Page "Gunpowder" Paragraph 95

Besides black powder, there are other historically important types of gunpowder.

" Brown gunpowder " is cited as composed of 79 % nitre, 3 % sulphur, and 18 % charcoal per 100 of dry powder, with about 2 % moisture.

Prismatic Brown Powder is a large-grained product the Rottweil Company introduced in 1884 in Germany, which was adopted by the British Royal Navy shortly thereafter.

The French navy adopted a fine, 3. 1 millimeter, not prismatic grained product called Slow Burning Cocoa ( SBC ) or " cocoa powder ".

These brown powders reduced burning rate even further by using as little as 2 percent sulfur and using charcoal made from rye straw that had not been completely charred, hence the brown color.