Civil War Mortar Powder

[Parrott-Cannon]

During the civil war three granulations of black powder were used - cannon, musket, and rifle.  I have not found a reference to the the granulation that was used in mortars.  Does anybody have a reference to the type of granulation used?

Thank you

[rampa room artillery]

cannon grade, as far as i know,

rick bryan

[guardsgunner]

There was a mortar powder. It was somwhat larger the rifle powder. It's screen size is given in the "62" Ord. manual.

[rampa room artillery]

cool i guess that is what we call 1 F today,  thats what most people shoot in there mortars. 

    rick bryan

[guardsgunner]

It would be more like 1 1/2- 1 3/4 f.

[Artilleryman]

In our 8 inch siege mortar, a charge of Fg more closely matched the range table for 900 yards than cannon grade.  Cannon grade shots fell over 100 yards short.

[Cat Whisperer]

In our 8 inch siege mortar, a charge of Fg more closely matched the range table for 900 yards than cannon grade.  Cannon grade shots fell over 100 yards short.

100yds short?  That could really lower morale!   

[Artilleryman]

We had a great group at just under 800 yards, unfortunately the target pole was at 900 yards.

[Parrott-Cannon]

We had a great group at just under 800 yards, unfortunately the target pole was at 900 yards.

What was your powder charge of fg.  What was the weight of the porjectile.

[Parrott-Cannon]

Thank all of you for your input.

[Artilleryman]

Twenty ounces of cannon grade and a 45 lb shell had a range of just under 800 yards.

[Parrott-Cannon]

Twenty ounces of cannon grade and a 45 lb shell had a range of just under 800 yards.

Thank you for thr information.  I just completed my first internal ballistic calculations for a mortar (8 inch).  The calculated value was 302 feet per second based on your charge and porjectile data.  My external ballistics program LockNLoad posted about a year ago gives a range of 805 yards for this velocity.

[Artilleryman]

Thanks for sharing that info.  What about 20 oz. of Goex FG?

[Parrott-Cannon]

Thanks for sharing that info.  What about 20 oz. of Goex FG?

With:

Cannon Grade Powder:  Calculated Velocity 302 fps    Calculated Range 805 yards    Known Range 800 yards     % error in range 0.625

Civil War Mortar Powder:  Calculated Velocity 349 fps    Calculated Range 1093 tards   Known Range  1100 yards     % error in range 0.636

fg Powder:  Calculated Velocity 328 fps     Calculated Range 966 yards

Calculated Velocities were from VP-SIM with a new mortar routine.  Calculated ranges were with LocknLoad.

[Artilleryman]

Pretty close to actual practice with our 8 inch siege mortar.  Variations would probably be due to windage between shell and bore, and actual projectile weight.   Thanks for sharing information.

[Parrott-Cannon]

Pretty close to actual practice with our 8 inch siege mortar.  Variations would probably be due to windage between shell and bore, and actual projectile weight.   Thanks for sharing information.

If you would provide range and powder charge data it would help in program development.

Thank you

[Artilleryman]

Unfortunately the rest of our siege mortar work has been at 100 yards.  We use 4 oz of FG and fifty degrees of elevation. 

[Parrott-Cannon]

Unfortunately the rest of our siege mortar work has been at 100 yards.  We use 4 oz of FG and fifty degrees of elevation.

Thank you for the information.  The major difference between a straight tube and a mortar appears to be that the flame propagation rate changes with the shape of the chamber or the depth of the powder in the chamber (powder charge).  For a given chamber shape their is a sharp changes at a 50% load density.  Data on actual firing help me define and refine the the flame propagation  rate function.  If anyone can provide data, please post.  I need powder granulation, mortar dimensions, powder charge, range, elevation, and velocity if available