Cordite

Summary

Cordite is a family of smokeless propellants developed and produced in Britain since 1889 to replace black powder as a military firearm propellant. Cordite is made by combining two chemical high explosives: nitrocellulose and nitroglycerine in certain ways, and is therefore a chemical high explosive moderated with another chemical high explosive. They are designed, in normal use, to produce a subsonic deflagration wave rather than the supersonic detonation wave produced by brisants, or high explosives. The hot gases produced by burning gunpowder or cordite generate sufficient pressure to propel a bullet or shell to its target, but not so quickly as to destroy the barrel of the gun.