I inquired a bit more about Jack's BP by directly emailing them and asking them the questions:
1. Is there any difference between Jack's Black Powder 3Fg and Goex Black Powder 3Fg?
2. Does Goex ship the Jack's Black Powder to you in the 1lb Jack's cans or do you can it yourself from bulk?
This is the response from Angelo Piazza, the company president:
I WILL ATTEMPT TO ANSWER YOUR QUESTION ABOUT –JACKS BATTLE POWDER—BY: ANGELO J. PIAZZA, III for JACKS POWDER KEG
IT IS GOEX 5FA BLACK POWDER MADE IN DOYLINE, LOUISIANA, AND IS PRIVATELY LABELED AS “JACKS BATTLE POWDER”
IT IS A 3FFF EQUIVILANT AND IS USED BY REENACTORS IN BOTH MUSKETS AND CANNONS. IT IS NOT GLAZED WITH GRAFITE AS BLACK POWDER IS TRADITIONALLY COATED WITH THIS BLACK LUBRICANT. THIS UNGLAZED POWDER APPEARS TO MAKE OUR REENACTOR BLANK SHOTS A LITTLE CLEANER. I SELL A LOT OF IT TO INFANTRYMEN AND SMALL BORE CANNONEERS. LARGE BORE CANNONS ARE SOLD GOEX 4FA OR 3FA, DEPENDING UPON THE BORE AND DESIRED EFFECT. PURCHASES IN 25LB BULK LOTS ARE A BIG SAVINGS TO THE ENTHUSIAST/REENACTOR. I OWN 3 DIFFERENT CANNONS AND MANY RIFLES, PISTOLS AND LEVER ACTION 44-40 CALIBRES. JACKS BATTLE POWDER WORKS FOR REENACTORS FOR OBVIOUS REASONS, AND I LIKE IT. THAT’S WHY I SELL IT. NO CHINESE OR FOREIGN POWDERS FOR ME, SINCE I CAN GET A BETTER POWDER FOR LESS MONEY, MADE BY AMERICANS FOR AMERICAN HISTORICAL INTERPRETATION. WHY JEOPARDIZE OUR DOMESTIC PRODUCTION OF BLACK POWDER BY BUYING FOREIGN MADE POWDER???? WE SHOULD SUPPORT THIS AMERICAN MADE PRODUCT, SINCE GOEX IS THE ONLY AND LAST RENMAING MAKER OF BLACK POWDER IN THE UNITED STATES!!!!!
WHEN I FIRST VISITED THE GOEX PLANT I DISCOVERED THE EXISTENCE OF THIS POWDER AND LEARNED THAT IT IS TRADITIONALLY USED FOR BLASTING AND FIREWORKS. IT WORKS FOR ME!!!
WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN JACKS BATTLE POWDER AND OUR GOEX FG (FINE GRAIN) POWDER???
ANSWER: THERE IS NO DIFFERENCE IN THE SUBSTANCE BUT IT IS DIFFERENT IN GRANULAR STRUCTURE. THEREFORE, IN ORDER TO HIT A TARGET WITH A BULLET CONSISTENTLY, THE FG {FINE GRAIN} LINE OF GOEX POWDER IS YOUR PREFERENCE. IT IS GRADED AND MORE CONSISTENT DUE TO THE GRAIN STRUCTURE BEING MORE UNIFORM. MY “JACKS BATTLE POWDER” IS MORE A COMBINATION OF FLAKES AND GRAINS OF A GENERAL SIZE BUT IT IS NOT AS UNIFORM AS THE FINE GRAIN LINES OF POWDERS. GOEX EXPRESS IS OUR TOP OF THE LINE POWDER MADE FOR THE EXPERT MARKSMAN. GOEX FINE GRAIN IS TRADITIONALLY USED BY HUNTERS AND FOR TARGET SHOOTING. THESE LINES ARE MORE EXPENSIVE BECAUSE THEY ARE MORE LABOR INTENSIVE. JACKS BATTLE POWDER IS ECONOMICALLY FEESABLE FOR THE HISTORICAL REENACTOR WHO SHOOTS BLANKS. IT IS A HIT WITH ALL WHO HAVE TRIED IT.
JACKS BATTLE POWDER IS MOST APPROPRIATE FOR BLANK FIRING FOR HISTORICAL REENACTMENTS.
HOPE THIS HELPS, ANGELO J. PIAZZA, III, PRESIDENT JACKS POWDER KEG
My interpretation of his response is as follows. Basically, Jack's powder is for re-enactors shooting blanks and Goex is for shooting at targets with projectiles. Both powders are made my Goex and canned by Goex. Uniformity is the difference. Since I'm not a re-enactor shooting blanks it would seem that Jack's black powder isn't what I seek. I know many of you do re-enactments so you might want to consider Jack's BP. As stated above, made in America by Americans at the Goex factory AND the lowest cost black powder in bulk.