Re: (TFT) Re: ...keep your powder dry

[Pasha and or Rick Smith <pnrsmith@istar.ca>]

	Hi everyone,

	Thanks Stan, Justin!
	I really enjoyed these two posts!

	What would the range of various sizes of cannon?
I would be very interested since one of my campaigns has 
pirates with cannon.

	If I understand Justin's reasoning, the number of
cartidges will range from 30 to 75 per pound of powder.  So if
we say that 50 cartridges can come from a chemist's dose of 
powder then the cost to fire a musket would be $2.  $2 is lower
than I am really happy for the cost of powder.

	I don't mind the idea that some sort of bacteria causes
the powder to rot.  The full price for powder would include 
a premium to ship it to combat quickly enough that it would be
fresh.  Old powder would become increasingly more likely to
be bad.  (Old powder in my campaign is much more likely than
1 in 6 to fail to go off.)

	In my campaign, the formula for gun powder has 
changed.  It has a little less sulfur and a number of 'preservatives'
that slow the rate at which it rots.  This results in the powder 
massing more for each charge.  Basically in my campaign replace
kg, for pounds to get the same explosive force.  This makes 
gun powder more expensive since it costs more to ship it (and 
getting it to battle quickly is important, remember.)

	Thanks again for the posts.

	Rick

>Very good, Stan!
>
>Now let me throw in some of my expertise as a former 18th century military
>specialist at a museum in Yorktown, VA.
>
>A typical pound of black powder will fill approximately 60-75 paper
>cartridges @ 75 grains give or take.  The typical 18th century cartridge for
>a musket was approximately 150 grains of black powder.  So maybe thirty to
>forty cartridges.  Because techniques have changed over the years black
>powder is much more powerful than its 18th century counterpart.  So that
>same 75 grains of modern black powder has approximately the same power as it
>predecessor.
>
>As far as using black powder in a cannon, generally the rule of thumb is the
>amount of powder used is 1/3rd the weight of the projectile fired for an
>iron gun.  So a six-pound iron gun would use two pounds of powder.
>Brass/bronze guns are different.  The rule of thumb there is the amount of
>powder used is 1/4th the weight of the projectile in pounds.  So a six-pound
>brass gun would use 1 and 1/2 pounds of powder.
>
>The differences between the two guns.  Why iron over brass or brass over
>iron?  Iron guns benefits are it is cheaper to make and can throw a
>projectile farther than a brass gun.  Brass guns stay cooler than iron when
>heated and the weight of the barrel is lighter generally also if the gun
>explodes it doesn't shatter and it can be recast; whereas, iron shatters and
>becomes scrap.  Brass guns are excellent field guns; whereas, iron guns are
>better implaced guns - forts, ships.  The most common though of the two was
>the iron gun because of its cost.  In the 18th century, you rarely saw a
>brass gun on a ship, because if the ship sinks you lose as a government less
>money.
>
>Any questions or remarks???
>
>Yours in Cidri,
>Justin
>
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