Editing Cordite (section)

=== Early European smokeless powders ===
The first smokeless powder was developed in 1865 by [[Johann Edward Schultze]]. At the time of this breakthrough, Schultze was a captain of Prussian artillery. Schultze eventually rose to the rank of colonel. His formulation (dubbed ''Schultze Powder'') was composed of [[nitrolignose]] derived from nitrated wood grains, impregnated with [[saltpetre]] or [[barium nitrate]].<ref>{{cite web |title=The Schultz White Gunpowder |url=https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-schultz-white-gunpowder/ |access-date=17 April 2022 |website=Scientific American|date=22 May 1869}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Schultze powder – Big Chemical Encyclopedia |url=https://chempedia.info/info/schultze_powder/ |access-date=17 April 2022 |website=chempedia.info}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=No text – Big Chemical Encyclopedia |url=https://chempedia.info/page/211093075100072185201130029045085251003094141219/ |access-date=17 April 2022 |website=chempedia.info}}</ref>

In 1882, the [[Explosive Company of Stowmarket]] introduced ''EC Powder'', which contained nitro-cotton and nitrates of potassium and barium in a grain gelatinised by ether alcohol. It had coarser grains than other nitrocellulose powders. It proved unsuitable for rifles, but it remained in long use for shotguns<ref name="artillery">Hogg OFG, 'Artillery: Its Origin, Heyday and Decline', Hurst & Company, London, 1989</ref> and was later used for grenades and fragmentation bombs.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Æ Aeragon Redirect |url=https://www.aeragon.com/o/me/ni.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221126001449/https://www.aeragon.com/military-technology-transfer/1865-1914/nitrocellulose-smokeless-powder.html#ecpowder |archive-date=November 26, 2022 |access-date=2025-02-08 |website=www.aeragon.com}}</ref>

In 1884, the French chemist [[Paul Vieille]] produced a smokeless propellant that had some success. It was made out of [[collodion]] ([[nitrocellulose]] dissolved in [[ethanol]] and [[Diethyl ether|ether]]), resulting in a plastic colloidal substance which was rolled into very thin sheets, then dried and cut up into small flakes. It was immediately adopted by the French military for their Mle 1886 infantry rifle and called ''[[Poudre B]]'' (for ''poudre blanche'', or ''white powder'') to distinguish it from ''black powder'' (gunpowder). The rifle and the cartridge developed to use this powder were known generically as the [[8mm Lebel]], after the officer who developed its 8&nbsp;mm [[full metal jacket bullet]].<ref>{{cite journal |last=Bergman |first=Yoel |title=Paul Vieille, Cordite & Ballistite |date=2009 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/23787093 |journal=Icon |volume=15 |pages=40–60 |jstor=23787093 |issn=1361-8113}}</ref>

The following year, 1887, [[Alfred Nobel]] invented and [[patent]]ed a smokeless propellant he called ''[[Ballistite]]''.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Bergman |first=Yoel |date=2017-10-20 |title=Fair Chance and not a Blunt Refusal: New Understandings on Nobel, France, and Ballistite in 1889 |url=https://brill.com/view/journals/vulc/5/1/article-p29_29.xml |journal=Vulcan |volume=5 |issue=1 |pages=29–41 |doi=10.1163/22134603-00501003 |issn=2213-4603|doi-access=free }}</ref> It was composed of 10% [[camphor]], 45% [[nitroglycerin]]e and 45% collodion (nitrocellulose). Over time the camphor tended to evaporate, leaving an unstable explosive.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Bergman |first=Yoel |date=2011 |title=Alfred Nobel, Aniline and Diphenylamine |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/23789960 |journal=Icon |volume=17 |pages=57–67 |jstor=23789960 |issn=1361-8113}}</ref>