Smokeless Powder.
I, HENRY HARRIS LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake & Co., Patent
Agents, 45 Southampton Buildings, in the County of Middlesex, 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 invention relates to improvements in smokeless gunpowder in which the
relative proportions of trinitro-cellulose and nitro-glycerine may be varied within
broad limits, and the size of the charge increased or diminished to suit guns
of greater or lesser calibre without materially affecting the propelling efficiency of
the powder.
The value of an explosive used as a mining powder depends upon the amount of
gas developed and the temperature of explosion and is entirely independent of the
rate of combustion.
On the other hand, when used to propel a projectile through the bore of a gun
where it is important to obtain the greatest velocity with the least strain upon the
gun, its value depends very largely upon the rate of combustion, as this determines
the character of the pressure in the bore.
The rate of combustion of nitro-glycerine, so that it does not detonate, is
peculiarly suitable for propelling purposes, whereas the rate of burning of
trinitrocellulose is too rapid.
A mixture of these two explosives in certain proportions produces a safe compound
which will not detonate and is a good propellant. The greater the proportion of
nitro-glycerine, the more suitable the rate of combustion, hence to secure the most
efficient propellant from these two explosives, requires an excessive amount of
nitro-glycerine, making the mixture dangerous to handle and the grain too soft for
practical use.
The present invention contemplates rendering the burning of the trinitrocellulose
similar to that of the nitro-glycerine by mixing with the trinitrocellulose an amount
of a nitrate equal to about from forty to fifty per cent. of the trinitrocellulose and
thereby makes it feasible to vary the relative proportion of nitro-glycerine at
pleasure without affecting the propellant efficiency of the powder, and to further
render it feasible to use the powder in charges suitable for guns of different calibres
by employing varying amounts of vaseline or a resin as a deterrent.
To make the powder, mix the ingredients trinitrocellulose and nitrate in such
proportion that the nitrate shall be from forty to fifty per cent. by weight of the
trinitrocellulose and introduce the nitro-glycerine in any desired proportion, adding
a neutralizer of free acid and also a deterrent when the calibre of the gun is of such
size as to require it. In practice it has been found that a mixture consisting of
fifty parts trinitrocellulose, twenty-two and one half parts barium nitrate, two parts
urea crystals and one hundred and fifty parts nitro-glycerine; and another mixture
consisting of fifty parts trinitrocellulose, twenty parts barium nitrate, two parts urea
crystals and seventy-five parts nitro-glycerine produced in a thirty calibre rifle
within ten feet of the same velocity, namely two thousand two hundred and fifty

page_text: feet per second, with the same maximum pressure, thirty-eight thousand pounds to
the square inch. The urea crystals are employed as the neutralizer of free acid
and as the calibre of the gun is increased to the size of the larger cannon, the
deterrent, either vaseline or a resin, such for example as the fossilized or mineral
gum Kauri, will be introduced in the proportion of from one to seven parts in the
mixture above noted, according as the bore of the gun increases from that of
a small arm to that of a high power cannon.
The nitrate used may be barium nitrate, as mentioned, or potassium nitrate,
calcium nitrate, strontium nitrate, ammonium nitrate, or any other nitrate.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, as communicated to me
by my foreign correspondents, I declare that what I claim is :—
1. A smokeless powder, composed of nitro-glycerine, trinitrocellulose, a uitrate
and a neutralizer of free acid, the proportion of nitrate to the trinitrocellulose being
about forty-five parts of nitrate to one hundred parts of trinitrocellulose, or so that
the combustion of the trinitrocellulose shall be substantially similar to that of the
nitro-glycerine.
2. A smokeless powder mixture containing nitro-glycerine, trinitrocellulose,
a nitrate, a neutralizer of free acid and a deterrent, either vaseline or a resin.
3. A smokeless powder mixture containing nitro-glycerine, trinitrocellulose, a
nitrate and the fossilized gum Kauri.
Dated this 2nd day of July 1895.
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45 Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicant.