Editing Shell (projectile) (section)

===Smokeless powders===
{{main|Smokeless powder}}
[[File:Poudre B.JPG|thumb|left|[[Poudre B]] was the first practical [[smokeless powder]]]]

[[Gunpowder]] was used as the only form of explosive up until the end of the 19th century. Guns using black powder [[ammunition]] would have their view obscured by a huge cloud of smoke and concealed shooters were given away by a cloud of smoke over the firing position. [[Guncotton]], a nitrocellulose-based material, was discovered by [[Swiss people|Swiss]] chemist [[Christian Friedrich Schönbein]] in 1846. He promoted its use as a blasting explosive<ref name="Handloading28">Davis, William C., Jr. ''Handloading''. National Rifle Association of America (1981). p.&nbsp;28.</ref> and sold manufacturing rights to the [[Austrian Empire]]. Guncotton was more powerful than gunpowder, but at the same time was somewhat more unstable. John Taylor obtained an English patent for guncotton; and John Hall & Sons began [[Faversham explosives industry|manufacture in Faversham]]. British interest waned after an explosion destroyed the Faversham factory in 1847. Austrian Baron [[Wilhelm Lenk von Wolfsberg]] built two guncotton plants producing artillery propellant, but it was dangerous under field conditions, and guns that could fire thousands of rounds using gunpowder would reach their service life after only a few hundred shots with the more powerful guncotton.

Small arms could not withstand the pressures generated by guncotton. After one of the Austrian factories blew up in 1862, [[Stowmarket Guncotton Company|Thomas Prentice & Company]] began manufacturing guncotton in [[Stowmarket]] in 1863; and British [[War Office]] chemist Sir [[Frederick Abel]] began thorough research at [[Waltham Abbey Royal Gunpowder Mills]] leading to a manufacturing process that eliminated the impurities in nitrocellulose making it safer to produce and a stable product safer to handle. Abel patented this process in 1865, when the second Austrian guncotton factory exploded. After the Stowmarket factory exploded in 1871, Waltham Abbey began production of guncotton for torpedo and mine warheads.<ref name="sharpe141">Sharpe, Philip B. ''Complete Guide to Handloading''. 3rd edition (1953). Funk & Wagnalls. pp.&nbsp;141–144.</ref>

[[File:Heike Kamerlingh Onnes - 33 - James Dewar in the Royal Institution in London, around 1900.png|thumb|upright|Sir [[James Dewar]] developed the [[cordite]] explosive in 1889]]
In 1884, [[Paul Vieille]] invented a smokeless powder called [[Poudre&nbsp;B]] (short for ''poudre blanche''—white powder, as distinguished from [[gunpowder|black powder]])<ref name="Chemistry289">Davis, Tenney L. ''The Chemistry of Powder & Explosives'' (1943), pages&nbsp;289–292.</ref> made from 68.2% insoluble [[nitrocellulose]], 29.8% soluble nitrocellusose gelatinized with [[diethyl ether|ether]] and 2% paraffin. This was adopted for the Lebel rifle.<ref name="Artillery139">Hogg, Oliver F. G. ''Artillery: Its Origin, Heyday and Decline'' (1969), p.&nbsp;139.</ref> Vieille's powder revolutionized the effectiveness of small guns, because it gave off almost no smoke and was three times more powerful than black powder. Higher [[muzzle velocity]] meant a flatter [[trajectory]] and less wind drift and bullet drop, making 1000 meter shots practicable. Other European countries swiftly followed and started using their own versions of Poudre&nbsp;B, the first being [[Germany]] and [[Austria]] which introduced new weapons in 1888. Subsequently, Poudre&nbsp;B was modified several times with various compounds being added and removed. [[Krupp]] began adding [[diphenylamine]] as a stabilizer in 1888.<ref name="sharpe141"/>

Britain conducted trials on all the various types of propellant brought to their attention, but were dissatisfied with them all and sought something superior to all existing types. In 1889, Sir [[Frederick Abel]], [[James Dewar]] and W.&nbsp;Kellner patented (No.&nbsp;5614 and No.&nbsp;11,664 in the names of Abel and Dewar) a new formulation that was manufactured at the Royal Gunpowder Factory at Waltham Abbey. It entered British service in 1891 as [[Cordite]] Mark&nbsp;1. Its main composition was 58% nitro-glycerine, 37% guncotton and 3% mineral jelly. A modified version, Cordite&nbsp;MD, entered service in 1901, this increased guncotton to 65% and reduced nitro-glycerine to 30%, this change reduced the combustion temperature and hence erosion and barrel wear. Cordite could be made to burn more slowly which reduced maximum pressure in the chamber (hence lighter breeches, etc.), but longer high pressure – significant improvements over gunpowder. Cordite could be made in any desired shape or size.<ref name="Artillery141">Hogg, Oliver F. G. ''Artillery: Its Origin, Heyday and Decline'' (1969), p.&nbsp;141.</ref> The creation of cordite led to a lengthy court battle between Nobel, Maxim, and another inventor over alleged British [[patent]] infringement.