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• Black powder, which was discovered in the 9th Century and as the only known practical explosive was widely used until the 20th Century. However it is now primarily only used for fireworks and in reproduction weapons.
• Smokeless powder, which replaced black powder as a propellant at the end of the 19th Century and is used in all modern guns.

Both forms of gunpowder burn producing a subsonic deflagration wave rather than the supersonic detonation wave which high explosives would produce. This reduces peak pressures in a gun, but makes it less suitable for shattering rock or fortifications.

Although historically gunpowder meant black powder, as in the Gunpowder plot, modern references usually imply smokeless powder when referring to the propellant in small armsThe term small arms describes any weapon that a person can easily transport and fire. It describes personal weapons such as pistols, rifles, grenades, grenade launchers, mortars and machine guns. Small arms find a variety of uses including police and mili.