is cordite used in fireworks

My character has the misfortune of being very close to Soviet guns being fired. Triple-base propellants were used in post-war ammunition designs and remain in production for UK weapons; most double-base propellants left service as World War II stocks were expended after the war. The answer to that would be It has since become known as Cordite Mk I. A smaller site at Girvan, South Ayrshire, now occupied by Grant's distillery, produced cordite and TNT. [8], In 1884, the French chemist Paul Vieille produced a smokeless propellant that had some success. The cordite is then stoved, at a temperature of about 100 F., from 3 to 14 days, the time varying with the size. You dont need to know the specifics to determine the best term to use in your writing. By November 1915 production had been expanded to 350,000lb (159,000kg) of cordite per month (approximately 1,900 tonnes per year). . Color combinations are produced in the sky when various metal elements are heated, exciting electrons and releasing excess energy in the form of light. This substance is produced by combining nitrocellulose (nitric acid and cotton) with ether and alcohol to produce a low explosive. . This gives the Cordite great usability and allows it to excel both on long killstreaks and in prolonged engagements versus multiple opponents. [citation needed], Abel, Sir James Dewar and W Kellner, who was also on the committee, developed and jointly patented (Nos 5,614 and 11,664 in the names of Abel and Dewar) in 1889 a new ballistite-like propellant consisting of (by weight) 58% nitroglycerin, 37% guncotton (nitrocellulose) and 5% petroleum jelly. [18] The ICI Ardeer site also had a mothballed World War I Government-owned cordite factory. Such a shame a very interesting and historical experience is affecting us soooo negatively. Required fields are marked *. I always thought it was cordite. It was invented by British chemists Sir James Dewar and Sir Frederick Augustus Abel in 1889 and later saw use as the standard explosive of the British Army. The SMG can be unlocked by players at level 10. Our Price: $236.12 (4 piece case) Add To Cart. Gunpowder, also commonly known as black powder to distinguish it from modern smokeless powder, is the earliest known chemical explosive. * Gunpowder A blanket term OK to use in any setting, even if the material isnt too powder-y. Automatic pistol: A pistol that is capable of automatic fire; a machine pistol. These . please do not attempt shooting old cordite rounds out of any firearm. The police arrive about 45 minutes after the murder. [4][5][6], In 1882 the Explosive Company of Stowmarket introduced EC Powder, which contained nitro-cotton and nitrates of potassium and barium in a grain gelatinesed by ether alcohol. to begin, they all use corrosive primers and will likely cause some degree of damage to the bore. It was the only game in town. Fully Automatic Firearms: What's the Difference. Schultze eventually rose to the rank of colonel. By November 1915 production had been expanded to produce 350,000lb (159,000kg) of cordite per month for the Imperial Munitions Board. The farther back in history you go, the worse it probably smelled, although I dont have a source for that. Also, Glocks dont have a safety you can switch off. Its use was further developed before World War II, and as 2-and-3-inch-diameter (51 and 76mm) Unrotated Projectiles for launching anti-aircraft weapons. As a Sailor 1972-1975 I was taught what most people call guns are actually small arms. I wont judge you unless you blame it on the dog. Different powders are designed for specificpurposes. Check out the cylinder-shaped grains in the photo at the top for an example. The nitrocellulose had a nitrogen content of 13.1 percent. All the best for your novel, and I hope you enjoy the book. I sent them polite, concise comments on the subject and explained to them how knowledgeable fans were really negatively impressed by obvious technical mistakes. .25 Caliber Handguns: Avoid at All Costs? Is cordite a good gun? Aluminum, which is used extensively in aircraft, automobiles, and appliances to make them lighter, is used in fireworks to produce bright flashes and loud bangs. Dealer shelves are empty because powder is purchased as soon as it arrives at the dealers stores but we will continue to ship more in 2020. Such nitrates include dinitrotoluene, nitronaphthalene, nitroguanidine, and diethylene glycol dinitrate (DEGDN). What is the smell after fireworks? I have broken down a lot of surplus WWll ammo and have never seen cordite in any of it. So, how would you describe the smell in the air during a shootout in a house in South Africa, 1974, with cops using service revolvers (.38s) against someone else using a revolver? After about 1900 it was replaced in firearms by smokeless powders such as cordite. I wouldnt use cordite. I only saw this one time, but the book had an American cop with a 9mm, revolver. it was in a very small room, the smell was overwhelming, sharp, and pungent. The term is "cartridges." The bullet is just the projectile at the end of the cartridge. The last known use of Cordite was in 1945. It has been used mainly for this purpose since the late 19th century by the UK and British Commonwealth countries. My partner and I have a neighbor rehabbing very old ammunition. The Powder magazine, packaging and manufacturing facilities are maintained about 140 miles southwest of the main office, in Herington, Kansas. In your warehouse scene, the smell would be strong and obvious to everyone in the room, but not so much that it would choke someone. The rifle and the cartridge developed to use this powder were known generically as the 8mm Lebel, after the officer who developed its 8mm full metal jacket bullet. 15,595 live ones Well, there are actually a lot of good reasons why battleships and other large artillery platforms typically fire all of their guns or a lot of them at once. Ill make a note of that in the article, and give you credit. Originally, it was made by mixing elemental sulfur, charcoal, and saltpeter (potassium nitrate). Thanks, James! HI Ben: Alan It does indeed have a distinct smell, quite unlike that of other smokeless propellants, and rather unpleasant if you ask me. ; The latter provided acetate of lime for cordite production at Maribyrnong. (Australia). Required fields are marked *. Thank you for your response! Great point. In very simple terms, the shape and coatings control the burn rates. Phantom_Shadow 8 yr. ago. Most pistol bullets are made of a lead-antimony alloy encased in a soft brass or copper-plated soft steel jacket. They were surprised, and perplexed, to find that it smelled like, The taste is slightly more acidic, compared to gunpowder teas from other countries. cordite can reportedly be deliberately eaten (in small quantities) with no permanent ill effects. Like gunpowder, cordite is classified as a low explosive because of its slow burning rates and consequently low brisance. [21], Factories, specifically "heavy industry" (Long, and Marland 2009) were important for the provision of munitions. (Newsflash: You dont have to be a redneck to know something about guns.) I was being serious with my question and wanted a serious answer. Cordite maintains a hybrid submissions policy. Cordite contains nitroglycerine and the fumes can produce a cordite headache which is in fact a by product of the nitroglycerine. Thanks for stopping by, Alan! In my scene theres a big shootout indoors (a medium sized, poorly ventilated warehouse) with multiple shooters firing automatic weapons. , Cordite is a family of smokeless propellants developed and produced in the United Kingdom from 1889 to replace gunpowder as a military propellant. This is an olfactory illusion. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); GKS is in the SMG class of COD Mobile, with, Cordite Only use in settings from about, Cordite doesnt have a particularly distictive smell and. I changed the smell of cordite in my book thanks to your savvy knowhow. But because pistol (vs revolver) ammo is rimless it would require the use of a moonclip, which is an unwieldy pain in the butt and no cop in his right mind would do that. Corrections? In addition, the guest-editor will anonymously select an additional 30-35 works from Australian authors and use their discretion to select further overseas works. [14][19] The Royal Navy had its own factory at Holton Heath. Hello. A new cordite factory at Waltham Abbey and two additional ROF'sROF Ranskill and ROF Wrexhamwere also opened. I need an objective viewpoint on my piece. Back bore, backbored barrel: A shotgun barrel whose internal diameter is greater than nominal for the gauge, but less than the SAAMI maximum. I think modern propellants smell like sweet charcoal smoke with a hint of sulfur. As the in-game description suggests, the Cordite has the largest ammo capacity of the submachine guns at 60 rounds per magazine. : [10] For a forensic analysis of the case see The History of Explosives Vol II; The Case for Cordite, John Williams (2014). Terrific point, Darren. 2. The 114 mm (4.5) Mark 8 naval gun uses a triple-base (Nitroguanidine, Nitroglycerin and Nitrocellulose) flashless propellant known as MNLF/2P/M08. Specifically, a fried furnace circuit board or a broken HVAC blower motor could cause the distinctive odor, according to Aire Serv, a heating and cooling company with franchises in the United States and Canada. Definition of cordite Ian, you are absolutely correct in your surmise. [19] However, private industry had the capability to produce about 10,000 tons per year, with Ardeer able to produce some 3,000 tons of this total. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. 2. Is cordite a firework? Cordite doesnt have a particularly distictive smell and smells like most other smokeless powders more or less. It built The British Cordite Ltd factory at Nobel, Ontario, in 1916/1917, to produce cordite. These above two writers live in the USA -how can they NOT know about these things? Buy Fireworks Online And Get More Bang for Your Buck! Modern powder is basically sawdust soaked in nitro coated with graphite. Flash powder is classified by the ATFE as an explosive. But describing the smell of smokeless powder would be inaccurate. The book argues for Nobel as the original inventor and that the case was lost because of an unimportant technicality. Thanks again! The death is staged to look like a suicide, with the victim having fired a shot from a pistol with his right hand. In the 1930s triple-base was developed by including a substantial proportion of nitroguanidine. If you think cordite is bad, read some writers work on ballistics, where bullets defy gravity and Newtons laws. Fun fact: instead of powder, cordite actually looks like tiny spaghetti noodles. BTW, I mean a real gun store, not just a place that sells guns, li,e Wal-Mart, Dicks, or Cabellas. Cordite Cordite is a family of smokeless propellants developed and produced in the United Kingdom since 1889 to replace gunpowder as a military propellant. Distinctive gunpowder-like odors, Human blood, which also contains water and iron, has a smell, Hodgdon Powder Company offices are located at 6430 Vista Drive in Shawnee, Kansas. The most famous use of potassium nitrate milled is probably as the oxidizer in black powder. [citation needed], Canadian Explosives Limited was formed in 1910 to produce rifle cordite, at its Beloeil factory, for the Quebec Arsenal. The term smokeless refers to the minimal residue left in the gun barrel following the use of smokeless powder. After about 1900 it was replaced in firearms by smokeless powders such as cordite. Cu Sort of. Gunpowder/black powder is effectly obsolete, but is used in fireworks and by firearms reinactment societies, but smokeless powders are not, in general, obsolete. Immediately prior to World War I, between 6,000 and 8,000 tons per year of cordite were produced in the United Kingdom by private manufacturers; between 1,000 and 1,500 tons per year were made by Nobel's Explosives, at Ardeer. , with the closure of the last of the World War II cordite factories, ROF Bishopton. It is designed to deflagrate, or burn, to produce high pressure gases. Hi Ben. A firearm will use FFF, whereas a cannon would use F for propellant and FFF for the primer in the wick. You might want to amend this slightly. (25 kg) charge of brown . Yes, and calling it powder for short works, too. Thanks. [21], Canadian Explosives Limited built an additional cordite factory at Nobel, Ontario. Regards This has been my pet peeve for 15 or 20 years. After WWII, there is almost no use of clips. 4. It was designed to produce 1,500,000lb (681,000kg) of cordite per month. Cordite is a family of smokeless propellants developed and produced in the United Kingdom since 1889 to replace gunpowder as a military propellant. Your email address will not be published. Posted 17 June 2008 - 07:55 AM. The Manufacture of Smokeless Powders and their Forensic Analysis: A Brief Review. From the most ancient times until the late 1880s, black powder provided the explosive power for all the world's firearms. [1] Small cordite rocket charges were also developed for ejector seats made by the Martin-Baker Company. With Bob Dukes, John England. The smell of Cordite in the air is erroneously mentioned in modern fiction. Cordite was used for large weapons, such as tank guns, artillery and naval guns. There are .45ACP revolvers, bt the ones ive seen are all old. Cheap ammo, like the kind I buy for target shooting, is smokier than the premium rounds a professional would use for gunfighting. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. When the Black-Eyed Children Knock & Other Stories, Black Eye: Confessions of a Fake Psychic Detective #2, Chase Baker & the Humanzees from Hell (Book 8 in a series), Whats that Smell? Because of its large content of nitroglycerin, this cordite had a high temperature of explosion and produced considerable erosion of big guns. The Canadian Explosives Limited cordite factory at Nobel, Ontario was designed to produce 1,500,000lb (681 tonne) of cordite per month (approximately 8,170 tonnes per year). Existing factories were expanded and new ones built notably by Nobel's at Ardeer, HM Factory, Gretna, which straddled the Scotland-England border at Gretna, and the Royal Navy Cordite Factory, Holton Heath [16], At the start of World War I cordite was in production at Waltham Abbey Royal Gunpowder Mills and by seven other suppliers (British Explosives Syndicate Ltd, Chilworth Gunpowder Company Ltd, Cotton Powder Company Ltd, Messrs Curtis's and Harvey Ltd, National Explosives Company Ltd, New Explosives Company Ltd and Nobels Explosive Company Ltd). Metallic fuels include magnesium, aluminum, and occasionally zirconium. Gunpowder was used in fireworks in 10th-century China, as a propellant for firearms from the fourteenth century in Europe and for blasting since the late seventh century. ; He said the children used the cordite to make fireworks. Narrow rods were used in small-arms and were relatively fast burning, while thicker rods would burn more slowly and were used for longer barrels, such as those used in artillery and naval guns. Ive wondered for years why otherwise good crime writers (e.g. Sounds like a cool story, but thats above my pay grade. There is no Cordite whatsoever in modern ammunition. 3. The main rifles of the German colony, including the Schutztruppe, were older Mausers that used blackpowder. So, for the fight in which German settlers are involved, I needed the smell of blackpowder. All they have to do is drop into their local gunshop and ask! Nitrocellulose carries the majority of the chemical energy used to propel a projectile from a gun barrel. ), Hi, The Writers Guide to Weapons: A Practical Reference for Using Firearms and Knives in Fiction (Writers Digest Books) comes with everything but the ammo. This was known as Cordite MD (modified). It consists of a mixture of sulfur, carbon (in the form of charcoal) and potassium nitrate (saltpeter). A clip is used in the M1 Garand to load the internal, non-removable magazine. [citation needed], Cordite RDB was later found to become unstable if stored too long. Have a pleasant day. It was developed by the British, and really only ever used by them (and British Empire colonies). (detonation velocity 7,300 m/s (23,950 ft/s), RE factor 1.10) (typically an ether-alcohol colloid of nitrocellulose) as the sole explosive propellant ingredient are described as single-base powder. 4. They write pages of acknowledgements for sources of expert knowledge, yet dont seem to seek any help in areas in which they are totally nave. It was also used in the .303 British, Mark I and II, standard rifle cartridge between 1891 and 1915; however shortages of cordite in World War I led to US-developed smokeless powders being imported into the UK for use in rifle cartridges. Cordite is a family of smokeless propellants developed and produced in the United Kingdom since 1889 to replace black powder as a military propellant. Double-base propellants generally contain nitrocellulose (guncotton), a liquid organic nitrate (e.g., nitroglycerin) having the property of gelatinizing nitrocellulose, and a stabilizer. The manufacture of Cordite from its component materials was essentially that of Nope, thats just another example of the cliche popping up. Aluminum is a non-ferrous metal and the second most plentiful metallic element on earth. Cordite was also used for large weapons, such as tank guns, artillery and naval guns. [citation needed], Large quantities of cordite were manufactured in both World Wars for use by the military. [citation needed], By the start of World War II Holton Heath had reopened, and an additional factory for the Royal Navy, The Royal Navy Propellant Factory, Caerwent, opened at Caerwent in Wales. There is really no reason to KClO3, KClO4 is almost always used instead. There is no sulphur in firecrackers. The company of ICI Nobel, at Ardeer, was asked in 1939 to construct and operate six factories in southern Scotland. Like gunpowder, cordite is classified as a low explosive because of its slow burning rates and consequently low brisance.These produce a subsonic deflagration wave rather than the supersonic detonation wave produced by brisants, or high explosives. As the season of fireworks begins, people are encouraged to set fireworks off away from water in order to prevent chemicals and debris from ending up in the water. Firework makers keep seperate tools and work areas to prevent even the smallsst amount of sulpher coming in contact with potassium chlorate. Its wrong! This operation drives off the acetone or any moisture, the cordite becomes tougher, and its diameter decreases. is that gunpowder is an explosive mixture of saltpetre (potassium nitrate), charcoal and sulphur; formerly used in gunnery but now mostly used in fireworks while cordite is a smokeless propellent made by combining two high explosives, nitrocellulose and nitroglycerine, used in some firearm ammunition. I just put the information out there and let it stand on its own. Cordite is a mostly obsolete family of smokeless propellants or gun powder. Like modern gunpowder, cordite is classified as a low explosive because of its slow burning rates and consequently low brisance. wrjones@vsu.edu. Production ceased in the United Kingdom around the end of the 20th century Cordite was never used in bullets. That means scenes set after 1945 wouldnt include cordite. This website and my Writers Digest book are all about that exact thing. Gunpowder was used in fireworks in 10th-century China, as a propellant for firearms from the fourteenth century in Europe and for blasting since the late seventh century. it burns extremely hot under pressure. Many animals find fireworks scary. It was employed mainly for medical and photographic use. But I dont get personal with other writers. These would probably have been rifles; very unlikely, according to my sources, that the Soviet soldiers would have carried pistols. The rule with firearm history is that there are always exceptions! The gunpowder smell is the cousin of electrical odors. Triple-base propellant for UK service (for example, the 105 mm L118 Light Gun) is now manufactured in Germany. [20], Additional sources of propellant were also sought from the British Commonwealth in both World War I and World War II. What is cordite used for in weapons? Four of these six were involved in cordite or firearm-propellant manufacture. Ca. 12 2 Roger A Buettner Fun fact: instead of powder, cordite actually looks like tiny spaghetti noodles. The cordite comes through the die in long cords, and is cut to length and placed in trays or wound on reels. Gunpowders or smokeless powders How about a super-heated gas canon? After the Shell Crisis of 1915 during World War I, he was director of the British Admiralty Laboratories from 1916 until 1919. To get a really good bang, many commercial fireworks add compounds to the shell that produce a larger, louder explosion. [23], In 1910, Canadian Explosives Limited produced 3,000lb (1,362kg) of rifle cordite per month at its Beloeil factory, for the Quebec Arsenal. Its a trivial thing, and no doubt applies to all kinds of fields besides firearms, but a seemingly insignificant slip up of such technical details can take a reader right out of a story when he spots such an error. proved to be a very stable composition with long storage life. Fireworks are black powder explosives and therefore are, of course, dangerous. As an avid reader of these types of novels, and a shooter, too, I have wondered what this cordite smell was all about. Carbon provides the fuel for a firework. "cordite". Cordite! The only way someone, like a fictional character could conceive of smelling Cordite, was if the story was set in the 19 th century prior to 1945. Great info! There is a lot of physics and chemistry involved in making fireworks. Use propellant if a modern character is exceptionally familiar with firearms or if you want your writing to look hip. Blackpowder/Black Powder (pick one and be consistent) Use this term in settings from from the dawn of firearms in 9th century China to the 1880s. The negative health effects of fireworks go far beyond temporary lung inflammation and respiratory problems, however. it becomes unstable with heat, an unknown in long term storage, and unpredictable of pressure.

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