NOTE: Black powder is the one composition in pyrotechnics that varies greatly from type to type. The most important component of black powder (BP) is charcoal. It is important to use a very reactive charcoal such as willow or grapevine that contains many volatiles (oxygen and hydrogen) to increase the speed of burning.
Simply mixing the three components together does not give good results. It is usually wise to "impregnate" the charcoal with the potassium nitrate by ball milling the two chemicals together for several hours, or by the precipitation method where the potassium nitrate is dissolved in hot water and charcoal is added.
The following table gives a number of BP formulas. If a specific type charcoal is required for a composition, it will be noted in brackets beside the charcoal percentage. Bear in mind that if the charcoal is not very reactive the BP will merely fizzle and burn slowly. Examples of unreactive charcoals are activated charcoal, and barbeque briquettes which usually contain clay.
NOTE: The term "general" is applied loosely here, referring to any black powder composition that was not designed for a specific purpose, or if it was then the specific application was not given.
| Watson | Graecus | Graecus | Graecus | Bacon | Bacon | Urbanski | |
| name | Standard BP | (composition as of 8th century) |
(composition as of 8th century) |
Ignis Volatilis | (composition as of 1249) |
(composition as of 1252) |
(composition as of 1300) |
| Potassium nitrate | 75 | 66.66 | 69.22 | 50 | 41 | 37.5 | 67 |
| Charcoal | 15 | 22.22 | 23.07 | 29.5 | 31.25 | 16.5 | |
| Sulphur | 10 | 11.11 | 7.69 | 25 | 29.5 | 31.25 | 16.5 |
| Resin | 25 |
| Arderne | Whitehorne | Bruxelles Studies | British Government | |
| (laboratory recipe, composition as of 1350) |
(composition as of 1560) |
(composition as of 1560) |
(powder made under contract, composition as of 1635) |
|
| Potassium nitrate | 66.6 | 50.0 | 75.0 | 75.0 |
| Charcoal | 22.2 | 33.3 | 15.62 | 12.5 |
| Sulphur | 11.1 | 16.6 | 9.38 | 12.5 |
NOTE: The following composition is optimized for firing aerial shells from fireworks mortars.
| Pyrotechnics Guild International |
|
| PGI optimum | |
| Potassium nitrate | 74 |
| Charcoal | 14 |
| Sulphur | 12 |
NOTE: These compositions are intended for firing projectiles from small-bore, hand-held weapons. They may also be used for lifting aerial shells from fireworks mortars, however some testing as to the suitability of a certain composition might be necessary.
CAUTION: Cocoa powders are more sensitive to friction than ordinary black powder. Accidents have resulted from shaking of the composition in a canvas sack.
| Davis | Davis | Davis | Davis | Davis | Noble and Abel | |
| name | English Cocoa powder I |
English Cocoa Powder II |
German Cocoa Powder I |
German Cocoa Powder II |
French Cocoa Powder |
Cocoa powder |
| Potassium nitrate | 79 | 77.4 | 78 | 80 | 78 | 80 |
| Charcoal | 18 (rye straw) | 17.6 (rye straw) | 19 (rye straw) | 20 (rye straw) | 19 (rye straw) | 18 (rye straw) |
| Sulphur | 3 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 2 |
NOTE: The following compositions were used in France for military purposes. Specific applications are listed in the table. A date as to when these compositions were put into use was not given.
| Urbanski | Urbanski | Urbanski | Urbanski | Urbanski | |
| name | Cannon | Sporting | Normal (rifle powder) | Cannon modified | Delay fuse powder |
| Potassium nitrate | 75 | 78 | 75 | 78 | 75 |
| Charcoal | 12.5 | 12 | 15 | 19 | 13-15 |
| Sulphur | 12.5 | 10 | 10 | 3 | 10-12 |
| grain size | 7 - 21 mm | 0.1 - 1 mm | various | hexagonal "nut" | 0.3 - 0.6 mm |
| Urbanski | Urbanski | Urbanski | Urbanski | Urbanski | Urbanski | Urbanski | Urbanski | Urbanski | |
| name | Strong blasting | Slow blasting | No.1 blasting powder | No.1 Bobbinite | No.2 Bobbinite | No.1 black blasting powder | American blasting powder | No.3 black blasting powder (Petroclastite or Haloclastite) | No.2 black blasting powder |
| Potassium nitrate | 75 | 40 | 73-77 | 62-65 | 63-66 | ||||
| Sodium nitrate | 70-75 | 70-74 | 71-76 | 70-75 | |||||
| Charcoal | 15 | 30 | 10-15 | 17-19.5 | 18.5-20.5 | 10-16 | 15-17 | 15-19 of coal-tar pitch | 10-16 of lignite |
| sulphur | 10 | 30 | 8-15 | 1.5-2.5 | 1.5-2.5 | 9-15 | 11-13 | 9-11 | 9-15 |
| Paraffin | 2.5-3.5 | ||||||||
| Starch | 7-9 | ||||||||
| Ammonium sulphate and copper sulphate | 13-17 |
| Davis | Davis | Davis | |
| French Forte | French Lente | French Ordinaire | |
| Potassium nitrate | 72 | 40 | 62 |
| Charcoal | 15 | 30 | 18 |
| Sulphur | 13 | 30 | 20 |
NOTE: These compositions were generally used as propellants, but have been largely superceded by smokeless nitrocellulose mixtures.
| Gaens | Brugere | Starke | ||
| name | Amide powder | Ammonpulver | Brugere powder | Gold Dust Powder |
| Ammonium nitrate | 35-38 | 85 | ||
| Potassium nitrate | 40-45 | 57 | ||
| Charcoal | 14-22 | 15 | ||
| Ammonium picrate | 43 | 55 | ||
| Potassium picrate | 25 | |||
| Ammonium dichromate | 20 |
| Lancaster | Noble | Noble | Thomas | |
| name | sulphurless powder | sulphurless powder | sulphurless powder (stoichiometric) |
sulphurless powder SFG.12 |
| Potassium nitrate | 70.5 | 80 | 87.1 | 70 |
| Charcoal | 29.5 | 20 | 12.9 | 30 |