British Lyddite recipe 1905

[Rrickoshae]

Flicking through my 1905 Treatise of Ammunition I noticed this recipe for the yellow ochre used on British Lyddite filled shells. The ingredients were supplied dry and mixed on site and whilst the correct amounts are stated I’m sure that in practice ‘a spoonful of this and a spoonful of that’ was the norm and hence the slight variation in the shade of the colour.

 

[BMG50]

Got the recipe for Mills grenades for a later date, i assume the same type of vanish shelac and meths.

 

[Andysarmoury]

Very interesting Dave, thanks for posting.
Andy

 

[Nabob]

Thanks for posting Dave.
I wonder why there is the remark about lead.
Was the lead poissoning a known issue in 1905, or is it more about lead interacting with the explosive?

Bob.

 

[glevum]

I think it is the latter.

As I understand it, Picric Acid can react with lead to form a very sensitive compound.

Lyddite shells recovered from shipwrecks can be very unstable when they dry out.