The black gunpowder, consisting of saltpeter, charcoal and sulfur, was used for several centuries and in the middle of the 20th century practically disappeared from use. Currently, only amateurs of old weapons use it. The black gunpowder had a number of serious defects, which include insufficient energy and a large amount of smoke emissions. In connection with this, at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, a “great revolution” took place and the smokeless powder or nitropic powder was invented. In 1884, the French engineer, inventor and chemist Paul Viel invented a new type of gunpowder – pyroxylin. Smokeless gunpowder includes ballistite, white gunpowder, and cordite. Smokeless gunpowder consists of an organic solvent of monobasic nitrocellulose, usually with the addition of dibasic nitroglycerin of up to fifty percent, and sometimes in combination with tribasic nitroguanidine. In cartridges for hunting and firearms dibasic gunpowder is often used, and in artillery and engines of rockets of small caliber tribasic gunpowder is used. The color scheme of smokeless gunpowder is diverse, ranging from yellow, light green, dark brown to yellow, and can also have the form of a ribbon, grain, cylinder, or have another shape. In professional numerous publications it is said that smokeless gunpowder is three times thicker than the one with smoke and the speed of their combustion is 0.2-0.4 cm / sec. It should be noted that pyroxylin powder releases 800-900 kcal / kg of energy and a temperature of 2230-2500⁰C, and nitroglycerin powder releases 1100-1200 kcal / kg of energy and a temperature of 2700-3200⁰C.