Some Blasting Explosives
Ammonal: ammonium nitrate 80 to 90 per cent, aluminium 4 to 18 per cent, charcoal 2 to 6 per cent. The more violent mixtures contain some trinitrotoluene in addition. Has been used in grenades and by Austrians in trench-howitzer bombs. Not suitable in underground workings owing to poisonous gases evolved.
Astralit: a mixture of ammonium nitrate and blasting gelatine. May contain wood-meal, trinitrotoluene, paraffin-oil. Has been used for projectiles.
Carbodynamite: nitroglycerine absorbed in cork charcoal instead of guhr.
Gelignite: nitroglycerine 56 to 63 per cent, nitrocotton 4 per cent, wood-meal 7 per cent, potassium nitrate 27 per cent, calcium carbonate 0.2 per cent.
Oxyliquit: liquid oxygen absorbed in a porous combustible material. Used in construction of Simplon Tunnel. Very cheap; safe after misfire because oxygen evaporates off.
Perdit: German mining, demolition, and rifle grenade explosive. Ammonium nitrate 76 per cent, potassium perchlorate 6 per cent, wood-meal 2 per cent, dinitrotoluene 16 per cent.
Rendarock: a brand of American dynamite.
Sprengel Explosives: one or both of the substances to be liquid, and mixing to occur shortly before firing. Nitric acid, alkali chloride, nitrogen peroxide on nitrobenzene, nitronaphthalene, carbon bisulphide, petrol, picric acid. Panclastite, Prométhée, Rack-a-Rock, are examples of this class.
Tonite: gun-cotton and barium nitrate.
Some High Explosives
Alumtol: ammonium nitrate, trinitrotoluene, aluminium powder. Used for trench mortars, bombs, &c.
Amatol: a mixture of ammonium nitrate and trinitrotoluene, used for shell-filling. Called by Germans Füllpulver. The Germans did not develop this explosive as much as the Entente Powers, who effected great economy of trinitrotoluene.
Blastine: ammonium perchlorate, sodium nitrate, dinitrotoluene, paraffin-wax. It evolves hydrochloric acid gas.
Blasting gelatine contains 93 per cent nitroglycerine and 7 per cent nitrocotton. It is the most powerful explosive in common use.
Crèsylite is a French explosive, and contains picric acid and nitrated cresol.
Fumyl is a smoke-producing explosive, and contains trinitrotoluene and ammonium chloride. It was used to open poison-gas shells.
Granatfülling (Shell Filling): a term used by the Germans.
Granatfülling C/84 is picric acid.
Granatfülling C/02 is trinitrotoluene.
Other substances were used by them for shell filling, such as trinitroanisole, dinitrobenzene, hexanitrodiphenylamine, and hexanitrophenylsulphide.
Lyddite: a term for picric acid formerly used in shells.
T.N.T. is trinitrotoluene or trotyl.
Toxol is a mixture of trinitrotoluene and trinitroxylene.
Triplastite is a plastic high explosive containing 70 per cent nitrotoluenes, 8 per cent nitrocotton, 29 per cent lead nitrate. Used for shell filling.
Some Miscellaneous Explosives
Anilite: Sprengel type. French liquid explosive used in aerial bombs.
Centralite: not an explosive but a stabilizer and regulator. It is dimethyldiphenylurea.
Collodion Cotton: low nitralion nitrocotton, soluble in a mixture of ether and alcohol. It dissolves in nitroglycerine and liquid nitro-body, preventing their exudation.
Gelatine Dynamite: a mixture of blasting gelatine with potassium nitrate and wood-meal. It may also contain calcium and magnesium carbonate and mineral jelly.
Gelignite is similar to Gelatine Dynamite, but contains less Blasting Gelatine.
Halakite: contains potassium chlorate, ammonium nitrate, trinitrotoluene or other nitro-body; may contain nitrocotton, sodium nitrate, and wood-meal.
Pyrocollodion: highly nitrated, soluble gun-cotton. Adopted by the United States.
White Gunpowder: a mixture of potassium chlorate, potassium ferrocyanide, and sugar. Very sensitve, and only used in the laboratory.
Propellants for Shot-guns
Amberite: insoluble nitrocotton 18.6 per cent, nitrates 28 per cent, soluble nitrocotton 46 per cent, vaseline 6 per cent.
Du Pont Smokeless Powder: nitroglycerine 10 per cent, ammonium nitrate 67.5 per cent, wood-pulp 8 per cent, salt 15 per cent (for coal-mines). Soluble nitrocotton 46 per cent, metallic nitrates 2.2 per cent (for shot-guns).
E.C. Powder: insoluble nitrocotton 44 per cent to 48 per cent (Empire Powder), soluble nitrocotton 30 per cent to 34 per cent, metallic nitrates 14 per cent to 9 per cent, vaseline 6 per cent to 7 per cent, camphor 4.6 per cent.
Ideal Powder: made by Nobels.
Neonite. Similar to the above compositions, but containing 73 per cent of insoluble nitrocotton, 9 per cent soluble nitrocotton. It is also made for rifled small-arms especially for rim-fire rifles.
New Explosives Company Smokeless Powder. Similar to above.
Rifleite: insoluble nitrocotton 1.7 per cent, soluble nitrocotton 82.5 per cent, nitro-body 4.8 per cent. The nitrocellulose is made from curcuma.
Ruby Powder: a cheap non-solvent powder, 46 per cent insoluble nitrocotton, 4 per cent soluble nitrocotton.
Smokeless Diamond and Stoumarkel Smokeless are similar to above.
Propellants for Rifled Fire-arms