The Probert Encyclopaedia of Warfare

CORDITE

Cordite is a smokeless explosive for use in ordnance, so named from being made in cordlike forms. In appearance it is like yellow gutta-percha, and when its ingredients are worked up into a mass it receives the cord-like character by being pressed through openings in dies. In the same way as the grains of charcoal powder are made of various sizes to suit various guns so cordite is made of various diameters. It consists of 58 per cent nitro-glycerine, 37 per cent gun-cotton, and 5 per cent vaseline, which is added to make the cordite flexible and reduce friction in the incorporating process, while it also counteracts metallic fouling in small-arms. The cordite is wound on reels, and is afterwards cut up in lengths suitable for the various cartridges. Its keeping qualities are excellent in the extremes of climatic heat and cold. Wet cordite can be fired; moisture does not deteriorate it. As it is somewhat difficult to ignite, an 'igniter' of black gunpowder was originally put into the gun cartridges to extend the flash of the firing-tube. In the open air cordite burns quietly.
Research Cordite