What’s that Smell? Cordite vs. Gunpowder vs. Propellant (2024)

FAQs

Does cordite smell like gunpowder? ›

“Enjoy your books, but wonder why you (and other authors) use 'the smell of cordite,' a gunpowder that was last used in WW2 by the British using leftover obsolete powders in their long weapons. The smell is distinctive, unlike earlier black powder, and not at all like the subsequent gunpowders.

The powder itself, smells a bit sulfurous and a bit metallic, mostly sulfur. When it's burned, or fired in a gun, it produces a huge cloud of smoke, including sulfur dioxide and other gases. That smells distinctly like rotten eggs, or like some heavy-duty Taco Bell grade flatulence.

Apollo astronauts were specific. Moondust smells like burnt gunpowder.)

A scent that gets you fired up and raring to go, gunpowder isn't the sultry kind of smoky scent that will lull you into a deep sleep. Not at all! It's like walking into a thick fog before being hit with the sharp smoky smell of black crackling powder.

Gunpowder is a low explosive: it does not detonate, but rather deflagrates (burns quickly). This is an advantage in a propellant device, where one does not desire a shock that would shatter the gun and potentially harm the operator; however, it is a drawback when an explosion is desired.

Cordite is a family of smokeless propellants developed and produced in Britain since 1889 to replace black powder as a military firearm propellant. Like modern gunpowder, cordite is classified as a low explosive because of its slow burning rates and consequently low brisance.

Phantosmia (phantom smells)

Some people can detect a metallic smell or other odors that can't be smelled by anyone else around them because the smells aren't real. This condition is called phantosmia, an olfactory hallucination that's often triggered by a sinus condition. Other causes include: allergies.

Sulfur is a component of black gunpowder, and is used in the vulcanization of natural rubber and a fungicide.

According to a quick check under Cordite on Wikipedia: “The smell of Cordite is referenced erroneously in fiction to indicate the recent firing of weapons.” So from now on, unless I am writing a period piece, it will be “The pungent smell of nitroglycerin, sawdust, and graphite swirling in the air.” Or I'll just say, “ ...

Dog capabilities

They can be trained to find the odors of humans and human remains, fire accelerants, drugs and explosives, including gunpowder. "If the gun is loaded, it will contain gunpowder and the dog will be able to detect that," Ferland said.

Does sulfur smell like gun powder? ›

Sulphur dioxide is a colourless gas having a choking smell of gun powder.

Its use was further developed in the early years of World War II, as 2 inch and 3-inch diameter Unrotated Projectiles for launching anti-aircraft weapons. Small Cordite rocket charges were also developed for ejector seats made by the Martin-Baker Company. Cordite is now obsolete and it is no longer produced.

Refrigerant Leak

If you don't know what acetone smells like off the top of your head, it's sometimes used as a finger nail polish remover, and it's found in some paints and solvents. If you smell acetone in your home, it's a sign that there could be a refrigerant leak.

Fun fact: instead of powder, cordite actually looks like tiny spaghetti noodles.

Cordite is now obsolete and it is no longer produced. It has been replaced by other propellants, such as the Improved Military Rifle (IMR) line of extruded powder or the WC844 ball propellant currently in use in the 5.56 x 45 mm NATO.

It may smell like mustard, garlic, onions or horseradish; it is yellow-brown in color. Cyanide causes confusion, drowsiness and shortness of breath if inhaled. It also affects the central nervous system.

“Smokeless powder” is the name given to modern gunpowder commonly used in firearms because it produces much less smoke than the black powder it replaced.

One of the most tractable liquid propellants is gasoline. But while it is comparatively simple to use, gasoline is, of course, highly flammable and must be handled with care.

Liquid propellants used in rocketry can be classified into three types: petroleum, cryogens, and hypergolic.

Smokeless powder is a type of propellant used in firearms and artillery that produces less smoke and less fouling when fired compared to gunpowder ("black powder").

Did the US Navy use cordite? ›

Cordite N does not appear to have been used as a naval gun propellant in the Royal Navy, but a variation of it was used by the USN (see below).

Gunpowder. Although commonly used to describe any firearm propellant, the term gunpowder originally described mixtures of charcoal and sulfur with potassium nitrate as an oxidizing agent.

The Cordite is a submachine gun featured in Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 and Call of Duty: Mobile.

Depends on what type of firearm that was discharged, modern smokeless powder, most likely no more than 4 to 6 feet away. Black powder on the other hand, smells.

Smelling things that aren't there is called phantosmia. It can be unpleasant and affect how things taste. But it isn't usually serious and may go away by itself in a few weeks or months. See your GP if the strange smell doesn't go away in a few weeks.

Phantosmia is a condition that causes you to detect smells that aren't actually in your environment. It can happen in one nostril or both — and the odors may be foul or pleasant. Common causes include colds, allergies, nasal polyps and dental issues. Treatment depends on the underlying cause.

What is hydrogen sulfide? Hydrogen sulfide is a colorless, flammable gas that smells like rotten eggs at low concentration levels in the air.

Modern small arms propellants all share a common origin, nitrocellulose. Nitrocellulose carries the majority of the chemical energy used to propel a projectile from a gun barrel. It is the result of treating cellulose with nitric acid in the presence of sulfuric acid.

A gunpowder (or firework) scent typically means you've got a fried circuit board or an overheated fan motor. Either one is a sign that you should turn off your furnace to avoid any further system issues and immediately call an HVAC technician to inspect the situation before turning it on again.

As our skin matures, its natural antioxidant protection declines. This decline results in greater oxidation of lipid acid. When lipid acid is oxidized, the chemical compound nonenal is produced, giving off the “old people smell” that many of us are familiar with.

What is the difference between TNT and blackpowder? ›

Detonating explosives, such as TNT and dynamite, are characterized by extremely rapid decomposition and development of high pressure, whereas deflagrating explosives, such as black and smokeless powders, involve merely fast burning and produce relatively low pressures.

ANFO is a relatively free-flowing material, consisting of white prills and having a distinctive fuel oil (diesel) smell.

Even if there is only a single bullet in a gun that has never been shot, the dog will pick up on the scent. It is also likely the dog will pick up on the scent of gunpowder even if there is no bullet in the gun if the gun was fired at any point in time beforehand.

Even in a situation where there is only one bullet in a firearm and that gun has never been used, a dog is able to identify this scent. In a situation where a gun has been fired in the past but no longer has any bullets in it, a dog is still able to pick up the scent of the gunpowder.

Some of the explosives the dogs are trained to detect include TNT, C-4, smokeless powder, ammonium nitrate, dynamite and water gel. Narcotics dogs can detect marijuana, cocaine, methamphetamines and heroin among other drugs.

Methyl parathion smells like rotten eggs and can leave a yellow stain on areas where it has been sprayed.

Like all gunpowder prod- ucts, the squib combined foul-smelling ingredients—sulfurous brimstone, coal, and saltpeter—that reeked all the more when detonated.

Most domestic sulfur production comes from Louisiana and Texas, where it is extracted from oil and natural gas;³ it's the sulfur that gives fireworks their characteristic smell.

The earliest surviving chemical formula of gunpowder dates to 1044 in the form of the military manual Wujing Zongyao, also known in English as the Complete Essentials for the Military Classics, which contains a collection of factoids on Chinese weaponry.

Vihtavuori powders have a reputation for being some of the cleanest burning powders available. Many competitive shooters use them for that reason, in addition to fulfilling their other needs.

What do modern guns use instead of gunpowder? ›

With time, gunpowder gradually replaced black powder. Today, most modern firearms use smokeless powder. The controlled burn rate of smokeless powder, as well as the reduced fouling, has made it the most extensively utilized type of gun powder.

This odor is familiar to many people because ammonia is used commonly in cleaning products and smelling salts. Ammonia gas can be dissolved in water. When this happens, it is called liquid ammonia or aqueous ammonia. People most often encounter ammonia as a liquid chemical in cleaning products.

If you have an exposure, you should call your local emergency number (such as 911) or the National Poison Control Center at 1-800-222-1222.

A scent that gets you fired up and raring to go, gunpowder isn't the sultry kind of smoky scent that will lull you into a deep sleep. Not at all! It's like walking into a thick fog before being hit with the sharp smoky smell of black crackling powder.

No. Cordite has long been out of use both for small arms and artillery. Cordite for small arms was phased out around the WW I era. Not routinely.

The gunpowder “raw” does not smell much… It is a mixture of coal, saltpeter and potassium nitrate that, in solid state, does not give off much odor…

Cordite is a family of smokeless propellants developed and produced in Britain since 1889 to replace black powder as a military firearm propellant. Like modern gunpowder, cordite is classified as a low explosive because of its slow burning rates and consequently low brisance.

Non-powder guns, including BB, air, and pellet guns, expel projectiles (usually made of metal or hard plastic) through the force of air pressure, CO2 pressure, or spring action.

World's Smelliest Substance: Mercaptan | Midland Resource Recovery.

What is the scariest chemical weapon? ›

Sarin is a human-made chemical warfare nerve agent and is one of the most toxic and rapidly acting of known nerve agents. Sarin is also known by the military designation GB.

Phantosmia (phantom smells)

Some people can detect a metallic smell or other odors that can't be smelled by anyone else around them because the smells aren't real. This condition is called phantosmia, an olfactory hallucination that's often triggered by a sinus condition. Other causes include: allergies.

Most forms of gunpowder produced today are either single-base (i.e., consisting of nitrocellulose alone) or double-base (consisting of a combination of nitrocellulose and nitroglycerin).

Its use in weapons has declined due to smokeless powder replacing it, and it is no longer used for industrial purposes due to its relative inefficiency compared to newer alternatives such as dynamite and ammonium nitrate/fuel oil.

The most poisonous substance currently used as a rocket engine propellant is hydrazine (N2H4) and its variants (the most commonly used being Unsymmetrical Dimethylhydrazine, or UDMH).

The SLS booster is the largest, most powerful solid propellant booster ever built for flight. Standing 17 stories tall and burning approximately six tons of propellant every second, each booster generates more thrust than 14 four-engine jumbo commercial airliners.

The propellants being used in PAM cooking spray are butane and propane, which can be liquified at room temperature. Butane is used in cigarette lighters. Propane is used for residential heating and in portable stoves.

The most common types of propellants used are CO2 and LPG.

Hydrogen -- a light and extremely powerful rocket propellant -- has the lowest molecular weight of any known substance and burns with extreme intensity (5,500°F).

Gunpowder was the first known chemical explosive and propellant.

What propellant was used in battleship guns? ›

Cordite is the propellant chiefly used in Naval guns. It is a mixture of nitroglycerine and nitro-cellulose with a stabiliser or preservative. It is pressed into various shapes which have a brown hornlike appearance and, in the case of tubular cordite, into sticks not unlike macaroni.

The 3-inch gun M5 was an anti-tank gun developed in the United States during World War II. The gun combined a 3-inch (76.2 mm) barrel of the anti-aircraft gun T9 and elements of the 105 mm howitzer M2. The M5 was issued exclusively to the US Army tank destroyer battalions starting in 1943.

The oldest propellant is black powder. Numerous historical works trace the invention of this powder to the Chinese several millennia ago. From China, the technology spread to Central Asia and was brought to Europe by the Arabs about the middle of the 13th century.

Nicknamed the "burp" gun by Commonwealth troops because of the sound it made when fired, the Type 50 was the most widely used weapon within Chinese infantry units. It fired 7.62 mm calibre ammunition fed from either 35-round box magazines or 71-round drum magazines and had an effective range of 200 metres.

Its use was further developed in the early years of World War II, as 2 inch and 3-inch diameter Unrotated Projectiles for launching anti-aircraft weapons. Small Cordite rocket charges were also developed for ejector seats made by the Martin-Baker Company. Cordite is now obsolete and it is no longer produced.

The pungent stench of sulfur wrought by exploding gunpowder dominated the battlefields of the Civil War. With the firing of tens of thousands of muskets and hundreds of cannons, the distinct smell of gunpowder rendered even the most floral landscape a wasteland of rotting eggs.

Cordite – Only use in settings from about 1889 to 1945. Fun fact: instead of powder, cordite actually looks like tiny spaghetti noodles.

Smokeless powder is the name given to a number of propellants used in firearms and artillery which produce negligible smoke when fired, unlike the older (Gunpowder) black powder which they replaced. Types of smokeless powder include Cordite, Ballistite and, historically, Poudre B.

H2S gas has a suffocating smell of burning Sulphur.

Gas companies add a chemical called mercaptan to natural gas and liquid propane, which produces the sulfur-like smell so that you'll know if there's a leak of potentially explosive gas.

Can a dog smell gunpowder? ›

Dog capabilities

They can be trained to find the odors of humans and human remains, fire accelerants, drugs and explosives, including gunpowder. "If the gun is loaded, it will contain gunpowder and the dog will be able to detect that," Ferland said.

A small gas leak could be creating the occasional foul odor you're noticing, so don't take any chances. Any time you notice a sulfur smell, suspect a gas leak first. Once called, the utility company or fire department will come right out and test your home.