The g in ffg

[hanshi]

Could the "G" simply stand for "GUN"? Now that, I might be able to understand.

 

[user 36911]

I'm not sure why it doesn't stand for grade. There's only two grades. G for sporting powder and A for blasting powder. You know what grade it is by the G or A.

 

[coloradoclyde]

I'm not sure why it doesn't stand for grade. There's only two grades. G for sporting powder and A for blasting powder. You know what grade it is by the G or A.

http://www.armsregister.com/articles/articles_documents/nzar_a20_black_powder_grades.pdf

 

[user 36911]

Like I said. G is a grade. Just like A is a grade. Two grades. A&G.

 

[coloradoclyde]

Like I said. G is a grade. Just like A is a grade. Two grades. A&G.

Yep, but the original grade that got the first "G" designation was because it was glazed. A process applied to sporting powder, I e. gunpowder. Before the advent of glazing there was no "G" designation. Today glazing and graphite coating are the norm, so it has lost it's original designation.

 

[user 36911]

We talk about stuff that really doesn't matter. 3 pages on what the g means.

 

[coloradoclyde]

Like I said. G is a grade. Just like A is a grade. Two grades. A&G.

If you look closely at the info I posted you'll notice that there are more than just A&G grades.

Wano, brand also has a P grade that stands for precision.

The military has their own grading system (numbered)

I'm sure there are other grades too.

 

[coloradoclyde]

We talk about stuff that really doesn't matter. 3 pages on what the g means.

True, but the more you dig the more interesting it becomes.

 

[user 36911]

If you look closely at the info I posted you'll notice that there are more than just A&G grades.

Wano, brand also has a P grade that stands for precision.

The military has their own grading system (numbered)

I'm sure there are other grades too.

Well, I got you calling them grades.

 

[coloradoclyde]

Well, I got you calling them grades.

Yes, the designation is a grade but the letter, number or name generally has meaning.
G means glazed or graphite because it is now glazed with graphite, it is a coincidence though that they both start with G.
P for precision
Whaling for waling
Cannon for cannon
Saluting for saluting
Blasting for Blasting.

Some of the designations are more obscure.
I have no Idea what A stands for. Maybe it was the first and they decided to start with the letter A of the Alphabet. Maybe that's the question we should be asking.

 

[user 36911]

Joe....What does the g mean?

Me....It's a grade. G means glazed or graphite. There are many grades.

Joe...Thanks.

 

[necchi]

The G stands for Graphite coated powder as Zonie describes above.

But Zonies shared description above clearly states the "G" is for glazed?? Can you read? Why spread un-truth?
I mean, there's a lot of things people "want" to believe and that's OK,,
,but why change someone's words in plain readable type?

 

[BruceHH]

necchi, read the whole description again.

The last sentence "Powders with the "g" suffix have had both of these processes done to them."

I simply meant to say - Zonie has it right. I probably should have said - The G stands for for Graphite coated powder that is Glazed as Zonie describes above.

Now - Can you read?

 

[Loyalist Dave]

Yes, the designation is a grade but the letter, number or name generally has meaning.
G means glazed or graphite because it is now glazed with graphite, it is a coincidence though that they both start with G.
P for precision
Whaling for waling
Cannon for cannon
Saluting for saluting
Blasting for Blasting.

Some of the designations are more obscure.
I have no Idea what A stands for. Maybe it was the first and they decided to start with the letter A of the Alphabet. Maybe that's the question we should be asking.

Clyde is right

"GLAZING" was done to powder before the use of graphite. Glazing is done to sporting black powder. IF the "g" stands for anything, it stands for glazing.

Whomever the "source" was which was mentioned in another reply post, the person at Hodgdon who said the "g" stood for "grade" was sort of correct..., it does note that the powder is for use as sporting grade, meaning for use in the firearms of the day when the g first appeared on labels..., but it didn't stand for "grade"... as that word alone is meaningless. "Sporting grade" does have meaning, and so otherwise why not label using both initials "sg", and end up with black powder labels reading "FFsg, FFFsg" and so on???

Note the emphasis sentence, I wrote "IF"..., back in the time when the "g" was added to labels, it could very well have been a case where the person making the labels simply selected the lower case g because it was close to him when setting up the printing press.

LD

 

[Bon Sauvage]

This post is a waste of my time really as Zonie and coloradoclyde have given the correct answer: g stands for glazed. Glaze is associated with glass or glassy. The polishing process during manufacture knocks of the corners and rounds off the powder grains giving them a shiny, glass like appearence hence the term glazed.

This term has been in effect for many, many years before Hodgdon acquired Goex. Look it up. See for yourselves.

 

[Ponderosaman]

G does in fact stand for “gun” and the F stands for “fun”. The more f’s the more fun the gun is that it’s used in.

 

[bisleyjohn]

After a bit of a search I ‘rediscovered’ this

https://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a150455.pdf
US Army study of BP. On graphite an extract says

Another characteristic of black powder is its graphite coat, and little information exists to describe this envelope or its function. One characteristic of the coating is to keep the grains from adhering to one another, and a second as an inhibitor,and as such, it is a very important part of black powder. To show the influence of this coat, samples of black powder were obtained just before graphite was added to the glaze barrel; these are called green grains, and later the corresponding graphited material was also selected. The flame- spread rates of these two samples differed by a factor of two showing the retarding effect of the graphite coat.

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