France invented the first production smokeless powder, Poudre B, in 1884. (There were experiments clear back to 1846.) I believe Mauser, in Germany, came out with a single-shot bolt-action 10 mm in 1888 that used Poudre B. Austria also produced rifles to use it the same year. France is generally credited with the first smokeless powder military rifle in the Fusil Mle 1886 M93. Known as the Lebel for short.
In 1884 Paul Vielle invented a smokeless powder called Poudre B (short for poudre blanche—white powder. This was used in the Lebel rifle, shown above.
That would PROBABLY be the first rifle to use a smokeless powder cartridge- the French 8mm Lebel.
Possibly. 1918 was well into the smokeless powder period. Have it checked by a gunsmith first.
Poudre B, developed about 1884. Used in the French Lebel rifle.
China was the first to discover gun powder, is that what you mean.
The first type of gunpowder was black powder which created smoke. Some firearms and other non-firearm related items use black powder for other uses (historical recreation). Most firearms nowadays that have cartridged bullets use a smokeless powder.
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The first feasible production firearm designed around a form of smokeless powder was the model 1886 Lebel rifle, which used the Poudre B powder invented by Paul Vieille. It was designed in 1885, and production began in 1887. It fired a 8x50R cartridge.
Many people confuse gunpowder and black powder. Both of them are mixtures, although gunpowder, also known as smokeless powder, was 100% nitrocellulose, a compound, when it was first used in the mid 1800's. Black powder is a very intimate mixture of potassium nitrate, sulfur and charcoal. Smokeless powders today get their energy when burned from 100% nitrocellulose to mostly nitroglycerine. Most smokeless powders obtain their energy from a mixture of nitrocellulose and nitroglycerine. However, even smokeless powders made today with pure nitrocellulose are still a mixture because manufacturers add other compounds to the powder to reduce the muzzle flash, stabilize the burning rate, slow the decomposition of the powder and to neutralize any corrosive acids formed from the powder's decomposition.