what does the term weapons grade mean??

[Backwoods_VT]

I hear the term weapons grade thrown around , like on the back of a bottle of lube or for tritum thumb studs. It kinda has a mall ninja feel to me; anyone care to comment?

 

[Cougar Allen]

There's a good explanation here: http://www.ccnr.org/plute.html

 

[Cougar Allen]

Oops -- I just noticed we're in the wrong forum.

While I'm here, some of the guys who design nuclear weapons hang out in sci.military.moderated Of course there are limits to what they can post, but they can answer some questions....

 

[yablanowitz]

Of course, that article only gives you the real meaning of the term. "Weapons grade" lube oil sounds like a company trolling for mall ninjas to me, too.

 

[yoda4561]

It's just one of those terms, you know "engineered for use in your *insert device here*" And hopefully means the company that calls it that actually bothered to design for use in whatever it was, instead of just some cheap product that does more harm than good, pr falls apart the first time it's exposed to recoil.

 

[Charlie Moore]

It means about as much as *TrueSharp* does in defining the quality of a type of stainless steel. In other words, it's a term that marketing types use when they can't claim something specific that sets their product apart from the competition or accurately defines its goodness. Be wary when you see this term used to describe a product.

 

[Gollnick]

Given the way that most weapons are purchased world-wide, "weapons grade" (outside of its original use for nuclear materials) probabaly means "cheapest available."

 

[bigkahunasix]

Its correct use is to indicate the item in question, or components thereof, is
manufactured in compliance with a specific government design requirement, ie
lubricity, hardness, luminosity, size, weight, function requirement, etc., etc...
After retiring from 17+ years of military, and 5 more of letter agency work
alot of the mil. time dealing with weapon test and development all I can say is
that the co. in question does not have a govt. contract it is a questionable
advertising claim.
And even if they do, remember- Your weapon was made by the LOWEST bidder. Bigkahunasix Gysgt. USMC (ret.)

 

[knifestuff]

Concur exactly; if it's bid out to gov't spec, hello low bid. Served for 26 years and only tangentially in one very narrow field did I ever encounter the term weapons grade. Rest of the time, it's use whatever is at hand. Bottom line, if the product can survive in the commercial market place, it's probably good enough for most applications. If it's not good enough to meet competitive challenges, then it deserves to fail. Within the US military, Mil Spec has a greater meaning.

 

[yablanowitz]

Well, I didn't retire from the military, but I was one of those people who were trained for handling weapons grade nuclear materials and actually worked with radioactive materials daily. That may be why the term in other context sounds like ninja bait to me.

 

[GibsonFan]

Total mall-ninja-bait. Remember in the 70's when absolutely everything was "developed from NASA research" or whatever?

It holds as much water with me, as everything and anything having an American flag emblazoned all over the package to entice my patriotic spirit. Probably, it's no coincidence that flag-fetishism and "weapons grade" baby oil or whatever are around at the same time.