What did ammunition makers eliminate or add?

Question

to create 'smokeless' powder?

Answer 1

Smokeless powder is modern gunpowder, as opposed to the old fashioned "black powder". Smokeless powder smokes less than black powder because it burns cleaner than black powder. Black powder is made up of saltpeter, carbon black and sulfur (or other combinations like potassium carbonate, potassium sulfate, charcoal).

When you buy smokeless powder, it comes not in just one type but in many different types. Smokeless powder (SP) can be bought in flakes, columns and balls. I've seen mostly balls and flakes.

Why does smokeless powder burn cleaner? It burns slower and more completely. Take a pinch of black powder (BP) versus a pinch of smokeless powder. The BP will go *foooomp* in a quick cloud of black smoke. The SP will sizzle and fry up very quickly, but noticeably slower. The SP flakes have lots of surface area, burning up on the outside completely. The BP tends to be balls of powder that ignite quickly, but basically blast themselves into bits on ignition. That is, you get parts of bits of carbon, saltpetre and other stuff flying in the air, some still on fire and some not. Meanwhile, the SP fires up but doesn't ignite all at once to blast itself into bits, but burns like a fast-motion cigarette.