Smokeless powder

Smokeless powder is a chemical propellant used in firearms and ammunition, based mainly on nitrocellulose. It produces far less smoke than black powder while generating hot gases that propel a projectile.

Nitrocellulose: A cellulose-derived polymer nitrated to form a flammable, energetic material. It is the principal energetic ingredient in most smokeless powders.
Black powder: A mixture of charcoal, sulfur, and potassium nitrate used as an early gunpowder. It was the smoky propellant that smokeless powder increasingly replaced.
Cellulose: A structural polysaccharide that forms the main component of plant cell walls. Nitrocellulose begins with cellulose chemically modified by nitration.
Cartridge (firearms): A firearm ammunition unit containing a case, primer, propellant, and projectile. Smokeless powder is the propellant charge inside most modern metallic cartridges.
Repeating firearm: A firearm that can fire multiple shots before requiring a new ammunition load. Lower smoke helped shooters observe targets and operate repeating weapons during sustained fire.
Nitroglycerin: A highly energetic liquid compound used in explosives and some propellants. Double-base powders combine it with nitrocellulose to increase energy and alter burning behavior.
Paul Vieille: A French chemist who developed Poudre B, an early practical smokeless propellant. His late nineteenth-century formulation helped establish smokeless powder for military firearms.
Nitration: A chemical reaction that introduces nitro groups into an organic compound. Nitration converts cellulose into the energetic polymer used in many powders.
Cordite: A family of British smokeless propellants originally made from nitroglycerin, nitrocellulose, and petroleum jelly. It became a prominent propellant in British military ammunition.
Bolt-action rifle: A firearm whose user manually cycles a bolt to load and extract cartridges. High-pressure smokeless ammunition enabled smaller-caliber service rifles with effective range and velocity.

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