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"Gunpowder"

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Joined
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A history that begins just before the invention of (black) gunpowder and goes on to describe its composition, manufacture and applications in various countries around the world up to modern times. An extremely interesting and informative book that reads easily. I actually read this book twice, once a few years ago and again just recently and enjoyed it just much the second time as the first. Highly recommended.





Gunpowder: Alchemy, bombards, and Pyrotechnics: the history of the explosive that changed the world
Jack Kelly
2004
ISBN 0-465-03718-6
 
I sure wish people wouldn't post things like this! I have no will power when it comes to buying books. And guns. And gun stuff. And car stuff.
i guess i just have no will power! sounds like a good read. just ordered one from thrift books llc.
Someday my wife will have to hire a small boy, specifically to lead me away from tool stores and vendors of BBQ gear, as well as all the other stuff you mentioned. 😁

add: I just bought the Kindle version on Amazon. Kindle is great for reading but lousy when it comes to illustrations, so if there are a lot of those I'll wind up buying a hard copy anyway...
 
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The basic ingredients of black gunpowder are simple- saltpeter for the oxygen supply, charcoal for the fuel, and sulfur to encourage combustion.

In the old days the primary source for saltpeter was a "nitre bed", where multi-sourced manures, urines, straw and other organic material were fermented, with the resulting drainage boiled down and purified to get more or less pure potassium nitrate. A nitre bed may be seen at George Washington's home in Virginia.

Charcoal is an ancient fuel resource, developed when humans first began using heat to smelt and shape metals. The traditional method for making charcoal started with a mound of dried hardwood carefully stacked to allow air circulation, then covered with turf and soil. Holes were opened in the ground level sides of the "rick", and vent holes opened in the top. Small fires built in the ground level holes had to be carefully tended so they supplied enough heat to drive all of the volatiles off but did not set fire to the pile. Ricks required 24 hours a day attention to keep the fires burning just right, using dampers at top and bottom to regulate flow, this for several days. Charcoal making was an intensive and important business.

No sulfur sources existed in Colonial America; the nearest sources were volcanic islands of the Caribbean. There was a smuggling trade from there to the colonies. France assisted in this trade. At that time, France would do anything to annoy England. One of the major contributions to our revolution was the powder supplied by France after the big win at Saratoga.
 
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I sure wish people wouldn't post things like this! I have no will power when it comes to buying books. And guns. And gun stuff. And car stuff.
i guess i just have no will power! sounds like a good read. just ordered one from thrift books llc.
‘Yield to temptation it may not pass your way again.’ Lazarus Long( Robert Heinlein)
 
Dagnabbit!! Six dollars less in my pocket since I just ordered a used copy. Sometimes this site gets expensive. ;)

Looks like a really good book. Thanks for bringing it to our attention.
 
Thanks hawkeye2 for the book recommendation. Just received a hardbound copy from Abe for $4.95 plus tax; wish all my purchases were so worthwhile. Far more than I expected and can hardly put it down. Described by the author "as a popular account of gunpowder, not a scholarly work," the author lists sources of his research for each chapter rather than using footnotes. Most certainly not a recipe book, thank you.:)
 
I sure wish people wouldn't post things like this! I have no will power when it comes to buying books. And guns. And gun stuff. And car stuff.
i guess i just have no will power! sounds like a good read. just ordered one from thrift books llc.
I have the same problem, except instead of cars, try old Harley Davidsons, Indians and British motorcycles.
 
Finished Gunpowder; quite a bit about Saltpeter, or niter:

Saltpeter is a waste product of two strains of bacteria that are among the many that feast on decaying organic matter. These enterprising microorganisms-nitrosomanas and nitrobacter- are friends to the organic gardener, transforming the raw materials of rot into the nitrates plants love.

Contributing to the Confederacy's powder production, saltpeter "plantations" or "nitriaries" were established, long pits filled "with stable manure, rotting vegetation, and animal carcasses." A niter district official at Selma, Alabama, insisted that housewives save the contents of their chamber pots to add to a collection barrel. Confederate soldiers composed a bit of doggerel to commemorate the proposal:

"We thought the girls worked enough in making shirts and kissing, but you have put the pretty dears to patriotic pissing."

Not to be outdone, the Yankee troops replied:

"No wonder that your boys are brave! Who couldn't be a fighter, if every time he shot his gun he used his sweetheart's nitre?"
 
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