Wool and Black Powder Smoke

[Carlo]

On the german wiki page I read that wool is made of proteins called Keratin, and Keratine are not soluble in water, acid or bases.
I'm not sure if that is true because Pleater said that wool is soluble in chlorine bleach.
Anyway I would guess that the effects of gunpowder would be marginal because first of all the muzzle is quite far away from the kilt and the powdersmoke would be diluted quite a bit when it reaches the kilt.

[Tobus]

On the german wiki page I read that wool is made of proteins called Keratin, and Keratine are not soluble in water, acid or bases.
I'm not sure if that is true because Pleater said that wool is soluble in chlorine bleach.
Anyway I would guess that the effects of gunpowder would be marginal because first of all the muzzle is quite far away from the kilt and the powdersmoke would be diluted quite a bit when it reaches the kilt.

Well, not really. When firing historical black powder weapons such as a flintlock, there is a lot of stuff that happens up close and personal to the shooter (or the person standing to his right). The way a flintlock is designed, there is an actual flint on the lock that is right up near the shooter's face. When he pulls the trigger, it rotates the flint down and strikes it across the frizzen, which showers sparks down into the flash pan. This is a small area on the side of the rifle/musket that is primed with black powder. The powder in the pan "flashes", and that flame channels through a tiny hole into the breech, where it then ignites the rest of the powder that's packed behind the ball and wadding, causing it to shoot out of the barrel.

The end result is that a flintlock shooter experiences a small explosion right in front of his face, with a lot of smoke and powder going everywhere. You'll often see reenactors with blackened faces because of this (and they often will turn their heads to the left as they fire in order to avoid it). The design of the flash pan varies, and is intended to direct the main explosive force away from the shooter. It directs the blast off to the right and/or up.

Since this flash is usually directed to the right, it makes for an interesting dynamic when soldiers/reenactors are shooting in a tight firing line (which was common practice at the time). Each man's flash would be directed onto the man standing to his right. So everyone ends up covered in powder residue and choking on sulfurous smoke. Not to mention that firing lines were multi-tiered, so there was often people kneeling in front to fire, with others standing behind them and shooting over them.

Needless to say, everyone was exposed to powder residue.

Plus, don't forget that loading and priming a black powder rifle/musket is not exactly a clean and perfect affair. It's pretty tricky to dump powder down the bore, ram the ball and wadding down, and prime the pan without spilling some on your clothing. Especially when they went to paper cartridges that had to be torn open with one's teeth. Soldiers and reenactors are typically covered not only in powder residue, but actual unburnt gunpowder as well. It gets everywhere, even in your mouth and down your shirt.

[gordontaos]

Well, not really. When firing historical black powder weapons such as a flintlock, there is a lot of stuff that happens up close and personal to the shooter (or the person standing to his right). The way a flintlock is designed, there is an actual flint on the lock that is right up near the shooter's face. When he pulls the trigger, it rotates the flint down and strikes it across the frizzen, which showers sparks down into the flash pan. This is a small area on the side of the rifle/musket that is primed with black powder. The powder in the pan "flashes", and that flame channels through a tiny hole into the breech, where it then ignites the rest of the powder that's packed behind the ball and wadding, causing it to shoot out of the barrel.

The end result is that a flintlock shooter experiences a small explosion right in front of his face, with a lot of smoke and powder going everywhere. You'll often see reenactors with blackened faces because of this (and they often will turn their heads to the left as they fire in order to avoid it). The design of the flash pan varies, and is intended to direct the main explosive force away from the shooter. It directs the blast off to the right and/or up.

Since this flash is usually directed to the right, it makes for an interesting dynamic when soldiers/reenactors are shooting in a tight firing line (which was common practice at the time). Each man's flash would be directed onto the man standing to his right. So everyone ends up covered in powder residue and choking on sulfurous smoke. Not to mention that firing lines were multi-tiered, so there was often people kneeling in front to fire, with others standing behind them and shooting over them.

Needless to say, everyone was exposed to powder residue.

Plus, don't forget that loading and priming a black powder rifle/musket is not exactly a clean and perfect affair. It's pretty tricky to dump powder down the bore, ram the ball and wadding down, and prime the pan without spilling some on your clothing. Especially when they went to paper cartridges that had to be torn open with one's teeth. Soldiers and reenactors are typically covered not only in powder residue, but actual unburnt gunpowder as well. It gets everywhere, even in your mouth and down your shirt.

Exactly.
I was a very active Loyalist reenactor back in 1975-77. Of course our uniforms were all wool, and of course we were always in clouds of gun smoke so thick that sometimes you could not see 30 feet. I even have powder burns on my waistcoat and jacket facing due to hang fires. Lets also not forget that you get pretty well sprinkled with the black powder itself.
Anyway, 38 years later there are no residual effects.

[unixken]

4KNO₃ + C₇H₄O + 2S => 2K₂S +4CO₂ + 3CO + 2H₂O + 2N₂

Dang. I was a Voc-Tech student. Never took chemistry. All I know is that H₂O is water, and K₉P comes from the south end of a dog.

[O'Searcaigh]

Dang. I was a Voc-Tech student. Never took chemistry. All I know is that H₂O is water, and K₉P comes from the south end of a dog.

Sorry for the chemical goblty goop -- (I can't read -- even pronounce the Gaelic I often see on XMarks, ' wised I could) - Of course, all those letters in "Chemistry" (not nearly as confusing as Gaelic) just mean: "put saltpeter together with charcoal and a little sulfur, light it up (or put it under pressure) and BAM! -- you get potassium sulfide, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, water and nitrogen --- all gasses!! (no sulfuric acids). Oh yes, for more "formulas" there is of course also R₂D₂ and C₃PO -- which I would not recommend trying to put together as "chemicals" but make really nice robots !!! K₉P Love it (the joke, not so much the "chemical" that comes out of my dog, especially in the house on the floor!

[A Lenape Scot]

I have been a historic weapons supervisor for 5 years with the National Park Service. I am in charge of two six pound cannons and one 12 pounder along with several flintlock and percussion muskets. We are required to wear wool and cotton because modern material melts to the skin when it gets burned. Many of our uniforms are 20 years old. The civil war uniform I wear I have personally owned for 8 years. As bad as it sounds I have not dry cleaned it because I want it to look like I am on campaign not just issued from the quarter master. Only have brushed it clean and rinsed off mud with water. This same uniform I wear when cleaning the cannons. All of our uniforms are still soft. Light seems to do more damage to the wool than shooting black powder cannons.