New methods to calculate the acceleration ability of detonation products and the detonation energy of explosives with the cylinder expansion test data were applied to determine the performance characteristics for some high explosives of military interest. The obtained results were also compared to the calculation results with CHEETAH code. Moreover, the detonation pressure for chosen explosives was evaluated on the basis of a variation of the cylinder test in which a cylindrical water layer was loaded by detonation wave propagating along an explosive charge confined by the water envelope. Results of the tests and thermochemical calculations were used to deduce constants of the JWL equation of state. Finally, the JWL isentropes obtained were applied to calculate the theoretical expansion work of detonation products.