FWIW Database of smokeless powder ingredients

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rsrocket1

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I was snooping around the Internet to investigate why some shotgun shooters were having problems with Titewad in cold weather and left a lot of yellow residue while Clays did not. Both powders behave very similarly in warm weather so much so that I actually used up about a half bottle of 50/50 mixed when I goofed and dumped my Titewad into a bottle of Clays. I loaded by weight and shot over 200 rounds of 12 gauge loads without incident. (Don't do this unless you know exactly what you're doing and are willing to blow up a $400-$1000 gun to salvage $10 worth of powder).

Well, as it turns out, yellow residue is due to Diphenylamine so I looked up Diphenylamine and found this database:
National Center for Forensic Science

However, it turns out that Titewad used less Diphenylamine

DAT0000083TIC.jpg

Than Clays
TIC_0000136.jpg

But more than 50% higher NG content. That's why Titewad attacks and sticks to polymer more than Clays. Here's a 50 day test of powder sitting against upside down polymer coated bullets. The powders with the higher NG content tended to stick to the bullets more than ones with little or no NG.

rRif4z3t_o.jpg

There were studies in the past to try to identify the source of powder used in a shooting by looking at the spectrum of the residue. Compare that to a database and someone thought it could help solve a crime. I don't think it was successful, but it resulted in a huge database of smokeless powders, most of which we all use and it could be helpful in things like potential cold weather performance, NG content (will it blister my RCBS powder hopper if left overnight), etc.

Anyway, it was interesting to see powder flakes/balls/sticks, bottles of the powder and the relative composition of many of the powders available. There are usually several graphs per powder so its good to compare graphs with the same Y-Axis scales.

That's my $0.02 that didn't cost anything. Take it for what it's worth.
 
Stabilizers prevent the nitrocellulose and nitroglycerine from decomposing by neutralizing nitric and nitrous acids that are produced during decomposition. If the acids are not neutralized, they can catalyze further decomposition. Some of the more common stabilizers used to extend the safe life of the energetics are diphenylamine, methyl centralite, and ethyl centralite. /QUOTE]
http://www.firearmsid.com/Feature Articles/McCord_gunpowder/
 
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