Smokeless Powder
Both black powder and smokeless powder are measured in grains - but black powder is measured by volume, and smokeless is measured by weight.
The reason is that black powder is a simple chemical compound (made of sulphur, charcoal, and saltpeter) of a given grain size (Fg, FFg, FFFg, etc), and can be relied upon to produce consistent loads when measured by volume. A volumetric measure (one small scoop, for instance) of FFg black powder can be expected to contain the same amount of powder - therefore the same explosive potential - time and time again.
Smokeless powder, on the other hand, is made in many variations - and the little particles of powder are made in many different shapes and sizes. One type of smokeless powder will be composed of small short cylinders, and another type made of tiny grains resembling grains of sand.
Being composed of differently-shaped particles would be enough to cause volume to be an unreliable measure of smokeless powder, but besides that reason there's also the fact that each type of smokeless powder is chemically different from the other - so a pinch of one vs. a pinch of another will not produce the same pressures and burning characteristics... even if each pinch weighed the same.
Smokeless Powder
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Both black powder and smokeless powder are measured in grains - but black powder is measured by volume, and smokeless is measured by weight.
The reason is that black powder is a simple chemical compound (made of sulphur, charcoal, and saltpeter) of a given grain size (Fg, FFg, FFFg, etc), and can be relied upon to produce consistent loads when measured by volume. A volumetric measure (one small scoop, for instance) of FFg black powder can be expected to contain the same amount of powder - therefore the same explosive potential - time and time again.
Smokeless powder, on the other hand, is made in many variations - and the little particles of powder are made in many different shapes and sizes. One type of smokeless powder will be composed of small short cylinders, and another type made of tiny grains resembling grains of sand.
Being composed of differently-shaped particles would be enough to cause volume to be an unreliable measure of smokeless powder, but besides that reason there's also the fact that each type of smokeless powder is chemically different from the other - so a pinch of one vs. a pinch of another will not produce the same pressures and burning characteristics... even if each pinch weighed the same.
Smokeless Powder
What you're saying is completely true. I know that everybody must say the same thing, but I just think that you put it in a way that everyone can understand. I'm sure you'll reach so many people with what you've got to say
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