F--Cannon powder and large rifle loads (.45-120 Sharps). Very Coarse large grain, slow ignition produces a lot of gas for good constant pressure.
FF--Rifle/Shotgun (blackpowder). Coarse but smaller than cannon, larger than pistol powder. Good ignition time, but less gas produced for energy than cannon powder (F).
FFF--pistol and small rifle powder (like the .36 cal blackpowder squirrel rifles). Faster ignition but even less power (but not needed as .36 cal and .45 cal roundballs accelerate more easily).
FFFF--priming powder. Very fine powder. Not much work derived. Used mainly in flintlocks to ignite the main charge. Also used with (F) in black powder rifle cartridges where primers alone can't get the main charge ignited without delay.