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To: fireman15

7000 grains to a pound. 4.6/7000 is .0066 lbs or 1522 charges per pound.

Your charge is 437.5 grn/ounce/4.6 grn or 95 charges per ounce, or .0105 ounces.....

Indeed, a small amount of smokeless powder, contained in a cartridge case has quite a bit of potential energy.

Explosives, on the other hand deflagrate nearly instantaneously creating a shock wave, unlike propellants which burn much much more slowly to produce controlled pulses of energy to drive a projectile vice destroy the container into fragments or create a shock /pressure wave.


54 posted on 12/09/2018 5:16:12 AM PST by Manly Warrior (US ARMY (Ret), "No Free Lunches for the Dogs of War")
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To: Manly Warrior
7000 grains to a pound. 4.6/7000 is .0066 lbs

Sorry, your math that is off by a factor of ten. 4.6/700 = .0066, 4.6/7000 = .00066 lbs.

I said in my post, “a couple of grains of powder, which is 4.6 thousandths of an ounce.” This is an accurate statement, but I did round up. To be more precise 2 grains = 0.00457143 of an ounce.

Your charge is 437.5 grn/ounce/4.6 grn or 95 charges per ounce, or .0105 ounces.....

You are getting yourself confused. When I say my cartridge recipe uses a couple of grains of powder that means around 2 grains, which is the same as 4.6 thousandths of an ounce not 4.6 grains. Smokeless powders vary a great deal in their burn rate. Powders such as my favorite for pistols, Titegroup are designed to burn very quickly. A double charge can be very, very dangerous. If I inadvertently used 4.6 grains instead of 2.3 grains in a handgun that was not designed to handle the amount of pressure that would be developed, it would most likely be damaged or destroyed and could easily cause a serious injury similar in nature to the one shown in this video.

I am assuming that you realize that the “active” ingredients in “smokeless” powders are mixtures of nitrocellulose and/or nitroglycerin and/or nitroguanidine along with various other ingredients which at the granular level are formed into specific shapes, all to help control the burn rate. These are products designed and tested to extremely precise specifications.

I am not really sure of the intent of your post other than to share your knowledge that their is a difference between the smokeless powder used in firearm cartridges and the ingredients used to make a grenade go boom. I am glad that you realize that there is a difference. Fast burning smokeless powders can easily be used in an explosive device they merely need to be ignited within an enclosed container. But even baking soda and vinegar within a pressure cooker have been used very effective improvised explosive devices. You don't need "explosives" to create an explosion.

The only intent of my post was to point out that the power held within even small amounts of chemical compounds is often far greater than what people realize. It does not take TNT to blow someones hand off.

56 posted on 12/09/2018 8:51:56 AM PST by fireman15
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