Powder granulation

[Mad Monk]

Don't know if this is the correct place for this question,  but here it is. I've been collecting the old Dupont oval shaped black powder cans with the paper labels. I recently purchased one that has the powder as "Superfine HFg". Can anyone tell me what the H in HFg stands for?  And what was this granulation used for. Thanks for any info.

I was digging through some boxes of old shooting pictures tonight and ran into 3 reproduction du Pont post cards that date back into the mid to late 1800s.  One shows a shooter shooting at a woods buffalo that used to live in the woods here in the East.  Various size containers of Du Pont black powder.  The tn cans tell me the post cards would date bck to after the U.S. Civil War.  The labels state "HFg".  The back of the post card states: DU PONT's GUNPOWDER - Early advertisement of sporting powder.  Lithograph from the collection of the Hagley Museum.  Then there is a different post card with nobody shooting different views of different areas.  But again a pile of powder containers up to large wooden kegs marked with the HFg labels.

To add to this.  That suggests to me that the "rifle" powder shown was the equal mixture of 3F and 2F grain sizes.  I had seen this in other powder company cans marked as a rifle powder but not grain size on the label.  When I pulled the powder out of boxes of original load BP cartridges I found the same thing.  Then some comments found in Capt. Mordecai's work at Washington Arsenal in 1856 shows the uses of this granulation mixture.  I had all of the stuff in the lab to do screen analyses.  That was all part of my daily work.  So when the boss was not around I would do screen analyses on some of the old black powder samples I had collected.  At that time the military used an equal mix of 1F and 2F as a musket powder for the big .69 caliber smooth bore muskets.  When they made up lads for the 1842 Mississipi Rifle they used the 3F and 2F mix of grain sizes.  When the arsenals developed the minie for the Civil War Mordecai told them to use straight 1F in the charges for that gun.  So chances are that du Pont called the rifle powder grain mixture as this "H" designation.

[hanshi]

My best wishes for your health, Bill.  Your situation is very concerning and very disturbing news for us.  We all sincerely hope for the best outcome.

[Mad Monk]

My best wishes for your health, Bill.  Your situation is very concerning and very disturbing news for us.  We all sincerely hope for the best outcome.

Hanshi,

I don't get all hyper about it but this bone marrow failure, MDS is always terminal at my age.  I will shortly be 79 years old.  Too old for a bone marrow transplant.  It took 45 years for the butadiene in the chem plant to catch up with me. Almost all of those I worked with, younger and older are long gone from the results of handling twenty different chemicals in the reactor building I worked in. When you work with that number of carcenogenic chemicals without proper safety gear you are lucky to see retirement at 65.  So I have spent a lot of years bracing for this and dealijg with it.  I mean after 30 years of going to work and punching in wondering if you would finish the shift in the same county and in one peace you develop that "oh well" mentality.  So the whole idea of this really does not trouble me and I'll just keep plugging along until it happens.  I joke with the nurses in the Infusion Unit that the only thing keep me going is the fact that the devil has a restraining order out on me.  But you concern is certainly appreciated.  On this message board I have run into a lot of nice guys which are a welcome relief from life her in the center of this city.
Take Care, Bill K.

[smylee grouch]

Hi Bill: I think you have a great attitude and that can carry you on. Please know how much we all respect your contributions and opinions on this forum. We wish you the very best and gratefully thank you for you shared knowledge. Smylee Grouch 

[Daryl]

Bill- you  and your perseverance are indeed, a beacon for us to follow.
We all love and appreciate your posts.
You, Bob Roller & Dennis are heroes to us all.

LOL - so are all the rest of you old !@#$%.

[heinz]

Bill, excellent hypothesis on the Hf granulation.  That would fit in well with its use in heavy 44 Special loads in the early 1900s.  I have played with my 45 Colt using 5 grains of 4f and then filling the case with 2f then compressing the load and crimping the bullet.  Makes a fun load.  I will have to try mixing 2f and 3f for a load this year when it warms up a bit.

[Mad Monk]

Bill, excellent hypothesis on the Hf granulation.  That would fit in well with its use in heavy 44 Special loads in the early 1900s.  I have played with my 45 Colt using 5 grains of 4f and then filling the case with 2f then compressing the load and crimping the bullet.  Makes a fun load.  I will have to try mixing 2f and 3f for a load this year when it warms up a bit.

If you send me your E-mail address by PM on the board I could scan in the two post cards and send them to you if you want.  What gets me is that I bought them a bit over 20 years ago at Hagley.  Looked at them several times and the HFg blew right by me.  And that label was on everything in the post cards from small cans up to a big wooden keg of powder.  I spent a lot of time discussion standard grain sizes (screen sizes) when I was dealing with Rob Howard at Hagley.  We even talked about the mixed grain thing but I never though to ask how they labeled that.  But in the post cards they show the copyright " Superfine" and the "Rifle" powder.  Doesn't leave anything to explain the "H".  These post cards are the old real fancy artwork.  Getting old I forgot the name they give that artwork.  Right now we are joking about having to get a municipal burn permit for my birthday cake candles.