Science Articles & Cool Facts
The ‘crosshairs’ of gun sights were made of spider web filaments until the 1960′s. History has shown that humans have made good use of spider web silk in the past. One of these uses of silk was for creating the crosshairs of scopes used in microscopes, telescopes, bomb targeting systems and guns.
The properties of spider web filament show that it is 40 times finer than the human hair. The silk was precise enough for the times, but as technology advanced, modern applications seemed more practicable. Today, crosshairs are now etched or made with metal filaments.
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It would seem that the bags containing propellant for naval guns were made from silk because any residue after firing would not smoulder which could cause a premature explosion of the propellant for the next shot.