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BP Hoarding

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Daryl:
That was an interesting read, Dave.  The sentence about the crystallizing and crumbling if the temp is raised over 32.1 degrees, increasing burning and destruction of the gun,
kinda spooked me.

Mad Monk:
Dave,

The Davis book on the ammonpulver leaves out a good bit of that story.  I never saw anything indicating any use here in the U.S..  Military or civilian.  Germany and Austria used it as an artillery propellant.  When loaded into brass cases it will destroy those cases in a few months. Can literally dissolve the brass.  Also if shot in a rifle the whole rifle must be washed after the shooting session with hot water. The ammonium nitrate from powder combustion will damage metal and wood.  Considered very corrosive.

As Europe geared up for WWI the Germans and the Austrians were in a panic.  They could not get potassium nitrate in any quantities for artillery use.  The only really major supplier of potassium nitrate in the world was India that exported millions of pounds a year of potassium nitrate.  And England controlled exports out of India.  Which put Germany and Austria on the short supply list.  Just prior to WWI the military powers were working with changing to stronger steels to deal with the developing nitrocellulose powders.  This ammonpulver simply filled in a gap between the end of the black powders for artillery and the introduction of smokeless powder that would be safe in artillery.   But here in the U.S. there was no total lack of potassium nitrate.  Tight supplies at times but no total loss of supplies.  Then here in the U.S. you see a host of powder makers plying with nitrated saw dust as a modifier in black powder mixtures.

Daryl:
Semi-smokeless and Kings Semi-smokeless which might have been the same powder
loaded bulk, same as BP.
In England as well, in the late 1890's.

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