In order to obtain the gun propellant with progressive combustion characteristics and corresponding control methods at multi-dimensions， according to the principle of internal ballistics， the concept of the pre-grooved gun propellant was proposed. The physical and mathematical models of the combustion process were established， and the Г-Ψ relationship was deduced. The principle of progressive combustion and multi-dimensional control methods were demonstrated. The method used for the preparation of the pre-grooved gun propellant was described. The pre-grooved gun propellant structured with a center opening was designed， and propellants having different groove numbers and various length/outside diameter ratios were prepared. In order to compare with the seven-hole propellants with and without coating ， the combustion performance of the pre-grooved gun propellant was characterized by the closed bomb test. The experimental results show that the pre-grooved gun propellant has the progressive combustion behavior as theoretically designed. Compared with the seven-hole propellant， the combustion enhancement value（ΔL） value obtained by using this method is increased by 2 folds， the progressive combustion characteristic（L_m/L₀） value is increased by 24.4%， and the relative pressure at the split point（B_m） value is increased by 32.4%. The progressive combustion feature exhibited by pre-grooved gun propellants outperforms that of the seven-hole propellant， and was comparable to that of the coated seven-hole propellant.