Controversy Over Confederate Powder ........ From the start

**Bruce Cobb 1723V** · 07-22-2019

Don, Have you gone online to see the West Point Instructors lecture yet. Just curious.

**Southron Sr.** · 07-22-2019

Perhaps O'Fynn got it wrong by assuming that Rains was mistaken about a process he was using at the Powder Works:

Sulfur is a solid at room temperature, melts at 111 degrees Celsius [231.8 degrees Fahrenheit], and boils at 460 degrees Celsius [860 degrees Fahrenheit]. Saltpeter melts at 339 degrees Celsius [642.2 degrees Fahrenheit]. When steam was introduced into the copper retorts, probably at at least 120 degrees Celsius [248 degrees Fahrenheit], the sulfur would have melted, but not the saltpeter or charcoal. Since charcoal absorbs liquid, the charcoal probably absorbed sulfur, adversely affecting the mechanical mixing of charcoal, saltpeter, and sulfur in incorporation. This was contrary to Rains' assumption that a hot solution of saltpeter would speedily penetrate the minute pores of the charcoal, since the saltpeter was not liquid at the temperatures he was using. (O'Flynn, An Analysis, 17)

Here is what Rains had to say:

"Reflecting over the processes for making gunpowder, it suggested itself that the chemical reactions would necessarily
have the most favorable conditions, when there should be the most intimate approximation of the component molecules. That, as the charcoal by by its combustion with the oxygen of the saltpeter, supplied the expanded gases that produced the explosive force, it was of the first consideration that there should be the most perfect mixture practicable between the two ingredients. Under the microscope a fine particle of charcoal was seen to be a mass of carbon penetrated by numerous pores, hence it became necessary to completely fill the pores with saltpeter to have the best condition. This might be accomplished by the usual processes , as the charge is kept moistened when stamped or rolled, but as it will not answer to have the mass wet during the incorporation process, only moist or damp, the completeion of the process was necessarily delayed. If the mass could be made into a semi-liquid condition by the action of steam, the hot solution of saltpeter would speedily penetrate the minute pores of the charcoal, and thus the desired end would be rapidly attained."

Rains then described how he implemented this process. The charges were roughly mixed and moistened...The charges were then placed into revolving 18 inch diameter copper barrels with three inch perforated brass axles. High pressure steam was then blown through the axle. The steam melted the niter (saltpeter) and allowed it to flow into and fill the pores in the charcoal. (Ed. note: According to Rains, he was aware that this process brought the saltpeter only into a "Semi-liquid" condition. See the underlined quote from Rains in the above quotation.) On cooling, the pores in the charcoal had been completely filled with niter. Rains claimed that the resulting mixture could be turned into mill cake in about an hour, as compared to about four hours in a conventional powder works, and that this one innovation allowed the Confederate Powder Works quadruple production.

Modern gunpowder experts doubt that this method would significantly improve or speed up the production process, as particle size is now known to be of paramount importance in the quality of the final product, regardless of the proximity of the constituents. However as long as the temperature of Rains process was not too high, the process would have no deleterious effects...Never For The Want Of Powder, Page 82.

**Hal** · 07-22-2019

It is pretty safe to say they didn't reach 642 degrees F with steam as that would have been in the neighborhood of 2100 PSI. However, saltpeter can certainly be dissolved. Wonder if this played a part?

**Don Dixon** · 07-22-2019

Originally Posted by Bruce Cobb 1723V

Don, Have you gone online to see the West Point Instructors lecture yet. Just curious.

I have Bruce. He simply asserted that Confederate powder was superior. I think that he bought into the the post-war Confederate assertions regarding it. He said nothing about post-war comparative testing by the U.S. Army, information about which I would have found particularly interesting.

Regards,
Don

**Don Dixon** · 07-22-2019

Southron,

I never said that Rains' process didn't work. Just that it didn't make particularly good powder compared to the conventional process.

Saltpeter was recovered from cave dirt and artificial nitre beds by leaching. In the process, one passed water through the saltpeter source, creating a solution containing saltpeter. One then had to remove the water by boiling to recover crystalline saltpeter. The process of dissolving the crystals and boiling the resulting solution had to be repeated several time to get saltpeter that was pure enough for ordnance work. Gunpowder is 75 to 76% saltpeter. Using Rains' process you can't introduce enough water into the retort in the form of steam to turn all that salpeter into solution and have a product which is dry enough that you can roll it on a conventional incorporating bed after it has cooled, which is what Rains did. Instead, you would have a liquid which you then would have to get the water out of. Some small fraction of the saltpeter might have been turned into solution by the steam, but hardly enough to achieve the result Rains expected from his theory. I can't see there being enough water to produce even a semi-liquid solution of saltpeter. Instead, you have the problem of the sulfur, which was turned into a liquid by the steam, filling the pores in the charcoal, and which may have produced the impression that the contents of the retort were "semi-liquid." The liquid sulfur would have hardened quickly, permitting the processing of the contents of the retort on an incorporating bed.

The bottom line is still that the Confederates either had to use, or chose to use, 33 to 40% more powder in the charges of their .54 and .58 rifle musket cartridges than the Federals. Nothing that you assert changes that historical fact. There will always be variations between lots of powder; black or smokeless. But, if you are making/using good powder, you don't need to increase the charges of rifle or musket powder that much. In his 27 August 1862 Rules to be Observed in the Laboratories of C.S. Arsenals and Ordnance Depots, Mallet stated that "Eprouvettes will soon be furnished to the arsenals, when the force of each lot of powder can be determined and marked upon the barrels." Articles 107 through 112 of the 1862 edition of the Regulations for the Government of the Ordnance Department of the Confederate States of America discussed the inspection of gunpowder, and made mention of testing the powder with the "regulation eprouvette." An eprouvette was a contemporary device which was used to test the strength of lots of gunpowder. I am assuming that the Confederates did what their ordnance manual required them to do, that they did test their powder lots, and that from those tests they determined that they needed to use substantially more powder than the Federals to achieve the velocities that they needed in their ammunition to have it calibrated to the fixed sights of their weapons.

Regards,
Don Dixon
2881V

**Southron Sr.** · 07-22-2019

Dear Don:

Rains was apparently aware that steam, being wet, would semi-liquefy the niter (saltpeter.) Hence, I think that was O'Flynn's error, assuming Rains was attempting to melt the niter to get it to enter the pores of the charcoal when it did so by the heat and moisture introduced by the steam. In addition, sulfur melts at 231.8 Degrees Fahrenheit. Therefore if the steam introduced into the 18 inch diameter copper barrels on the Powder Works production line was at the temperature of 212 Degrees Fahrenheit or slightly above (but below the melting point of sulfur,) the sulfur would not melt, allowing the niter to enter the pores of the charcoal with no interference from the unmelted sulfur.

The classic mixture for gunpowder is 75% niter, 15% charcoal and 10% sulfur by weight. We know that this was the mixture that the Powder Works (with slight variations of the proportions over the years) used.

Again, keep in mind that Rains constantly tested each lot of powder with then "state of the art" instrumentation (for the time) to satisfy himself that the Powder Works was constantly producing a high quality product.

As for the Confederate laboratories using slightly heavier powder charges in the Southern made ammunition, than those used by ammunition loaded in the corresponding Northern laboratories; it might be something as simple as Confederate Minies were heavier and hence required a heavier powder charge to keep the trajectory of their Minies in agreement with the ranges marked on the rear sights of their Richmond made Rifle Muskets, Fayetteville Rifles, imported Enfields, etc. However, I have not researched this subject.

With My Best Regards

Southron

**Bruce Cobb 1723V** · 07-23-2019

That the water / steam are separate issues? I am under the impression that water was introduced most to help eliminate any chance of explosions during the grinding process. This mixture was then pressed into cakes to remove the water, a necessary evil, later was broken up into f to 4f grain sizes.

**Southron Sr.** · 07-29-2019

Well, the managers at the Powder Works were professionals and I am sure that if the powder wasn't wet enough from the steaming process, some more water would have been added before the next stage of manufacturing as needed.